Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1917)
THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEORA9KA. The Real Adventure By Henry Kitchell Webster COMES THE GREAT EVENT IN ROSE ALDRICH'S LIFE, THE PROSPECT OF A BABY, AND SHE REALIZES THAT WOMAN'S FINEST PROFESSION IS MOTHERHOOD-BUT PLANS GO SADLY AWRY SYNOPSIS Roso Stnnton marries Rodney Aldrlcli, n rich young lawyer, after a brief courtship, and in ntnntly is taken up by Chicago's cxcluslvo soclnl set and mado n part of the gay whirl of the rich folk. It Is nil new to the girl, nnd for the first few months slio is charmed with the life. And then sho comes to feci that she Is living a useless existence, that she is a social butterfly, a mere ornament In her husband's home. Rose longs to flo something useful and to have the opportunity to employ her mind and utilize her talent and edu cation. Rodney feels much the sumo way himself. He thinks lie ought to potter around In society just to pleaso his wife, when In reality he'd rather be giving his nights to study or social service of some sort. They try to reach an understanding, following the visit of two New York friends, who have worked out satisfactorily this samo problem. . CHAPTER XI Continued. 'But fihe went steadily on. "You were always so dear about It. But tonight oh, Rodney ... I" Her silly, ragged voice chokad thero and stopped, nnd the tears brimmed tip and xpllled down her cheeks. But she kept her faco steadfastly turned to his. "That's what I said nbout being married nnd not sowing wild oats, I suppose," ho sold glumly. "It was a Joko. Do you suppose I'd liavo said It if I meant it?" "It wasn't only that," she munnged to go on. "It was the way they looked at tho houso; tho way you apologized for ray dress; tho way you looked when you tried to" get out of answer ing Barry Lnko's questions nbout what you wero doing. Oh, how 1 despised myself I And how I knew you nnd they must bo despising met" "Tho one thing I felt nbout you all tho evening," ho said, with tho pa tlcnco thnt marks tho last stage of exasperation, "was pride. I was rath er crn?lly , proud of you." "As my lover you wero proud of rao," sho said. "But tho other man the man that's moro truly you was ashamed, as I was ashamed. Oh, it doesn't mnttorl Being ashamed won't accomplish anything. But what we'll do Is going to accomplish something." "What do you mean to do?" he asked. "I want you to toll mo first," sho said, "how much money wo have,and how much wo'vo been spending." "I don't know," ho said stubbornly. "I don't know exactly." , '"You'vo got enough, haven't you, of your own ... I moan, tlicro's enough that comes In every year, to llvo on, if you didn't earn a cent by practicing law? Well, what I want to do, is to live on that. I want to llvo, however nnd wherovcr wo have to to llvo on that out In tho suburbs Tl.aVi Why I Wanted to Things Tonight" Doclde owowherc. or in a flat, so that you will bo f rco ; and I can work bo sorao aort of help." "You can wash tho dishes and scrub the floor," ho supplemented, "and I can carry ray lunch to the ofllco with Me in n little tin box." Ho looked nt kls watch. "And now that tho thing's reduced to an absurdity, let's go to bed. It's getting along toward two clock." "You don't havo to got to tho office Mil nlno tomorrow morning," said 'Rose. "And I want to talk it out now. And I don't think I said uny thing thnt was absurd," "I shouldn't have called it absurd," fee admitted after a rather long si acc. "But It's exaggerated nnd un accessary. Next October, when tho lease oh this house runs' out, wo can Manage, perhaps, to change tho ucnto s Wttle, Thero you are I Now do atop wearying about it awl let's go to bed." Rat she sat there just as sho wna, afcutax Mm yirg Are, bwr luuada Copyright 1916, Bobbs-Merrill Co. lying slack In her lap, all as If she hndn't heard. The long silence Irked him. He pulled out his watch, looked at It, and began winding it. Ho mend ed the Are so thnt it would be safe for tho night; bolted a window. Ev ery minute or two ho stole a look at her, but she was always just tho same. Except for tho faint rlso and fall of her bosom, she might have been a picture, not a woman. At last he said again, "Come nlong, Roso dear." "It'll be too lato In October," Bhe paid. "That's why I wnnted to de cide things tonight. Bocnuso wo must begin right nwny." Then sho looked up Into his fncet "It will bo too late In October," sho repeated, "unless wo be gin now." Tho deep, tenso seriousness of her voice nnd her look arrested his full attention. "Why?" he asked. And then, "Rose, what do you mean?" "We're going to havo n baby In Octobor," sho said. CHAPTER XII. The Door That Was to Open. Whnt a silly littlo Idiot sho'd been not to have seen tho thing