The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-02-12
THE TACTFULNESS
OF anne.
BY ALICE LOUISE LEE.

"A
briskly by way of the front door for
a walk, with all the curves IN her
face turned gaily up. At four O'Clock
she returned slowly oy way OF the
back yard, with all the curves in her
face turned dejectedly down. and
sought her mother. An hour later
Hilda came on the two in solemn
council. Anne sat, a wilted heap,
on the couch. gazing forlornly at a
damp handkerchief in her lap. Mrs.
Tupper's eyes were grave. but her
lips, over which she laid repressing
hand, were in danger of smiling as
she said, consolingly:
Never mind. dear. You told her
exactly what she said she wanted to
know, and in the long rum know
her so well-it will work out all
right"
whats up?" demanded Hilda.
"M-Mrs. Adams" quavered Anne.
A big tear rolled down each cheek.
-T couldn't help it. She asked me.
and then when told her she was
awfully angry"
Anne hunted a dry spot on her
handkerchief. Mrs. Tupper strug-
gled with a smile, but Hilda dropped
solidly into a chair and cried:
."Anne Tupper! Mrs. Adams! For
PHYS sake what have you told her."
"S-she thought" sobbed Anne.
-'that no one suspected that she col
ors her hair and-and puts on her
complexion and is f-hfty-years old"
Anne Belinda Topper" shrieked
Hilda, with horror-stricken eyes, did
you tell her all that? Did you'
Anne?"
But Anne, beyond the power of
reply, fed down the hall and up the
stairs in tempest of girlhood grief,
while her older sister transferred the
horror-stricken gaze to the mother.
1T seems" explained the undis-
turbed Mrs. Tupper, "that Mrs. Ad-
ans has overheard some uncompll-
mentary comments on her appear
ance. Consequently, this afternoon
she waylaid Anne, took her upstairs
behind closed doors, told her what
she had overheard, and said, Now,
Anne, depend on you to tell me the
truth"
Hilda threw out her hands in a ses-
ture Of despair 4The truth" she in
terrupted. "It's the last thing she
wanted to hear, and Anne ought to
have known it. Anne doesn't under
stand people"
Mrs. Tupper smiled inscrutably.
~Well, it seems" she finished, dryly,
@that Mrs. Adams asked for the truth
and got it."
"Oh!" groaned Hilda. "Did Anne
tell her that people knew she was
fifty, and dyed her hair and rouged?"
Anne did," affirmed her mother.
"And that's not all, either"
Hilda sat up with jerk. Mother,
did Anne tell her about her dress?"
Mrs. Tupper nodded, still undis-
turbed by the volcanic outbursts OF
her elder daughter. "She did Just
that. You know Mrs. Adams dresses
like a giddy schoolgirl, and Anne told
her so.
"Of course I know it." cried Hilda,
sand so does every one else! I never
saw such a ridiculous figure in my
life. Strangers simply 60 into con-
vulsions over her appearance, but to
think that Anne should tell her!
do wish that Anne had some tact
about her! She hasn't a speck."
"No." acknowledged her mother,
Anne is not tactful in your sense of
the word, but she is the soul Of hon
esty, and she feels completely used
up because Mrs. Adams is 80 angry.
Poor Anne!" cried Hilda, with a
sudden change of front. at was a
hard place to put her in!" and she
few upstairs to comfort her sister.
. Anne, refusing comfort, wept until
tea-time, but after tea a lively game
of tennis, in which she came off vic
tor, drove all thought Of her late
troubles from her. mind, and caused
her to sleep soundly.
But on Sunday morning her trou-
bles again oppressed her in the form
of naughty and distant Mrs. Adams
who pointedly ignored not only Anne,
but Anne's immediate relatives.
Mrs. Adams occupied the pew in
front of the Tuppers. She did not
arrive that particular morning until
the beginning of the responsive read
ing. Then she rustled down the aisle
a comedy of affected youth in hel
reddish-black dyed hair, her white
and-pink face, her strained eyes
guiltless Of glasses, and her stout
figure begirt in a gaily colored. rib
boned, ruffled, lace-yoked dress. Mrs
Adams as a girl had been a popular
beauty. At fifty she might have been
equally popular. and equally beautiful
with the beauty belonging to middle
age. had she not chosen to ignore the
flight Of the years. She had also per.
suaded herself that others ignored
it, so far as it concerned her-unti
her interview with Anne!
Now you can see. Anne said
Hilda, at the dinner-table, "how fal
little tact would have gone with
Mrs. Adams. She'll never speak tc
us again, and what you told her will
not make a bit of difference in hel
appearance.
Anne swallowed her tears-but moi
admired Hilda's tactfulness, but