Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-07-25
just wish you could see how cute they
are ! Lola says they're all the fash

just wish o could see how cute they
are |! Lola says they're all the fash
Ion"
You've always felt that your white
dresses were good enough for parties
Mrs. Cameron said, quietly, a helpless
feeling troubling her; and l never
thought the parties you went to were
anything more than the kind you had
here, when you asked a few girls In
to eat fruit from the trees"
well. they used to be like that
Madge explained, "but you see so
many folks come here to live, and
most Of them like Lola's mother; she
goes to clubs and parties all the time,
and sometimes Lola goes with her to
wait on the table. Our white dresses
are NICE" she said, loyalty; you hem
stitched them so lovely they're nice
as can be. but SO many Of the girls
wear lace and silk, or awful thin
white stuff that shows your skin so
plain. We don't are for or want
ones like theirs, but She paused,
instinctively realizing the difficulty Of
a clear explanation of the problem
touching her young life.
So liz y SiAiS IuaI uoNo tuC
pretty Clothes Emma took up the
story, "but some of them are real
nice. Naomi-isn't that a sweet
name? She's just as nice an good as
can be, an real smart In school. l
want her if we have a party"
you always have to ask some you
don't care SO much for, like Lola" Ida
said, positively, tying the navy blue
bow at the end of her heavy braid
Of soft brown hair. Mother, l told
Mrs. Belts that you didn't have much
time, when she asked me If you were
sick al said she'd never met you;
but I didn't tell her that you said you
couldn't keep up with all the new
folks" she added with a funny pride
in her %acuteness.
II don't wonder that mother hasn't
any time, when she has holes like this
to mend!" Madge laughed, holding up
the skirt she had taken from her
mother. Grandma used to say that
when we got in our teens we ought
to mend for ourselves, al we're all
there now" She stopped to shake
her head at Ida's protesting face.
Say, girls, let is mend our own
clothes after this! Mother makes
them; and it seems mean, when she
does so much, we can't help her a
little
Goodness" Emma exclaimed, with
a shrug of her shoulders. "When
Madge gets started she's a regular
reformer; Madge, you'd better save
your talents. an some day you can
go out as a demonstration for pure
food, an talk people into doing their
duty. But really" she laughed, stoop-
ing to give her mother a hasty kiss,
Tn going to turn over a new leaf
and mend every hole / find with that
famous stitch in time"
We always get SO far away from
what we start to talk about" Ida
laughed; from parties to stitches is
an awful long way. Mother, did you
have to mend when you we're a grip
she asked abruptly, cor were you such
a careful girl you never got holes in
your clothes?"
Mrs. Cameron's thoughts had kept
her quiet. She reused with an effort.
Il always had the misfortune to tear
Withdrawals in my SKIRTS" she smil
ed, reflectively; you know how hard
they are to mend. for it's almost i'm.
possible to darn in a corner neatly
Well, I a remember being in a hur
~ and tying up a great winkle-hawk
In my best white dress by %puckerina
1t into a bunch and winding blue yarn,
the only string handy, about it.
walked with that side away from
mother as we went to church, but
forgot 1t when we came home. Mother
saw 1t then, and to punish me, made
me tie just such a bunch on the other
side Of my skirt and wear them both
the next Sunday. That cured me; any
amount of darning was better thar
the modification l felt whenever any
one looked at me-
Mothers We're very strict ladies' In
those days!" Ida said, emphatically
I'm glad now isn't then.
Il had happy times" Mrs. Cam.
eron's face frightened. And ex
pect. In trying to make you happy
my way, l forgot times have changed;
and, as Ida says, now isn't then.
When l was a girl we had beautiful
parties; l remember one" she began
then stopped suddenly, with a curious
glance at her girls.
Years before, Mr.. Cameron had
bought what he considered an idea,
home for his family-a roomy, we'll
built farmhouse, well out on the edge
of a thriving suburban town. Mrs
Cameron. whose ambitions were al
for her home and family, never fel,
the loneliness Of their location. Hell
thoughts for life ran in the simplest
grooves, and with what little time fol
visiting, a few quiet neighbors gave
her all the society she cared for while
limited means kept her from wider
outside pleasures. The years slipped
unevenely away, until, suddenly, beau
tiful homes went up all about then
like magic, and change dropped the
old, quiet ways for a newer, different
way Of living.
Content with the old, Mrs. Cameron
failed to comprehend the new until Its
drift reached her in the change in he1
girls. At first, she protested with
fierce inward rebellion, but today
something in Madge's words about
their dress sent her thoughts flying
back into the past, and she saw her
self, an awkward girl In her early
L