for her self) She'd been, all tho whlld, beat ing her head against blind walls when thero was a door thero waiting to open of Itself when tho time enmc. Motherhood 1 Thcro'd be a doctor and a nurso at first, of course, but presently thoy'd go nwny nnd sho'd bo left with a baby. Her own baby! She could caro for him with her own hands, feed him hor Joy reached an ecstasy at thlB from her own breast. That llfo which Rodney led npnrl from her, tho llfo Into which sho had tried with such ludicrous unsucccss to effect an entrance, was nothing .to this nowllfo which wns to open beforo her In a fow short months now. Mean while, she not only must wait sho could well afford to. That was why Bho could listen with that untroubled smllo o hers to tho terriblo things that Rodney nnd James Randolph nnd Barry Lako and Jano got Into tho way of hurling across her dinner tnblo, nnd to tho moro mildly expressed but equally ulkallno cynicisms of Jimmy Wallace, Jimmy was dramatic critic on ono of tho evening papers as well as a bit of a playwright. Ho wus a slim, cool, smiling, highly sophisticated young man, who renounced all privileges as nu interpreter of llfo In favor of re maining an unbiased observer of it. Ho novcr bothered to speculate aboui what you ought to do ho waited to see what you did. Well, in tho light of tho miraculous transformation that lay beforo her, Roso could listen undaunted to tho tough phllosophlzlngs her husband and Barry Luko delighted In ns well as to tho uiordnnt merciless realities with which Doctor Randolph and Jimmy Wallaco continued them. Sho wnsn't Indifferent to it all. "Jim's pretty weird when ho gets golngr" Elcauor Randolph said to Fred erica, on tho next duy after they had been dining nt tho Aldrlchcs', "but thnt Barry Lako has a Rort of surgical way of discussing Just anything, and his wlfo's as bad. "Wo never got oft women all tho evening. Barry Lako had their his tory down from Uio early Egyptians, and Jim got off a string of patholog ical freaks. And then Rodney caino out strong for economic independence, only with his own queer auglo on it, of course. Ho thought It would bo a fino thing, but It wouldn't hnppcn un til tho men Insisted on it When a girl wasn't regarded as marriageable unless sho had boon trained to a trado or a profession, then things would be gin to happen. I think bo meant it, too. "Well, and nil tlio whllo thero sat Rose, taking It all In with thoso big eyes of hers, smiling to herself now and then; saying things, too, some times, that wero pretty good, though nobody but Jimmy seemed to under stand, always, Just what she monnt. They'vo talked before, thoso two. But sho was no moro embarrassed than us if wo'd been talking embroidery stitches." So far as externnls went, her life, that spring, was Immensely simplified. Tho social demands upon her, which had bacn so Insistent nil winter, stoopm! almost automatically. The exception was tho Junior League show In Easter week, for which sho put in qulto n lot of work. Sho was to have danced in it. This Is an annual entertainment by which Chicago sets great store. All tho smartest nnd best-looking of the younger set tnko part In it, In cos tumes .that would do credit to n chorus dresser, nnd ns much of Chicago as Is willing und nblc to pay live dollars n seat for tho privilege Is welcome to corao and look. Delirious weeks aro spent In rehearsal, under a first class professional director; audience nnd performers have an equally good time, nnd Charity, as residuary lega tee, profits by thousnnds. Rose dropped In at a rehearsal ono day at tho end of a solid two hours of committee work, found it unexpect edly amusing, and mado a point, there after, of attending when sho could. Her interest wns heightened, If not wholly actuated, by some things Jim my Wallaco had been telling her late ly nbout how such things were done on tho real stage. Ho had written a musical comedy once, lived through the production of It, and had spent aTianT-eafned' two weeks' "vncutlon trouplng with it on the road, so ho could speak with au thority. It was a wonderful Odyssey when you cquld get him to tell it, and as Roso mado a good uudlence, she got tho whole thing nt her dinner table. The thing got a sociological twist ovcntunlly, of course, when Jano wnnt ed to know If it were truo thnt tho chorus girls received lnndcqunte puy. Jimmy demolished this with moro wrath than he often showed. Ho didn't know nny other sort of job that paid a totally untrained girl as well. It took a really accomplished stenogra pher, for instance, to earn ns much n week ns was paid the averago chorus girl. Tho trouble was that tho lndls pcnsnblo assets In the business were no? character alif Intelligence" and am bition, but just personal charms. "But n