Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-10-13
SUFFER- 1891,
We Ae T.
BY LUCY BAKER JEROME.

MISS Ellen Maher, telephone opera
W tor on the West Exchange, was
first attracted to Suffer 1851 by a
CHEEKY little trick in the voice of the
girl who used that telephone almost
to the exclusion OF every n else in
that house. 1t was a frivolous voice
but musical. 1t had a little babyisi
turn in it-such a voice as Miss Ma
her would have liked to own, together
with a tall figure, and beautiful red
gold hair and large violet-blue eyes
Miss Ellen Maher knew her own linn
itations.
Such delightfully."- frivolous CONVEX
sations were these that Suffer SG91
used to carry on! Sometimes, in the
early morning before the rush Of mar
ket orders had begun, she used tC
catch little sparkling snatches of them
The girl at Suffer S691 seemed to have
plenty Of men friends, and they were
always talking about people whom
Miss Maher read in the society col
umns of the newspapers; of what they
did last night at Mrs. Swinnerton's-
or of what was going to happen thai
afternoon at the Bouton's coaching
party. Miss Maher would have liked
to live like that, with a big house and
a telephone all-one's own in ones bou-
doir, and plenty of lovers. Not thai
she was envious. Envy was not in
her-until-
Now it came to pass in time that
two certain numbers grew to be mosi
4 persistent in talking back and forth
with Suffer 1851. OF course, therl
We're many others-voices of chatter
ihgs ~girls-voices of staid matronS-
butHthese two Miss Maher noticed be.
CAUSE they were men. The first was
Red 1901; the second Main As. Miss
Maher came to like Main As as much
as she disliked Red 1901. Main IS had
a fine, big voice, quiet and easy-the
voice which would go with a dear
stupidity and an honorable character
and a fine, big frame-just like the
hero in her favorite novel. Quite diff
ferent was Red 1901. That voice
lisped a little, and it talked too much
and too glibly. To herself she calico
it a "girly- girly" kind of voice. Il
there was anything Miss Maher hated
it was a "girly-girly" man. She had
her W ideas of what a man should
be, and they didn't at all correspond
to the mental picture she had formed
of Red 1901. With true femininity
she was sure he wasn't mice" or good
enough for the girl with the pretty lit
lie voice which responded SO brightly
to the call for Suffer 1851, and some
particularly irritating quality in his
voice caused Miss Maher to believe
him merely an animated tailor's dunn
my. In her secret soul, she was firm
~ convinced that Red 1901 was a bore
But Main 45's telephone calls were
always promptly answered, and the
service between Suffer 1851 and Main
4! was. satisfactory in the extreme.
At first Main As had rung UP once a
week; then, by easy and successive
stages, Miss Maher was called upon
for connections twice, thrice, four
times weekly. At this point, the tele-
phone service graduated into the daily
stage, and now, regularly at nine
o'clock each morning, Miss Maher
sounded the jingling signal which an
nounced to Suffer S691 that a party
was on the line.
They usually discussed some ap-
pcintment for the day. Listening to
these plans for pleasure, Miss Maher
came to have keen appreciation OF
the blessings OF Suffer 1891. Miss Ma
her liked big men with grave, sim
cere voices. She also liked outings
outings such as these al she heard
planned--to the cliffs, to the sea, OF
to the shaded woods among the keen.
resinous smell Of the pines. Main Al
didn't seem to care for theaters, OF
teas, or balls, although the girl was
always trying to get him to go with
her. Sometimes, when they had ar
ranged to drive, Miss Maher would
picture them in the light English dog
cart he used because the girl at SUIT
ter 1851 liked it; the horses lifting
their feet high, and their hoof-beats
ringing on the hard roads. Oftener
she pictured them in the moonlight
Miss Maher was fond Of the pale gilt
ter Of the Q Her favorite heroines
all looked their best BY moonlight
She could not help wondering how the
girl at Suffer S691 would look. She