Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1930-05-26
Second ~lnstaIlment

Second lnstaIlment
1T doesn't seem fair she e
marked.
Fair" he sneered. "of course, II
isn't fair. Nothing Is fair. And ID
IL humanity itself that encourages
-breeds-unfairness. AS long as
men have eyes. they will he caught
with color. AS long as they have
ears. they would rather hear music
than groans. It's the parade that
counts, Linda. my love. And they've
learned 1.-THE people who want 10
get things done. You a put your
self over with a brass band and a
bow when you might crawl on your
knees 10 the edge OF the Red e
and never be heard from"
Linda. who. at sixteen, owned
sables that were much too hne 10
be worn until she was twenty-five.
had already brushed close enough
10 the swamp OF poverty 20 know
IT'S chill breath. They lived in
Cousin Amy's house that summer;
slept in grand mahogany beds: but
they used the servants sheets, and
there was only a grouchy caretaker
In the basement living ms.
Often she carried secret packages
from the corner grocerv-bitS OF
food that did not require expert
enced cooking. She did not like
this. There was something fear
some and frightening about it
much too nea the grewsome pro-
cession that walked. After that day
she listened attentivelv 10 all her
father had to say. he tried to
crowd all the dubious wisdom of
his past into the few days that re-
manned, and she reached for Ii
avidly.
Amy Ralston returned 10 Amer
lea three weeks after H~averhills
death. She was very much an
noyed. Not. OF course, because the
poor creature was dead-she admit
ted that no % had control OF the
life forces and she knew that the
end had to come to every one-but
she thought it inconsiderate Of him
10 die in her house. She had ex-
pected TO begin a series OF dinner
dances Immediately, and this neces-
STATED a period OF mourning, how
ever brief. Mourning called for
more clothes. when her trunks were
bursting with fresh Paris toilettes.
IL was comforting 70 reflect that
only the family and a few old
friends knew about Jim Haverhill
and whether he was among the
quick or the dead.
There is the daughter" she said
speculatively to her husband who
whistled or key but was much too
wise 10 offer suggestions. "A girl
like that may be a frightful respon-
sibility or an-asset, as her poor
father would have said"
But when she saw Linda in her
slim black. poised with a gentle
gravity that placed her grief In a
sacred secluded background. the
first pleasurable moment OF the
whole sad affair presented itself.
The girl Is a beauty" she ex-
ulted as a good Snowman always
exults over beauty. "She looks
like her mother. who was a fool. or
she never would have married Jim
Haverhill, but IL this child Is as
clever as she looks"
Linda vas clever. She was not
vet seventeen, but her mimi was
twenty-seven-a mind as keen and
super-rehned as her 1.-the body. She
knew OF life as a game in which
cleverness and savoir faire counted
largely, and she calmly regarded
her youth and beauty as trump
cards. The girl was not romantic;
she was free from silly complexes,
and she had no heroes. Her lips
curled when some one spoke Of
movie gods. and she was never
known 20 read a modern novel. But
with all this Linda was a charming
creature, polished and nne.