girl who's serious about it, who doesn't hnve to bo told tho samo thing moro than once, nnd catches on, sometimes, without being told nt nil, why, sho can nlwnys have a job and sho can be as Independent as any body. Sho can get twenty-five dollars n week or even ns high us thirty." The latter part of this conversation wns whnt oho wus to remember nfter ward, but tho thing that Impressed Roso at tho time, nnd that held her for hours looking on nt tho League show rehearsals, was what Jimmy had told her about tho technical side of tho work of production, tho labors of tho director, nnd so on. As tho weeks nnd months wore away, and ns tho season of, violent alter nations between summer nnd winter, which tho Chlcugonn calls spring, gave plnco to summer itself, Rosd was driven to Intrench herself more nnd moro deeply behind this grcut expectation. It was Ilka a dam hold ing back wntcrs thnt otberwlso would havo rushed down upon her and swept her nwny. And then enmo Harrlee, Rodney's J other sister, nnd tho prcssuro behind tho dam roso higher. Rosq had tried, rather unsuccess fully, to rcallzo that thero was actu ally In existence another womnn who occupied, by blood nnywny, tho snrao position toward Bodnoy nnd herself thnt Fredcrlcu did. Sho felt almost Uko n real sister townrd Fredcrlca. But without qulto putting tho notion Into words, sho had always felt it was just as well that narrlet was un Italian contessa, four thousand miles away, Rodney and Fredcrlca spoke of her affectionately, to bo sure, but their references mado n picture of a rather formidably correct, seriously aristocratic sort of person. Sho'd discovered, along In tho win ter sometime, thnt Harriot's affairs wero going rather badly. It was along In May that tho cable camo to Fredc rlca announcing that Harriot was com ing back for n long visit. "That's ull sho said," Rodney explained to Rose. "But I supposo It means the finish. Sho said sho didn't want nny fuss made, but sho hinted sho'd Uko to hnve Freddy meet her in New York, wnd Freddy's going. Poor old Harriet l Wo must try to cheer her up." Sho didn't seem much in need of cheering up, Roso thought, wheu they first met. All that showed qn the con- tossa'a highly psUshed surface was a disposition to talk humorously over old times with her old friends, In cluding her brother nnd sister, nnd a sort of dismayed acquiescence In the smoky seriousness, tho Inadequate civilization, of tho city of her birth. Townrd Roso herself, the contessa was, ono might say, studiously nffec tlonnte. She avoided being either dls agrecnblo or patronizing. Roso could see, Indeed, how sho nvoldcd It. About this time the question where Rose nnd Rodney wero going to llvo nftcr their lease on tho McCrea house ended, had begun to press for an an swer. October first wns when tho leaso expired, and it wasn't far from tho date at which they expected tho baby. They spent somo lovely after noons during tho days of tho emerg ing spring, cruising nbout looking nt possible places. This wns the situation when Hnr- riot took n hnnd in It. It wns a situa tion mado to order for Harriet to take a hand In. Sho'd sized it up at u glance, made up her mind In three minutes what was the sensible thing for them to do. written a note to Florence McCrea In Paris, nnd then bided her opportunity to put her Idea Into effect. To, her Roso wns simply a well-meaning, somewhat Inadequately 4 She Stared, Bewildered. civilized young person, the beneficiary, through her marriage with Rodney, of a piece of unmerited good fortune. When sho got Florenco McCren's answer to her letter, she took the first occasion to get Rodney off by himself and talk a little common senso Into him. "What about where to live, Rod ney?" sho asked. "Mado up your mind about it yet? It Is time someone with n little common senso straight ened you out about this." narrlet couldn't bo sure from the length of time ho took seeing that liis pipe was properly lighted, wheth er he altogether liked this method of approach or not "Common sense nlways was, a sort of specialty of yours, sis," ho said at last, "and straightening out. You wero always pretty good at it." Then out of a cloud of his own smoke, "Flro away." "Well, la the flrsfpldceV she said, "If you hud your houso today you'd bo lucky if tho paint was dry and the thing was fit to move Into by the first of- September.' "But we've got to get out of-here, anyway, in October. And that means we've got to havo boiuo sort of lnce to get Into. It is an awkward time, I'll admit." "No, you haven't," sho said. "Yoij, can stay right hero another six months, If you like. I'vojieard from Florence. When I fouud how things stood hero, I wrote nnd asked her if .she'd lenso for six months moro if sho got tho chance, and sho wrote