The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-09-23
published By special arrangement with The
Chicago Tribune Syndicate)
IN TWO PARTs-PART TWO


Lee LOLnrOp, whose 1aLneE Is q ldWyeI III
Saranaton, a small mid-western town. Lee
is employed by a realty company and when
he gets deeply into debt by leading a fast
life and making expensive presents to Diane
he takes several hundred dollars Of the
firms money. His father, Jesse Lothrop,
makes good Lees theft, but lays the blame
on Diane. Then follows a bitter feud be-
tween the two, Lothrop doing everything in
his power to besmirch DANES name. Lee
leaves town and Diane never hears from
him. Meanwhile, through the passing years.
Jesse Lothrop continues to display his vim
dictive hatred of Diane. She becomes
acquainted with Ralph Bennett Of Brooklyn,
a new lawyer in Saranaton.
And now the story
Twice, thrice, in a summer-heavy eve
ming, she rode with him.. Four times.
And in the end, turning a corner OF
Second avenue, they we're face to face
with Jesse Lothrop, humping along on
his old cane, his stopped old shoulders a
faded blot somehow on the early eve
ming.
He stared, catching the significance
Of the two in company. The hate in his
old eyes had never dimmed, never re-
Taxed one iota OF it's deadly persistency.
Just before they turned the corner
Diane had been thoughtful. She was
not thinking Of Jesse Lothrop, though.
AS he o into sight, however, the
color left her face. She sat rigid, per-
haps for the first time at such a meeting.
But if she hoped that the young man
beside her did not mark the malevolence
Of the old hate-directed eyes she was
disappointed.
II sayI Did we pretty near run over
him, or what?"
with flushed plump face, Diane evad-
ed. "Why-I wasn't looking"
She might have saved her pride, or
whatever was her motive: For the tol-
lowing Tuesday evening Ralph n
was invited to dine at the old Lothrop
place.
The Lothrop place was heavy with
hollyhocks. In the old dark furnished
dining room Mrs. Hanfky had set a bowl
Of rich nasturtiums, too. The dining
room was cool, opening to the east with
vined windows. And If a room needs
something beside a grim old man, a fat
ho~usekeeper in black silk, and a walnut
sideboard to make it actually pleasant,
it can at least not fail OF the effect OF
Importance.
Ralph Bennett, the newcomer, not un-
naturally cared to make a good impress
sion on the solid old citizenry Of the
town where he planned to carve his fu-
ture. In any event, probably he would
have been affected by the solitary figure
Of his host.
AS to Just what words Jesse Lothrop
used to describe Diane share in his
solitariness may not be known. OLD
Jesse a a trick Of pursuing his lips u
1ys u 1OlQluR Ills NGln AnObbCO PdAC I'LL
over each other. This hand folding hac
nothing to do with Lee or with Diane
It was a gesture affected from young
: manhood, employed in courtrooms anc
t in office. But to a stranger it might
. have appeared that the hands undeServ.
eddy folded. over emptiness. 1t might
+ have appeared to a new onlooker thai
life was fiat, that for their owner thC
: hands folded over nothing, and this wa:
? hard.
! Jesse had a careful vocabulary. HI
, was widely read, and by nature an enty
mologist. Never fear that he did not usI
! the unforgettable epithet, the telling
phrase Of description!
Down Second avenue to his boarding
. house Ralph Bennett, at nearly midnight
smoked a cigar thoughtfully. But tire
: evenings later he took Diane riding. I
" was rather late, after nine, when h
called. He explained that he'd had som
= work to do.
There was a moon, a silver radiance o.
the ~shrub-dark lawns and streets CAV
: way to roads. Ralph looked down a
3 Diane meaningly when the moon wa
! shining down full and laughed. "By tn
s. wayne ostentatiously moved his watc
to the opposite pocket-"I understan
4 property isn't very safe e your
10 Under the full, bright moon, Dian
n, showed no change Of expression, eXceL
e: that an ~indefnable little curl came an
" went so swiftly from the corner Of he
mouth that the young man was deceiveI
er Another i of young man migh
=; have heard Jesse with courtesy, but hay
kept his own impression Of a cheStnJ
pc haired girl. Still another kind migI
nd have been more cruel and yet kinder an
It. cut acquaintance short without motto
= Perhaps Diane knew this.
Better avoid me, if you're afraid" 81
al said in a sharp but composed voice.
you're too nice to avoid-altogetheT
IT, he said regretfully, with a mocki1
d. smile. Guess I can take care Of myse
= I'm sure you can" she said II
2 sweetly.
iiMa6 Six months later he married Babe De
len mar, the leader of the younger hil
se- school set. Diane ent Babe a set
= monogrammed guest towels and cor
pOsedly gave her good wishes.
for Long before the wedding, on the stree
NJ she and Jesse Lothrop had met. And t
n, old man had given her a faint smile
smile whose hate held a hooking tou
Of satisfaction.
After the meeting Diane had 90
to home and upstairs to her bedroom, viii
psf. was a pretty chintz hung room wi
sJTI sloping roof. After lying motionless
her bed for perhaps an hour, she h
Sed spent the remainder of the day in one
viii those vigorous room ~cleanings known
ser. women but not to men. Closet and b
= reau drawers, chiffonier and shoe ba
were turned inside out, busted, laid wi
pal, clean papers,, or hung with freshened r.
o. bons.
Perhaps six months later DANES S
an ter Kits seven year old Robbie, a hes
- strong little tyrant, rummaged in Diar
room in her absence. From under
91d pale blue sacheted paper Of a bottom /
be reau drawer he snatched a two by fl
yyo. kodak picture Of Lee Lothrop, taken n
- years before. 1t was a faded, corn
broken likeness of a smiling light-hai
per boy. 1t was wrapped in a venise-edI
ying handkerchief, a real lace keepsake VIII
:ess, Diane had had from an old grandmot
q in Maine.
. The little wretch went shrieking doV
mar stairs with the picture to his mother
lear Mrs. Gray, who were looking WI
S pering hen Diane, hat in hand,
now tered the house. She saw, snatched,
Free with flaming face vowed she'd leave he
1oa. If Kits children were allowed to RI
free mage her belongings at their whim.
WI Mrs. Gray took DANES side and
.vtv took her small SOM side and there
a bad quarrel. Diane face was ST.