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The Real Adventure
By Henry Kitchell Webster
Copyright 1916, Bobbs-MerrTO Co.
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 Rose Stanton marries Rodney Aldrich, a rich young lawyer, after a brief courtship, and In
atantly Is taken up by Chicago's exclusive social set and made fl part of the gay whirl of the rich folk. It Is .
all new to the girl, and for the first few months she Is charmed with the life. And then she comes to feel that
she Is living a useless existence, that she Is a social butterfly, a mere ornament In her husband's home. Rose
longs to do something useful and to have the opportunity to employ her mind and utilize her talent and edu
cation. Rodney feels much the same way himself. He thinks he ought to potter around In society just to
please 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 same problem.
CHAPTER XI Continued.
But she went steadily on. "Ton
were always so dear about It But
tonight oh, Rodney ... I" Her
silly, ragged voice choked there and
topped, and the tears brimmed up
and spilled down her cheeks. But
he kept her face steadfastly turned
to his.
"That's what I said about being
married and not sowing wild oats, I
suppose," he said glumly. "It was a
joke. Do you suppose I'd have said It
If I meant It?"
"It wasn't on!) that," she managed
to go on. "It was the wny they looked
at the house ; the way you apologized
for my dress; the way you looked
when you tried to get out of answer
ing Barry Lake's questions about
what you were doing. Oh, how I
despised myself I And how I knew
you and they must be despialng me!"
The one thing I felt about you all
the evening," he said, with the pa
tience that marks the last stage of
exasperation, "was pride. I was rath
er crazlly proud of you."
"As my lover you were proud of
ue," she said. "But the other man
the man that's more truly you was
shamed, as I was ashamed. Oh, It
doesn't matter I Being ashamed won't
accomplish anything. But what we'll
do Is going to accomplish something."
"What do you mean to dor he
asked. -
- "I want you to tell me first," she
aid, "how much money we have, and
how much we've been spending."
"I don't know," he said stubbornly.
"I don't know exactly." ,
"You've got enough, haven't you,
of your own ... I mean, there's
enough that comes in every year, to
live 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
live, however and wherever we have
to to live on that out In the suburbs
somewhere, or In a flat so that you
will be free ; and I can work be some
aort of help."
"You can wash the dishes and scrub
the floors," he supplemented, "and I
can carry my lunch to the office with
me In a little tin box." He looked at
his watch. "And now that the thing's
reduced to an absurdity, let's go to
bed. It's getting along toward two
'clock."
"You don't have to get to the office
till nine tomorrow morning," said
Rose. "And I want to talk it out
now. . And I don't think I said any
thing that was absurd."
"I shouldn't have called it absurd,"
he admitted after a rather long si
lence. "But It's exaggerated and un
necessary. Next October, when the
begin right away." Then she looked
up into his face. "It will be too late In
October," she repeated, "unless we be
gin now."
The deep, tense seriousness of her
voice and her look arrested his full
attention.
VWhy?" he asked. And then, "Rose,
what do you mean?"
"We're going to have a baby in
October," she said.
That's Why I Wanted to Decide
Things Tonight"
lease on this house runs out we can
manage, perhaps, to change the scale
a little. There you are I Now do stop
worrying about It and let's go to bed."
But she sat there just as she was,
taring at the dying fire, her hands
lying slack In her lap, all as If she
hadn't heard. The long silence Irked
him. lie pulled out his watch, looked
at It And began winding It lie mend
ed the fire so that It would be safe
for the night ; bolted a window. . Ev
ery minute or two he stole a look at
her. but she was always just the
same. Except for the faint rise and
fall of her bosom, she might have
been picture, not a woman.
At lost he said again, "Come along,
Rose dear." I
"It'll be too late In October." she
said. That's why I wanted to de-'
cid thing's tonight. Because we must
CHAPTER XII.
The Door That Was to Open.
What a silly little Idiot she'd been
not to have seen the thing for her
self I She'd been, all the while, beat
ing her head against blind wails when
there was a door there waiting to
open of itself when the time came.
