The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1906-10-05

"How can you like things 80 taste
less?" asked one of the spinsters.
"Perhaps 1 have an unspoiled pal
ate," said the mouth, wickedly, with
smile.
All through lunch she only spoke
when spoken to, yet her simplest an.
swers to simple questions drew all the
table into discussion.
Ia the afternoon she went for walk
alone; at afternoon tea she again
appeared in thick gossimer veil.
All the men wanted to hand Miss
Rowland her cup of tea. The equity
major was victorious, and finally took
his seat beside her on the settee.
The engineer could not hear what
they talked about, but observed that
the mouth smiled good deal, and he
wonder ed what idiotic old chestnuts
the major was raking up for her bene-
| fit.
"What peculiar style of dress to
adopt" said one Of the spinsters to the
engineer.
"Whal's the matter with it!' he
asked.
! "Wel-er-a little actressy, per-
haps, don't you tbink?' she said, with
a little shrug.
81 don't know how actresses Dress
said the engineer.
"Liarl' commented one average
young man to another.
"Wonder what tie rest of her face
is like?" said the buxom widow to one
of her daughters. Her eyes look
frightfully made up through the veil.
Anyway, we shall see at dinner. She
can't very we'll wear her hat and veil
then"
But Miss Rowland did not come
down to dinner, nor breakfast next
morning, and when she next appeared
she was fully dressed in dust cloak
and gossamer veil, and started out for
walk. This sort Of thing went on
for nearly week, and curiosity had
reached a fearful pitch. The men all
seemed crazy, and overwhelmed her
with attentions, and the women drew
their own conclusions.
"Some cheap actress as likely as
not, my DEAR" said the buxom wi
dow.
'But she's very sweet to speak to" J"
said the youngest daughter, "and she
never forgets to ask nicely how people
are if they have not beer well, and I've
never heard her say nasty thing
yet"
You may gather that the youngest
daughter was quite young.
"That's all very well," said one of
the spinsters; "but why all this mys-
terry about showing her face? I asked
her point blank yesterday why she al
ways wore veil, and what do you
think she said?"
Excitement was intense.
"What?" asked several eager voices.
"'For the same reason as other peo.
Pile, I expect she said, smiling with
that silly mouth of hers.
"'Oh,' said, and why do other
people wear them?''
"'Well, there are quite lot of rea-
sons,' she answered. TO enhance
ones good looks, to save ones COM
plexion, to hide ones ugliness, to avoid
recognition, to battle curiosity, etc.
Don't you think sor
"And then she smiled again and
asked me if I didn't think the river
lovely this hot weather." "Depend
upon it" said another spinster, things
are not all Straightforward. A wolf
in sleeps clothing. Why, she may
be burglarp'
"Oh, DEAR" SAID several ladies.
"Or lady detective! Or poison
er! One morning we shall all wake
up to find we have been murdered in
our beds, daresay!" The lady,
warmed with her subject, was exceed
ingly annoyed to hear one of the aver
age young men giggle and ask her
if she had any relatives in Ireland.
The men were nearly as bad. Wild
surmises as to the lady and her ante
cedents were put forth, every man
chaffed the others about their atten-
tions to the "veiled lady," but no man
slackened those attentions in any de.
gree.
"Now, it came to pass that Mrs.
Russell, kindly soul, had promised
the ladies to investigate Miss Rowland.
and if it was not as it should be to give
her notice.
With these good intentions, she
knocked at Miss Rowland's- door one