Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The f ourth Lovely My THERE?E BEMiON WNU Servlc* (?, Th? Bobbs-Merrlll Company.) CHAPTER I The wedding waa over. In the lit ter of confetti that concealed the pat tern of the rug on the floor the foyer bore silent witness to the fact that the bride and grootn had departed. The catering had been lavish ; the wine, In days of supposed drought, veritable ; and the apartment, among the most beautiful and spacious in New York, entirely suitable for a function that had united an American family of dis tinction with the English nobility. At laBt most of the guests had gone or were reluctantly making ready to go, under which circumstances the three elder Lovely sisters felt that they were free to Indulge their desire for private conversation without giv ing the impression of a family council. "Cyril had to rush off to a patient Just after the4 ceremony," Lucy said. "What did you think of It, Laura?" "It was a beautiful wedding. I don't believe I could have Improved on it," Laurn conceded graciously. "It will cost poor Rlll-I.ee a fortune. Ridiculously extravagant, I call It." Lucy went on. Louise nodded briskly. "The Scotch blood in the Lovely ancestry Is coming out in you, Lucy. Why should you worry? It isn't going to cost you any thing. After all, It would have been deplorable if this had been a shabby function. As an international affair, nothing else has been talked of for the past month. This marriage, and Smlf's stage management of It, won't take a penny out of your purse nnd certainly reflects great credit on the family." "How Smlf has done It on what she has a year is more than I can under stand, " Lucy hinted. "The very last letter I had from Rill-Lee said busi ness in South America had gone to pot." she went on ; "every year he had hoped he would make a killine and be able to send Smlf something; but this 'year there was Just no use kidding himself ? there wasn't a Chinaman's chance of it." "BIll-Le^'s way of expressing him self ? " Lanrib-hegan, only to be Inter rupted by Louise, struck bj^more than the wording of what was plainly a quo tation from their brother: "You can't mean her never has sent her anything? Why, Cintra's educa tion alone ? and this wedding! You're right, Lucy. It must have cost a for tune." "Oil, not so much perhaps." Laurn cut in, characteristically unwilling to borrow trouble, "after all, Susan Phelps helped substantially when she lent Smlf this apartment. I think it was awfully decent of Susan." Lucy sniffed. "Susan wasn't entirely disinterested. It was one way to make sure that her precious Pamela would be Invited to be a bridesmaid. She never offered any of us such a chance. If Ci. trn had been marrying a plain, every day American I doubt If Susan would have been so generous." "Perhaps she's fonder of Smlf than Bhe Is of us ? " "There's no need of speculating on that," Laura Interrupted Louise, "she let Smlf use It. Hadn't Wo better go? We'll be the last, If we aren't careful." "That's all right," Laura reassured her, "we're the family. I mean to stay until I've seen Smlf. I've never dared to ask her, and I'm wonderln? what she'll tlo with herself now that Bhe's lost Clntra." "Poor old Smlf. It really Is a trag edy when you come to think of her side of the afTalr. You can't deny tha? she has given up her whole 1 1 f?. to that child. I've said It before and I say It again. Rill-Lee had no right to saddle her with his offspring, youna as she was then." Louise looked at Lucy challenglngly and Lucy took up the challenge. "Louise always talks as If she were the only one who cares for Smlf. I adore her and so do you, Laurn. She's the most considerate, the most gener ous person I know. Rut neither of us Is blind to the unfortunate facts. I shall always Insist that Rill Lee saved her faco by providing her wltfi an oc cupatlon In life when his wife died." "Smlf's going to be awfully lonely." Laurn expertly mnnngod to give the effect of agreeing with both of her sisters. "Oh, dear, she was the best looking of any of us when she wns n baby. Why did she have to turn out like this? It makes you feel too con spicuous for words to take her around with you. You all know what I mean. I don't mind If people stare at me be cause I'm Bpeclally well dressed or looking better than usual. They stare at Smlf as If they believed sho must have escaped from a sideshow. Yet can't you remember how proud poor Daddy wns, showing us off to his friends? 'The lovely ladles,' he'd say ??? If proposing a toast, 'my four queens.' Then he'd snatch Smlf up snd set her on his shoulder. 'And this one's the trump, Isn't she?' he'd ask ; nnd every one would agree with him." "Smlf's complexion's fine and she has nice eyes with curly lashes," IjOuIrc began. "No one denies, my dear, that she would be passable If she'd lose a ton or two," Lucy snapped, 'X ' ' ? ??