Motherhood I There'd be a doctor
and a nurse at first, of course, but
presently they'd go away and she'd
be left with a baby. Her own baby I
She could core for him with her own
hands, feed blm her joy reached an
ecstasy at this from her own breast
That life which Rodney led apart
from her, the life Into which she had
tried with such ludicrous unsuccess
to effect an entrance, was nothing to
this new life which was to open before
her in a few short months now. Mean
while, she not only must wait
she could well afford, to.
That was why she could listen with
that untroubled smile of hers to the
terrible things that Rodney and
James Randolph and Barry Lake and
Jane got Into the ' way of hurling
across her dinner table, and to the
more mildly expressed but equally
alkaline cynicisms of Jimmy Wallace.
Jimmy was dramatic critic on one
of the evening papers as well as a bit
of a playwright. Ue was a slim, cool,
smiling, highly sophisticated young
man, who renounced all privileges as
an Interpreter of life In favor of re
maining an unbiased observer of It
He never bothered to speculate about
what you ought to do he waited to
see what you did.
Well, In the light of the miraculous
transformation that lay before her,
Rose could listen undaunted to the
tough phllosophlzlngs her husband and
Barry Luke delighted In as well as to
the mordant merciless realities with
which Doctor Randolph and Jimmy
Wallace confirmed them.' She wasn't
indifferent to It all.
"Jim's pretty weird when he gets
going," Eleanor Randolph said to Fred
erica, on the next day after they had
been dining at the Aldrlches', "but that
Barry Lake has a sort of surgical way
of discussing Just anything, and his
wife's as bad.
"Wo never got off women all the
evening. Barry Lake had their his
tory down from the early Egyptians,
and Jim got off a string of patholog
ical freaks. And then Rodney came
out strong for economic Independence,
only with his own queer angle on It,
of course. He thought It would be a
fine thing, but It wouldn't happen un
til the men Insisted on It When a
girl wasn't regarded as marriageable
unless she had been trained to a trade
or a profession, then things would be
gin to happen. I think he meant It
too.
"Well, and all the while there sat
Rose, taking it all In with those big
eyes of hers, smiling to herself now
and then; saying things, too, some
times, that were pretty good, though
nobody but Jimmy seemed to under
stand, always, just what she meant
They've talked before, those two. But
she was no more embarrassed than
ns If we'd been talking embroidery
stitches."
So far as externals went, her life,
that spring, was Immensely simplified.
The social demands upon her, which
bad been so Insistent all winter,
stopped almost automatically. The
exception was the Junior League show
In Easter week, for which she put In
quite a lot of work. She was to have
danced In It
This Is an annual entertainment
by which Chicago sets great store. All
the smartest and best-looking of the
younger set take part In it in cos
tumes that would, do credit to a chorus
dresser, and as much of Chicago as
is willing and able to pay five dollars
a seat for the privilege Is welcome
to come and look. Delirious weeks
are spent in rehearsal, under a first
class professional director; audience
and performers have an equally good
time, and Charity, as residuary lega
tee, profits by thousands.
Rose dropped In at a rehearsal one
day at the end of a solid two hours
of committee work, found It unexpect
edly amusing, and made a point there
after, of attending when she could.
Her Interest was heightened, If not
wholly actuated, by some things Jim
my Wallace had been telling her late
ly about how such things were done
on the real stage.
lie had written a musical comedy
nre, lived through the production of
t, and had spent a nurd earned two
veeks' vucutlou trouplug with It ea
the road, so he could speak with au
thorlty. It was a wonderful Odyssey
when you could get him to tell It,
and as Rose made a good audience,
she got the whole thing at her dinner
table.
The thing got a sociological twist
eventually, of course, when Jane want
ed to know If It were true thut the
chorus girls received Inadequate pay,
Jimmy demolished this with more
wrath than he often showed. He didn't
know any other sort of job that paid
a totally untrained girl as well. It
took a really accomplished stenogra
pher, for Instance, to earn as much a
week ns was paid the average chorus
girl. The trouble was that the indis
pensable assets In the business were
not character and intelligence and am
bition, but just personal charms.
