The Washington times., 1931-01-27

sionary-"
Minus the hymns" Carson
smiled. mo, I'm not the
preacher type. With me, I sup.
pose, it's something Of a hobby
like certain men take up big
game hunting. Sometimes, I
fancy may do a little good in
the world, but I'm still beyond
the pale. I might marry some
girl on Tenth Avenue and be
reasonably sure she wouldn't be
embarrassed by my record. But
a girl like you couldn't tell her
friend that her husband was
suspicious character. Believe
me, I am feeling aware how
much such things mean to
women. Respectable society
doesn't tolerate people like me-"
Connie Is Peeved
Respectable society is damn
ed unrespectable in its own
way" Connie retorted. How
ever, think you're quite right.
AS long as you are ashamed of
the life you are living I don't
think you ought to propose to
any girl"
She realized she was sharply
angry at him; despite his keen
ness, he seemed to be clinging
to some vague code. ChiValry,
as SenSeless as it was antiquated.
With Kitty he could be natural
and at ease, could face facts as
they were, but Connie had
noted, when he talked to her he
became stilted and conventional.
You don't understand how
-" he started to say, but she
snapped him up:
"Oh, oh, please, stop it! It
doesn't matter one way or an
other"
It was humiliating to her
that he had the power of irri-
tating her so definitely. What,
she wondered, had become Of
the vibrating magnetism in him
that had so attracted her be-
fore? And why, also-f he
was without attraction-did he
now stir up this balky, Sullen
feeling? Further and further
she began to find herself re-
treating into a shell.
Don't let me forget to stop
at the drug store and get a
package of floor wax"
There was no necessity for
getting floor wax; it was the
most colorless, most personal
thing she could think of at the
moment. To speak of some
thing different helped to re-
store her poise. After all, she
did not want to disagree
able to Duke Carson, but. mys-
teriously, he had ruffled her.
He, too, seemed relieved to get
back to safe topics.
Tired Of 1t All
Nothing, Connie realized, had
been accomplished between her
self and Duke Carson as to
the pearls; already, she was be-
ginning to be utterly weary Of
the mysterious theft.
To stand in front Of the
counters of the provision stores
in town and negotiate with
tradesmen refreshed her with a
homely simplicity. The instinct
for marketing gave her a secure
sense of stability in a world
where all else was chaotic. It
gave her the feeling of solid
ground under her feet. The
only escape from perpleXities,
she family realized, was a turn
ing inward, an unoccupied state
of mind.
AS the grocery's clerk bundled
her packages in the wagon, Duke
Carson stood around with the
useless, awkward air, so charac-
teriStic of city men entrapped
by their wives upon missions of
utilitarian shopping. Had any
stranger observed them, Carson
might easily be mistaken for
her husband. Connie expert
enced vaguely an unfamiliar
sensation of dominance in a
field exclusively feminine;
pseudo-domestic preoccupation
in which a man, lover or hus-
band, was Of less consequence,
= temporarily, than a grocery
clerk or stolid meat man.
The Battle for Food
A dozen other women, sim
ilarly employed, We'd with Con-
ME in the struggle for food: at
the curb their cars were parked
so closely that it required con-
sinderable skill for her to back
the station wagon in a space
without Scraping.
All of this, she was extremely
conscious, impressed Carson
with a flattering conception of
her practical abilities. Immedi-
ately he told her:
You are the most wifely girl
ever met I'll never be happy
on earth with any other girl
but you"
HA-ks-nL