The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1907-03-23
BY SUSAN KEATlNG GLASPELL.

these girls DON'T
"Oh, that's right, stand up for 'em,
after they've treated you like dirt all
summer! For downright meanness and
hatefulness give me a lot Of girls.
Why, crowd of fellows would no
more act the way this crowd of girls
has done than-than-'' And he
stopped hopelessly, as if the thing was
beyond comparison.
well, of course, boys are different"
eyes, they are! When fellow who
seems to be the right sort moves into
town, do the fellows of that town
let him alone-snub him for three
straight months? Don't you think it.!
They give him show-they're civil to
him, and if he turns out to be Of their
kind, then he's one of the crowd, and
that's all there is to it,
WELL that does seem to be the fair
way. And don't know-I don't know
what it is I've done. I haven't done
anything; you see, I haven't had a
chance. I uppose''-Caroline's lips
were quivering again-'that they just
don't like my looks"
Nonsense! Why shouldn't they like
your looks? It's just their meanness."
Twill! Willr' There was note of
tragic excitement in his sisters voice.
There they come now-turning the
corner. They so past nearly every day.
They have picnics and-and things"
Will seated himself on the railing of
the yeranda and looked hard at the
five laughing girls who We're coming
toward the house in an old-fashioned
carryall. "''
Don't seem too interested; Will.
Don't-don't look at them like that"
why can't I look at them?'' he re-
torted, savagely. 'Guess if I want to
look at them there's nothing, to prevent
it. They're not so much to look at,
anyway"
The ''crowd" of girls drove by with
not a glance toward the, big house,
on the veranda of which Will and Caro-
line Stuart We're sitting.
"They do have awfully good times"
said Caroline, wistfully, land they
seem awfully fond of one another"
II guess I'll go up and write some let
ters,' she said, few minutes later.
II like to keep my letters written up,
because-well, you can see that it's
been pleasant to get them since I've
been here"
Her brother looked after her darkly.
"Poor Cal! She never did a mean
thing in her life. Why any one should
want to snub her is too much for me.
20 MOTHER" he called, as pleasant
faced woman came round the house,
"can't you come here a minute? I
want to talk to you"
She took the chair he offered her. ut
does seem good to have you home, Will,
and I'm more glad for Caroline's sake
than for my own. She has had
pretty hard summer Of it, a.
That's what want to get at. What
under the suns the matter? What do
those girls mean by lining up against
Cal"
His mother shook her head and
raised her hands hopelessly. ~
Twill, girls are queer" she said. 81
can't understand it. Why, if they'd let
Cal be one of them, they'd find her the
jolliest and best Of the lot. When she
first came here in the spring she saw
right away that they were the ones
she would like 70 know and she was
so pleased to think that there would be
nice girls for her to have a good time
with. The first night we sat here on
the porch they went by laughing and
talking, and Cal looked after them for
lornly, and I remember I said to her,
Never mind, Cal, you'll be one of them
in a week. and she said she supposed
of course they'd call-or do something.
but they didn't, and that's all there is
to it. They simply act as if Cal wasn't
in town."
"Well, of all the mean, contemptible.
petty And then words failed him.
In addition to everything else," said,
the boy, after few minutes of silent
Tuning, these five estimable young
ladies are acting pretty silly in snub-
bling Caroline. Cal could give those
girls all sorts of a good time, and she
would love to do it,
"Of course she would. When she
saw how big the house was, she said
to me first thing, Isn't it lovely,
mother? We can have people here all
the time And your father bought
that automobile for no other reason in
the world except that he thought it
would be pleasant for Cal to take peo-
pie out in
"Well, MOTHER" said Will, quietly,
tits just clear case of snub, isn't it %
Perhaps the whole thing would not
have happened if just the week be-
fore the Stuarts moved to Elmwood
Marion Foreman had not read a story
about some people who We're ''vulgarly
rich" No one in Elmwood was "yul-
carly rich," and as Marion's ina gina
ton was such that she was bound to
fix the phrase on some one, it descend
ed upon the people who were expected
in few days to move into the big
house.
That night she asked her father all