"But a girl . who's serious about It
who doesn't have to be told the same
thing more than once, and catches on,
sometimes, without being told at all,
why, she can always have a Job and
she can be as Independent as any
body. She can get twenty-five dollars
a week or even as high as thirty."
The latter part of this conversation
was what she was to remember after
ward, but the thing that Impressed
Rose at the time, and that held her
for hours looking on at the League
show rehearsals, was what Jimmy had
told her about the technical side of
the work of production, the labors of
the director, and so on.
As the weeks and months wore away,
and as the season of violent alter
nations between summer and winter,
which the Chlcagoan calls spring,
gave place 'to summer Itself, Rose
was driven to Intrench herself more
and more deeply behind this great
expectation. It was like a dam hold
ing back waters that otherwise would
have rushed down upon her and swept
her away.
And then came Harriet Rodney's
other sister, and the pressure behind
the dam rose higher.
Rose bad tried, rather unsuccess
fully, to realize that there was actu
ally in existence another woman who
occupied, by blood anyway, the same
position toward Rodney and herself
that Frederics did. She felt almost
like a real sister toward Frederlca.
But without quite putting the notion
Into words, she had always felt It
was Just as well that Harriet was an
Italian contessn, four thousand miles
awny. Rodney and Frederlca spoke
of her affectionately, to be sure, but
their references made a picture of a
rather formidably correct seriously
aristocratic sort of person.
She'd discovered, along In the win
ter sometime, that Harriet's affairs
were going rather badly. It was along
In May that the cable came to Frede
rlca announcing that Harriet was com
ing back for a long visit. "That's all
she said," Rodney explained to Rose.
"But I suppose It means the finish.
She said she didn't want . any fuss
made, but she hinted she'd like to have
Freddy meet her in New York, and
Freddy's going. Poor old Harriet I We
must try to cheer her up."
She didn't seem much in need of
cheering up, Rose thought when they
first met All that showed on the con
tessa's highly polished surface was a
disposition to talk humorously over
old times with her old friends, In
cluding her brother and sister, and a
sort of dismayed acquiescence In the
smoky seriousness, the Inadequate
civilization, of the city of her birth.
Toward Rose herself, the contessa
was, one might say, studiously t affec
tionate. She avoided being either dis
agreeable or patronizing. Rose could
see, Indeed, how she avoided It
About this time the question where
Rose and Rodney were going to live
after their lease on the McCrea house
ended, had begun to press for an an
swer. October first was when the
lease expired, and It wasn't far from
the date at which they expected the
baby. They spent some lovely after
noons during the days of the emerg
ing spring, cruising about looking at
possible places.
This was the situation when Har
riet took hand In It It was a situa
tion made to order for Harriet to
take a band In. She'd sized it up at
a 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, and then
bided her opportunity to put her Idea
Into effect To her Rose was simply a
well-meaning, somewhat Inadequately
civilized young person, the beneficiary,
through her marriage with Rodney, of
a piece of unmerited good fortune.
When she got Florence McCrea'a
answer to her letter, she took the
first occasion to get Rodney off by
himself and talk a little common
sense Into him.
"What about where to live, Rod
ney?" she asked. "Made up your
mind about it yet? It is time someone
with a little common sense straight
ened you out about this."
Harriet couldn't be sure from the
length of time he took seeing that
his pipe was properly lighted, wheth
er he altogether liked this method of
approach or not.
"Common sense always was a sort
of specialty of yours, sis," he said at
lu7, "ahd straightening out You
were always pretty good at It" Then
out of a cloud of his own smoke,
"Fire away."
"Well, in the first place," she sold,
"If you had your house today you'd be
lucky if the 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 menu
we've got to have some sort of place
to get into. It Is an awkward time,
I'll admit."
"No, you haven't," she atd. "You
can stay right here another six
months, If you like. I've heard from
Florence., When I found how things
stood here, I wrote and asked her If
she'd lease for six months more If
she got the chance, and she wrote back
and simply grubbed at It"
Rodney smoked half way through
his pipe before he made any comment
on this suggestion. "This house Isn't
Just whp we want," he said. "In the
first place, It's expensive."