back and simply grabbed at It." Rodney smoked hnlf way through his pipo before he mado nny comment on this suggestion. "This houso isn't JUst what we wuut," ho said. "In the tlrsf place, It's expensive." Harriet shrugged her shoulders; picked up ono of Florence's poetry books and eyed tho heavily tooled bind lug with u satirical smllo beforo sho replied. "I'd an Idea thero was that in it,' sho said at last. "Freddy said some thing. . . Roso had been talking to her." Then, after another littlo silence and with a sudden ncccss of vehemeuce: "You don't want to go ;nnd do a regular fool thing, Roddy. fYou're getting on perfectly splendld- ly. But If you pull up red go to live In a barn somewhero and stop seeing any bodypeople that count, I mean" Rodney grunted. "You're beyond your depth, sis," ho said. "Come back where you don't have to swim. Tho expense isn't a capital consideration, I'll admit that. Now go on from there." "Thnt's Uko old times," sho ob served with a not Ill-humored grim ace. "I wonder if you talk to Roso Uko that. Ob, I know the house Is rather solemn and absurd. It's Flot enco herself all over, thnt's the size of it But what does that matter for six months more?" Ho pocketed his pipe and got up out of his chair. "There's something in It," he ad mlttcd. Til thlak It over." "Better cable Florence as soon aa you enn," sho advised. Roso protested when tho plnn for living six months more In Florence McCren's house was broached to her. She mrlde the best fight she could. But Harriet's arguments, rc-stnted now by Rodney with full conviction, wero too much for her. When she broke down and cried, as she couldn't help doing, Rodney soothed nnd com forted her, assured her thnt this no tion of hers about the expcnslveness of it nil, wns just a notion, which sho must struggle ngnlnst ns best sho could. She'd see things In a truei proportion afterward. Very flno nnd smnll nnd weak, Rose Stanton, lyinp In n bed with people nbout hor, lt her eyes fall heavily shut lest they should want her to speak or think. . . . Then, for n long time, nothing. Then presently, n hand, n firm, powerful hnnd, that picked up her heavy, limp wrist nnd two sensi tive Anger-tips thnt rested lightly on the upper surface of It. After that, an even, measured voice a voice of authority, whoso words no doubt made sense, only Roso wns too tired to think what the senso wns: 'That's a splendid pulse. She's do ing the best thing she can, sleeping like that." And then another voice, utterly un like Rodney's nnd yet unmlstnkably his n ragged voice that tried to talk In a whisper but couldn't mqnnge it broke queerly. 'That's all right," It said. "But Til find it cnslcr to believe when " She must see him must know whnt It meant thnt he should talk Uko that. With a strong physical ef fort, she opened her cres nnd tried to speak his name. She couldn't; but someone must hnve been watching and hnve seen, because a woman's voice said' quickly nnd quietly "Mr. Aldrlch." And the next moment, vast and tow ering and very blurred In outline, but, like his voice, unmlstnkably, was Rodney. her own big, strong Rodney. She tried to hold her nrms up to him, but of course she couldn't! And then he shortened suddenly He had knelt down beside her bed, that was it. And she felt upon her palm the pressure of his lips, and his unshaven check, .and on her wrist a warm wetness that must be tears. And then she knew. The urgency of n sudden terror gave her her voice. "Roddy," she Bald, "there was go ing to be a baby. Isn't thero?" Something queerly like n laugh broke his voice when he answered. "Oh, you 'darling 1 Yes. It's nil right Thut isn't why I'm crying. It's Just because I'm so happy." " "But the baby!" she persisted. "Why isn't it here?" Rodney turned and spoke to some one else. "She wants to see," he said. "May she?" - And then a woman's volde (why, It wns the nurse, of course I Miss Harris, who had come last night) said In an indulgent, soothing tone : "Why, surely she mny. Walt Just n minute." But the wait seemed hours. Why didn't they bring tho baby her baby? Thero 1 Miss Harris was coming nt last, with n queer, bulky, shapeless bundle. Rodney stepped in between and cut off the view, but only to slide an nrm under mattress and pillow nnd raise her a littlo so that she could see, And then, under her eyes, dark red and hairy ugalnsf the whiteness of the pillow, were two stnull heads two small, shapeless masses leading nway from them, twitching, squirming. Sho stnred, bewildered. "There were twins, Rose," she heard Rodney explaining triumphantly, but still with something that wasn't quite a lnugh, "a boy and n girl. They're perfectly splendid. One weighs seven pounds and the other six." Her eyes widened and -she looked up Into his