Evening Star Newspaper, February 22, 1931, Page 73

Fact And Fiction SABEL WENTWORTH came quietly into her husband's study. Clad in a frock of some soft white clinging stuff, she looked adorably lovely. Basil Wentworth, a gentleman to his very fingertips, rose from his chair with alacrity, as he always did when his young wife appeared. “My sweet,” he said, “how beautiful you It struck Basil as strange that Isabel did not answer. He went over to her and gently raised her chin with his forefinger so that he could gaze into her flowerlike face. It was only then that he saw she was trembling and that there were two great unshed tears in her violet eyes. “My love!" he gasped, fear gripping at his heart. “There is something wrong. You are 111 or unhappy. Tell me, my little white dove, what is it?” With a sudden cry as though of pain Isabel flung herself forward and, with her head against her husband's breast, gave vent to convulsive sobs. “Dear heart,” he said tenderly when she had become calmer, “now tell me what it is that upsets you.” “Pray do not make me speak of it, Basil,” she pleaded. “I am so wretched. I feel that the whole world must know of my shame.” “But I insist, my dear. I am your husband— and there must never be any secret between For a moment it seemed as though Isabel could not speak Then she lowered her eyes and said in a barely audible voice, “It was Guy Mannering.” “Guy Mannering! What of him?” “He called this afternoon, Basil, when you were looking over the estate with the bailiff. I had been playing the piano for him when he asked to see the conservatory and while we were in there he suddenly seized my hand and said that he loved me.” ASIL WENTWORTH paled and the muscles of his clean-cut jaw quivered. “The cad!” he rasped out at length between clenched teeth. “As soon as he uttered those words,” Isabel went on, “I ordered him to leave me—and he did so. But I have been burning with shame ever since. I have not known how to tell you of this thing; until now I had not the courage to mention to you that he had called.” After a long silence Basil said: “Come, my love. Do not worry. Tomorrow I go to London by an early train to find Guy Mannering. He shall be made to pay for this insult.” He spoke without passion. but this very fact seemed only to add to the sinister meaning of his words. All through the night Basil Wentworth lay awake. His thoughts drove him almost insane. Guy Mannering, his best friend, the man with whom he would have trusted his very life, had insulted his wife and tried to bring dishonor on the ancient name of Wentworth! But the scoundrel would be made to pay dearly for his infamy. The following morning Basil Wentworth left his breakfast untouched. The old butler noticed - with concern that the master was hollow-eyed and that his aristocratic features were set in a look of grim determination when he left Went- worth Hall for the station, but he was not to know that the neat parcel the master carried contained a heavy hunting crop. Arriving in London, Basil Wentworth pro- ceeded to Guy Mannering's club, but he did not go inside. He strolled about, waiting. Soon, to his great satisfaction, he saw Manner- ing emerge from the club and pause outside the door while he smoo‘hed his black mustache and glanced superciliously up and down the street. Then, as Mannering came down the steps, Wentworth sprang at him like a panther and gripped the lap=ls of his coat. “You cad, sir!™ he hissed. “You confounded cad! Take that!” he said, striking Marnering across the cheek with his riding crop. “And that! And that!” Whereupon, Basil Wentworth released Man- nering and turned on his heel. His honor was satisfied. He had thrashed Mannering on the man’s own club steps, leaving marks on his face that he would carry for the rest of his life. ODNEY SCOVILLE BETTERS put down his pen and stretched mightily. He was tired after working on his novel all the evening Whisky and sida stood on a side table in his den. He mixed a drink and filled and lighted a pipe; then, gathering up the sheets of manu- script from his desk, he sat down in a vast leather chair beside a reading lamp and began to peruse what he had written. Here and there he made alterations. Finally, he put down the last page and gave himself up to smoking meditatively. Yes, the novel was coming along nicely. Three more weeks and it ought to be finished. The thought that his books always got into the best-seller class was extremely com- forting. Then, too, there would be a tidy check for the movie rights. The part of Isabel Wentworth was ideal for Gloria Swanson. As soon as he got this job off his chest he'd take his wife—he adored her—and push off to the south of Prance for a couple of months. That reminded him—where was his wife? Prom hours of deep concentration on his novel his brain was still in something of a haze. It was several seconds before he recollected. Oh, THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 22, 1931 As Mannering went down the steps, Wentworth sprang at him like a panther. “You cad, sir!” he hissed. yes. She had gone out with Jimmy Ashton to some show or other and then they were going on to dance at a night club. Of course. