The Starkville news. (Starkville, Miss.) 1902-1960, 1904-10-21
HER PINK
WRAPPER
By STELLA BELDING

grow more profoundly green in
Summer, redder and more golden in
autumn, and where the brilliant eternl-
ty of sky is of deeper sapphire hue
Thus is slumbrous Greenton Valley.
Here tiny cottage stood, white and
rose embowered, idyllic, poetic, and
charged with the gentle Virginian grace
of ancient Italy. 1t was set in garden
laid off with academic primness. Iel-
low dwarf roses reared their idle,
creamy heads beside such lurld efrectS
of nature as red and white chrysahtAe-
mGms: sisterhood of passionate red
,dahlias haunted away in the sunshine
opposite hunlike lilies; and an infinity
of little ox-eyed pansies made for bor-
ders 1t was a most delectable garden
indeed.
Sweet Ernestine Tebbs looked up
from her gardening, prettiiy perplexed,
as Col. Sam Raphael Bell shut the alb
surd toy of a white gate with an an
snouncing click. Everything was on a
doll-like. miniature scale.
Ernestine's fingers were buried in the
rich, clean loam. By her side huge
pair of shears lay, the only thing OF
consequential size about the place. She
raised her hand and pushed back her
hair from her forehead, and settled the
Tapping proportions of her garden hat
on the crown of her head. The colonel
thought gardening such pretty, pretty
pastime.
Il see you've had your shutters
pl- -ol rnl
originality.
"Um-um, yes" faltered Ernostine,
with a streak of the same element.
Then she added, softly: Il did it."
The colonel laughed his hearty, regi-
mental laugh, and flushed rather under
<he healthy tan Of his skin.
Il must confess you made a striking
success of it," he said, letting his eyes
wander over the six gingerbread win
dows Of this doll house Everything
was so delightfully."-, ridiculously, ab-
surdly neat and tidy and clean and
prim And the girl before him was re-
markably pretty, with her fresh morn
ing face, her silky fawn-brown hair, and
her long, f1owerlil.e hands that now lay
loosely clasped over her dimpled knees.
The morning wrapper she wore was
worthy of being called an invention.
and it was a product Of her own
imagination. 1t was crisp and very
pink and clean, with an infinity of loops
and bows and ruff1es, and last, but not
least, a honeycomb yoke and peekaboo
sleeves. Erhestine was also the author
of her hat.
This delicious precision and tidiness
about the doll house was balm upon the
cleanly, order-loving soul of Col. Bell
I'm really just curious enough to
want to know how you managed, Miss
Ernestine," he said, expanding his mill
tary chest with the clean, fresh air Of
Greenton Valley, as he seated himself
beside Ernestine.
She bit in her under lip. There was
an almost dangerous sweetness lurking
about the corners of her round mouth.
Suddenly she laughed outright, and
dropped her head, burying her charm
ing, dimpling face in her rosy hands.
''Oh! I'm almost ashamed to tell you''
she said, hardly audible ITS so RI
diculous, but then it seems to me that
everything that happens during these
summers here is ridiculOus.'
Miss Ernestine,'' said the colonel,
with JUNCTION, Il promise to keep per-
fectly sober
Well then, I'll tell you
She sighed a delectable little dirling
sigh that thrilled straight through the
colonel and finally lodged in his heart
The yellow, impalpable sunshine beat
down upon them, and over them brood
ed the eternity of lustrous sapphire sky
"You see it's just this way" began
Ernestine, there are only two of US,
of course, and my sister, being past
mistress of expedients and strategy,
suggested that we make stepladder OF
our household goods. SO we piled
chairs and tables up from the ground
and down from the windows, and | stood
ON these and held to the frame while /
painted.
The colonel glanced up at the trim,
muslin curtained, gingerbread windows
that looked out Of the wall like three
staring eyes slightly askew.
"But why didn't you take the shut
ters off to paint them, Miss Ernestine?'
exclaimed the colonel, inspirationally.
Ernestine extended her pretty hands
In tender little movement of appeal to
the colonel. She pressed her glowing
xnorEing face down among the cool