Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-07-30

gesture indicating nervousness. Had
he possessed greater intelligence or
moderate powers of observation, he
would have known that not a soul at
his fathers table had eyer heard of
the play, except himself, his wife
and Burgess. He made a feeble pro-
test:
my dear Mollie, / wanted to take
you out after the first act. Don't you
think-er-er-"
Yes; he wanted to take me out.
She captured the attention Of every
body present. "Of course, l refused to
go. A married woman with two chill.
dren is not a Madamoiselle Nitouche.
And, besides, girl over twenty ought
to have their eyes opened. Why, l
asked the dear archbishop: Don't
you think l said, that girls ought to
know more than they do And he
said most emphatically: Certainly"
She looked round the table. "Joy is
the only girl here, and she's twenty
three"
Twenty-Five"
80 I can go on if Gilie will stop
stroking his chin. Thank you, dear.
Where was l Oh, Of course, l was
talkin gto Esme. Nobody need listen
who doesn't want to. The aunts can
put their fingers into their ears. This
breaking of the seventh command
ment-"
Giles"
Yes, George?"
rs this champagne '92 or '03?"
Its '92. I haven't five dozen
left"
U.--.H#L FIJI +f.-- 9.
What a pity. A fine wine-a very
fine wine"
He slipped his wine, smiling pleas
antly. But everybody knew that Mrs.
Giles had been 'snuhbed by George
Vennable. The aunts regarded him
gratefully, their thin cheeks suffused
with faint bushes. George, to be sure,
had his faults. He was L%aodicean;
and, for a clever man, the time he
wasted pursuing butterflies and gath
ering toadstools was really lament
able, but he had the incest sense of
what was or was not a fitting subject
of conservation at a dinner table.
Mrs. Giles gazed at the Rector with
sparkling eyes; then she went on cas-
lily:
Dear Uncle George, a stain Is not
removed by putting a vase OF flowers
over it. Discussion, honest discussion,
is antiseptic. Charles Gosling asked II
he might steal that phrase from me.
There was the Charters cas- 1t was
discussed by everybody. And I happen
to know for a fact that the publicity
scared two naughty friends Of my
own into behaving themselves"
Sir Giles raised his voice, which
~,~ ~ -,hnn hn ,ro norfyrhod r Tn
the presence of his daughter-in-law he
always had a slightly startled express
sion, a vaguely alarmed smile, as If
he feared to be driven, against his
will, into pastures between him and
hounds, let it be jumped without de-
lay.
.The Charters case was shocking"
he nodded his massive head. But l
read it from beginning to end" Sir
Giles made this announcement with
imposing solemnity.
The aunts felt convinced that be
cause their dear brother had read it,
! the case, so to speak, had become
Bowdlerised. Their faces assumed an
air of pleased attention.
'I read it, repeated Sir Giles;
"and it-um-fortiied- yes, fortified
my conviction that idleness is at the
root Of all evil. 1 wrote that in my
(. copy book when l was a lad at
school,. The aunts nodded their heads.
Dear Giles always expressed himself
so nicely. The three unhappy persons
in this case" continued the speaker,
avoiding Mrs. Giles slightly derisive
smile, had nothing to do, so it ap-
peared to me- correct me If l am
mistaken had absolutely nothing to
do, except to waste time and money.
Show me a house, large or small,
where time and money are squander-
ed, and I will show you-um-"
''The devil in possession" said
George Vennable.
Thank you, George. l don't think
there is anything more to be said. We
killed a good fox yesterday"
But the fox started by Mrs. Giles
was only scotched, not killed. AS soon
as dinner was over, Joy sat down on
the sofa beside Mrs. Giles, and said,
with slightly heightened color: 81
think as you do, Mollie, about stains
and vases of flowers. l read that Char
teris case"
You did?D
4eS, L i've uOWu mere, l Adiuiy
ever leave the Forest; my only chance
of knowing what is going on in the
world is through my reading"
"All the same
81 know what you would say. Yor
will believe me when l say that
don't, as a rule, read such cases, bu'
this excited so much attention. Ant
I'm glad I read it. Even in this village
squalid, u%nspeakable facts must b.
faced. And how can ignorance dea
with such things? This Charters cas-
opened my eyes to what didn't know
before"
"And what was that?'
THAT a man, apparently popular
young, fascinating, could be a perfec
devil"
did you think a perfect dew
went about with a black face am
showing a cloven hoof and forke'
tail?"
..In a sense, l suppose l did"
What a child you are STILL"
mo; that case killed the child !
me-"