New Britain herald., 1926-08-20
THIS FRS ST.
Illustrated Copyrighted by Joh Features 1sis

Dale's beauty shop at a tiny salary. At that time she is having the one real love affair of her life - with lawyer who wants to marry her. Their engagement ends when Tony learns that she goes out with other men and lets them make love to her. Later Merry hears that he is going to marry a girl in Montana, where he has gone to live. She tries not to care.
 Cassie. Merry's older sister, mar ries Morley Kaufman, her rich em- ployer. Then Mons, her widowed mother, takes LilIie Dale and a MT. Hefflinger into the house as board CTS. Jimmy the youngest sister, elopes
 with Derrick Jones, who lives next door.
 Through Cassie Merry meets Bill Erskine, wealthy bachelor. She succeeds in getting herself engaged to him. But when she becomes en- tangled in the divorce case of Les | ter Purcell an old sweetheart of hers, and his wife, Bill drops her like a hotcake and marries another girl.
 Then begins a long succession of beaux for Merry. Finally she comes to some kind of an understanding with George Leet, timid bache- Tor who can't support a wife until his invalid mother dies. i-+A La becomes the attorney for the famous Mrs Buck, whose murder trial has the whole country agog, The day Tony wins his case his mother dies. Mons decides she will go to the fun eral and Merry says she will go, too, hoping that she will be able to catch glimpse of Tony that day. She is taking a weeks vacation, before go- ing back to business school to take up her old career. The beauty shop mo longer satisfies her.
 She breaks with George Leet all at once, unable to bear to have him around, and she knows that this is because Tony has, somehow, taken his old place in her heart. (NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY)
 CHAPTER LXI
 Jimmy and Derrick came over for supper on Sunday night.
 They never came near the house unless MT. Hefflinger happened to be away on business, for Jimmy still disliked her step-father as much as she had on the long-ago day when she had eloped with Derrick, to get away from the house,
 They came all th3way from the west side, where they lived in a new bungalow. and they brought their two-year-cld Id twins with them Derry and Merry. A girl and boy as alike as two rosebuds, with blue eyes and yellow hair.
 At twenty-three, Jimmy looked years older than Merry. She was just as slim q always, and just as snap py and full of energy. But there were tired lines in her face that betrayed how she burned the candle at both ends.
 We were out until o'clock last night, playing poker" she said to Merry, with a yawn.
 It was after supper, and the two of them were in the old sitting room where Jimmy was playing the haunting half-savage jazz music that MT. Hefflinger had once for bidden her ever to play in that house.
 You'll never guess who was oyer at the Smiths party, Merry" she said. "Muriel Kaufman and that handsome husband of hers. My soul! But he's lulu. Why didn't you mar " him? He was crazy about you, wasn't he?"
 Merry only shrugged her should CTS under the soft muslin of her dress. She hardly gave Muriei and Cabby Marsh thought. Her mind was full of the one thing 1t had been full of, all day long-the thought that Tony Gaines was com- ing back to town and that she would have a chance to see him. Just to see him
 Even though he was married, even though eight years had passed, it was going to be Heaven to see him again, for minute. Heaven and Purgatory, too.
 "Muriel's beginning to look as tough as shoe leather, and she drinks like fish," Jimmy remarked.
 Then she went on singing at the top of her voice: I'm wee-ld about animal crackers-animai crackers! crackers"
 She stopped suddenly, "Gee-gosh, I'm sick of that thing. That's all they sing over the radio" she said, and began to sweep the keys with the first soft chords of How Miss You Tonight" A sentimental bal lad, with a cloying sweet melody.
 But Jimmy knew how to sing it.
 She had no voice to boast of. It was low and throaty.
 What she did have was the nat ural gift of an artist, She knew how to make her listener feel the pathos and the heart-break of the thing she was singing.
 All at once, Merry's hands came down over hers, and crashed on the yellowed keys with a discordant splashing sound.
 "Play some jazz, for the love of Farinal" Merry said in sharp, hysterical voice. Don't play that mournful thingl"
 Her throat was quivering like a birds throat, and to Jinny's amaze ment, she put her bright and shin- ing head down on the dark wood of the old piano and began to cry.
 Jimmy began to put two and two together, and thought she had the answer.
 q suppose you and George Leet have had a rumpus," she said.
 She knew that George Leet had been coming to see Merry every Sunday night for two or three years. This was Sunday night and George was not here. Of course, that must be the reason for Merry's tears! Pnop Merry She lost every man.