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Jewel Weed

Page 132

"Nothing very remarkable. In every town of importance they have some one

always on the lookout for a promising piece of mud." Miss Huntress eyed

Lena speculatively for a moment. "I'll tell you in confidence," she went

on, "and I trust you to keep mum about it, for the sake of the times

when I helped you--I write for it here. I don't exactly like it, but you

know I can't afford to despise dollars and cents. It's just plain

business, after all. There's a demand for that kind of thing and it

falls to my lot to supply it."

"And did you write that awful thing about Mrs. Clarke?" cried Lena,

sitting up with big blue eyes, and gazing earnestly at Miss Huntress

with, awe as an arbiter of reputations.

"Yep," replied that lady with a gulp of tea.

"Gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Percival. "I hope you'll never send them

anything about me."

"Then you'd better never do anything indiscreet," Miss Huntress laughed

maliciously. "But I don't think you would," she went on speculatively.

"You're too clever and too ambitious for that. Do you know, I've rather

come to the conclusion that it's only rather simple-hearted people who

do those things. Take that Mrs. Clarke, now. Of course her husband was a

brute, and when the other man came along she fell so much in love with

him that she didn't even think of any one else in the world except their

two selves. A woman who was incapable of whole-souled passion would have

kept an eye on the world and walked the narrow path of virtue."

"Why, you're defending her!" exclaimed Lena.

"Not in the least," said Miss Huntress grimly. "I helped to make her pay

the price."

"Oh, well," Lena said with an air of greatness, "there are some of us

who can combine the deepest love with decent behavior you know."

"Of course," answered Miss Huntress.

"Now Miss Elton is just that other kind. I believe she never thinks what

people say about her," Lena observed. "Not that she'd do anything out of

the way, you understand."

"Certainly not." Miss Huntress began to prick up her professional ears.

"She's a particular friend of yours, isn't she?"

"Intimate," said Lena. "You know they used to say that Mr. Percival--but

of course that was before he met me, and anyway there was nothing in

it."

"I know," said Miss Huntress. "I sent a line to the Chatterer once

about it."

"Did you really? Well, of course, for form's sake, she has to be as nice

as ever to me and Mr. Percival. But she has reconciled herself. It's all

Mr. Early now."

"You don't say!" ejaculated Miss Huntress with interest.

"She's regularly throwing herself at his head. Why only this afternoon I

saw her do the most unconventional thing."

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