> i' i "Talking about me," a rich, glrnost unctuous voice declared with no un certainty and the utmost Indifference. "Well, what do you suggest that 1 should do about It?" The response was prompt. "Hollywood diet 1" from Laura. 1 "Cyrli would prescribe thyroid ex tract, salt free diet and five meals a day ? If you can call them meals," Lucy contributed. The chorus was eager and earnest, and Smif laughed. "Forget It, girls. If anything would make a sylph of me surely this wed ding would have. How did you like It?" "Perfect !" the sisters agreed In chorus, but Lucy had to add : "Itegardless of expense, wasn't It?" "Practically," Smlf confessed. "It Isn't every day the Lovely family ac quires a belted earl. It seemed suit able to celebrate the capture. More over, his earldom's a good fellow. What he saw I" Clntra's beyond me. 'She hasn't thr ulns of a mosquito.' I told him." "You didn't!" Lucy cried Incredul ously. "I did. Why not? I always play fair. I said those very words ? and he said : 'Good. I don't like brainy women. What I want to know ? Is she sound and kind? Warranted steady In double harness? No kicking over the traces or Jumping gates looking for better pasture?" 'No,' I said, 'she'd not have Imagination enough to think of such a thing.' 'Good again, ' said he, 'my last fancy wrote novels. I'm off Imagina tion for life. How's her temper?' said he. 'Sweet as apple-blossoms,' said I, 'and just about as stimulating.' 'She'll do,' said he. 'When I want excitement I can go to India after big game. I no longer pine for temperament In the home.' 'Please don't be In a hurry about this. You're a bit young to settle down to Clntra's pace,' I warned him. 'Remember, she's al ways the same. Beautiful, perfect, never a hair out of place, as exciting as a rice puddlncr.' 'And asx-wholo some,' he cut In. 'It's no use, Smlf, old Don't you see how pathetic 8he Is? Actually doing her best to scare Leis ter off in the hope that she wouldn't have to part with Cintra." "Nonsense I" Lucy presented her view in answer to Louise. "Smlf was very clever there. Leister can never say Cintra's family Jumped down his throat. And Smif knew that ull Eng lishmen are bullheaded ; oppose them and they're twice as bent on getting their way. What I'm worrying about Is the money question. Do you sup pose she is going to ask us to con tribute to the expenses? Because I may ns well say at once that it is im possible for Cyril and me to help *ier With ti\e stock market . collapsed, a fashionable doctor's Is the last bill to be paid." "I'll do what 1 can," Laura said. "Jim Is an angel about money mat ters." "Smlf wasn't hinting." Louise faced the -other two Indignantly. "You ought to know her better than that. Ned always says she's 'damnably Inde pendent.' Honestly. I'm worried about her. Left alone like this ? " "What she ought to do," Lucy inter rupted briskly, "Is to buy a small place In the country. She could raise chick ens or dogs." "And we could send the children to her for the summer holidays," Louise submitted the suggestion dryly. "Just like BUI-Lee. Dump our responsibili ties on her shoulders. You make me positively savage. Why don't you ap ply for admission for her to a Home for Indigent Spinsters? Smlf hasn't nsked you for anything. You don't even know that she needs help. When she does will be time enough for you 10 decide for her what she had better do. She succeeded in educating Cin tra, brought her out and married her to an entirely desirable man without assistance or advice from any of us. I'm ready to risk a guess that she'll continue to manage her affairs in her own way, and I, for one, am content to let her!" "I'm sure no one wants to Interfere if she Isn't In a hole financially," Laura "Forget It, Girls. If Anything Would Make a Sylph of Me Surely This Wedding Would Have." chnp. I'm for It.* 'I see you are, my lad,' I agreed. 'So tuke hor ? with my sympathy.' " Lucy regarded her youngest sister with extreme disapproval hut added hopefully: "Naturally he didn't think you were In earnest." "You fancy not?" Smlf looked hack at her owllshly. "At any rnte it was a pretty wedding," she ended, bringing the conversation sharply hark to where It had started. "Claire Goodhue snld It was ahso lut^ly the most charming wedding she had ever seen, and she meant It. For my own part. Smlf darling, I don't sen how yon did It on your Income." This suggestion, surprisingly enough, came from Laura, "it was more In Lucy's line. A distinct pause followed. "But of course I didn't," Smlf re turned nonchalantly. Before her audience had grasped the significance of this, n worried looking little man hurried toward the group. "My dear Smlf, Susan has decided to run up to the Manor for the rest of the week. f'am has