Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-05-30

fifty. But then, fifty was not nearly
as old as it had seemed to him once,
when he was twenty-five!
Twenty-Five. He laughed out loud.
What a young dog he had been at
twenty-five! A conceited youngster,
who imagined the universe belonged to
him, distinctly inclined to regard Sim
self as a Napoleon of cOmmerce. How
his seniors had hated him, and not
without reason. Yet this very over
bearingness, this answering conviction
he had always had, that nothing would
do for him but the best-Wasn't it ex-
actly what he had to thank for the
success he had made of his life?
You get precious little out of this
world by being diftident. Through be-
ing determined nothing would do for
him but the best, he had got the best.
Flora, the sweetest of wives, and plenty
of money, and Paul. Paul, a kid any
man might be proud of, now in his
first term at EtOn.
He sighed. At twenty-five he had
certainly had his fun. What iImes
those had been on the Tea Gardens!
Nay, come to think Of it, at thirty-tiye
he had not done himself so badly. And
had he not been forty when he COM
mitted the greatest indiscretion of his
life?
When he was forty he had taken a
small bungalow in the virgin jungle
some way from the Tea Garden he was
now approaching on his farewell tour
of inspection. Right away from the
world, it was, looking into the forest
where orchids burned like lamps, ano
the trees were festooned eternally with
creeper, as if for a fete. There May
anna had waited for him in the eve
ming, little and golden, and gay. What
a dream it had all been! What fun
they had had together!
Remembering it all now, it seemed
like something he had read about and
laughed over, that happened to some
body else. How cleverly, how discreet
ly, he had managed it all. To this day
she did not know his real name. Fol
five years he had lived with her there
in the bungalow overlooking the vir.
gin jungle, and not a soul had guessed!
Had he ever loved her? He delvec
in his memories trying to discover his
reasons for doing what he had done
No, their relationship with one another
could hardly be dignified by the name
OF love, though in her way he had nc
doubt Mayama was fond Of him. Queer
creatures, these native women
He had nothing to reproach himself
with. He had treated her, as these
things - very handsomely. He hae
given her a lump sum down. anC
bought the bungalow for her. She hac
had nothing to complain of, Mayama
OF the soft brown eyes and the COLDER
complexion. Probably by this time she
was married, her value merely enhanced
in the eyes of her countrymen by her
adventures, as is the custom in those
parts OF the virgin jungle which look SC
nice in pictures.
The chief thing that pleased him in
his memories of the affair was how
clever he had been about it all. Not q
soul had found out. Not a soul hac
suspected him. Even Mavama had
never got to know his real name.
Not, thought Gerald Danton. that II
was any ones business, for a mans
morals are between him and his Maker
and there alone lies the squaring of the
account-anon.
He lit a cigaret.
Il wonder II she is still there AS
likely as not she is. | might walk out
and have a look at the place, and a