Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1916)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

254 The Turmoil "And I wish I could have some one in charge of you now as I had then," said the mother. "There is no need, mamma. I have my serious moments, but I want to smile my way through life. It almost broke my heart when the carriages were sold and I had to say good-by to good old Dolly. But let's not think of sad things. There is great happiness in store for me — oh, very great happiness ! I am to marry Mr. Jim Sheridan, son of the wealthiest man in the Middle West." "My child! Don't jest about marriage," pleaded Mrs. Vertrees. "It's only half a jest, mamma. That is the real reason for Mr. Sheridan's interest in me. His daughter is very charming. One of his sons, Bibbs, is an unknown quantity, for whose nonappearance they made no apology. Another son, Roscoe, is married. But the third son, Jim, is of vastly more importance than any of the others. Jim is a big, broad-shouldered man like his father. The two of them have fixed it all up. I overheard the dominant James, junior, telling the dominant James, senior, about me in one of the rooms, the door of which they forgot to close. You should have seen his attitude of determination. He doubled his fist and — "She's a girl worth fighting for," he declared, meaning me ; and his dad nodded his head and hugged his big son. 'It'll get us into the inner circle of society,' says he— only he called it *'sassiety.' " "But, Mary, this James Sheridan hasn't proposed, has he?" "Oh, no, mamma. This is just a little peep behind the scenes I had while scurrying along the corridors of the great barn of a house. A surreptitious listening-in, like a" telephone girl, but the temptation was irresistible. I played the inquisitive child, you know, and scampered about unhindered. But what do you think? I am the bearer of an invitation for you and papa and myself to dine with the Sheridans a week from to-morrow, and ■ No, my dear, don't say a word ; it is all settled. I accepted on behalf of you both." Mary Vertrees had represented the possibility of her alliance with the house of Sheridan as a subject for merriment, but when at the dinner party the forceful Jim took possession of her as if the matter were settled, her brows knit in a frown of dismay. James Sheridan, senior, beamed on the young people who sat on his right, and discoursed on the importance of money with Mr. and Mrs. Vertrees, who sat on his left. The culmination came when the party was on the point of breaking up. Jim had drawn Mary Vertrees aside from the groups in the reception hall, and, without preliminary, offered her his heart and pocketbook. "I'm not a sentimental man," he told her, "but my affection is deep. With your beauty, you can marry almost anybody. I know just about how your folks stand financially, and you'll pardon me for saying it. but you've got to marry somebody with money. Well. I've got the money. I am my father's right-hand man, and I'll probably step into his shoes when he quits. You see how sensible a thing a union between us would be. Come! Will you " "Why, Mr. Sheridan, you take my breath away !" she gasped. "I have only known you a few days " "That's true enough, but I only needed a minute to tell me that you were the girl for me. I loved you the moment I saw you. Mary, what's the answer?" "Give me time — give me time," she pleaded. "What's the use of thinking any more about it?" he asked. "You don't love anybody else, do you ?" "N-no."