Harriet shrugged her shoulders,
picked up one of Florence's poetry
books and eyed the heavily tooled bind
lug with a satirical smile before she
replied.
"I'd on Idea there was that in It"
she suld at last. "Freddy sqld some
thing; . . Rose had been talking
to her." Then, after another little
silence and with a sudden access of
vehemence: "You don't want to go
and do a regular fool thing, Roddy.
She Stared, Bewildered.
You're getting on perfectly splendid
ly. But If you pull up and go to live In
a barn somewhere and stop seeing any
bodypeople that count, I mean"
Rodney grunted. "You're beyond
your depth, sis," he said. "Come back
where you don't have to swim. The
expense isn't a capital consideration,
I'll admit that Now go on from
there."
"That's like old times," she oh
served with a not Ill-humored grim'
ace. "I wonder If you talk to Rose
llko that Oh, I know the house Is
rather solemn and absurd. It's Flor
ence herself all over, that's the size
of It But what does that matter for
six months more?"
He pocketed his pipe and got up
out of his chair.
"There's something In It," he ad
mitted. "I'll think It over."
"Better cable Florence as soon a
you can," she advised. ' -
Rose protested when the plan for
living six months more in Florence
Medea's house was broached to her.
She made the best fight she could.
But Harriet's arguments, re-stated
now by Rodney with full conviction,
were too much for her. When she
broke down and cried, as she couldn't
help doing, Rodney soothed and com
forted her, assured her that this no
tion of hers about the expenslveness
of it all, was Just a notion, which
she must struggle against as best
she could. She'd see things In a truer
proportion afterward. s
Very fine and small and weak, Rose
Stanton, lying In a bed with people
about her, let her eyes fall heavily
shut lest they should want her to speak
or think. . . . Then, for,a long time,
nothing. Then presently, a hand, a
firm, powerful hand, that picked up
her heavy, limp wrist and two sensi
tive finger-tips that rested lightly on
the upper surface of It After that
an even, measured volee a voice of
authority, whose words no doubt made
sense, only Rose was too tired to think
what the sense was:-
"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 and yet unmistakably
hi: a ragged voice that tried to talk
In n whisper but couldn't manage It
broke quecrly.
"That's nil right," It said. "But I'll
find It easier to believe when"
She must see him must know
what It meant that he should talk
like that With a strong physical ef
fort, she opened her eyes and tried
to speak his name. She couldn't ; but
someone must have been watching and
have seen, because a woman's voice
said quickly and quietly "Mr. Aldrich."
And the next moment, vast and tow
ering and very blurred In outline, but,
like his voice, unmistakably, was
Rodney her own big, strong Rodney.
She tried to hold her arms up to him,
but of course she couldn't
And then be shortened suddenly.
He had knelt down beside her bed,
that was It And she felt upon her
palm the pressure of his Hps, and his
unshaven cheek, and on her wrist a
warm wetness that nrust be tears.
And then she knew. The urgency
of a sudden terror gave her her voice.
'Roddy," she said, "there was go
ing to be a baby. Isn't there T
Something queerly like laugh
broke his voice when be answered.
"Oh, you darling I Yes. It's all right
That lsq'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'! voice (why,
It was the nurse, of course! Miss
Harris, who had com last night) said
In an Indulgent soothing tone: "Why,
surely she may. Walt Just a minute."
But the wait seemed hours. Why
didn't they bring the baby her. baby?
There I Miss Harris was coming at
last, with a queer, bulky, shapeless
bundle. Rodney stepped In between
and cut off the view, but only to slide
an arm under mattress and pillow
and raise her a little so that she could
see.
And then, under her eyes, dark red
and hairy against the whiteness of the
pillow, were two small heads two
small, shnpeless masses leading away
from them, twitching, squirming. She
stared, bewildered. S
"There were twins, Rose," she heard
Rodney explaining triumphantly, but
still with something that wasn't quite
a laugh, "a boy and a girl. They're
perfectly splendid. One weighs seven
pounds and the other six."
