The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-08-06

estly square in the neck. Her
shoulders are scrawny. And aft
er they were gone-not her Shout
ders; Mr.. HARRISON and she
Aunt Selma announced that the
next day was Monday, that she
had only a weeks supply of cloth
ing with her, and that no police
man who ever swung a mace
should wash her undergarments
for her.
She paused a moment, but no.
body offered to do it. Anne was
reading De Maupassant under
cover of a table, and the rest pre-
tended not to hear. After a
pause. Aunt Selma got up heavily
and went upstairs, coming down
soon after with a bundle covered
with a green shawl, and with a
white balbriggan stocking trail
ing from an opening in it. She
paused at the library door, sur
veyed the inmates, caught my un-
lucky eye and beckoned to me
with relentless forefinger.
1--WE can put them to soak to-
night" she confided to me, land
tomorrow they will be quite SIM
pie to do. There is no lace to
speak of"-Dal raised his eye
brows-"and very little flounc-
ing"
Aunt Selma and l went to the
laundry. 1t never occurred to any
one that Bella should have gone:
she had stepped into all my privi-
leges-such as they were-and as
sumed none of my obligations
Aunt Selma and L went to the
laundry.
1t is strange what big things
develop from little ones. In this
case it was a bar of soap. And if
Flanagan had used as much soap
as he should have instead of wash.
ing up the kitchen floor with cold
dish water, it would have devel-
oped sooner. The two most unex-
pected events of the whole quar-
antine occurred that night at the
same time, one on the roof and
one in the cellar. The cellar one,
although curious, was not so seri-
Gus as the other, so it comes first
Aunt Selma put her clothes in
tub in the laundry and proceeded
to dress them like vegetable
She threw in a handful of salt
some kerosene oil and a little
ammonia. The result was vii
famous, but after she tasted it
or snuffed it-she said it needed
a bar of soap cut up to give ii
flavor-and / went
into the store-room for it.
The laundry soap was in a box.
l took in a silver fork, for / hat
ed to touch the stuff, and jabbed
a bar successfully in the semi
darkness. Then / carried it back
to the laundry and dropped it on
the table. Aunt Selma looked at
the fork with disgust: then we
both looked at the soap. One side
of it was covered with round holes
that curved around on each other
lick a Coiled snake.
ran back to the store-room
and there, little bit sticky and
smelling terribly of rosin, lay
Anne's pearl necklace!
l was so excited that I seized
Aunt Selma by the hands and
danced her all over the place.
Then I left her, trying to find her
hair-pins on the floor, and ran
up to tell the others. / met Bet
ty in the hall, and waved the
pearls at her. But she did not
notice them.
"1s Mr.. HARRISON down there?'
she asked breathlessly. 81 left
him on the roof and went down
to my room for my scarf, and
when 1 went back he had disap-
peared. He-he doesn't seem to
be in the house." She tried to
laugh, but her voice was shaky.
HE couldn't have got down with
out passing me, anyhow" she sup
plemented. 81 suppose I'm silly,
but SO many queer things have
happened, Kit"
II wouldn't worry, Betty" !
soothed her. "He is big enough
to take care of himself. And with
the best intentions in the world
you can't have him all the time
you know"
She was too much startled to be
indignant. She followed me into
the library, where the sight of the
pearls produced tremendous ex.
element, and then everyone had
to go down to the store-room
and see where the necklace had
been hidden, and Max examined
all the bars of soap for thumb
prints.
Mr.. HARRISON did not appear
Max commented on the fact
caustically, but Dial hushed him
up. And so, Anne hugging her
pearls, and Aunt Selma having put
final seasoning of washing pow
der on the clothes in the tub, we
all went upstairs to bed. 1t had
been a long day, and the morning
would at least bring bridge.
was almost ready for bed
when Jim tapped at my door. ]
had been very cool to him since
the night in the library when ]
was publicly staked and martyred
and he was almost cringing when
| opened the door.
What is 1t now" I asked
cruelty. "Has HeIia TRAD ne a.