Indianapolis Times, Volume 35, Number 179, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 December 1922 — Page 8

8

A Hoosier Chronicle By MEREDITH NICHOLSON First Novel in thè Times Serica of Fiction Stories by Indiana Writers (Copyright. 1915. by Meredith Ntcholson.)

“I want you to make your way In thè professJon,” he sald, “and not let my assai rs eat up al! your timo. Glve me your momlngs aa far as possible and keep your afternoona for study. If at any Urne you bave to give me a whole day, take thè next day for yourself. But this work you're doing wlll all help you later. Lawyera these daya ha ve gotto be business men; you understand that; and you want to getto thè top.'* Dan vtsited his parente and brothers as often aa possible on thè infertile Harrison County aerea, to which thè mortgage stili clung tenaciously. Aster one of these visita Bassett drew from hlm thè fact that thè mortgage was about to mature and that another of a long serles of renewals of thè loan waa necessary. Bassett was at once lnterested and sympathetic. The amount of thè debt was $3,e00, and he proposed that Dan discharge il. ‘Tve neve, said so, but at thè conclusion of thè receivership I’ve intended paylng you for your additional work. If everything goea well my jwn allowance ought to be SIO,OOO, and you're entitled to a share of it. I’il say now that lt will be not lesa than $3,000. I’U advaance you that amount at once and carry your personal note for thè other thousand in thè Fraserville bank. It's too bad you have to use your fìrst money that way, but it’s naturai for you to want to do lt. I aee that you feel a duty there, and thè folks at home bave had that mortgage on thelr backs so long that lt’s taken all thè splrit out of them. You pay thè mortgage when lt’s due and go down and make a little celebration of it, to cheer them up. Ili carry that thousand as long as you llke.” Miss Rose Farrell, nigh to perishlng of ennul in thè office of thè absente® Steel constructlon agrents, had been installed as stenographer In Room 66 a year earller. Miss Farrell had, it appeared. served Bassett several terme as stenographer to one of thè legislative committees of which he was chairman. "You needn’t be afratd of my telllng anything,’' she said in reply to Dan’s cautioning. “Those winters I worked at thè Statehouse I learned enough to fili three penttentiaries with great and good men, but you couldn’t d!g lt out of me with a steam shovel. They were golng to have me up before an investlgatlng committee once, but I had burned my shorthand notes and couldn’t remember a thing. Your little Irlsh Rose knows a few thlngs, Mr. Harwood. I waa on to your office before thè ‘Advertiser’ sprung that story and gave lt away that Mr. Bassett had a room here. I spotted thè Senator fronc Fraser coming up our pedestrian elevator, and I know all those rubes that have been dropping up to see him —struck 'era all in thè Legislature. He won’t tear your celiar if you put me on thè Job. And if I do say lt myself I’m about as speedy on thè machine as you flnd ’em. AH your little Rose asks is thè right to an occasionai Wednesday matinee when business droops llke a elck oleander. You needn't worry about me havlng callers. I‘m a business woman, I am, and I guess I know what’s proper in a business office. If I don't underatand men, Mr. Harwood, no poor working girl does." Bassett was pleased with Dan's choice of a stenographer. He turned over to Rose thè reading of thè rural newspapers and sundry other routine m&tters. There was no doubt of Miss Farrell’s broad knowledge of thè world, or of her fldellty to duty. Harwood took early opportunlty to subdue aomewhat thè pungency of thè essences with which she perfumed her eelf, and she gave up gum-chewing meekly at his behest. She assumed at once toward him that matemal atti tude which la peculiar to office girla endowed with psj chological lnsight. He sought to lmprove thè character of flctlon che kept at hand for lelsure moments, and was surprised by thè aptness of her commenta on thè books she borrowed on his advice from thè publlc library. She was 24, tal! and trini, with friendly blue-gray eyes and a wit that had been sharpened by adversity. It cannot be denied that Mrs. Baseett and Marian sound Harwood a convenient reed upon which to lean. Nor was Blackford above dragging his fatheris secretary (aa thè famlly called him) forth into thè bazaars of Washington St. to assist in thè purchase of a baseball sult or in satisfying other cravings of his youthful heart. Mrs. Bassett, scoming thè doctors of Fraserville, had now sound a nerve epecialist at thè capitai who understood her troubles perfectly. ' Marian. at Miss Warlng's school, waa supposed to be preparlng for college, though Miss Warlng had no Illusione on thè subject. Marian made Mrs. Owen her excuse for many absenees from school; what was thè use of having a wealthy great-aunt Uving all alone in a comfortable house in Delaware St. if one dldn't arali one's self of thè rights and prlvlleges conferred by euch relationshlp? When a note from Miss Warlng to Mrs. Baseett at FraservQle conveyed thè dlsquletlng news of her daughter’s unsatlsfactory progress. Mra. Bassett went to town and dealt severely with Marian. Mrs Owen was grimly eilent when appealed to; it had never been ber idea that Marian should be pre-r-ared for college; but now that thè girl's mother had pledged herself to thè undertaking Mrs. Owen remalned a passive spectator of thè etruggle. Mrs. Owen was not so dull but that ehe surinlsed what had lnsplred this zeal for a collegiate training for Marian. To Miss Waring. a parti cu lar ÌSdend of hers and one of her admlraOwen said: “I want ypu to do thè best you can for Marian, now that her mother'a bitten with this idea of 6ending her to college. She’s smart enough. I guess?” "Too much emartness ia Marian’s trouble,” replled Miss Waring. "There’s nothlng in tfce gymrasium she can't do; she'a become thè best French scholar we ever had. but that’s about all. She's worked hard at French because she thinks lt glves her a grand air. I can't lmagine any Other reaaon. She's adorable and—lmposslble!” "Do riie best you can for her; I want to go to college if

