The Coolidge examiner., 1932-07-22

up LOT ner.
But it was decided almost with
out opposition, indeed with the Co
operation of Jade O'Higgins, that
the thing for Wanda to do, now that
her business interests were sufii-
ciently concentrated, was to practi-
cally transfer her residence to the
metropolis. In a subtle way. In a
fashion not TO bring the rebuke of
Medrose down upon her pretty
head.
Because, after all, it was in Med
rose that the Whalens had accumu
lated their fortune. Medrose had
been kind to her family. Deep in
her heart. however, much as the
sleepy little town might have bored
her, Wanda felt this and was
grateful.
So, on the bright spring morning
that Wanda set out from Medrose
for New York, few except her init
mates knew that there was any
thing unusual about this particular
departure. To ali external intents
and purposes. Wanda was simply
of on another of her frequent
jaunts, here, there and everywhere.
The society column reported it.
The society weekly commented up
on It, And there was an end of
it, But what the town at large did
not know was that Wanda was
practically, as she stood chic and
gayly dressed at the station that
day, shaking the dust of Medrose
of her pretty feet.
Edna Martin and Tyron and
Larry and Claiborne were at the
station to bid her adieu. There was
a more solemn note than usual "
ing underneath 1t all.
Wanda was practically leaving for
good. Tyron, in spite of the fact
that Wanda was promising to take
her abroad with her the next sum-
mer but one, shed frank tears as
the train pulled out. The boys,
doffed hats rather sadly. There was
something a little too final about 1t
all, not TO be depressed by 1t.
For twenty-eight months Wanda
did not set foot in Medrose, and,
contrary to her expectations, neith-
er did she go abroad, because Of a
course In interior decoration which
had caught her attention in New
York and to which she devoted the
major part of her time. Tyron went
to Paris on funds gaily supplied by
Wanda, but to the surprise Of those
who knew her, the young heiress
went through with the work that
was interesting her at home.
AT its conclusion, however, she
did go abroad. On n twelve-months'
tour of Italy and France, devoting
her time TO a study of the galleries
and old interiors of the larger Euro
pean cities.
They were pleasant months, filed
with interest In her work and an
honest and sustained desire to get
on in II.
Again her friends marvelled.
Wanda was by nature as gay and
as temperamentally many-colored
as a humming bird. Wanda liked
to flirt, Wanda liked to drive fast
cars. Dance the shimmering, shim-
mying dances of the period. Ride
gondolas to moonlight with a youth
proper to the occasion.
Wanda was In search of romance.
She admitted it to herself.
1t was part of the wanderlust.
Somewhere on the face of the
globe that she was free to wander
at will, there lurked what she
sought.
1t kept her feet wandering on.
1t beckoned her from city to city,
from country to country. from mood
to mood.
Somewhere lurked romance.
She found 1t in an old corner of
a garden in Florence.
Turning a shaded walk, sudden
ly. in the Boboli gardens, she came
upon the left shoulder of a young
man dabbing paint upon a canvas
that was propped upon a small
easel.
For ten minutes, standing there
regarding that left shoulder, Wan
da. the level-headed Wanda, knew
before he swung around to face her,
that she was in love.
Knew it with a curious, and in
this case a most sure-fre, instinct
of hers that was never to fail her.
OF course the face, when It
swung around, was to bowl her
over; to paralyze her for the mo-
ment with surprise. With a flutter
of heart beat.
1t was the face Of Claiborne Clay.
1t was the face that was ultimate
ly to lead her from the four corners
of the earth, back to Medrose for
the elimination of her romance.