Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1940-12-12, Page 2THURSDAY, DEC. 112th, 1910 THE EXETER TIMES.ADVOCATE ■ “Money Isn’t Everything” j B by ANNE MARY LAWLER H iiiiiiiiiiiiiiM CHAPTER I (Continued) SYNOPSIS Alexandra Putnam tells her son, Lyle, that all they have in the world is a sheaf of bills, the Put­ nam name and memories of more prosperous days. She sees no so­ lution to their problem but mar­ riage for money. The wife she has chosen for her son is Jill Morton, spoiled only child of John Morton, department store mag­ nate, Lyle is genuinely fond of Jill, but is desperately infatuated with Valerie Brooke, who is not In­ terested in .a poor man. Against his will, Lyle is persuaded to pro­ pose to Jill. She accepts him. When she breaks the news to her father and Aunt Lucy, John Mor­ ton flies into a rage and forbids the marriage, threatening to dis­ inherit his daughter. GO ON WITH THE STORY “Dad isn’t fair to Lyle,” Jill said stormily. “Lyle told me—-every­ thing. They’re practically paupers. That doesn’t make any difference to me.” The copper head lifted proudly. “Money isn’t everything, Aunt Lucy. There are some things you can’t peddle across a counter for dollars and cents, no matter what Dad thinks. Love is one of them. Happiness is another. What difference does it make whether the man or the girl has the money?” Jill’s idea of Love Her Father Threatens “Love!” Her father appealed to Aunt Lucy. ’“Love, she says, as though she knew what she was talking about!” He swung fiercely back to his daughter. “That’s a nice ring. I suppose I’ll have to foot the bill for that, too. after you’re married? He couldn’t buy you a piece of glass that size on his in­ come.” John Morton grew mauve with fury. “It was his mother’s ring.” Father and daughter faced one an­ other with bitter antagonism John Morton laughed. “Alex­ andra Putnam’s clever. Very clever indeed.” He leaned toward Jill. “Did the young man mention anything about their financial set­ up? Did he tell you that every­ thing they have is mortgaged to the hairline? Did he tell you how much they owe? Did he tell you “He told me,” Jill’s smile was icily bright, “that he didn’t have a dime. That he couldn’t offer me a thing. I said I didn’t care. Mon­ ey,” she chipped off the syllables carefully, “isn’t everything.” “Men have married for money before, young lady, and they’ll mar­ ry for money again. But not—” he met her eyes with dark challenge, “not my money!” “I have my own money,” Jill re­ turned sharply. “Not yet,” John reminded her. Jill laughed. “In five years I will. I .can wait.” “You may be able to wait,” John Morton rose from his unfinished breakfast. “You may be able to wait. But Lyle Putnam and his mother can’t. Think that over. We’ll—discuss it—.later.” The door slammed with finality. Aunt Lucy considered the ques­ tion thoughtfully. “Very little dif­ ference, I should say....if both love each other.” “I love him,” Jill made a song of the words. “And he loves me.” Lucy replaced her cup on the sau­ cer, turned searching eyes on her niece. “What,” she asked, “do you mean by love?” Jill’s stare was steadily blue. ‘‘I love him enough,” she answered calmly, “not to be afraid to be poor with him. I love him enough to give up everything I’ve ever had—every­ body I’ve ever cared for—-just to be with him. I love him enough to do anything in the world that would make him happy—except letting him go. If that isn’t love, Aunt Lucy, I’d like to know what it is.” Lucy sighed. “That should be sufficient,” she said. “Your father believes that Lyle Putnam wants to marry you for your money.” The girl flamed crimson. “It’s happen­ ed before, you know,” Lucy contin­ ued. “And it will happen again. Money’s a terrific responsibility, Jill. Your father wouldn’t care who you married—no matter how poor he might be—if he was sure the man would love you and make you happy. He isn’t sure about Lyle.” “I’m the only one who needs be sure about Lyle,” Jill snapped. “Your father holds the opposite view. But don’t worry, Jill, I’ll have a talk with him today. Maybe he’ll see things in a different light.5' Aunt Lucy pursued her way with cautious tact. “Don’t be impatient with John, dear. He loves you so much and he only wants you to be happy.” Lucy sipped a glass of water, rat­ tled the ice thoughtfully, “Maybe it isn’t love John. Maybe it isn’t even a cheap substitute. But Jill thinks it’s real. And John, it’s real enough to lose you the only daughter you have, if you’re not careful.” John Morton hammered