The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-11-23

| acquaintance with its requirements
her tone, her look, her motions were
all in harmony with her calling.
Mrs. Heath found herself watching
her with fascinated gaze. 1t was as
if she was watching herself from
little distance. The anxious lines and
creases in the strangers face filled her
with horror, for they might all be in
her own face. She put up her hand to
feel and see They were there!
A network of fine lines threaded the
forehead of the other woman. More
lines ran down her cheekss-more still
from the corners of her mouth. Hen
rietta Heath, in little whirl of panic,
ran to her room and peered into the
mirror. The face she saw there re-
sembled family the lined face of the
woman she had engaged to do her
worrying-there was no doubt of the
resemblance.
| Downstairs the girl twin was drum
ming scales ON the piano, and wrong
notes drifted upward discordantly,
but the girl twins mother laughed
softly. She went back to the strang-
er; this was her business.
"Sulvia is practising wrong" she
said.
Il know know snapped the
stranger irritably. but l can't attend
to everything at once! I'm worrying
about Griffith II. just this minute, for
fear he'll slip under the gate instead
of waiting at the railroad crossing. |
can't worry about two at once with
any sort of success. That reminds, |
forgot to say that if am expected to
work nights | shall charge double
wages. Night work is very exhaust
ing"
Yes" murmured little Mrs. Heath.
as one who knew, Il always worried
nights, too. You can charge extra
The days that followed that advent
Of the professional worrier were easy
days to the weary one released from
all care She grew round and smooth.
laughed often. sang little snatches OF
song. The children exulted.
"Marmie's growing young! Mig
boosted. See, papa, how lovely she
isl"
Yes" Griffith l. agreed with unc-
ton. and added little praises of his
own in mammies ear.
Caroline, the baby. all the others.
admired enthusiastically. Only the
hired worrier worried now in the
household of the Heaths Then like
a bolt from cloudless sky came the end
of this satisfactory arrangement.
Henrietta Heath at her peaceful, un-
worried mending one morning, beheld
! the worrier standing in the door with
unwonted excitement evident in her
whole bearing.
1--WE come to give warning She
spoke rapidly Il can't wait to give
two weeks notice. l belong to the
union, and they've ordered me to quit
work"
| rs it a strikeo" demanded Mrs.
Heath though uselessly.
| Whatever it was, it could not mat
ter The old worries doomed blackly
right ahead. Like arms of deadly
squd they were closing around her.
She groaned already in their clutches.
The person in the doorway had APP
parently not heard the question.
I'm sorry can stay TO finish worry
| ing about the baby's tooth that's COM
ing in crooked, but you'll have to fin
ish 1t out Miss Caroline's stopped
shoulders came next on my list
planned that and Miss Sylvia's runover
heels for this afternoon" She took
out her memorandum and consulted
it with knit brows, muttering items
under her breath: Master Griffth's
cowlick, Thyrsa's ears, thin places in
sitting room arpet-m-m-m-lnk
spots on table loth-m-m-m-' her
voice trickling out into indistinctness.
Suddenly she folded the paper and ex-
tended it toward Mrs. Heath. 1T may
be help she said gravely. i've al
ways made it a practice to work from
a prepared list-dear knows Id have
died long age if hadn't! It's wear
ing misunderstanding New lines
seemed to appear startlingly in her
wizened face and she sighed deeply.
An awful terror gripped Henrietta
Heath-this was herself standing fac
ing her in the doorway! This was the
way she was going to look and to
sigh!
"Good-by," the worrier said, and
turned away. But the other woman
called her-shrieked after her:
Come back! Come back and get
your list! Take it with you'll don't
want it, tell you I'm not going back
to worrying. l won't! l WON'T" She
tried to get out of her chair-to throw
away the list of worries. 1t grew
heavy. like leaden list in her hands.