The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1903-10-23

may and deriSion arose. why pine
apple? Why not brie or camembert
orr
"Oh, know" said Peg loftily, "that
you swells," with bitter emphasis on
the word, "affect all kinds of evil
smelling cheeses with your after din
ner coffee; but, as 1 am plain and DEM
ocratic in my tastes, l buy pineapple
cheese wherewith to regale myself
when come in worn, jaded and faint
with hunger after my days toll"
Then she hung up her sailor, cut off
the head of her pineapple cheese
scooped out chunk and proceeded to
eat it like piece Of cake. Meantime
we three jeered.
AS Peg stood there greedily devour-
ing her cheese she did not look much
like a girl whose heart was broken.
She was plump, rosy and sturdy. She
curled her hair. She was as different
as possible from the accepted type Of
lovelorn maiden wasting away to a
premature grave from disappointed
love. Yet we girls knew all about the
dreadful quarrel Peg had with Jack
Sheppard, a quarrel that broke off her
engagement and sent Peg out into the
world to seek career.
We four gifls-Grace, Eleanore, Mar
garet, otherwisesPe and the writer
have tiny little box Of fiat uptown
where we. play at housekeeping. We
live in aschafing dish, and the fire es-
cape Is, our refrigerator. Every week
or So we are visited by big. good ma
tufed officer who tries to look stern
When he States he will surely be obliged
to arrest us if we do not keep our fire
escape clean Of birdcages, vegetables,
fruit and flowerpots.
Then there enSues spasm OF tidy
ing up, the plants and birds are ar
ranged in the drawing room," as we
call the tiny reception room, the vege-
tables are stored in the kitchen closet,
and the fruit is heaped ostentatiously
on the sideboard. But some way, grad
ually, Generalization again creeps up
on us, the fire escape allures and beck
ons us and fiaunts it's attractions as
storehouse before us, and we again
succumb to its fascinations.
Therefore we were not greatly sur
prised when Peg, after satisfying her
healthy young appetite, proceeded to
place her cheese just outside the win
dow upon the fire escape.
''Peg, you are crowding the refriger-
ator," objected Grace.
'Do you want call from Dan
Flynn?" asked Eleanore.
Dan Flynn, it may be remarked in
passing, is the policeman who period
ically cleans out our refrigerator.
'Dan Flynn won't see it tonight"
said Peg calmly, land l may eat the
rest of it for breakfast"
This silenced us. There really was
no argument to that proposition.
We adjourned to the drawing room,
and while Grace prepared an article ON
'How to Turn the Back Breadths of
an Old Silk Skirt" for ladies' maga-
zine and Eleanore ran over the new
song she was to introduce in her next
role gossiped with Peg about the new
comers who that day had taken the
fiat under us.
marked, "for there wasn't rocking
chair, piano or a sewing machine,
and there were whole cases Of stuff
incidental to the accursed sex carried
in."
1t is by this term we are accustomed
to speak of men in Pegs presence. We
feel that it is due her.
ssrrhap thara xvora rif1oc nd walking
sticks and clubs galore" l continued,
"a whole arsenal counted all sorts
of weapons except Gatling gun. Can
they be social highwaymen, do you
think? 2"
"All men," said Peg oracularly, "are
in measure social highwaymen. Very
likely this is an organized band of cut
throats. The details assuredly are sus-
picious. Grace. you know the chief of
polica.nI believe"
"Deefviewed g" him once" drowsily
came from Grace, who had just ar
rived at the sponging and pressing
stage of her article.
"Very well; you know him, then,"
said Peg severely. 81 think you should
Cdll Ou Alul anu dSh uluu " lOOA UP
these creatures and see whether four
unprotected women are safe in living
so near them"
Wouldn't Dan Flynn do as well as
the chief?' asked Eleanore, lazily hum
ming over the last bar of her song.
.You see, Peg, the head of the depart
ment is a rather busy man, and as Dan
Flynn is on our visiting list it might
be quite as convenient, mightn't it?"
But Peg made no answer to this idle
banter She sat engrossed in deep
thought. Her blue eyes grew larger
and DREAMER. We all watched her
with undisguised admiration. She was
so abominably pretty.
I made sure that she was wandering
through the maze of memory with her
lost love and ventured to rouse her,
hoping she would rehearse some ro-
mantle chapter for ones delectation.
Peg" asked softly, "of what, dear,
are you thinkingW
81 was wondering" said she, with
little start, whether these miscreants
below us would steal my pineapple
cheese"
In the middle of the night we were
aroused by fearful crash in the kitch-
en-. Grace, Eleanore and / rushed