Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1927-10-14
4 Clashing of the
Ages
a. - - - - N n - - n n n y
Ey Fl. IRVING KING
(Copyrlght.l

HOLlINGTON DAVIS never told
L 4 his nge unless by legal require
ment. When he thought of 1t he did
SO With sense of irritation. Why
shouldn't he? lie was not seventy yet
and looked ten years younger.
The fact remained that, young as
Mr.. Holington Davis was, Alice
Thorndyke was still younger-a mere
child of twenty-four. And with the
unreasonlng impulses of childhood she
looked upon Hollington as "old." He
had been her fathers friend and legal
adviser and was her guardian until she
became Of the age of twenty-five, or
got married. II she married be-
fore she was twenty-five without her
guardians consent the bulk of the
paternal fortune went to found chair
Of Alaskan archaeology In some college
or institution.
But all the provisions of all the wills
that were ever drawn will not prevent
young folks from falling In love.
Alice and Howard Edgerton fell In
love-and It seemed like waiting I'M
til doomsday for them to wait whole
year before they were married. And
now that Howard had formally pro
posed, and been accepted, It was up
to Alice to get her guardians con-
sent.
When Alice, all youth and bloom
and loneliness, blew In on her guard
ian and told him all that had hap.
pened, and all that was going to hap
pen, that mature gentleman received
a shock. 1t was only a day or two
before that he had held long and
serious consultation with himself. He
was bachelor and was tired OF hear
ing well-meaning idiots remark: TITS
wonder you never got married"
During the day some one had made
that trite remark and whereas 1t had
only irrltated him before 1t now set
him to thinking. Perhaps 1t was be.
cause Alice had been to see him the
previous week to get her quarters
allowance.
Any way the wheels were set going
and this is the way they buzzed. But
she is so much younger than you
are" "0h, don't know-there are
precedents." And, being legal gen.
tleman, he went over in his mind all
the precedents for the union Of May
and December that he could remem'
Der. Then he resumed the argument.
Nobody takes me for more than sixty
and Alice is-Pshaw; l am old
enough to be her grandfather. What
a fool l am! Here am, priding my
self on keeping young, and the same
time breaking out all over with the
symptoms of age. Forget 1t, Holllng-
ton forget It," What you need now
is buttermilk to stop the hardening
of arteries and facial massage to
eliminate the wrinkles"
Then, putting all that "tommyrot"
aside, Mr.. IIolllngton Davis attended
a board meeting; where he put
through big business deal; got into
his uniform as Spanish war veteran
and marched six miles over city pave
ments to q banquet" where he ate
rich food and listened to speeches un.
til midnight; went home went to bed;
slept like child and woke up the
next morning feeling fine. Then Alice
the young, the bewitchlng, blew In on
him.
1t was short, composite shock she
gave him. One of Its compositions
was the sudden remembrance Of the
cOlloquy he had held with himself two
days before. But he sternly put all
that sort Of thing away. He became
all judicial lawyer and Judlcious guard
ian at once II must know more Of
this young man before can give my
consent" said he when Alice had fin
lshed her story. She was astonlshed.
why, Howard is right out In the
anteroom waiting" she cried, "Pll
bring him In" Although appalled, at
her guardians reception Of her news
she was confident that when he once
saw Howard 1t would be all right.
Howard came In, trifle truculent;
he knew that something had gone
wrong. At the demand of Mr.. Davis
he stated his desires and quallflca-
lions. HolingtOn placed him on the
witness stand and put him through
the third degree. Only, mind you, be-
cause he was anxious TO do his full
duty and make no mistake In giving
his consent to the proposed marriage.
II Think" said he, at last, that !
would not be justified In giving my
consent just now to your marriage
with my ward"
"Very well, sir" replied Howard
1--WE have taken out marriage H.
cense and we" propose to be married
forthwith"
"You know what you will forfeit II
you dor said lIolllngton.
"Perfectly sir" returned Howard,
land we count II as nothing. Good
day." And he marched out with Alice
cllnglng to his arm.
Holllngton took the next elevator
down. A taxi cab was just starting
off. Follow that taxi" he cried to
the chauffeur Of his own car which
happened to be waiting. Before the
quiet little wedding which had been
arranged had fairly begun, HOllng-
ton was In their midst. II just
came" said he smillngly to Alice, ito
give you away In loco PARENTS. You
have my full consent. Edgerton, take
good care Of her-for she is only
child"
That night, before going to bed Hol.
lington opened an old photograph al
bum and looked at u picture Of q
youth taken In the early '70s NO"
said he, 81 think she would have pre-
ferred Howard. even Their"