Evening star., 1926-11-07

MTS. OETeSL just
now she wouldn't talk any more about
families.
Jimmy. what time is it," Kate
asked
Quarter to s. You don't have to go
yet?" Jimmy wanted to prolong tbs
delightful occas sion. Any one with haif
an eye could see that Kate had made
hit with his mother. He hadn't
heard her ask any one so many 1ues-
tons in so short a time since he could
remember.
Yes, / am afraid l really have to-"
said Katherine. She felt pretty hope
less as she got up to go. Rather as if
she had been sitting in a draft all aft
ernoon.
"Good.by. Miss Cathaway." said
Mrs. Forrest. you must come to din
ner tomorrow. We will be quite alone.
Just the family, and 1 want"-here
she laid one hand on Jimmy's arm and
one on katherine's. in a noble gesture
of King Cophetua's mother blessing,
slightly against her better judgment.
his union with the beggar maid-"I
want Mr.. Forrest to meet his new
daughter"
L ATHERINE wasn't as happy as
~ Jimmy about the afternoon. The
trouble was that her meeting with
Jimmy hadn't prepared her at all for
what Mrs. Forrest had turned out to
be. 1t had taken place In studio in
Washington News, to which .Iimmys
quest OF Bohemia. sedulously pursued
during his mothers absence at Palm
Beacn. had taken him.
Jimmy had taken his duties AS
member OF Bohemia seriously. for
Jimmy's was a serious nature. But 1t
was a charming one. too. and the air
of perfect repose that always accom-
panied him. auralike. had made him
seem TO Katherine, the first time she
met him. a combination of Siegfried
and John Barrymore In fact. the
ideal man. Kate was just a little fed
up with young men who talked neu-
rosis, and equally tiresome ones whose
conversation was confined to home
made gin and the price OF the last
case of Scotch. She had begun TO
think the world held no others.
And Jimmy hardly talked at all.
He just always saw that she had a
comfortable chair and a clean ash
tray, and asked her to come to tea
to meet his mother the first time he
met her. No other young man that
katherine had known in the two
years she had been in New York had
even mentioned his mother to her.
So. with no effort at all. she found
herself agreeing to he Mrs James For
rest. jr., before she had known him
a month.
KATHERINE hadn't given Mr.. and
~ Mrs. Forrest. sr.. much thought.
1t had been so easy just to drift along,
going to parties and to dinners with
Jimmy, and enjoying the sheer. ex-
quisite luxury of knowing that once
again there was one person, at least,
who cared if she lived or died. or had
her umbrella with her when it rained.
She hadn't cared whether Jimmy had
a family or not, and the possibility Of
Jimmy's family caring about who she
was had never entered her head.
| But here was Mrs. Forrest back from
Palm Beach. and suddenly kather-
| ines brain came to life, and she real
ICED that there was more to this en-
gagement than had, up to this point,
| met her eye. For with the return of
shook Bohemia a hearty handshake
of farewell. and, bringing Katherine
with him, resumed life as Mrs. For
| rest would have it lived.
Katherine found herself apparently
accepted by the FORESTS without fur
ther ado. and no more leading ques-
tions were asked as to her fathers
way of making a livelihood. Yet. she
never quite got over that feeling Of
the window being suddenly opened on
cold night when she caught Mrs.
Forrest looking at her across a room
full of people. And Mrs. Forrest was
always having roomfuls of people
the right people. That was her idea
of happineSS and success.
katherine carefully computed the
| energy and money Mrs. Forrest eX.
pended in surrounding herself with
what she called worthwhile people.
and then tried to figure out how far
it would have taken her If she had
used it in some productive business.
say in establishing a milk route Of the
better class. or opening up unclaimed
lands. Kate was sure that there
would be enough left over to main
tain an All.American Repertory The
ater.
1t gradually dawned on her that she
must have been an awful blow to Mrs.
Forrest, and she was grudgingly
forced to admit to herself a certain
admiration for that lady and her
methods. For. as time went on. Kate
experienced all the pleasurable sensa.
tions of the strange knight who threw
down his glove. only to have it left
unnoticed on the grass, while the
King and his court chatted merrily
on about the latest fashions in armor.
She and Jimmy were engaged. that
was admitted but no suggestion was
ever made, except by Jimmy in occa-
siona flights of romantic fancy. that
the engagement was ultimately to end
at the altar. She had to live mca nwhile.
and was consequently still in the
midst of that giddy uncertainty
known as looking for a Job. A sad
way to pass the time from 10 to 4
every day. but Kate often. felt that
visiting the FORESTS was even sadder
So it was that Katherine. in no happy
frame of mind one afternoon in the
early Spring. sat by herself in a cor
ner OF the Forrest library watching
the comings and goings of that Sec
| tlon of the upper strata which IA
vored Mrs. Forrest with it's patron
age.
Mrs. Forrest was being more than
ever the perfect hostess that day, for
the sun was shining on her in the
| person of a visiting Englishman, a
Mr.. Trevor, whose mother was Of i'm
| portance in London. 1t had been ru-
mored that the faint aroma of a title
clung to this young man. and Kate
watched with interest Mrs. Forrest
| involving him III enough enga agements
| for dinner to have fed him, his heirs
and assigns indefinitely.
PRESEETLY. as no one seemed to
= be paying any attention to her.
Kate went across the hall to the liv-
| ing room to amuse herself until
Jimmy should arrive. by looking at
the music. Now. the living room was
| urnished-decorated should he the
word--in an overwhelmingly Italian
manner. with the piano partly con.
cealed by a huge davenport. since
of course. no decorator worth his or
her salt can bear the sight of piano.