ln%'ii>d the whole bridal party. All tho.e Kngllsh people, you know. To the Manor for over Sunday. Pam wants them. Do you care to go?" "'Goodness, no, Charles! All I nsk now Is to he allowed to forget that there are such things as marrying and giving In marrlnge. I'll run and speak to Susan." With n nod tu her sisters and a casual "I'll he hack," Smlf went off with Charles Phelps. "Now, what do you make of that?" Louise bent her brows ns she stared after the mismatched pair: Charles Phelps, so drled-up and anxious look ing, for all the millions that should have lifted every care from his shoul der's: Smlf, so massive, so capable, so protective In pose. Laura shrugged her shoulder*. "Preparation for a campaign In Lon don tills spring. A good move on Susan's pnrt." "That isn't what I mean. What do I rare for the Phelpses and their social campaigns? It's Smlf I'm thinking of. hazarded, eager as always to sidestep trouble. "We wort* only afraid from what she said that she might need money ? and where It was to come from In the present financial depres slon ? " "Kxaetly," said Lucy vaguely. "She's not the only person who's hard up. With four children that becomes a chronic condition. And this Is so tin expected, Louise. Ff we had ever had to 1 1 e 1 p her before It would he differ ent. We would have saved up for It. whereas now wo are utterly unpre pared." Louise had never liked her elder sisters less. Of a sudden they seemed to her selfish and self-centered. An far as money went, she and Ned Car ter had less at their command than either of the other families. They lived on Louise's Income and put all Ned made back Into his business. They had bought a tiny house out on Long Island, pretty as a Dutch toy and Just right for a bride, which the arrival of two babies In rapid succession had crowded to the roof tree. "If Smlf needs help, she can de pond on Ned and me," Louise rejoined "I'm sorry If you two are so poverty stricken that you can't afford to d<> anything for your sister ? " Hefore the others had rallied their forces to reply to this attack, which was as unexpected as a pet lamb's letting out the roar of a lion, Smlf again bore down on tbein. "It's too bad. girls. I'll have to go ahead of the others with Susan She's depending on me to help her through this party of Pam's." "Hut, Smlf, when will we see you again?" Louise asked, her solicitude creeping Into her voice and sensitive little face. Impulsively Smlf kissed her. "We Want to know where you an going to live now that Centra's gone?' Laura asked. "Will you keep your apartment? I fancy It's bigger than you'll need ? " "A little house In tho country ? " Lucy begun, until the. understanding expression on Smlf's broad face cut her short in mid-career. "Invite us all to lunch with you, Laura, a week from today. By that time I ought to have escaped from tho after-effects of the wedding. I'll tell you all my plans then." "Then you have plans?" Smlf grinned, a grin of sheer amuse ment at the thought of the reception the older girls were certain to accord those plans. "I should say I have! Exciting plans ? but I must hurry. That's I'am call ing me." "Not without telling us what you're going to do?" Louise implored her. "I don't mind telling you," said Smlf, "only I'm rather afraid you won't like It when you hear It. I'm going to be an adventuress." She passed out into the foyer and a moment later the clang of the ele vator door as It closed behind her told them that she was really gone. CHAPTER II At first glance the history of the Lovelys, of Lovelylea, Va., presented little of interest to the lingering news monger or novelist. They were not the legendary penniless patricians, im molated on the altnr of their pride by the Civil war. On the contrary, the war that pauperized many of their neighbors brought developments which had made the Lovelys of that day vul garly rich for their time. ' Immediately thereafter, heartless Ill-bred capital ists from the hated North had pene trated their fastnesses to discover coal on lands belonging to them in West Virginia; and while It was a regrettable fact that a higher price might hnve been realized had the Lee Lovely then reigning been less scorn ful of advice and of business meth ods, it is pleasant to remember that for a property regarded as so worth less that the aforesaid heartless cap italists had to convince him that he alone owned and could give title to It, he received a sum that permitted him vintage wines nnd every Indulgence, and of which enough remained at the time of his death to make his son a rich man. His heir, In his turn, died before he hnd time to Impair this In heritance. Ills son, another Lee Lovely, married, the day he came of age, a girl who proved to be a re straining influence, and that early mar riage was blessed punctually