Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-24

w 5: !; !:
llENNS, MtWHi The room Is one OF
UNA|MEStTENV those rare places
WRLkhSkN| which are furnished
I'M entirely for comfort
lN a and use. All the
chairs are low and
deep, the divans are luxurious, and every
corner has its pile of pillows. There is a
profusion Of color admirably managed, and
the apartment is not without a distinct air
Of elegance; but it is too impressed with
its owners personality to be conventional
and too comfortable to be absolutely good
form.
Mrs. West Ends aristocratic nostrils
dilated just a trifie as she entered the
room with Mrs. Fin de Steele, and she
shifted as decidedly as is consistent with
perfect repose Of manner.
II knew It," she whispered to her COM
panion; its cigarette smoke"
Tho rest Of the club had already ar
rived, and the buzz Of pitched con-
versation was giving way to the silence
which preceded the opening of the meet
ing.
The woman with the past tapped for
order with the handle Of her curiously
carved tortoise-shell lorgnette.
WAS there anything especial arranged
for this meeting?' she asked.
was 10 give dn dCCOuUl Ol NOlHcI
Goose / believe" said Mrs. Georgetown
Heights. I'm afraid l haven't been very
successful. l spent nearly all day up In
the Congressional Library, and l must say
/ don't think the spirit of mortal has the
slightest excuse for being proud. looked
through books till my head swan, but all
/ could find was the bare fact that she was
a native Of Boston; that her brother-in-law
cred together her verses and published
them in 11l9."
Il don't believe that is quite correct"
said the literary member, with just
tinge Of superiority In her air. Thomas
Fleet was not her brother-in-law; he was
her son-in-law, having married her eldest
daughter, Elizabeth. He heard her Groom
ing over the poems to hts little son, and. by
ways of holding her up to ridicule and
showing her how silly her rhymes were, he
published little volume, called Songs
for the Nursery, or Mother Goose Mel
odies.'"
1.-THE French have 'Contes de Ma Mere
rOye,' by Charles Perrault, 1891" said
Miss Pension Bureau, who once wrote an
article on the origin Of nursery rhymes for
q ChautauQua circle.
The Cruelty of Friends.
Most of Mother Gooses rhymes. how
ever" said Mrs. West End, "are unmistak-
ably English. and some of them. 1 under
stand, were originally commemorative of
come scandal or historic al incident. Now.
there's
Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it;
But not penny was there In it.
But the binding round 1T
THAT, 1 am told, was a jingle sung in
Charles the Seconds day, and referred to
Lucy Walters, Monmouth's mother"
aside from its historical interest" said
the matronly member, 1T has always SEEM
ed to me that that verse refers to the habit
some people have of spreading abroad in
formation that comes to them entirely hv
accident. Why need Kitty Fisher have
published poor Lucy Lockets poverty to
all the world? Kitty Fisher may stand for
the guest who quite accidentally stumbles
upon some jealousy guarded family secret,
and forgetting the debt due to those with
whom one has eaten salt, makes 1t public.
l knew woman once who used to go away
from home every now and then on a visit,
1t was said. A woman who was intimate
with the family. however, told that the
visits were really made to private
asylum, for the poor creature was period
ically insane"
And there was Byron's friend" said the
bluet hat, who unc overed the dead poets
dsformed feet and told what allied them"
oh" said the woman with a past, lone
is comparatively safe in the hands Of ones
enemies, but deliver US all from the hands
of our friends!'
Mother Goose has another poem on the
mans wife.
az had a little pony.
His name was Dapple Gray;
lent him to q lady
To ride a mile away.
She whipped him, she dashed him,
She rode him through the mire;
would not lend my pony now
For all the lady's hire
"If you have ever loaned one of your best
friends anything. you will appreciate the
subtle truth Of this poem. 1t has always
been q mystery to me why people who are
reasonably careful of their own property
are so careless Of other peoples. If you
lend a magazine, or something Of small
value, however much you prize 1t, you sell
dom get it back again, and your books will
come home with marginal notes and marks
all through them.
II detest people who mark books any
way" said Mrs. Fin de Steele. IT'S so an
noying to have other peoples unasked opin-
ions forced upon one. It's enough to know
what the author thinks. It's eXasperating
to be confronted by what Tom, Dick or
Harry thinks of the authors thoughts
And yet people will mark borrowed
books" went on the Congressman's wife,
land keep borrowed umbrellas, and bring
home various borrowed articles soiled, torn
or broken. The moral of 1t all is, never lend.
1T would be better, 1 think" said the
woman in the tailor-made gown, to say
never borrow for it's dreadfully hard to
refuse to lend However, l think the literal
meaning OF the poem is quite as applicable,
for l never knew woman yet who knew
now 10 peat u uOTSc
That's true said the woman in the
cerise collar, land when 1 see woman
driving down the street, / never dare try
to cross till she Is a block past. / think
women are naturally cruel, anyway"
ooh, yes" said the hostess, land you'll
go on to instance wearing feathers on ones
hat, and Spanish women at bull fights and
all that sort of thing, and l object 1t isn't
q question of cruelty with a woman. It's
question of what Is fashionable, and what
she thinks men admire"
"Well, it seems to me-" said the motherly
looking woman, that no matter where we
start, we always bring up with woman"
What Mother Hubbard Typifies.
MY DEAR" said the hostess, that's quite
right There's always a woman back Of
everything. However, let us see what we
can make out of Old Mother Hubbard.
"'Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the
cupboard,
To get her poor dog bone;
But when she got there, the cupboard was
bare,
And so the poor dog got none.'"
Nobody spoke for a few moments, and
the tailor made woman surreptitiously
frightened her bow-knot tie. The club was
plainly getting into deep water 1t was
the literary member who finally came to
the rescue.
ut seems to me-" said she. that Mother