Her eyes widened and she looked
up Into his face so that the pitiful
bewilderment In hers was revealed to
him.
"But the baby," she said. Her wide
eyes filled with tears and her voice
broke weakly. "I wanted a baby."
"You've got a baby," he Insisted,
and now laughed outright "There are
two of them. Don't you understand.
dear?"
Her eyes drooped shut, but the
tears came welling out along her
lashes. "Please take them away," she
begged. And then, with a little sob,
she whispered: "I wanted a baby,
not those."
Rodney started to speak, but some
sort of admonitory signal from the
nurse silenced him.
The nurse went away with her bun
die, and Rodney stayed stroking
Rose's limp hand.
In the dark, ever so much later,
she awoke, stirred a little restlessly,
and the nurse, from her cot, came
quickly and stood beside her bed. She
had something In her hands for Rose
to drink and Rose drank It dutifully.
"Is there anything else?" the nurse
asked.
"I Just want to know," Rose said;
"have I been dreaming, or Is It true?
Is there a baby, or are there twins?"
"Twins, to be sure," said the nurse
cheerfully. "The loveliest liveliest
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 she didn't It was
true then. . Her miracle, It seemed
somehow, had gone ludicrously awry.
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 13 hi CONTINUED.)
EASY TO TELL REAL DIAMOND
There Are Many Ways In Which the
Finest Imitations May Be Detect
ed, Even by the inexperienced.
The experienced eye does not find It
difficult to decide whether a diamond
Is genuine, for the facets of real ones
are seldom so regulur as those of fine
Imitations. With the latter the great
est care Is taken In grinding to polish
and smooth the whole stone so that
there will be Irregularity In the reflec
tion or refraction of the light. A neces
sary tool for testing Is the file, which
cannot scratch a real diumond, al
though It quickly leaves Its mark on
an Imitation. Better than the file Is the
sapphire, for the sapphire Is the next
hardest stone to the diamond. Any
stone that a sapphire can scratch is
assuredly not a diamond.. .
If you put a small drop of water on
the upper facet of a brilliant and touch
It with the point of a pencil the drop
will, keep Its rounded form, but the
stone will remain clean and dry. In
case of an Imitation the drop Immedi
ately spreads out. Plunge a diamond
Into water and It will be plainly visible
and will glitter through the liquid, but
an Imitation stone Is almost Invisible,
If you look through a diamond, as
through a bit of glass, at a black dot
on a sheet of white paper you will see
one single point clearly. If you see sev
eral points or a blur of black it Is an
Imitation. The white sapphire, the
white topaz and rock crystal are fre
quently sold as diamonds, but imita
tions are more commonly made of
glass.
Bound to Fltfht Anyhow.
Early last year, says a contributor
to an English weekly, a grocer In a
Scottish village decided that either he
or his assistant must enlist. As he
was single and his mother and sisters
were well provided for from their In
terest In the shop, he thought it was
his duty to go.
Mackay, the assistant agreed
promptly, and presently found himself
in command of the business.
But a few months later the master
was dumfounded to meet his late as
sistant, attired In khaki, "somewhere
In France."
"HI, mon," he said angrily, "what are
ye doln' here? Did I no tell ye tae stay
at hame In chalrge o' ma shop?"
"So I thocht at the time, mnlster,"
replied Mackay, "bit I sune fun' oot It
wlsna only the shop I was In chalrge
o but a yer womunfolk. 'Man, says
I tae masclf, 'gin ye've got to fecht
gang and fecht someone ye can hit T
So I Jlned." Youth's Companion.
WhrxWell Dress
Utoneri Will We&S
In the Play of Summer Styles.
Organdie Is the gay and spirited sou-
brette in the play of summer styles.
It bobs up everywhere, with all sorts
of summer frocks, as a part of their
make-up or In accessories worn with
them. In the weave called swlss or
gandie it Is more sheer than ever and
disports Itself In all the new and love
ly shades of colors that grace the joys
of midsummer. It Is used In bands
and borders on frocks made of other
sheer fabrics, In petticoats and In col
lars and cuffs, In frills and In vestees.