every two years by progeny. All the children were handsome but the youngest, named Matildn Smith, after her mother's mother, was a pic ture. Refore she could walk, her mother being dead, her father carried her in front of him on his saddle, ex hibiting her to friends and relations. His pet name for her was "Loveliness," a name which as soon as she could talk she repudiated with scorn. "Name Is Smlf, Smlf, Smlf!" she would shout. And he accepted, as did every one else, the name of Smlf for his youngest born. She was the baby, the pet of the older children and of tin? whole family connection. Smlf was finite a big girl before she learned to speak plainly. Hy that time It would have required a violent effort to break the habit of calling her Smlf, and no Lovely was given to effort except In the search for amusement.. Lee Lovely was killed by a fall froin his mount returning from a hunt, and young Hill-Lee, now Lee Lovely In his turn, reigned In his stead. To every one's surprise, when the will was read ho proved to have come Into nn empty Inheritance. Loo Love ly the elder had divided his money equally among his daughters, nil min ors, who had no power to assist their brother before they came of age how ever much they might desire to do so. Each of them received a round hun dred thousand dollars, Kill-Lee the ten-thousand-acre estate of Lovelylee, the non existent residunry estate and the injunction to give his slfjtors n home as long ns they remained un married. Young Rill-Lee, at that time twenty two years old. taking Smlf with him for eompnny, rode over to his Clrand motber Culpeper's to discuss the situ atlon. fSrandmother Culpeper. who looked both frail and brittle, like n Chelsea figure grown wrinkled, was yet a per snnnllty whose opinions carried weight, flrandfather Culpeper had beun gath ered to his fathers years before, but the old lady still dispensed justice and advice In his name. "As 1 see It, CJraridmamn," Hill l.ee expounded, "the only thing for me to do In to And some rich Yank who wants to hunt or raise hunters and I rent the place to him, while I go away and fry to make the money I'll need to live here as a Lovely should " His grandmother accepted without protest the fact that a lean life on starved acres could hold nothing to tempt one of his blood. "Laura says I II be the richest of iho fnmlly by the 1 1 me I come of age, Hill Lee. I'll give you all my money, ><o don't worry." Smlf had listened to I heir conversation with Interest and a precocious understanding of the sltua Hon, and Hill Lee smiled at their grandmother over her burnished head as Smlf went on: "Laura can't spare any. She says she and Lucy will need all they have In New York ? " "New York?" Recognizing the validity of this second-hand Informa tion, her grandmother had seized on It with extreme disapproval. "Yes, ma'am," Smlf nodded. "They're going up there to be married to mighty rich gentlemen." "Thank you, Smlf," said Bill-Lee gravely and In good faith, "when I need help I'll certainly call on you all. . . . Now, Grandmama, this Is my plan, ma'am. I'll rent the place, with Masters to Btay on as superin tendent. Anyway, it wouldn't be right for the g.'rls to live there with no one but me to look after them, even If I saw my way to staying. They ought to go to good boarding schools. The education they get down here with governesses Isn't worth two bits. I'm going to Chile. Nitrates come from there, you know, ma'am. I've been talking to Grossman Barden, who's Just back, and he says there's every opportunity for men with push and a little capital." "But the capital, Bill-Lee? -I mean Lee." "Bill-Lee Is right, Grandmama. Time enough to be Lee when I tako over Lovelylea. The capital, ma'am, will come from my tenant. Masters will forward me the excess over taxes and other expenses, and I'll take a Job In Valpo (that's what they call Val paraiso), while I learn the language and look about me carefully before I Invest. I mean to make my eternal fortune anil come back to Virginia In style." Mrs. Culpeper smiled, Indulgent of his youthful enthusiasm and saying nothing to discourage it, since she was too straitened In circumstances to offer the aid she would have liked to extend. Cintra, her daughter, and Smlfs mother, had been the youngest of her six children and the others all had families as numerous as the Love ly brood and, being less affluent, were a constant drain on her resources in one way or other ; moreover she felt that Bill-Lee had hit upon a scheme that held out some faint hope of suc cess. Let the boy go. To be on his own resources would make a man of him, and meanwhile Lovelylea would be kept up. On his return a way might open for him to live there as the head of the Lovely clan should. From then on, with his grandmoth er's approval, Bill-Lee had