The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-15
THE OLD LADY.

q
was amazingly peaceable. The milkman
shouted along it softly and the green gro
GERS burst not YELL there We're no bad little
boys in the gutter. and the omnibusses
skirted the corner only. At 9 a. IN a
clock panic spread from house to house,
and clerks who had been lazy bounced Up
suddenly, slammed the door and flew madly
trainward. After which all was calm
There were several cards up in the street.
No. 16 had Board and Residence" ele-
gantly in the window, and it's lady was put
ting on her evening blouse. No. IS. next
door, said merely Board and Lodging, -
and its tenant was in the kitchen griling
the high tea chops. The table was set for
eight in No. 10, with napkins cooked mitre-
wise and a maidenhair in the middle,
whose longest fronds shone greasy after
dipping into yesterdays soup; for ten IN
its humber neighbor, with abue and gilt
cruet stand placed in the center. over
the way, in No. Is, the table was laid for
one.
The sun slanted little lower and stared
in the weak eyes of returning clerks. No.
16 had pinned her blouse suitably and was
rustling down the stair. No. H. red in tAe
face. was shaking the pepper castor, but
No. Is sat up in her bedroom in front OF a
looking glass.
"Do you flourish, Frances"
The visitor had come from much grander
regions and had just said she had met with
fewer difficulties in getting to Jerusalem
last year than in finding this little street.
She looked much too big for the small
room that she sat in, and her voice, though
hearty, held a little doubt.
Frances O'Rell sat on the floor and looked
up at her caller.
81 have no boarders to see this impro-
priety," she said; and it is so comfort
able" Then, "Oh, Kathie, business is very
bad
How is that? DO you starve your peo-
pie, or do you let them wax fat and kick?
Or do you not get any? Your neighbors do
very we'll"
She was looking out over the top of the
window fern, and remarking the clash of
the opposite gates. and the heads bobbing
up the steps. Then she turned, put her
hands squarely on her knees. and looked
down upon Frances sitting on the rug.
You dear little Irish soul, you have all
the courage in the world, and none of the
back sensibly to your brother and the rest
of us?
But Frances shook her head
Il can't get with his third wife, she
said. Il bore with the first, and just en-
dured the second, but this one l cannot
stand. So | have gone into business, and
] will never strike my colors."
You are plucky goose" said the visitor.
But l will tell you why you don't succeed.
windows One is a jolly old thing of fifty,
who could quite well tuck up her boarders
in their beds. The other is skinny, and
impressive. Both look responsible, and both
wear caps You aren't motherly, =. my
Frances. and you are much too young"
II am as old as the hills" said Miss
O'Rell, getting up from the floor and seek
ing dignity, and | only take in ladies.
Her visitor laughed.
oh" she Hid; then you don't look, your
age. Honestly Frances, your wild black
hair is terribly against you. People require
gray hairs, L know they do; and have no
confidence in any color. Didn't the old
woman in Ireland call your hair a devil
glory and do you expect to see paying
guests crowd round such an aureole? Wen,
/ suppose / must be trotting. Believe me,
my dear you won't succeed with those
crazy raven locks
She departed, looking oddly up and down
at the queer snug houses And when she
was quite gone Frances ORell went SOL
EMMY upstairs and sat down in front of her
1T IS true" she said. sit frightens them
all away They want an elderly person. and
/ am very elderly, but my hair deceives
them. l am old, old, old and my heart is
gray with trouble, but my hair keeps black.
1t is a fraud"
She pressed her, face closer to the
glass. 1t was a small, thin face that looked
pinched indeed as the color faded; but the
wild rim of hair was as dark as it had ever
been when cheeks were red and pulses had
gone quicker. There was no single gray
hair to be found in those black meshes
Any old maid hay Rnyng such mar bad faFan
great dislike TO the dark hair she had been
proud of long ago.
had coal-black hair at sixty. Nobody sees
my poor face, and the wrinkles that must
be there, because of this hair of mine
When my heart was broken with sorrow,
when the long months and the years that
came after found me crushed and miserable
could they not blanch my hair? Why
iia feel?" look as 0io ana aS 'f0''0i0"''n as
She twisted her hands nervously in and
proudly from her brothers house and the
third new wife. She had gone with her head
in the air, proof against the unlikelihood
of business prospecting, and determined, in
herself never to go meekly back.
Three answers had come to her last ad-
vertisement. The applicants came in person,
and envious chances had been shot through
the curtains opposite. But when they looked
her over-ostensibly the rooms, but she saw
approval in their looks. The air was un-
suitable they said-relaxing. And one was
seen later knocking across the way.
"Oh, what mockery ii is" cried Fran
ces. There is no chance for me. Powder?
What powder would stick on this hair of
mine? oh. l wish l were bald entirely"
She went off on a sad walk around the
premises. There were no hot-water jugs
outside the doors and no paying guests in
Sue lneUL Inc luIe6 OlU ldQl0S she ldu
started with could no longer be heard dis
putting shrilly; there We're marks on the
stairs and in the passage where their boxes
had bumped in being taken down. For the
whole first day after their departure Fran
ces had rejoiced in unusual peace. Now
she had begun to feel desperate.
Opposite, the two neighbors were presid-
ing at their tables one at dinner and one
at high tea. The staid capped heads were
clearly visible, and the many other profit
able heads. Frances sat down at her soli-
tary table and looked out of the window.
She could not eat but her mind was busy.
Oh, that horrid black hair of hers! 1t had
never brought her luck.
The morning post brought hopeful letters
but when the writer's saw her they would
change their minds. She knew it,
She looked out. 1t was raining fast, and
the city men were putting on waterproofs.
The water dripped on the small iron gates,
who had their gloves on looked disguised
as they let the gates slam and saw their
fingers Umbrellas blew about and mackin-
toshes Tapped AGAINST wearers' legs. 1t
was O miserable morning.
over the way this weather did not mat
ter; only ii was unnecessary 10 do the steps.
No. 16 was settling about the dinner. No.
il was helping TO make the beds But
Frances O'Rell had nothing whatever to do.
The house Smelt empty Every little SOUND,
even the football of the cat going sadly up
and down, was quite distinct. Doors creaked
and windows ratified, and the stair rail felt
ci&mmy. The householder could not bear
IT any longer. She put on a waterproof and
lonely umbrella from the stand Then she
went out into the rain.
AT the street corner she found an Omni-
bus splashing round for a start. The inside
was not full but there We're babies, stormy
babies in II, so she climbed upon the top.
holding on to the dripping rail- and very