Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-10
A Wager.
A Wager.
Y YUGH MUNSON was bachelor.
II He was most emphatic in his
statements that he would al
WAYS remain a bachelor That


II He was most emphatic in his
statements that he would al
i 4 ways remain bachelor. That
he had reached the age of 43
without marrying and would travel
through the rest of his days unmar-
ried. He wanted to be free to
explore hitherto UNEMPLOYED lands -.
to come and go as his fancy willed.
Who would want better home than
a hotel? Who would want more COM
forts than the service obtained in such
places? He scorned the tidy little
houses of his friends =. gingerly pat
ted the heads of their oHspringS and
then put definite distance between
himself and their sticky hands. He
didn't want a house to be responsible
for electric light bills i. gas
bills water bills furnace
cleaners -. faulty plumbing maids
whooping cought insurance
policies decorators.
&c" and that's final" he had de-
clared decisively from the depths OF
a big chair in his sisters living room
on the first evening of his return from
a two years trip to Africa. '1-shall
-never-marry. The next six months
I will spend here writing up my last
trip for my publishers and then I'm
off again free as the wind .. :"
He turned to his nephew, Robert
Beveridge, who occupied another big
chair near by. you will be my heir,
Bobbie. my boy d. that Is, II you
will get this notion out of your head
about going in business instead OF TAX
ing up law as your mother wants..
His nephew smiled as he crushed a
cigarette butt against the ash tray.
you're fine one to talk, INK.
Grandfather wanted you to be min
ister-mother told me so-and besides.
he was in favor of marriage and look
at you-iust a vagabond of the wind
ing road except that you have enough
money to buy railroad and steamer
tickets. I don't want to be lawyer,
but I'll compromise with you, you old
fossil! I'll make wager with you that
before your six months are up-you
will be asking some girl to marry you
to share your name and fortune.
A new roadster against my pledge that
I will go to college this Fall and study
law that within the next six months
you'll fall in love and fall hard! You
have been out of touch with civiliza-
ton so long you don't know what
white women look like, but just you
wait. That's fair, isn't it. mother?"
HUGH MuilSOil SlSICI OhiAiCo AAAuA-
gently, and nodded. The traveller
laughed. "All right, shake on 1t! A
new roadster-any color, any make
against your promise to be lawyer
but I've won before we start. Love
marriage-bah! Responsibilities? Not
for mel"
A maid came to the door, followed
by a Short, smiling faced little woman
whose open coat displayed white linen
uniform.
Hello, folks, I'm on a case down in
the next block-typhoid, and was out
for breath of air 50 thought I'd run
| in. Oh, why, Hugh Munson, you old
tramp! I haven't seen you since =.
| let me see, when we three were in high
school together how many years
"And if it. isn't Cara Smedley 4.
or what is the name, now, Cara?
recall Marion telling me a long time
ago of your marriage :"
Listen, Hugh, Wesley died last year.
YOU know. And I'm working again :"
"And supporting the loveliest family
of four children you ever saw. How Is
Billie, and JUNE, and baby and Albert,
| Cara? My goodness. but Albert is get
ting so tall and manly"
"All fine" answered the family 5
smiling mother. billie fell off the
| porch yesterday and bumped his nose
and JUNE looks like chicken-pox and
baby cries for an hour straight every
time I leave her and Albert spends all
his nickels at the candy store, but
outside of that, they are just beautiful.
every one of them!"
Robert Beveridge looked across the
table at his mother one morning and
his eyes were troubled.
well, mother, guess the odds are
against me. You'll have lawyer son
after all, 7 guess. That old Beau
Brummel brother of yours! He is a
Knockout in evening clothes and, all
the girls are crazy about him. Kay
says she has tried all her wiles on
hinn-nothing doing. Marjorie tells me
he calls her child and patronizes her!
Kay says he is the hardest man in
New York to- f1irt with, although he
dances with her all the time and tells
her she Is pretty and would like to
kidnap her and all that bosh that
middle-aged men hand out to pretty
girls. Kay is getting tired of the con-
Spiracy, I guess. We didn't think he
would be so hard to win over. We
are going to have Estelle Taton out to
Marjorie's house party next week and
Estelle will bowl him over She's
a sumner, and just begged for an in
PRODUCTION the other night at the club.
Says unk is her idea of handsome. dis
tinguished and all that stuff"
Estells charms proved all in vain.
Hugh Munson playei golf with her, rode
horseback with Marjorie Norris. sang