carried his arrangements forward with a rush. Following the plan he had made, he had gone to Chile and his grandmoth er never saw him again although she' had lived to see Cintra, his daughter, who at the age of eight was sent/horth to the cnre of her Aunt Smlf, tb?n only twenty-two herself. Bill-Lee had re membered his youngest sister's proffer of aid and had t\irned to her confi dently when he needed help after the death of his wife, the penniless daugh ter of the American consul at Guaya quil. By that time both Lucy and Louise were married, comforlably If not brilliantly settled. Smlf had he gun to change from the charming child 'he remembered Into a huge woman, so over-weighted with flesh that she was always Judged to be far more than her age. Laura, the most beautiful as well as the eldest of the Lovely sisters, at that date was also still unmarried. S1\a Hammemley Wm Rich; Ablo and Willing to Gratify Her Whlmt. had one passion and one only; the preservation of hor beauty by natural, not artificial, means. To Insure ttint she took many precautions. She wnc very popular, very handsome, and, an f l?o years wont by, sho kept a place for herself In the young act as It mn t urofl by n carefully calculated gen erosity. 1 1 or choice, for a husband, tiad fallen on .lames Ilammersley, a man verging on fifty. Jim Hammeraley \Vas rich ; I able and willing to gratify her whlma; I bla social position was, aa she ex pressed It to Lucy, hor solo confidante, "entirely suitable for a Lovely of I.ove lylea." There would he no necessity for hor to struggle to assert hersolE. (TO nw CONTINUED. ) Pet Superstition^ of Famous Auto "Wizards" If your friends poke fun at the rab bit's foot you carry, and your dislike for broken mirrors and black cats, do not feel abashed. Your pet super stitions are as nothing compared with those of the men who risk their lives as drivers In automobile races. In all the "sport world they are the most superstitious, according to Al fred Dayton of the New York Sun. Hardly one of them but has his pet ritual, or talisman. Barney Oldfleld's clt;ar is possibly the best known lucky piece In this domain, and there are other cases without number. Johnny llannon, for example, always wears a black shirt when driving. Joe Ilusso swears by a red helmet. Kddle I'ullen hung baby shoes on his front springs; Pete de I'aola fastened them to his steering wheel? Ora Hahey "was strong for ureen cars. lie never finished out of the money" In one. Donn Herr, another old-timer, "al ways went on the track with a worn in's stocking tied around his neck." Do th is for Your Child in TWO WEEKS How to rid any boy or girl of sluggishness or constipation and build a big appetite. The trouble with children who will not eat Is usual stasis. The symp toms are a tongue that's always coated, bad breath, poor color, dull eyes that are often a bilious yellow. No appetite, no ambition ? even for play. Hard to get to sleep, hard to wake In the morning. There's an absolute remedy for this condition. It gives listless youngsters the appetite and ener gies of a young animal I They eat I They gain ! They keep well 1 It's not the stomach, but the bowel condition that keeps children from eating. But the trouble is In the lower bowel ? the colon. Cali fornia syrup of figs Is the only "medicine" that Is needed to stlrau late*the colon muscles. The very next day, your child Is eating bet ter and feeling better. Keep on with the syrup of figs a few days and you will see amazing Improvement in appetite, color, weight and spirits. Any drug store has the real Cali fornia syrup of figS, all bottled, with \ directions. Nature never made a nicer acting or nicer tasting laxa tive. (It Is purely vegetable.) He member California syrup of figs when sickness, a cold or nny upset has clogged a child's bowels. WARNING: Even when it's some' thing to give children, some stores will try to substitute. Bo be sure the bottle says CALIFORNIA. Syrup of Figs. MEMBER N.R.A. Do you lack PEP? Ara y?u all In, tlrod and run down? WUI rid you of MALARIA and build you up. Used for 65 years for Chills, Fever, Malaria and A General Tonic KOc and $1.00 At All Druggiita Bright Eyas . . . No Bad Skin Hho lonrnrvl lon? ago how oft?n dull oyoa, pimply skin. norvmiKT?f?M and lack of pop onmn from l>owol Rlugfdshnewi and constipation. Now HR (Nature's Komody) 1* hor ?ecro% of xparkllng lovnllnom ana vital hoalth. No more Innffoctlvo partial rollof for hor ? all vogetablo NR Tablet* glvo thorough dean? Ing. gontly stimulating tho on tire bowel. Millions tako KW for thorough. offoctlvo relief from conatlpatlon and blUoumem. Oct a 25o box. All dniRKlRta'. I'lwwnnt trofo ?ami not ha?> It-formlng. "Tl IMC" Quick relief for add ttvllBf* I UlYlJ lion, hfirtbiirn. Only 10c. World's Largest 8?||?r at 1 Oo ASK FOR IT BY NAMB