It Is of much service in separate col
lars, like those Illustrated here. Along
with Jabots, collars of this kind am
plify the summer wardrobe, saving the
day, with their crisp daintiness, for
the overworked wool or silk frock that
serves many purposes. Pretty acces
sories of this kind help out the tourist
immensely and are the easiest of all
belongings to carry along on a Journey.
The collars shown to flwjfcj
selections from a display i J
couars maae oi voiio or crjut
cunnot forget the war and k
to, and therefore, even theme
of our belongings reflect Ik
thoughts that are In the lit
are the last presented itjtaul
lengthened at the shoulderioii
fall over the top of theiniil
fringe on an ofllcer's epaulet
the models are edged win fc
and ornamented with set-In y.
of lace. The third collar ii
ered with eyelet work and m
foliage. None of thorn prw
difficulties to the average ti
an, and lace, voile and ora:
scattered abroad la ill tj
stores. When made by hand aV
stiff prices In the shops, be
them are made in this way. I
made collars are plentiful
and inexpensive. '
' 1 1 .. mMu.'ii' " .. "n v. !'.''.": ' i .i " " " '
s , V"' ' V ' . . ;
si n't !
MMIWII'iWf1ir!.
Auxiliaries of the Red Cross.
Rains Uncover Gold Nuggets.
The days of '40 have been revived
here to a certain extent says the Sac
ramento (Cul.) Bee, several Auburn
men having brought nugga worth
from $1 to $20 which were found In
the ravines and streams since heavy
rains have washed the dirt from the
gravel. One nugget, which. It U mid,
U worth $20t wm touad.
The American Red Cross Is engaged
In so many humanitarian and philan
thropic activities that Its work must of
necessity be depnrtmentlzcd and each
department thoroughly organized for
the sake of efficiency. A chapter of
the Red Cross, in 'any locality, repre;
sents all of the Red Cross activities.
Under its supervision different commit
tees are organized for the different
kinds of work to be done, each commit
tee devoted to one particular object or
class of work. In communities where
no chapter exists Red Cross commit
tees may be formed, by special author
ity of the director general of civilian
relief, for special Red Cross activities.
These committees are called auxiliaries.
Several auxiliaries may be formed In
the same community, to take care of
the several different classes of work
to be done. Where a chapter exists
auxiliaries must be formed with tho
consent of the chapter, and they will
be a part of the chapter and subordi
nate to It
The Red Cross Is the only society
authorized by the government of the
United States to render did to Its land
and naval forces In time of wnr. There
fore women who wish to help should
first Join the American Red Cross and
811k Skirts for Cotton Now.
It Is no longer thought extravagant
to substitute silk for pique, linen or
cotton duck skirts. Its price is within
the limits of the majority of purses, it
washes better and more easily than
the ordinary white fabrics, and It is
cool. Good reasons, all, for Its pref
erence. With fashion demanding a
silhouette that is slim without sever
ity, the best medium of obtaining It Is
with a fabric that does not ask for
starch. On a separate skirt with white
uh silk with a dlauioud of cerise
nnr onrnll ti lth the M&"
V. A V VIII VII J
doing the sort of work M
In the present emergoMJ
can Red Cross faces I ff;
sailors, In addition toting
work It has already flow
lng, for the countries it"
rope. It must provide
pltals, equipped witn
pltal supplies, surgeoi
nurses anu iiuia" - j
a.u l... Wnlfnll ""I
UU1U UUU Ulinu
some provision for P1
Aara anA onllnrS. Dfld '" I
after they are dlsrals-,
als.. It must gnther i
volunteer worn Mltji
try, and Is doing so stttJl
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for some practical war J
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wnrk of the wnr. Th"
them will be found t
activities and win e "
ture articles.
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main reamre - - m.
the soft shirt of J,
frills bound with cen
the skirt coloring-
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go with her. ray
introduction'
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