The Washington herald., 1907-02-23

Madeline. / see those Bulgravia apart.
ments will be ready for occupancy April
! !. I wish you'd stop of there on yom
/ way home tomorrow
/ Mr.. Stanhope lowered his paper and
| glanced first despairingiy at Madeline
then half-supplicatingly at his wife.
My dear, / don't believe we can i'm
prove ON this apartment I'm sure We
/ have room enough"
But the landlord was here to-day and
! said he would not repaper, and that hor-
rible stain i'm Fred's room"
''WeH, that is not the landlords fault
/ The servant upstairs admits she left the
water running-Tll have the ceiling caIci-
mined"
! You'll do nothing of the sort, This
| janjtor is perfectly oyerbearing anyhow
and when I complained about Mrs
Brants dog running up and down the
/ hail. he said there was nothing In the
| leases against keeping a dog. Just as if
/ there wasn't law against maintaining a
| nuisance. Anyhow I think Fred ought
/ to have "a larger room, and we can fit 10
up as q den. And Madeline ought to
/ have north light for her work"
Madeline broke in earnestly:
oh, mother, dear I do SO little here
at home now that my room does very
well. indeed"
"Wcl. I heard that those Bulgravia
apartments had buffers pantry. and
anyhow. YOU stop off and see them"
No one answered. Mr.. Stanhope sat
staring with his unseeing eyes at an ar
ticlc in the evening paper on the proper
preparation Of food for infants. But be
fore his mental vision passed a success
sion Of moving vans, furniture tnat
needed revarnishing, pictures that had to
be reglazed.
Madeline on her part focused her. men
tai vision on a succession of days lost
illustrations unfinished. while she re-
stored order in the new home. long hours
devoted To packing and Unpackng her
fragile personal belongings. As for Fred.
ne tip-oed out of the library and down
the hall to where patient Norah was
singing over her dishwashing
say. Norah. mothers got the moving
bee in her bonnet again. Bet We're out
of this house by April J."
Norah dropped her tea towel i'm wide
eyed dismay.
Sure, an a sunshinier kitchen I niver
worked i'm. Owe a good moind TO give
me notice.
Madeline girlhood had been spent In
a pretty suburb half an hours ride from
the bustlinE city, but Mrs Stauhope had
wearied of the ubiquitous servant girl
question that stalks AT the heels of every
suburban housewife In town, even if
they had no maid. they could AT least
eat at "a nearby restaurant Besides. she
wanted Madeline to be something more
than "a household drudge. There were
business openings in town for a bright
girl but Madeline was not strong enough
to commute.
After all il was Madeline who not only
secured a position i'm q fashion design
studio, but who went to intelligence Of
fees fog help and haunted real estate
offices for desirable apartments. For
four years Mrs Stanhope had seemed
absolutely Obscsscd by the desire to 0c-
cupy new and more desirable quarters
Each spring they had moved. until the
pretty new furniture with which Mrs
StanhOpe had started her city career as
a housewife looked far less presentable
than the old-fashioned stuff they had
sold at the auction before leaving Graf
ton Heights All her ambitions seemed TO
center on showing off the new apartments
to her woman friends. and assuring them
she had secured a bargain which should
make them turn green with envy.
The next morning Madeline and her
father left the house together.
MAJ" he asked, anxiously
NO; she has nothing else 10 do. /
wish sometimes"
Madeline stopped and looked down the
long stretch Of asphalt pavement. Her
father supplied the words:
THAT we we're back in Grafton Heights.
where she had roses TO train and the
neighbor's chickens To shoe OF our lawn
Seems as If all city women are rest
less"
Yes, I guess it's in the air. I felt as
though ] must be doing something big.
getting somewhere, for a while after we
moved to town-but now"
They separated at the corner.
Il hope those Bulgravia apartments
viii al! be on a court. with no closets
and an eXorbitant rent"
No such luck" responded Madeline.
Win a forced smile. 'IHeN'U be very
modern and all desirable, and if YOU are
"a dear, sensible father, you'll have a bust
ness call 10 Chicago about April l. II
will be over when you come back"
Brave as We're her words, Madelne's
eyes became grave as soon as her ia
Their turned away. And all day the
thought of her mothers restless spirit
the inevitable moving, the noise. the dis
comfort. burned in on her heart and soul
until she could hardly work Finally
she flung aside her pen and asked to be
excused for the afternoon She might
as well get it over with so she boarded
the car which passed the Bulgravia. The
new apartments We're considerably farther
out than she had anticipated. and as one
passenger after another dropped of. and
the soft spring air creft into the car. a
sudden desire to see Grafton Heights
with its suburban restfulness took pos
session of her
b. and A depot, bawied the condue-
tor
Madeline sprang To her feet. The Bull
grayia apartments were half mile be-