Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 3, 1924 — page 86: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

876 At this thought Mary would often grow too bitter for words. Mrs. Williston was now more activelv than ever in league with Nat, in his pur- poses toward her daughter. Mary despised the conceited, self-opin- ionated Gertridge as much as ever. But during her sickness Nat began to reveal a new side to his nature, a side which she had never thought of before. He was so true, so steadfast, so faithful; against that other nameless one, who had been unstable as water, Nat now appeared as a great rock. His surety just at this moment was a qual- ity for which Mary’s heart was craving. Once when Mary had fully recovered, Mrs. Williston talked with her at length on the subject of choosing a husband. ‘You know, mumsie, I want above all else, a man that I can admire.” ‘Yes, that’s all right before the wedding, my dear, but afterward you want something else. Love’s young dream may exist on admiration, but afterward many other qual- ities are essential.” ‘* What are they, mumsie?” “Well, first and foremost, you want de- pendability.”’ ‘Yes, you are right there, mumsie.” ‘I’m glad that you can now see clearly on that point, Mary. That’s where so many girls get fooled. When you marry a man, you marry for all time, and for that reason you want some one that you can tie up to, that you can rely on.” ‘But, mumsie, where’s romance, without admiration?”’ “Ah, but you should admire the right ones. It’s so foolish, Mary, for young girls who don’t know to get infatuated with wrong persons.” “But if you can’t help it?” ‘When you have no experience of the world, my dear, when you are utterly ignor- ant of men, it’s easy enough to be like that. But when you are wiser, you get to know what horrible creatures some men really are. Then you ask questions; then you do not throw your heart away for noth- ing.” ‘That sounds simply awful, mumsie, it’s so cruel, so calculating.” “You get that way when you get older, ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, my child. I used to be just like you, forever making a hero out of this chap, and that chap, exclaiming: ‘ Oh, isn’t he fascinating? Isn't he perfectly splendid?’ Of course they were all gods then. I couldn’t endure a hero of mine to have a single weakness. No, not one. They were all perfect. ‘But now, Mary, I know the difference. There isn’t a man walking that I'd trust. I take them all with a grain of salt.” ‘Oh, mother!” * Yes, Mary, that’s just exactly the way I feel about the creatures. You put them on a pedestal, I put them under the pedestal, where they belong. It makes me sick, all this admiring stuff, for mere men. Of course they love to have us women making a fuss over them, but they aren’t worth it. No, they aren’t.” ‘But you’re talking like a cynic!” ‘Tm talking like a woman who knows. When vou're older, you'll talk like that, too. When you want to admire somebody choose qualities that are dependable, rather than flashy, that are worth while, rather than mere sentiment. That’s your mother’s advice, my child.” In her first bitterness against the absent Richard there came to Marv a touch of cynicism, heretofore alien to her girlish heart. Richard had treated her so abominably that she was in receptive mood for all her mother’s doubting questions. When the heart of youth within her was still tumbling headlong after its dreams, the pain which she had suffered caused her to pause and ponder. During these pondering moments, Nat Gertridge began to appear to her in an altogether better light. * Yes,”’ she said to herself, “‘ what a good, solid, dependable fellow is Nat, after all. T never treated him right. I’ve always been unfair to him, but he’s a true friend, who will last through the years. Yes, he’s a friend, with a heart down underneath that can be depended on. Of course we'll never be any more than friends. I don’t. care what mumsie says, I simply could not marry a man I did not admire. “But then I must be kinder in the fu- ture, because he has been so true.” COMIG DOO! (©