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly 1. She would be coming in soon He stuck his legs across the corner of his desk and fell to thinking of his married life, How amazingly lucky he had been! Audrey was exactly the wife for him. Jolly, attractive, affectionate, yet she never interfered with his work or made him feel that he had a woman on his hands. Gosh, he really was tremendously in love with her. F course, having Jimmy Ashton to take her about when he himself was busy helped a lot. Good old Jimmy. there was one. A real prince if ever They'd been pals ever since their kid days—then at college—then right on till now. You might search the earth and not find another man as decent and dependable as The door opened noiselessly and Audrey Bet- ters looked In. “Oh, hello, old thing,” Rodney called without removing the pipe from his mouth or his feet from the desk. “Had a good time?" “Pretty fair,” she said, coming into the room. “But what on earth have you been doing? Your dress is all mussed up and your hair looks like a dilapidated bird's nest.”” He eyed her with a puzzled expression. “Didn't get into a taxi accident, did you?” “Taxi accident is good!” she said. “Oh, Rod- ney, I'm mad with Jim. For two pins I'd make him buy me a new dress.” “Why? What happened?” “He tried to make love to me.” “He did? Really?” Rodney transferred his feet from the desk to the floor and leaned for- wand. “Tell me abcut it,” he said. “Well, he took me on to some Russian dive after the theater, and then in the taxi on the way back here he suddenly grabbed me in his arms and started to talk about being in love with me. I thought he was just being cute until he wedged me in the corner and began peppering me all over the face with genuine thousand-dollar kisses. Really, Rodney, it was awful! I had the time of my life to beat him off. At one point I seriously thought of shriek- ing to the driver for help.” She gave a little 1o Washington in the Blue Ridge. By Anne Hard. In these great hills you are not dead. These rocks once hallowed by your tread, These distances of dimmest blue, This river and these roads, you knew. In that far place where now you dwell, Is there no hwman way to tell That we, the offspring of your will, Remember you, remember still? A First-Run Story by Cosmo Hamilton tug at her dress and patted her disarranged hair. “Well, well,” said Rodney. “So Jimmy did all that! The silly old ass!” And throwing his head back he burst into peals of laughter. “It's nothing to laugh at’” Audrey said, laughing also. Rodney Scoville Betters 'vent off into a fresh paroxysm of laughter. “Well, I'll be darned!” he said at last, getting up and putting the manuscript sheets of “A Lady's Honor” into a draw. “That really is most frightfully funny. Just wait till I run across old Jimmy—TI'll kid the life out of hims." (Copyright, 1931.) . Use of Molybdenum: MOLYBDENUM. one of those metals with more or less trick names, has become, in recent years, onc of the really importaik metals of commerce. It is assuming a reul rank in the steel industry, which consumes the greater part of the 6,000,000 pounds pro- duced annually in this country. Some idea of the trend in the use of molyb= denum may be seen in the fact that, while steel production fell off 27 per cent in 1930, molybdenum purchased by the industry was practically equal with the 1929 orders. This indicates that there is a greater use being found for the metal. The radio field and the electric light in- dustry are also becoming large consumers of molybdenum, the metal in wire form being used as the supporting filament in incandescent lamps and radio tubes. The chemical industry also finds the metal of use through its action as a catalytic agent, particularly in the produc- tion of motor fuels. The characteristics of molybdenum which make it valuable in the steel industry are its resistance to the action of hydrochloric acid, corrosion and high temperatures. Danger to Live Stock: LUPINS, somewhat akin in appearance to the larkspur, have been found in some cases to be poisonous to farm live stock just as larkspur is. Two varieties have been found to be particular upsetting to animals, causing ill- ness varying from a-few hours to eight days and often death. The responsibility for illness was laid to the lupins when some Western farmers complained of a poisoning of their cattle which closely re- sembled larkspur poisoning, but there was found to be no larkspur present. Experts of the De- partment of Agriculture visited to affected areas and, finding nothing noxious present in the fields and nothing to suspect other than the lupins, experimented on cattle, horses and sheep with the lupins, and found them to blame, The three classes of animals reacted quite differently to the lupins, the cattle being more seriously affected than the others. The cattle were stricken with great muscular weakness and trembling which was greatly aggravated if the animals were forced to move. Horses re- acted much as though they were afflicted with colic, while the sheep merely became nervous and excitable. ' Manganese Expe riments: EXTENSIVE experiments are being carried on by the Bureau of Mines in conjunction with the University of Minnesota, in an effort to free the United States from dependence upon foreign sources of manganese for steel production. Large deposits of manganiferous ores are known to exist in Minnesota, but the problem has been to develop an efficient means of obtaining the manganese in usable form at a cost which will compete with foreign seurces. A three-step process is being developed, the first two of which have been found feasible and only the third remains to be worked out. The ore has been successfully treated in six-ton blast furnaces and reduced to spiegel, a mix=- ture of manganese, iron and phosphorus. The second step has also bzen perfected, the spiegel being further treated in small open-hearth and electric-arc furnaces, a slag resulting which contains about 50 per cent manganese. There remains only the final step of producing fer- romanganese from the slag, and some progress has already been made toward the successful completion of the step. U. 8. Motor Boat Gaining. ‘The American motor boat and motor boatl engine secm to be growing in foreign countries and the exportation is going ahead with giant strides. The shipments during 1929 were valued at more than $5,000,000, an increase of 32 par cent over 1928 and 289 per cent over 1924. In particular, the outboard motor has caught popular fancy abroad, and as a result outboard racing clubs are being formed, with the Amer- can engine leading the way. The German and Swedish Diesel and semi-Diesel motors, how- ever, are giving strong competition to American motors for heavier duty. g