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Thursday, April 18, 1929 .~It must have been‘from him‘that she got her love of the country. ‘She revelsâ€" in greenâ€"fields. and running â€"brooks â€"and sandâ€"banks>, and â€"mudâ€" holes. . Whenever she finds.one she always wants to stay there all day. The farther it is from the city the *better~ she likes it.â€"~â€"~~~ s ~I personally am fonder of the city, and ‘when she decides to remain all ~night on some road fourteen or fifteen miles from anywhere I have someâ€" times walked home rather than share the sylvan solitudes with her. _ _ _ _ FIRST INSTALLMENT â€"~: â€"CHAPTER I. What‘s the Use?: Grandmother â€" Page â€" refused | to budge. T turned her‘over again, but there was no sign of life. I squirted gasoline into ‘her . cylinders, ‘but .she didn‘t: seem to care for it. * As you may have surmised, Grandâ€" mother Page is a â€"relation of mine only. by adoption and purchase. She originally was created andâ€"assembled by the Page Motor company of Deâ€" troit, but that was so long ago. that her years fully entitle herâ€"toâ€"the title of "Grandmother." â€" She has had a hard life, too. For four years she has been going nearly everywhere that I go, and for a Jong time before that she was the travelâ€" ing: companion of a suburban realâ€" estate man who could sell gold bricks to placerâ€"miners. â€" I suspect that he taught her some of" her deceitful tricks. * P e d ocm at Under / my. breath Imurmured: "Durn you, Grandmother," _and â€"hit the engine a vindictive tap with a monkey wrench. gald s . â€"â€"â€"No, reader, we are ‘not actors. I am positive of that.. Our stageâ€"work receives mention only in the »society column. We perform for charity beâ€" fore* people who have to like us beâ€" cause ‘we represent such worthy causes. . Whenever the Social Settleâ€" ment sends up a. yell for funds we spend about a thousand dollars‘ worth of time enticing five hundred people to part with fifty cents each to hear us forget our lines. . _ . _ ;. + When Belgium needs bread or the Fiji Islanders_gzun out of pants, who comes (to.. the rescue #wegardless=â€"of . "Maybe there is no gasoline in the magneto," suggested. Maryella,; who h{ld watched my struggle from. the front seat. _ gy@ 2 Te se l I made no reply. When some one: begins offering me suggestions after I kave tried exery known trick on a: stalled motor I find that the only way to preserve my reputation as a genâ€" tleman â€"is to keep absolutely silent. Even Maryella, whom I have been trying for two years to persuade to become Mrs. Tom Billbeck, can draw fire from me on such a dynamtc occaâ€" sion. s "We‘ve got to get home, Tom," she fretted. "There‘s a rehearsal of ‘Pygâ€" maljion and Galatea‘ toâ€"night, and if we‘re away they can‘tâ€"do a thing." consequences ?. ‘The Sheridan Dramâ€" atic club! . i mc ®, _And now we ~were doing "Pygâ€" malion and Galatea" for the Old Solâ€" diers‘ Home, which needed some new windowâ€"shades or an etectric piano, I‘ve forgotten which. <~ +â€"â€"â€" } > _ "That being the case," I observed | sarcastically, "we‘ll start.” © } "Let‘s," she encouraged. â€" =3 Grandmother Pageâ€"and I repeated our justly© celebrated repertoire of tricks, from adjusting. the sparkâ€"eoils to. putting gasoline in‘ our eye while | lying prone under the tank. Each separaté. adjustment was .preceded | and followed by ,reducing'-exex‘ciSefl with the startingâ€"crank."â€" > | . "Besides," continued Maryella, shivâ€" ering slightly, ‘it‘s getting colder, and I think I felt a drop of rain a minute ago." . | > Maryella Watching the Struggle from . _"Jimâ€"Cooper has a selfâ€"starter on his â€"car," â€" Maryella_observed sympaâ€" thetically while I _ was trying to catch my breath. . C Z* T ."Then why," I inquired in icy exâ€" asperation that I regretted instantly, "why don‘t you marry. Jim Cooper, if you‘re soâ€"crazy about a selfâ€"startâ€" er f" _ 5 Les pa Re f "I know . one thing,"â€"she »stated, clambering out of the seat. . "Tll never rh}e in your old car again as long_ as TAive!" .. e $ She started down the road. _ "I‘ll walk home first!"> > "Why are girls of twenty so adorâ€" ahitâ€"and wh\;we men a few years older such fbols aboutâ€"them? â€" The _"Oh!" exclaimed Maryella, ingrticâ€" ulate with rage at my remark. "You have no right to insult me like that?t" "I didn‘t meéan to insult you, dear." I forgot Grandmother Page for the moment in my anxiety to square myâ€" self for my tactical blunder. It was the _ wrong move.. My very humility made her think that she real« ly had been offended in some way, so she dabbed .at her pretty eyes to see if she could scare up a tear. She cBuld_not.