The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-08-09
tcontinued from First page.,

strous lie-that she had not de.
scended from a line Of loose
women-that she did not carry
IN her blood the heritage OF
wantonness. It was in.
credible.
She rushed into the house: a
structure so large it always
seemed empty. In the wide hall
with its peeling wallpaper. in the
musty drawing.room and the old
dining.room panelled in white
: painted pine. hung the portraits
OF long dead and gone men and
women; ancestors with names all
but forgotten ii m e !.
blurred features peopling the
room with shadowy identities.
Family Portraits
Swiftly from one to another
Joslyn moved, not to the Poes,
but, tensely. to her mothers peo-
pie. From the furnished frames
Joslyn recognized wildly how
close was the strain Of form and
feature that bound her to those
vanished women a tilt
o. the head here. the glow Of an
eye, the length Of silken lashes
posture of undraped
creamy satin shoulders in re-
pose, At dull wall mirror she
studied her own image-went
back again to the increasing
realization of one flesh. one
blood.
A door opened, and her mother,
small and colorless. came into
the room. It was as though
harA6ifxy
skipped a generation, before 1t
had gone on with the business
OF producing blooded women like
those on the wa11s-and Joslyn.
something strange and excited in
the girls face brought her
mother suddenly close to her.
Why, for lands sake. child
1ou look as pale as"
Joslyn'ss dark eyes were shad-
owy; the flanges OF the delicate
nostrils dilated. She took her
mother by the shoulde. and
forced her into creaking chair.
Minnie Gumbo has just told
me-about Grandmother-and the
rest. It's in me, too, she says.
I've got to know. You've got to
tell me. Are we-are we bad
: WOIIlGll -
Silence. quick and tense, par
alyzed all sound in the room.
Joslyn's mother lifted :hini hands
20 a flat chest.
@Why, Joslyn, Minnie Gum
DO ought to be run out OF the
country. The voice rustled
like autumn leaves.
Sudden pity twisted Joslyn's
T1,av I1SF ok =.
arms around the frail form.
Mamma - Mamma. It's all
ffeht-it doesn't natteri"
The voice on her shoulder was
small. tear cfloked. ''They weren't
bad. honey il was lust q
streak OF weakness.
"'I tell you It doesn't matter a
single particle, mamma"
TT isn't as though they were
common or trashy, Joslyn
they were never that. But we
didn't want you ever to know.
Your father
Hush. mamma, don't worry
bit like those dead ard gone
ancestors, but don't you .ret about
me. I'm not like them. hate
dII IHdI SUIT VI udLS AZ
hate it, hate It."
They chung together. eve
prayed for the day, Joslyn, honey,
when you'd be safely married
when you'd have children
Of your own TO ."
Joslyn took the tear wet face
In her hands.
.Darling little mother! Don't
you know your Joslyn's all
fight?"
Her Wish
''If you were only married.
honey. There's George Ransom
head over heels. in love with
you-a wonderful boy, honey"
You want me to be happy and
safe, don't you, mammal"
Its my life"
Joslyn kissed the trembling
fps.
THAT'S a kiss to remember a
promise by. I promise, mamma;
/ just promise everything that's
aIL You know what / mean"
George Ransom is plumb crazy
about YOU"
Joslyn stopped the words with
another kiss. Gently, she moved
her mother toward the door.
'You run along now. I'm
going to start getting ready for
the party"
The thing that baffled Joslyn,
as soon as she was upstairs in
her room. was the sheer mystery
Of the supposed weakness
for men. She had been kissed by
two boys, once when she was
*. and again at 16. George
Ransom, six months before, had
seized her at a Christmas party
and kissed her with great
triumphant shout. 1t had all
been rather stupid, she thought.
y For a long time she sat at a
window. watching the twilight
steaI over the fields. A vague
uneasiness. an apprehension be-
gan to seep through her thoughts
"a premonition of inconsistencies
and longing for the old familiar
things which might-which would
-assail her when she was alone
I'm the great city. - New York,
ehe understood. was a tremend-
ously big place and mercilessiy
cruel to the poor and unknown. =
When the lone negro woman
servant brought a kettle OF not
water and a pitcher Of cold. JOS
Iyn filled the little shower bath
ARRANGEMENT in an alcove-a
small tank. a section of rubber
tubing with a brush at the end
q washtub to stand in.
Vagrant J0ssip
Her slim body, when she
emerged, was refreshingly clean;