The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
HER TUCKED SILK WAIST.
4 WOHAN'S MORNING SESSION WITH
a SETTING MACHINE

tho Suoht VI ~ nuy VIM wasn't Dead
The woman appeared at the door o, he,
friends room with a roll OF silk under her arm
and In her hands n thimble. thread, needles
scissors and other things necessary for an all.
days ewing bee.
You promised to let me make my waist on
your machine" abe said. Can 1 make IL to-
day.
Her friend looked a trihe startled, but she re-
strained her emotion with q heroic effort.
"Why. yes" she easped. Certainly. Come
on In"
Night dawned upon the other woman. She
stood irrosolutely in the doorway.
May be you are going downtown" she said.
"cr out on your bike. or something"
Not at ALL" replied her friend. switching
her bicycle costume of q chair into q closet,
Don't be silly. Come on in and make your
waist" And she proceeded In a melancholy
way TO take of the top and drag the machine
out into the middle OF the room where the wo-
man could see to sew. The woman triumph
antly unrollcd four yards of red tafTeta and
nourlshed 1t about like q flag.
Isn't It pretty 2" che exclaimed. AM wait
till you see how / am going to make It. I saw
one downtown yesterday that I am going to
make 1t by. 1t was tucked all over"
Her friend sank exhausted In q chair.
Tucked all overl' she repeated family. She
was OIlN III " iOik IL WVulu JhkB, HOW
many days the woman would be in her room
using her machine tuckinR that waist all over.
Yes" asserted the woman. Il am going to
tuck 1t all over. crossways in the 'front.' and
back. You don't think | am too broad to have
the tucks run crossways instead Of up and
down. do you ?"
Her friend observed her critically. Then abe
couRhed.
oh. no." she murmured behind her hand.
Then" resumed the woman. II am going
to tuck the sleeves UP and down. That will
relieve the effect Of the crossways tucks. you
know. and 1 am going to run a lot OF tiny little
tucks along the collar and the cuffs. I wish
you could have seen the one I am going to
make 1t by. 1t was a Jim dandy waist. 1t was
red. like mine. and 1t had a straight piece OF
black taffeta tucked down the front and little
tucked lapels on the collar and cuffs. Mine is
going to be exactly like 1t. When you see me
come out in it you won't know 1t from a
boughten waist. You just wait now and keep
your eyes open"
She sat down. threaded the machine and be-
gan to tuck the silk. while her friend wrapped
herself in a crocheted slumber robe OF so many
different colors that she looked like a Conan
che Indian. with the exception OF her face.
which was white and beautiful, and endeavored
to the best of her ability to become reconciled
to her fate. Several bicyclists passed. Their
appearance did not serve to assistin reconciling
her to her fate. The woman sewed and sewed.
drew the silk away from the needle. shipped or
the thread with the scissors. creased another
tuck and sewed again. The hum of the ma
chine. filling up the silence. precluded any at
tempts at o nversation. Presently she stopped
sewing and looked up.
Il think. she remarked complacently. " that
I will tuck the entire four yards and then cut
tho waist out afterward. That will be the |
easiest way"
Her friend with difficulty suppressed a groan. !
Perhaps it will" she faltered. With that
she looked out the window once more. An
other party Of bicyclists passed. The corners
OF her m outh dropped.
The woman hummed as she sewed. The
morning was young. and she was. well. not so
young as she had been. but joyful. which
amounts to much the same thing. When she
got through with all that sewing she kept
thinking. she was going to have the p~rettiest
waist in the boarding house. She was going to
finish it with a grand flourish and spring it on
the b%qarders at dinner; 1t would be q good
equal to it. She Thought she hummed louder
as she fell to imagining how dazed the, board
e efs would look when she walked in; as large as
waist: She hummed and sewed and
it occurred to, her that with all her sewing the
part she had finished was exceedingly minute.
which had not been dope. 1t was a long four
yards that t5ailed out there on the floor, very
had made q mistake, and given her more than
four yards 1t was little short OF a miracle If
aSd afSr tack h and Pfi oof teG 0bb aef tO OVER S See s sSTsa
der again. Really that was the longest four
yards Of silk she had ever seen in all her born
looked from the silk to the CLOCK. Ten. She
had been sewing exactly an hour;
Doodle She always hummed that when She
BrSeIng her her up ipaDNS No won Wonder e they 4 ' played ed'f i on d
the battlefield. It wasa good, all-aro1pd tune
chine e. again AIN stopped ed She e" drew &c out II the eth thread @ni
and broke It OF between her fingers, The
scissors f had ,droppS%S nt to the floor and she
she didn't know what to do the scissors always
began to lose themselves;
head sidewise as she ran her thumb nail along
the the G irtsaS!l tuck tsetb with wit o 2 grating HtSG,t s" u that 1t set
awtuliy swell. tucked ali overTS
Her friend. suddenly ,perceiving a ray OF
tght dawning upon the horizon. Strengthened
AT some Of the stores" she remarked vi
her face beaming in a radiant smile,
. = know" admitted the woman. with a nod;
| went into a store the other day and inquired
;Thirty-f v dollars; When, 1 recovered from
the shock Of the price | took q good look, at it.
uhu' ulcsb ypuI IL. WAS Ilo pldlIesb tHlug l. ever
saw IN my life. A child could have made II.
And there wasn't the ghost Of a tuck. Yes, 1
rfb@sm az I tN very. distinctly Their" wasn't the
,, The machine hummed again. so also did the
She hummed very bravely. trying
ilpG. It left, your brain idle. She always fell to
thinking when she sewed. Ghosts rose up be-
lore. her and stalked, She knew what was tho
matter. She was getting tired. and invariably
w wnHn dRhf she got Ioo yTSry' nv very ~ t tired dit these F gh0sts
sShe had now been sewing for two solid hours.
Show PITY, Lordl" She stopped once more to
break of her thread. The scissors still re- .
fused TO be found. They would bob up
tferenelg enough when she no longer needed
them, That always happened. but now they +
hld themselyes away and laughed up their /
The thread also was stubborn. She
stopped and BIT It off, ~
How do You think it would look p she
s ssS 66 Ga ,Es ~. "sss tuck the front of the waist ]
1t would look lovely" answered her friend.
y VIZ f. vas growing almost cheerful now. j
french en- ha Ok Whst Is the use anyway In tuck. :
anu front Of you at the same time; never" i