Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1934-08-25

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W TWO PARTS PART ONE
ar TnR WEDDING KvERx
0agM SAM JEANS AND gKRRY's
MARRIAGE DIDN'T HAVE a
CHANCE w A HUNDRED THEY
DEmNT KNOW now FATE HAD
CHANGED TEE ODDS JUST TIE
WEEK. BEFORE.
u Was fnconceivable that their ro-
nance would last and equally incon-
celvahle that Il should not have start
Cd. They were too much alike to pass
each ether by. They were such 9
matched pair-two irnpetuots. head
strong youngsters. completely spoiled
life long strangers 70 any idea Of sac-
FffSce, marked and set apart BY the gods
30 play khs game reekiessly and event
uaIIy destroy each other.
People said and thought these things
with absolute conviction when it first
started. They said the wedding was a
piece Of splendid pageantry, well staged
and lovely to watch But they had q
feeling that Disaster sat up IN the
choir lozt, smiling 10 himself as the
organ breathed its most tender notes
and the soprano sang Of undying love.
The marriage had one chance IN q
hundred There wasn't q doubt Of 1t.
But no one knew how the odds changed
just before the wedding, or the reason.
Els mother began the spelling OF Ger
aid Prentice and his everlasting good
luck finished off the Job. There was
excuse enough for his mother. for he
was her youngest and he arrived after
. lapse Of ten years. She was helpless
before his cherubic charms, and her
vsSsalage lasted until her death sixteen
years later.
A kindly fate gave him rare good
looks not merely classic perfection Of
Of features, but genuine distinction Of
build and bearing There was added
good health, a tolerably good mind and
such an agreeable personality that he
made and held friendships readily. His
instincts, fortunately, kept him free Of
sn0bbery.
The family was on the way up when
he appeared Els brother Harry had
been born 10 an ugly box Of q house
set In the sandlots across the tracks.
Jerry romped through babyEood on the
shady lawns surrounding the new home
Ia Rosewood. Harry was q local high
school boy, Jerry enjoyed st. Elbert's
and Princeton. The war, 10 Jerry, was
q game you played with other ten
year-olds between clipped hedges 10
Rosewood. It was glorious game, and
ne was unable to understand why Harry
was 80 grimly determined TO be out Of
his uniform the day Of his discharge.
There were three jobs Jerry might
have had IN the halcyon days Of 1898.
He settled on one with conservative
brokerage house. Perhaps he had IN
mind when he made the connections
ne did IN school and college. But more
likely it happened, as things always
happened TO Jerry, exactly right lie
made money and spent it. In 1882 be
was as broke as the next one, but bis
money had brought him some good
times, and not merely daily headaches
after the markets close. Then, still the
favored one, he went 10 live with his
Aunt Margaret Baily. Her sons death
had left her alone, and she took Jerry
Tho only nephew unattached under
her wing. He was living here when he
met Jean Vance.
Aunt Margaret was his mothers old
EST sister. She could easily have been
his grandmother. Jerry had known
aer as q proud stalwart soul-the auto
srat Of the family, leader Of the pre-
,eding generation.
But her vigor and her strength left
1er when Mervin Baily died. She had
eaned on her son during bis life. She
would have crumbled without the menu
wy OF him afterward. She was no
0nQer proud. She meIlowed the way
Id people should. Jerry found her q
sathetic figure O. collapsed grandeur,
0nely and eager for some one to listen
ghile she recited the praises OF the In
redible scapegrace who had been her
on.
Jerry knew Of Mervfn BaiIy's ques-
Ionable career. He knew OF the
candais that lowered like unwhole-
ONE spirits whenever his name Yves
Mentioned Il was an family history.
'or instance. there was the divorce that 1
0llowed tue visit u6 q Mrs Chance to :
Rosewood one summer. Yet Jerry
'olid nod agreement when Aunt Mar
aret said, as she did so often, HE
'as wonderful son, Jerry He never )
i'd a mean or dishonest thing in his i
fe.n
* was too young to know him vel, I"
erry would answer. He must have 4
cen mighty fine, all right
It wasn't that he was trying 30 hang
q to this home with Aunt Margaret, =
: the membership In the country club i
hich slle kept up for him, or the use y
&ervin's roadster, which she never =
I'D There was q reasonable amount q
honesty in Jerry. lie would have Il
llled Mervin Baaly mighty fine "a. no =
he except MerVins mother For 1t wRs y
1parent that Aunt Margaret was not Il
imply pretending MiracuIos1sly, she
slieved every word she said. II was
mny to hear her-yet not 50 funny "
it was ironic. The thought OF 1t N