a violent fist in his palm. “I have a right to—” iLucy shook her head. “You have no right whatever. Jill is the one doing the marrying, not you.” “Look, Lucy,” John made an effort to be patient. “There’s a lot to this you don’t, understand. When the Putnam boy began hanging around Jill I heard rumors. How hard up he and his mother were and all that. I—was afraid. Jill’s a wealthy woman, or will be, some day. She deserves something a little better than being married for money.” Lucy was silent. CHAPTER D The door still quivered with the weight of John Morton’s anger. Jill' ■turned to her 'Aunt Lucy, all her sharp defiance melted. “I was so happy about being engaged,” she said wistfully. “I couldn’t wait to tell him. Why doesn’t Dad want me to marry Lyle Putnam?” Aunt Lucy sipped her coffee thoughtfully. “It was all pretty sud­ den,” she said. “Suppose you start at the beginning and tell me every­ thing. When did it happen? Where?” She almost said “Why?” Jill twisted the ring with a ner­ vous finger. “Last night,” she .•said, “Lyle Putnam took me to the JAlan Cartel- Ashby’s party. I ■thought then that .Dad seemed sort of sniffy but I didn’t pay much at­ tention to it, He never liked Lyle.” (Lucy Morton said nothing, her in­ quiring eyes intent on Jill’s face. “Lyle asked me to meet him in the little study off the main hall.” In Jill’s mind she was again walk­ ing down the dim passageway, try­ ing the door with a timid hand. “I met him there at midnight. He—he told me he loved me. He asked me to marry him. I said I would.” “Yes?” Polite curiosity, nothing more. Night Coughs Terribly wearing on the system is the cough that comes on at night and prevents sleep. Sometimes it is the constant cough, cough that will not be quieted. Sometimes it is a ehoked-up, stuffed- up feeling that makes breathing difficult. Dr. Wood’s iNorway Pine Syrup is the remedy you need to give you ■relief, for the reason that this prep­ aration contains the healing virtues of the Norway pine tree with which is combined wild cherry bark, and the soothing, healing and expectorant properties or other excellent balsams, barks and herbs. fl *The T. Milburn Co., T>l<iv Toronto, Ont, John in Bad Temper . The.breakfast scene with Jill had not improved John Morton’s disposi­ tion. By noon time his tempei' was frayed and tattered beyond recogni­ tion. He snapped at his general manager, reduced his secretary to tears and foamed fury over the luck­ less office boys. The arrival of his sister Lucy, tall and calm and spare and cool did little to soothe him. His face pur­ pled ominously. “Now look here, Lucy—” Lucy handed him his hat without a word. “You’re taking me to lunch.” she announced. “I want to have a talk with you.” “I’m busy,” he growled. The phone at his elbow shrilled impera­ tively. He reached for it but Lucy pinned down the receiver with a de­ termined hand. “Let your secretary take it. What are secretaries for?” Her brother jammed his hat on his head. “If I knew,” he punctuat­ ed the words with a hideous scowl, “I’d tell you. That one’s spent all morning crying.” Lucy took his arm gently. “Small wonder, if you’ve been in this humor all day. Do you know a nice expen­ sive restaurant where a poor be­ wildered old maid could be properly wined and dined—and listened to?” She remembered hearing Jill’s voice over the telephone an hour past. “Isn’t there a place called the— Cosmopolitan?” “Ten blocks away,” John Morton growled. “Why not pick New York? Or San Francisco? Surely there are lots of restaurants in Chicago with­ out having to—” “I think I’d like the Cosmopoli­ tan,” said Lucy firmly. “I’ve heard a lot about it. We can take a taxi.” Lucy Goes to Work The ride to the Cosmopolitan was not a cheery one. Lucy chattered blithely and John maintained a gloomy silence. A sleek, obsequious waiter found them a preferred table, busied himself with pad and pencil and commercial courtesy. When he had quietly slid kitchen ward, T<ucv leaned toward her brother. “I don’t know whether you are aware of it or not,” she stated in the manner of one commenting on the weather, “but you’re making a mis­ take with Jill.” He frowned. “You don’t mean you’re trying to tell me you approve of this—-this entanglement?” Lucy shook her head emphatically “I don’t. I never will, I don’t like the boy. I don’t like his moth­ er. He’s weak and she’s an oppor­ tunist. But that has nothing to do with the matter. Neiher you nor I, John, happen to be in love With Lyle Putnam. Jill is.” “Shn thinks she is,” What