Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-16

70 JOnn bayley. InaJ the 1OVely
GLADYS should ever have found in him
suficient attributes to, claim not only
her interest but her love was something that
even in the second and third year following
their marriage was to remain miracle in the
eyes of john
First Of all, Gladys, above everything, was
80 alive. She radiated vitality that seemed
to demand so much more than the Nsedentary
life in a cottage which the young clerk in a
large wholesale floral and tree nursery was able
to provide her.
Gladys, before her marriage, had been the
her with more than John could She had lived
her girIhood so reckessly in the spirit Of dance,
frivolity and adorable nonsense!
It gave a man pause to have come into the
vast inheritance of creature of this ire
sistible love-of-life. 1t gave him pause and
more than that. it gave him the urge of am
bition.
A MAN had to justify his good fortune in
having won wife like Gladys. More than
that, If q man wanted to hold her, he had to
earn the right. John realized all this. It gave
him a sense of pride and at the same time
filed him with a sense Of torment
What If the turn in the tide of his affairs
was not to come in time? Gladys was 90
young, so unconsciously keyed to attract al
who came within her orb. Even ON the streets.
heads swung after as she passed. In a group
S1e pfe0Omlnatco. young nuSDauQ na0 70
look to his his p's and as.
Not that Gladys herself ever gave on the
slightest awareneSs of the extent to which she
kept her husband pitched to tiptoe. The first
years were just happy, love-n-a-cottage; an
adored wife and an adorable, good-looking
young husband, who could be serious one mo-
ment and play-boy the next. True, resources
were low. The position Of clerk In the tree
nursery was not remunerative and Gladys wa
nlled with little wishes that tugged at Johns
heart.
Darling, do you think wen ever be able "a
afford Just o secondhand little coupe?
Wouldn't 1t be too heavenly having one 10
rush around IMP"
''Oh, John, fancy being able to buy the mink
coat In that window Honestly, II had just
an initiation one, I'd curl up like sardelle and
die Of happiness"
galOw like thati DO you think wen ever be able
10 afford one half rs nice?"
John did think . great deal. There was, Of
course, much to he said in behalf Of his work
at the nursery. The Offices within walking
distance Of their tiny suburban cottage, were
set in the midst Of acres Of growing roses
aisles Of spicy carnations, glowing riots Of
fuchsias, marigold, phlox, gladiolas and ma
donna lilies. From the window beside his desk
far as the eye could reach, there billowed the
shining, tender green Of young leaves and the
wind-swept waves Of color. 1t kept man g
and growing vegetation. It kept him somehow
young, and In . strange, ashamed way, rever-
entail toward the beauty of the world about
him.
ALL very wen and good from Johns angle
Pleasant. unhurried work The delightful
proximity of his small home and lovely wife
The days that ended peacefully with GLADYS
waiting for him at the end Of the floral pergols
that led from his ofhces to the high road. Al
very well and good. But It got q man nowhere
One hundred and nifty dollars month earned
In the heart Of garden, got mans wife no.
where.
Not that Gladys complained. OF course theJ
talked and planned for future, but there wa:
something frighteningly indeterminate about
that future. At best he, John, could only hops
for an increase Of from fifty to seventy-fiv'
dollars q month. Unless, Of course, the unfore.
seen happened, and he managed to wangle hi
way into the firm. That. however, was unlikely
Only calamity or catastrophe could bring tina
about, and there were two husky young som
between him and the ultimate dream Of mem
bership In the firm.
that while she hankered for so many of tn
good things denied her, there was not in he
attitude either rancor or bitterness. just
wistfulness, and 1t was that wistfulness which
somehow, broke Johns heart, and at the same
time filled him with fear.
There was a Country Club set In the suburb
where the Bayleys had set up their home
While not part Of It. Gladys had opportunity
to observe, from the remote vantage Of side
lines, the gay-spirited existence Of the polo
playing hunting, goldng, dancing and moto1
doings Of neighborhood couples about their own
age.
Evening after evening, the strains Of dane
music noated to them from the adjacent clul
house and sometimes, over the top Of hi
newspaper, John could see the foot Of Gladys
seated at her handiwork, tapping, tapping, Il
the rhythm, as II 1t were all she could do Il
hold herself in leash.
Never word. dear darling, but John grey