Miss Waring has thè reputatlon of beIng strici, yet Marian slipped thè corda of routine and discipline with ease. She had passed t.riumphantly from thè kltchen "fudge” and homemade butterscotch period of a girl's existence into thè realm of inarrons glaces. Luck favored her astonishingly in her efforts to escape thè rigors of school discipline. Just when she was forbidden to leave Miss Waring’s to spend nlghte and Sundays at Mrs. Owen’s, her mother carne to town and opportunely (for Marian) fell Ili, at thè Whltcomb. Mrs. Bassett was cruising languldly toward thè oombre coasts of neurasthenia, and though she was under thè supervlsion of a trained nurse, Marian made her mother’a illnoss an excuse for moving down to thè hotel to take care of her. Her father, in and out of thè city caring for his multlpiylng interests, objected mildly but acquiesced, which was slmpler and more comfortable than opposing her. Having escaped from school and establlshed herself at thè Whltcomb. Marian summoned Harwood to thè hotel on thè fìimsiest pretesta, many of thè mmost lngeniously plauslble. Mrs. Bassett was golng to a sana torium as soon as she was able to move; but for three weeks Marian was on Harwood’s hands. Her biand alrs of proprietorship amused him when they did not annoy hlm, and when ho ventured to remonstrate with her for her unnecessary abandonment of school to take care of her mother, her pretty moue had mitlgated his lmpatience. She knew thè value of her prettlness. Dan was a young màn and Marian was not without romantlc longlngs. Just what passed between her and her mother Harwood could not know, but thè hand that ruled lndulgently in health had certalnly not gained strength In sickness. This was in January when thè theaters were offering an unusual variety of attractions. Dan had been obliged to refuse —more harshly than was agreeable—to take Marian to see a French farce that had been widely advertised by lts lndecency. Iler cool announcement that she had read it in French did not seem to Harwood to make an educational matter of lt; but he was obliged flnally to compromise with her on another play. That evening when they reached thelr seats Dan observed that Alien Thatcher sat immedlately In front of them. He turned and nodded to Dan and his eyes took in Marian. In a moment she murmured an lnqulry as to who thè young man was; and Harwood was aware thereafter that Marian divided her attention between Alien and thè stage. Alien turned once or twlce in thè entriactes with some comment on thè play, and Marian was pleased with his profila; moreover he bore a name with which she had long been familiar. As thè curia! n fell ehe whispered to Ilarwood;— "You must introduce me to Mr. Thatcher. —please—! His father and papa are friends, and I’ve heard so much about thè famlly that I Ju3t have to know him.” “Xo!” he sald flatly. But Marian knew a trick or two. She loitered by her eeat adjusting her wrap with unnecessary deliberation. Alien, wishing to arrange an appolntment with Dan for luncheon thè next day, walted for hlm to come into thè alale. Dan had not thè slightest idea of introducine his charge to Alien or to any one elsa, and he stepped in front of her‘ to get rld of his friend with thè fewest words possible. But Marian so dlsposed herself at his elbow that he could not without awkwardness refuse her. ■ She murmured Allen’s name cordiali}-, leveling her eyes at him smlllngly. “I've often heard Mr. Harwood speak of you, Mr. Thatcher! He has a great way of speaklng of bis friends!” Alien was not a forthputting person, and Dan'a manner was not oncouraglng: but thè trio remalned to gether necessarily through thè aisle to thè foyer. Marian took advantage of thelr low exit to discuss th© play an i with entire sophistication, expressing astonishment that Alien was lukewarm in his pralse of lt. He could not agre® with her that thè lendini? woman was beautiful, but she laughed when he remarked, with his droll tntonation, that thè star reminded him of a dressed up manntkln in a clothing store wlndow. “That is Just thè kind of thing I imagined you would say. My aunt, Mra. Owen, says that you alwaya say somethlng dlfferent.” "Oh. Aunt Sally! She’s thè grandest of women. I wish she were my aunt. I have aunts I could trade for her." At thè door Alien paused. Marian, runnlng on bllthely. gave him no opportunlty to make his adleux. “Oh, aren’t you golng our way?" she demanded, in a tona of lnvltatlon. "Yes: come along; it's only a step to thè hotel where Miss Bassett ts staying,” sald Harwood, findlng that they blocked th* entrance and not seeing his way to abandoning Alien on thè spot. When they reached th* hotel, Dan, who had left thè eonversation to Marian and Alien, breathed a elgh that his responsibility was at an end. But Dan had not fully gauged thè measure of Marlan's dar ing. “Won’t you please walt a minute. Mr. Harwood, until I see if poor mania needs anything. You know we all rely on you so. l’H be back in Just a moment." "So that’s Morton Bassett’s daughter,’’ observed Alien when Marino had fluttered into thè elevator. “Yoi; must have a lot of fui. taking her —oout: she's much more grown-up than I had imagined from what you’ve said. She's almost a dangerous young person.” The young men sound seats and Alien nursed his hat musingly. He had nothing whatever to do, and thè chance meeting with Harwood was a bright lncident in a bleak, eventleas day. "Oh, she's a nice chlld," replied Harwood indifferently. "I thlnk I’d better go,” suggested Alien. “I can walt for you in thè office." “Then I should pay thè penalty for allowing you to escape; she can be very severe; she is a much harder taskriaster than her father. Don’t dcssrt me^’

