San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-09-23

POSITION carly IN tine evening. L ldu
laughed when he was most serious
Maybe it was casing his pride to turn
the tables and laugh when i was as
solemn as an owl. i relaxed at tb.
thought. Good was coming of evil
Jim felt better. and in saving th'
wound to his masculine pride, l had
covered up the Tarasov matter.
But suddenly Jim shook his head
and sobercd down with great sud
denness. And his tone was not onlr
anxious but actually grave as he said
thoughtfully:
Pm ashamed of myself. Do you
know why l was cackling like .
fOol!"
Il wouldn't call you Names" l said
with a bit of smile.
NO. but / deserve to be called BY
several. | was so ticklcd because i
gave me n lot of satisfaction to think
that my proud and dignified and crit
ical sister is capable of tripping NJ
over some of the things she berateS
me for. That's noble, isn't it!'
I'm not very noble either tonight.
| confessed sadly. You know there S
lot in that old verse that says
there's so much good in the worst Of
us and so much bad in the best Of US
that it won't do for any Of us to talk
about the rest of us. | guess it has
done each of us lot of good to stand
off and see how petty We can be
when we try
Il can do it without half trying.
said Jim. But you haven't done any
thing"
oh yes I have" | began fully de
termined to tell Jim how it was thai
| | had come to discuss Jcanie's af'
fairs with him in order to avoid con
Tossing my jealousy or cOnfesSing to
the danger which menaccs me at ths
Birchcs.
Now don't bcrate yourself" Jim
said thoughtfully. Telling me that
Jeanne is getting ready to make a fool
of herself, isn't playing her false, nor
putting it in the papers, nor gossip.
ing about it to the neighbors. Both of
us know that Pat played a pretty ugly
trick on Jeanie when he let Brooke
De Courccy rope him in. We don
know how much of the business
Jcanie is wise to. She may know By
now that / wasn't interested, in
Brooke or in anything but hiding the
truth from my poor sister herself nj
the time when | didn't think she was
fit to face facts. You can't tell what
Jcanic knows from what she tells you.
She's playing a lone hand. This Perry
business may be her way Of paying
Pat off"
II hope it is" / said in a tone that
carried no conviction.
I'm dead sure it u.s." said jim.
'I'vc said this before-but what is
sauce for the goose is certainly sauce
for the gandcr. Well. maybe Jeanie
cart get a rise out of Pat. Maybe
things aren't moving fast enough for
her. She wants to teach him n lesson.
She's getting tired of trailing out her"
to see Perry and ne"cr hearing a zip
from Pat. So she's going to have her
prOtrait done. Next step is to pre-
sent it to Pat. He's got to thank
her. He'll get purple in the face with
his longing TO yammcr. It's rich. 1t
will just feed Jcanie-"
81 hope you're right" l said mon
otOnously.
But you don't agree"
81 dont-disagrcc. In fact l have
no better theory to Offer
Again Jim laughed.
"Annc. when woman says she has
no better theory to offer and says il
in that tone. I'd bot my hat she has
dOzcn-and one in particular she's
dying to express. Come on. WHAT
your notion. Think Jeanic has fallen
for Perry with heavy thud? Think
she's bound up in this hanging around
his studio and sitting for portraits
and all that guff?'
why nOty | asked with n passion
that startled me. Are women so diff
fcrent from men? Didn't you enjoy
hanging around II studio once upon Il
time? Didn't Pat go trailing after Il
strange woman? Isn't it possible that
Jcanic may admire a man who isn't
her husband? Isn't it possible thai
Pat is starving hcr--that he has spent
himself .hcaply and is no longer ths
man who filled Jcanie's life? Well
If that's so"
IF that's So" Jim broke in CURLY.
There's danger ahead. But what can
we do? You're speaking for all
womanhood when you arraign Pat
and me. Anne. You're right. You're
darn right Sometimes a man learns
in time. / think ! have. But Pat--l
don't know. And Jeanne is Harrison.
proud and high-strung. What are We
to do? don't know. Do you?'
Never before has Jim met me sol
humbly. Never before has he So
simply turned 10 me for help in 4
problem involving him and his fam
ilv. And as / searched my mind for
the answer. there was sudden crash
and amid shattcring glass and swish
ing silk another of those stones
marked with red palm and carry
ing taut string hurled into the
room.
Ito Be Continued.l .>f.