The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-01-05

He nodded selemnly. AWfully
nice"
And pretty?"
Beautiful" he corrected.
"And clever?"
He laughed.
Nov that's just it." he pro-
nounced. You're either awfully
clever. or you're awfully dumb, my
dear. Probably you're clever. Most
women are. I think. I'm a very
stupid fellow myself"
"oh, no you're not" she pro-
tested.
ASK your little friend Sadie, Z"
he suggested.
But Ashtoreth did not want to
talk about Sadie.
She's not really my friend" she
explained.
But you lived togetherl' he ex-
claimed.
THAT, undoubtedly, required an
L explanation. And now, thought
Ashtoreth. was as good time as
any,
We'll, it was like this" she ex-
planned. you see p-y father dieC
when / was is. I was in school at
the time" public school, of course,
but Mr. Hart might think it was
boarding SCHOOL,
And poor daddy didn't leave any
me Y to speak of-just a little in
surance. He was a newspaper man
the most brilliant personl He
wrote editorials. and I guess if he
had lived he would have been very
famous"
mo need to tell Mr.. Hart what
an adorable failure Daddy was)
But mother and I've didn't
realize. of course-but we were
awfully extravagant and we drove
Daddy almost frantic"
Maybe that sounded like trips to
Europe, and fur coats, and foreign
cars-how silly it would be to let
him know that Maizie's worst ex-
travagances were trashy what-nots
for their mean little f1atD
HE had a nervous breakdown
poor dear. And the doctors said 1t
seemed as if he was simply tired sof
life. 1t was easier to die than to
get letter So my father just closed
his eyes one night. -. and never
opened them again"
Ashtoreth 6abbed her own eyes
hastily. She had loved her father
Fundamentally and passionately.
Infinitely more than she had ever
loved her dear, foolish mother.
There had been a mental COM
panionship between them that she
could never approach with Maizie.
A spiritual and intellectual init
macy.
In her secret heart Ashtoreth
attributed her fathers death to her
mothers wasteful expenditures. Joe
Ashe was. as she had said, bril-
liant writer.
But he had made the mistake -
common among men-of marrying
solely because he had found wom-
an physically attractive. Eventually,
of course, he had realized that
Maizie's flesh indeed was willing,
out her intellect was weak.
Finally it seemed to his daughter
that he had rather die than con-
tinue to live with Maize. To bear
with her cheap extravagances. Her
trivial chatter. And her inconse-
quential mind.
Joe Ashe loved beautiful things.
Maize had soul for trash. And so
-weakly-had laid him down
and died. Leaving a tidy little in
surance. And a remarkable letter to
his daughter.
Ashtoreth swallowed the lump in
her throat, and went on.
after he died." she said, Eve
simply didn't know what to do.
Mother was all broken up. So
Sadie's mother-Mrs. Morton-she's
a wonderfully good-hearted soul
she insisted upon taking us in.
1--WE we're so glad to be able to
clasp a friendly hand that it didn't
make a bit of difference who the
Mortons were-or what they we're
They're just as common as they can
be, Hollis-and poor. And unedu-
cated-and everything. But they
were beautifully kind to mother and
me =. and I'm a perfect little
beast to feel superior to Sadie!"
after ALL" she declared, Mrs.
Morton was mothers friend
A SHTORETH, unfortunately, had
IA no illusions about her mother.
She was furtively ashamed of
Maizie, and had come to lie about
her.
Pretending that she was cultured