John Knew “I—had him looked up. Follow­ ed. By a detective agency. And I learned plenty. Lucy, he doesn’t give a darn about Jilj. Lyle Put­ nam has been chasing some cabar­ et artist for almost a year. He’s mad about her. Woman by the name of Valerie Brooke. She used to be in some revue, sort of featur­ ed torch singer. Beautiful woman, if my information is correct, and about as sentimental as a steel trap. Putnam’s off his trolley about her, but she’s out for big­ ger game than a poor down-at-the- heels artistocrat.” Lucy twisted a crescent of lemon above her teacup. “I agree that Lyle Putnam wants to marry Jill for one reason only, and that has nothing to do with love. Probably half the city knows it. But who—” the word held all the vehemence of a sharply pointed finer—“who could tell her that and be believ­ ed?” “Nobody.” John Morton said miserably. “Certainly not her father. We may as well make the best of a bad situation, John. If you continue to oppose Jill she’ll run off and marry that young no-good. She’s your daughter and she inherited the Morton red hail' and red tem­ per.” Lucy’s Proposal He fumbled in his wallet, wav­ ed for the waiter. “Do you sug­ gest,” he remarked acidly, “that I tell Jill I agree to this marriage?” “Not only agree—but approve. You might also offer him a job—a good one.” Lucy drew on her glov­ es imperturably. John stared incredulously into his sister’s long, angular disting­ uished face. “Offer him a job?” “You’ll have to do it eventual­ ly,” she reminded, “and you may as well do it now, willingly, gra­ ciously, before you and Jill be­ come permanently estranged.” She rose from the table, her lean figure towering over his stocky one. “Think it over, John. Maybe some­ thing will happen before it’s too late. Maybe the Putnam’s will get on their feet again. Maybe Jill will even see through Lyle.” She smiled wryly, “though that’s hardly possible. He’s a handsome young animal with a very plausible air.” Lucy nodded her head in the, di­ rection of a corner table. “They’re both over there by the door,” she said. “What are you going to do about it?” His eyes, narrowed and chill, found the table, raked over the young couple that occupied it, “I’ll be damned if I will.” “You’ll be damned if you don’t,” she said, then turned, and walked toward the door. After a moment of indecision, he followed, murmur­ ing inaudible profanities. Jill became aware of her father’s approach when he was several yards from her table. iShe stiff­ ened, squared her jaw and waited for the opening of hostilities. John Surprises Lyle John Morton ignored his daugh­ ter, extended his liand to Lyle. “I understand,” he said in a voice that was almost cordial, “that a marriage'has been arranged.” Lyle jumped to his feet, delight­ ed and surprised, to find his fin­ gers crushed in a grip so strong that he winced. “When you’re through lunch­ eon,” John said pleasantly, “drop back at my office, Lyle. We’ll talk things over. I don’t mind admit­ ting this has been something of a shock, but I suppose all fathers feel that way about their daugh­ ters.” He glanced at Jill, grinned. “If fathers had their way, daugh­ ters would never get married Off.” “Why, thanks, sir,” Lyle’s man­ ner was the .perfect blend of re­ spect and gratitude. Jill watched her father’s retreat ing figure with a puzzled frown. Was he, after all, earning to his senses? Or had Aunt Lucy, in her gentle, restraining way, created this atmosphere of sudden and un­ expected peace? Lyle’s mind whirled pleasantly. His prospective father-in-law had been most gracious. His last fears vanished. John Morton, would, af­ ter all, make things easier for his daughter’s husband. “Let’s hurry through luncheon, darling,’’ Lyle said, “If I have to see your father, I wonder what he wants to talk about?” “I wonder, too,” said Jill. CHAPTER III Lyle Putnam dutifully deposited his fiancee at her home and hurried to the offices of Morton, Inc. John » Morton was impatiently waiting, watching the clock and gnawing the end of a smouldering cigar. Lyle’s heart constricted sharply, His bland dreams of a comfortable and prosperous future began to- wither under the old man’s stare. John Morton thrust Lyle’s cor­ dial preliminaries aside, and began without further preamble: “I don't mind admitting,” his tone was al­ most contemptuous, “that when Jill told me about this—engagement— I was none too pleased.” The young man’s cheek took on a darker hue, John Morton continued. “I don’t also mind admitting that I had hoped for—better things—for my daughter.’ ’ “I don’t blame you, sir,” Lyle tossed tact and caution recklessly to the wind. “I haven’t a darned thing 'to offer Jill and I probably never will have.” His listener was ony mildly sur­ prised at the admission. “I know all about that. I had you looked up,” A Mental Beating “I — see,” Lyle fumbled for the clever, the proper answer, failed and was silent. a1 I (TO BE CONTINUED) z I I I • Ji IN CANADA'S PLAYGROUND YES, out in Vancouver and Victoria GOLF is played all year ’round! Warm sea-breezes and the protection of the mighty Coastal mountains maintain a moderate temperature in which all outdoor sports take on an invigorating newness. Plan now to visit Canada’s EVER­ GREEN Playground—for rest or play, the ideal place for a thoroughly enjoyable winter vacation! Special Winter rates at hotels. The new Hotel Vancouver’s spacious rooms and de­ lightful accommodations will add to the pleasure of your stay in Vancouver. TRAVEL WEST THE JASPER WAY USING THE AIR-CONDITIONED W CONTINENTAL LIMITED 7^7^ ATTRACTIVE RAIL RATES Reduced sleeping-car fares. ,, Low meal rates an trains < Always Use ., , CANADIAN NATIONAL EXPRESS TELEGRAPHS • MONEY ORDERS Speed. , , Dependability. , . Safety Full information from any ticket agent Christmas i The Exeter Times-Advocate Established 1873 and 1387 at Exeter, Ontario Published every Thursday jnorninjj! SUBSCRIPTION -p.O 0 per year la advance Real Estate fox Ina or tion for flrat 25c. each subse- Mlacellaneous ar- Wanted, Lost, ox RATES—Farm or sale 60c. each four insertions, quent Insertion. ticleB, To Rent, ........ Found 10c. per line of six word*. Reading notices 10c, per line. Card of Thanks 50c. Legal ad­ vertising 12 and 8c. per line. I* Memoriam, with one verse 50p, extra verses 25c. each, Member of l’he Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Professional Cards GLADMAN & STANBURY (F. W. Gladman) BARRISTER, SOLICITOR, &c Money to Loan, Investments Made Insurance Safe-deposit Vaults for use of out Clients without charge EXJETER and HE NS ALL Greeting Cards Come in and see our Beautiful Display of New Cards Our 1940 stock contains an artistic range of hand painted Canadian Winter Scenes; English Flower Garden; Novel French Folders With Unusual Colour Effects and dozens of other exclusive lines Prices Complete With Name and address 24 cards for $1.00 12 cards for 75c Steel Engraved, Hand Colored, Deckle Edge, French Fold Greeting Cards 12 for $1.00 Printed Cards may also be purchased without name and address as low 25c a dozen A Fine Range to Sell at 2 for 5c Be sure to see our Christmas Cards for Convalescents, Sympathy and an Assortment of Children’s Cards X CARLING & MORLEY BARRISTERS, SOLICITORS, £o- LOANS, INVESTMENTS, INSURANCE Office; Carling Block, Mjain Stree*, EXETER, QNT. Dr. G. F. Rouiston, L.D.S.,D.D.S. DENTIST Office; Carling Block EXETER, ONT, Closed Wednesday Afternoonn Dr. H. H. COWEN, L.D.S.,D.D S DENTAL SURGEON OffEe opposite the Post Office, Main Street, Exeter Office 36w Telephones Rea, 35) Closed Wednesday Afternoons ARTHUR WEBER LICENSED AUCTIONEER For Huron and Middlesex farm sales a specialty PRICES REASONABLE SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Phone 57-13 Dashwood R. R. No. 1, DASHWOOD FRANK TAYLOR LICENSED AUCTIONEER For Huron and Middlesex FARM SALES A SPECIALTY Prices Reasonable aud Satisfaction Guaranteed EXETER P. O. or RING 138 WM. H. SMITH LICENSED AUCTIONEER For Huron and Middlesex Special training assures you of your property’s true value on sale day. Graduate of American Auction College Terms Reasonable and Satisfaction Guaranteed Crediton p. O. or Phone 43-2 USBORNE & HIBBERT MUTUA1 FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY Head Office, Exeter, Ont. President ............. JOHN Kirkton, R. R. Vice-President .... JOHN Dublin, Ont. DIRECTORS W. H. COATES .................... Exete. ANGUS SINCLAIR .... Mitchell, R. 1 WM. HAMILTON .... Cromarty, R. 1 T. BALLANTYNE ... Woodham, 1 AGENTS JOHN ESSERY ................. Centralia ALVIN I,. HARRIS .... Mitchell R. 1 THOS. SCOTT .................... Cromarty SECRETARY-TREASURER B. W. F. BEAVERS ..............„ Exeter GLADMAN & STANBURY Solicitors, Exeter HACKNEY 1 ’ McGRATH The World’s Finest Anthracite is Trade Marked Blue. Order Blue Coal and we havS1 it, also Large Lump Alberta Coal HAMCO Dustless Coke Prices are Right A. J. CLATWORTHY Phone 12 Granton We Deliver And then there was the fellow who said he used the Columbus system of typing-—find a key and. laud on it.