DOINGS OF THE DUFFS—

HEL'wO.ToM - SAV. OLIVIA HAD KMOCKED f THE OH LV THIMG VJE. CAM TJ ì ..( fORGOT TO 7TTT AW ACCtDEMT! CAN VoU HOV4 DiD VOO EVEaJ) RIMO OFF THE V f DO 15 UWSCREW “THESE THE WATER. y . COHE RIGHT HOME? SHE r'.PT ìki TnERE / WASHSTAND ANO PIPES ANO I’LL PUU THE WAS WAÓHIHO HER ì 1 ifM TRiED TO GETIT , . TOB OOT A LITTLE WAVtf*) ) -JJ C f HuRRV AMO r DROPPED HER Ri MG BACK OF S S \AMD MOW l*H WEOGEO W Kfrtiuf m l “ * 'illi Wa IIhIh"l <3 ET OOT 50 , THEBATHTUB AND IKI TRVING j P f ’ S TO DTT ( 6LEEP? / ''ifj' 1 M ©ACK •

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THEM DAYS Ifj'OON'E FOKEVEK—

A — MCS* AfOY KIMP 00 U)l)K. 1 THOOGKT yow DEM AM OW6, 160 SOPPCW6O CMINC remtßEß. !

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Alien took this at face value; and it seemed only ordinary courtesy to wait to say good-night to a young woman who was coming back In a moment to report upon thè conditlon of a sick mother. In ten minutes Marian reappeared, having left her wraps behind. / "Marna ls sleeping beautlfully. An<l that’s a sign that she’a better."

OUT OUR WAY—By WILLIAMS

THE OLD HOME TOWN—By STANLEY

Ilare clearly was an end of thè matter, and Dan had begun to Bay goodnight; but with thè prettiest grace possible Marian was addressing Alien: “I’m terribly hungry and I sent down an order for Just thè smallest supper. Marna doesn’t llke me to be going Into thè restaurant alone, but she approves Mr. Harwood.” The head wa#.er waa already leadlng

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them to a table set for three in accordarle with thè order Marian had telephoned from her room. She had eliminated thè possibility of discus. sion t and Harwood raged in his helpiessness. There w'as no timo for a scene even if he had thought it wise to precipitate one. "It’s only a lobster, you know,” she said, with thè c&reless eaae of a young

Olivia Is in Wrong

fif ! ' ì & T’AA TDY\M! T* FIMO ) Mi 'nf VOANJB LENìoTH ) fcjßS srv y" :r j .

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woman quite habltuated to midnlght suppere. In his delight in Marian, Alien failed utterly to comprehend Harwood’s gloomy sllence. Dan scarceiy touched his piate, and he knew that Marian was covertly laughing at him. "Do you know," said Alien, speaking directly to Dan, “we’rs having great argumants at Luderis; ws tura

FRECKIjES AND HIS FRIENDS—By BLOSSER

OUR BOxiRDING HOUSE—By AHERN

thè universe over every day.” "You see, Miss Bassett,” Alien explained to Marian; “I'm a fair carpenter and w-ork almost every day at Louis Luder’s shop. I eam a dollar a day and eat dinner—dinner, mind youl—at twelve o’clock, out of a tin pali. You can see that I’m a laborìng man—one of thè toillng millions.” "You don’t me&n that serioualy, Mr.

DEO. 6, 1922

—By ALLMAN

—Bv AL POSEN

Thatcher; noi ready!” “Oh t why will you say that? Every one says just that! No one aver beiieves that X mean what I say!" This was part of some joke. Maria ri surmised, though she dici not qulte grasp it. Alien in his diner jaoket did not look like a laborer; he was far more her idea of a. poet or 8. mualcian. (To Be Contlnued)