Evening star., 1936-10-11
Free Spirit
Continued from pose twelve

they invariably felt i'll at ease. Not
that Bayne said anything. There was
merely something in the atmosphere,
as if he were waiting for them to 60.
Finally one night. Lillian told the
crowd she thought Bayne wasn't a
person any more, just a celebrity.
But the reaction of the crowd wasn't
as Fundamentally in agreement as
she had thought it would be. They
were prone to excuse him. well,
after all. Bayne's a busy man these
days." Betty said. Betty. of all people,
who was most affected by his change,
because they had always paired off
before, whenever the crowd went
anywhere.
ELLEN died in 1892" Henry was
saying. "She caught the flu that
winter. She didn't take care of herself
as she ought - she was always over
doing, always taxing herself beyond
her strength. I tell you. Lillian, she
was good woman, a fine woman.
better than deserved"
''I'm terribly sorry," Lillian said.
"You must have loved her a great
deal"
Henry looked at her quickly. There
was almost reprimand in his eyes.
"She was my wife. he said simply.
"What have you done since then?
You must have had your hands full
with two children"
Maybe you think I haven't. I
was doing pretty we'll in spite of the
depression, so l hired housekeeper
and a nurse for the children. But it's
not the same. The house seems -
empty. The children need mother"
He broke off. She stole glance at
him. and she. could see his loneliness
written on his face.
Lillian recalled her own life in 1882.
BY that time the crowd had broken
up. Betty was married; the girl who
scoffed at marriage had gone down to
City Hall one Saturday afternoon and
repeated the vows with Stew Jones.
Lillian had nearly gagged on the old
bromide. Il hope you'll be very
happy"
Betty said, "Heaven's sake. Lii. you
sound as if had committed suicide"
But somehow Lillian's world had
collapsed around her. There was no
more crowd, as it had been before.
Everybody looked the same, but
something had happened to each one
of them. Bayne had gone on to real
eminence. He was force" in the
modern theatre. Even Stew Jones
was head of his department in the
advertising concern where he had
once been a clerk. And Bill Arnold.
Bill who never wanted to 60 home,
never wanted a party to break up.
was now a research chemist and
abroad on a Guggenheim Fellowship.
writing a treatise on something.
Only Lillian was the same as ever.
Only Lillian kept up the tradition.
But now she belonged to another
crowd, gathered together from the
remnants of former crowds like her
own. They were still brave enough.
they said, to live up to an ideal. to
stand clear of the stream and not be
swept away by success and envy.
They were individualists - like her
self and Phil. Theirs was the only
true happiness.
But suddenly a horrible thought
struck her. Could it be that their
ideal was only a defense for the old
fashioned inferiority complex? Were
they, perhaps, less brave than those
others who had submitted to life, who
had. as they insisted. gone on from
what they now looked back upon as
their juvenility and grown up? Had
they. perhaps, grown? And had she
merely stood still? We're Phil and his
kind futile, instead of brave?
Did they give nothing. accomplish
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