Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-27

ROM the height OF the ldnu-
l. ing on the second floor. his
position at the bar and TWEEN
j. ty-four years. Mr.. ROderick
Dory looked down upon the
thrOng of merrymakerS. They
danced: they sang; some of them. I'M
mindful of the more serious things
of life. fiirted. Mr.. Dory felt a dis
taste. WEAKNESS, steal over his soul.
Life was so tremendous a thing.
There was 50 much to he done and
so brief time in which to DO IT.
Still, and he smiled tolerantly. he
must not censure these people, these
friends of his. too severely. Take
the men: Jim Henley was in hide
and leather jobbing house: no one in
the world ever had any call to so
prosaic life work. Tom Sweeney
was assistant cashier in IA bank; his
life was destined to be spent dealing
with meaningless counters into which
an artificial meaning had been read
by an artificial society. Frank Blais-
dell was broker; could anything be
more DrosaiC? The rest of the men
were mentally and spiritually on a
par with these. their VocationS were
bread and buttery: even their aVoca-
tionS gross.
As for the girls-he shrugged dis.
painfully. Eighty. silly. vapid,
Lacking in understanding. in appre-
citation lie lighted a cigarette and
the tolerance of his smile became
more pronounced. Children.
Up the winding stairs that led
from the great living room of the
Mark ham Summer home to the floors
above came his hostess. The rustic
of silk and the scent of perfume
p,-i- hn,. 1ndn
lighted at her coming. She was not
silly, vapid and Tightly: she was one
who understood the serious things
of life, who realized that the ma
terial matters which engrOSs the at
tentiOn of most of us are but fluff
in the wind created by the rush of
the spirit. Thus he characterized
her. rather pleased with his meta
phor. Her thirty years lent her
dignity. graciousness of manner.
that, thought Roderick, set her apart
from her frivoling guests.
She paused at the top of the fight
Of stairs The Subdued lighting of
the landing set off to advantage her
plump figure. She was not fat; her
hest friend would not have said that
she was: she simply had arrived at
"A not unpleasing maturity of outline.
11SE DlOIluc HAIL. III SUI waves oil OuIIi
her face, seemed to the eyes of the
infatuated youth an angelic aureole.
She saw him and her small mouth
curied in smile.
Frederick she breathed. Mrs.
Markham had the happy faculty of
putting excitement into her most
commonplace remarks. That is, the
faculty seemed happy to one not we'll
acquainted with it. Her husband,
for instance
SUDDENLY Roderick's collar seemed
~ tight. the white shirt of his eve
ming dress seemed to construct ribs
which were having difficulty in con-
tanning a bounding heart. A flush
stole swiftly from his Adams apple to
the tips of his ears. He swallowed
smoke, and his consequent coughing
did nothing to assuage his embarrass-
ment. He rose and stood stiffiy, like
a clumsy recruit in the presence of
his officer. He realized more acutely
than ever before in his life that his
hands were too large and too red. 1t
is quite possible that the lady sensed
his embarra ssment, even that it graft
fed her
What are you doing all by your
self Roderick?" she asked. Don't
you like my house party?"
She was woman who could impart
Irritation to such commonpiaceS as
More tea?" or What time Is it?"
She was keenly aware of the fact that
she was of the faminine sex, and she
gave no man excuse for being unaware
of It. There were reproach, coyneSs and
timidity subtly mingled in her tones.
She sank down gracefully in the arm
chair which Roderick had vacated at
her coming and looked archly up at
her young guest In the dim light of
the landing she didn't look. Roderick
told himself, a minute over IS. AS a
matter of fact, he was extremely glad
that she was not 18. He was sick to
death of girls of his own age or
younger.
What did they know? WAT did
they feel? Giggles, That's all they
amounted to. Even Eloise Dennison,
dancing down below there. of whom
recently he had begun to have some
hope, was little different from the rest
of them. Hadn't she nicknamed Rod
erick "Mr. Chief Justice? After all.
the law is perhaps the most dignified
Of the professions, and it ill became a
silly girl to make fun of one of it's
votartes. 1t was quite true that Rod
erick had been admitted to the bar
only last month. Nevertheless, EloiSe
ought to understand that the law was
his sacred calling and should not treat
it lightly. Giggles, Silly. vapid, stu
pid! Such were girls.
But women-women of polSe, dis
cernment. Observation-Disclosures were
different. And when a woman. ar
rived at a delicious maturity, still re-
tanning her beauty-well, she GER
tainly could be a lot more interesting
to thinking male than any Eighty
thing like Eloise.
"Of course. like your house party"
he answered.
hide?" she chided.