fnce so thnt the pitiful bewilderment In hers wus rovealed to him. "But tho baby," she said. Her wldo eyes filled with tears and her voice broke weakly. "I wanted a baby." "You'vo got a baby," he insisted, nnd now Inughcd outright. "Thero are two of them. Don't you understand, dear?" Her eyes drooped shut, but the tears came welling out nlong her lashes. "Pleaso take them away," sho begged. And then, with" n little sob, she whispered: "I wanted a baby, not those." Rodney started to speak, but some sort of admonitory signal from tho nurse silenced him. The nurse went nwny with her bun' die, and Rodney stayed stroking Rose's limp hand. In the dark, ever so much later, she awoke, stirred a littlo restlessly, and the nurse, from her cot, came quickly nnd stood beside her bed. Sho had something In her hnnds for Rose to drink nnd Rose drnnk It dutifully. "Is thero nnytblng elso?" the nurso asked. "I Just want to know," Rose said; "havo I been dreaming, or Is It true? Is thero n baby, or nro thero twins?' "Twins, to be sure," said the nur&4 cheerfully. "Tho loveliest, Hvellet little pair you ever saw." "Thank you," said Rose. "I Just wanted to know." She shut her eyes and pretended to go to sleep. But sho didn't. It was true then. Her miracle, it seemed somehow, had gone ludicrously nwry. Knowing that they have plenty of money to raise twins properly, why should Rose resent the fact that she has been presented with two babies Instead of one? (TO BE CONTINUED.) Now that prices are I high it is more than ever I important tnac you give careful consideration to the roof you are going to put on. You can save real money and get a better roof by using I Certain-teed Roofing Thru quality and sheer merit as a roofing material CERTAIN TEED is now being used as the preferable type of roofing for sky-scrapers, factories, hotels, stores, warehouses, garages, farm buildings, etc., where durability is necessary. It is economical to buy, inex pensive to lay and costs practi cally nothing to maintain. It is weather-tit:ht,lightweight,clean, sanitary and fire-retardent. It is guaranteed for 5, 10 or 15 years according to thickness (1, 2 or 3 ply). Certain-teed Slate-Surfaced Aaphalt Shingles are supplanting wood and slate shingles for residences. They cost less, are Just as good looking, near better, won't fall off, buckle or split. They are fire retardent and do not have to be painted or stained. Certain-teed Paint and Varnishes The name CERTAIN-TEED on a can of paint or var nish is the same guar antee of quality and satisfac tion it is on a roll of roofing or a bundle of shingles. Made for all uses and in all colors. ' Certain-teed Products Corporation .SftlesOfflcMi Nor York. Chkato, Philadelphia. St. Loula, Beaton, Clercland. Fltuburch. Detroit. Buffalo. San Frandico. Milwaukee. Cincinnati, New Orleana, Lot Aniclea, Minneapolis Kamaa City, Seattle, Indlanapolla, Atlanta, Richmond, Grind Raolda. Ifaihrllle. Salt Lake Cltr. Dei Moist, tloujton, Diiftith. London. rdner, Harana PATENTS YFutaon K.Coleman,Wash lngton.D.U. Itooka tree. High est references. Beat results. lyiONEY LENDER PITIED POOR Chinese Shylock In Manchuria Gave Annual Sum for Relief Work to Relieve His Conscience. A wealthy Chinese money lender In Manchuria wns recently convicted of making false declaration regarding robberies of his enravnns by Mongolian bandits, Rls conscience troubled him to such nn extent thai he offered to contribute an annual sum of $750 for the relief of the poor, East nnd West says.. This money wns made the basis of n fund for feeding the helpless nt Kungchullng. Mnnchurln Is terribly poor, despite the mineral nnd agricultural riches ex tracted from Its soli nnd rocks, nil of which products nro shipped abroad. There nre probably thousands of Indus trious nntlves unnble, by unremitting toll, to enrn more thnn n meager liv ing. When to their natural difficulties nre added the ravages of bandits nnd the evils of mlsgovcrnment, such ns now prevails In mnny parts of China, abject poverty and stnrvntlon must be the lot of the people who, In thq-best of times, are only half fed. A'lamlly Secret. "My dnd could whip your dad with ono hnnd tied behind him." "Shucks! My dnd could whip your dad with both hands tied behind him." . "lie couldn't I" "Ho cottd I" "Ilovr could he? Ho couldn't do nothing 'ccpt butt my dad." "That's just if. My mother says my dad hns the hardest head of nny man she ever knew." A Teetotal Loss. Mrs. Clubb This nrtlclu says that the reputation of the colonists for obe dience went overboard at the Beston ten, party. Mr. Clubb -Yes, nnd n lot of other reputations have gone overboard at ten pnrtles since. Judge. Many a man nble to speak six lun gunges never thinks of anything worth saying. vOUR GROCER. TOLD ME"