â€" That made her more anâ€" gry. * â€" 2 T Hâ€"E. PR ESS "Listen, Maryella," L called aftcr[ "her. "Be reasonable." § § _ No response. = <| ‘"*You can‘t walk all the way home. | It‘s ten miles." * "I‘d probably have ito walk anyâ€"| â€"driveâ€"with Maryella that day. This [ machine was coming from town. =â€"I Jooked. at a turn. of ‘the road | around. which it would presently apâ€" t pear. Maybe it was a friend of mine. . The car rounded the turn. Lswore | underâ€"my breath. â€" t se> TK &D&fizmil I Nature did all she could._for. the mm spaiikints * ‘ outside, but let him go without fillâ€" answer ts that question may explain? ;?ltge;r‘;etlhmlt:ce m‘;’:{;‘h v\;?‘:tz?:n;:?. also why 1 followed her through the | ple seem to be doir;g he ‘does withâ€" dusk that l part twilight and part l out ;]uestioning whetherâ€"there is arfy ga‘t‘}lxe.r:rtg r;imstolrlm.” 1 called af ~â€"|‘sense in it. He plays golf because her N;}:' rea:l(?;xeab?é " €::Cmref & t“e” so many others seem to enjoy it, mt ):,0 ros-ponsé * & from any love of the game.. He is wy: o ax en . u& : ‘ one of. Maryella‘s admirers. for the _: **You capt \fa]k all the way hon}e., same resgan,. / . j "I‘d probably have ito walk anyâ€"| way," ‘she observed dispassionately,| "so P might as well get started beforei dark." i o nsm gasl ~ _ That remark about walking homeé anyway â€"was. theâ€"crowningâ€"insult â€"to me andâ€" Grandmother Page. â€"Itâ€" hurt the more because it was probably truc.. I turned back angrily. (She trudged on. . . a _ ns 2 _ Down the road came a purring moâ€" tor. I had hardlyâ€" expected a carâ€"tao pass . that. way.: I.â€" had purposely chosen_a ‘backâ€"country road for my the Front Seat of Grandmother Page It was the racing runabout belongâ€" ing to Jim Cooper. No situation that I _ couldâ€" imagine would ~please him more and me less than that in #hich we were placed. * €. 414 He pulled up alongside of Maryella, who had proceeded about two or three blocks before he arrived. After a short parley she got in beside him. I gnashed my teeth, but thanked Heaven that I would soon be glone to express my opinion on automobiles, nature, human beings and things in general. , . . * maw* No such luck. â€" The car was comâ€" ing on toward me. It pulled up alongâ€" side of Grandmothér Page. > . Maryellia looked off across the fields onâ€" the otherâ€"side â€"of the. road, but the driver got down from his Séat and inspected Grandmother Page. â€" ° ~*"*What‘s the mafter? Won‘t‘ the| . Slim and: slender_ and coolâ€"looking, engine run*" «. Toas s > i‘she was obviously the handiwork of a Jim Cooper is the ‘kind ofra man beautyâ€"loving god â€" who© wanted to ’ who. would ask a question like that. | His sense of humor is very low, just |â€"above that of: an ‘anthropoid ape. \When bromidioms were being, passed ‘around he took one of each. f _ ‘ll admit that he is rather‘a good looking chap. His hair just escapes being too blond and he has a wisp of a mustache such as you see on the men â€"in the clothing advertisements: _ Maryella is flattered by his attenâ€" tion, not knowing what a small tribâ€" uté it is. The fact that he asks her opinion on every ‘move he makes, from changing brands of toothâ€"powâ€" der to buying a summer home, catâ€" ers to her love of power. VMay-l;e“Iv;m prejudiced, but I can‘t believe that he really appreciates her adorableness. & "Are you sure you‘ve got gasoline in the tank?" ; "Theâ€" trouble is in the spark," I volunteered: briefly, looking around for a‘weapon in case he .should ask another. question. § WA cA _.Jim Cooper continued his ruthless assault ‘on the remaining shreds of niy temper. . & § ‘¥xur s "Oh!Can I give you a lift home old man?* Of course, there isn‘t an extra seat, but you could sit onâ€"the gasolineâ€"tank at the rear. I think it will hold you." _ stt i9 <He surveyed meâ€"~doubtfully. â€"â€"~â€" A slight snicker from ‘the lady in the car spurred meâ€"to a quick refusal. ~_"No, thank you:.I‘ll have my car going in a few minutes." _ "Oh! Miss Waite told â€" me it wouldn‘t go at all." "Did she?" I ‘murmured politely. "I didn‘t know that she was interâ€" ested." â€" . "Maybe we had better wait," he suggested, "until you get started, and follow you into town. Then if anyâ€" thin%goes wrong we can pick you up along the road." 4 ¢ â€"â€""Please don‘t,". L urged, withâ€" just a shade of feeling showing in my voice. f : He. got: back into his car and inâ€" sulted us once more with the subâ€" dued but efficient purr of his electric starter. Then. waving at me airily, he turned about and disappeared in a cloud of dust toward the city. "Just as you say, old top. TI‘d like awfully well to help you if. I could." 1 sat by the roadside and told myâ€" self that I was probably one of the seven worst "fussers" in the United States and the Dominion of Canada. I had played my game like a fifteenâ€" jeweled boob. The first rule for makâ€" ing a girl eat out of your hand is never to let her know when you get mad. The second is not to be sorry if you do. I had a blowâ€"out in both rules. « While T1 sat there it began to drizâ€" zle, but I thought too little of myself to care to move, so I didn‘t. Instead I recollected â€"with delightful pgin how eminently desirable Maryella was. â€" sh ey he ut cu mf ha h«