St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1910-06-18
THE BEST SHE
COULD DO

Young Mrs. Allison extracted f1ve
hatpins and removed an enormous
straw hat from her carefully bu1lt-ul
couture. She laid the hat beside mel
on the sofa and regarded 1t with
look such as the proverbial hen mlgn'
have bestowed upon her mysterious
ducklings.
The other members Of the sewing
circle gazed silently at the spectacle
eff" said young Mrs. Allison, with
tragic gesture, IF any one had told
me a week ago that within seven
short days 1 should be the undoubted
possessor of a head covering of those
impossible dimensions / should have
recommended that his friends consult
a reliable alienist in his behalf"
The timid young matron in mauve
broadcloth giggled by way of showing
her sympathy my husband thinks
they're perfectly shocking" she con-
fded Does yours?"
Really" said young Mrs Allison,
coldly. Il haven't consulted him.
more than my naturally angelic dispo-
sition could BEAR"
"But, DEAR" said the timid young
matron in mauve broadcloth, why, II
you don't like 1t, did you"
She broke off in confusion in the
face Of young Mrs. Allison's scornful
expression.
1.-THE idea!" exclaimed the owner
of the hat disgustedly. "You don't
suppose for a moment that bought
this incredible horror because l want
ed it. do you!"
Then why" began again the
timid young matron In mauve, her
puzzled look becoming more and
more appealing.
WELL" said young Mrs. Allison, Il
went to every hat shop in this large
and cosmopolitan city and found moth
ing, absolutely nothing, smaller than
that tea table" She indicated the
ineffensive piece of furniture sar-
castically with one of her five hat
pins. II tried on everything from a
cherry trimmed coal scuttle to a flow
er decked parachute, and finally
bought this in self-defense, because
l wanted to go to tea yesterday aft
ernoon and every one seemed to think
a beaver toque was wholly out of the
question at this time of year"
"Of course it is," said the girl with
the new spring gown, positively.
Then" demanded young Mrs Al
lison, with rising indignation, why
will people persist In having teas at
the exact season when your winter
clothes are draggled and horrid and
you haven't had time to evolve new
spring attire?"
when you've put off entertaining
all winter" said the tinid young ma
iron in mauve broadcloth, there's
nothing else to do, is there? Nobody
will go to formal teas in hot weather,
and you've naturally got to give them
some time. They're a sort of duty,
you know"
II suppose they are" agreed young
Mrs. Allison, with sigh. Anyway,
I didn't have time to have head Gov
ering made, and this one was the re-
suit of choice Of evils. It's so heavy
that it gives me constant sensation
OF sliding backward, and to avoid that
alarming tendency have to hold my
head down and my chin out and look
upward out of the corners of my eyes
like cat stealing the family beef
steak And bought it from a wom-
al who was a hypocrite," she added,
peevishly
"Oh!" said the timid young matron
in mauve broadcloth, adding innocent.
ly, did she tell you it was becom-
ing?"
NO." said young Mrs. Allison, with
a still deeper sigh. nothing as bad as
that! She had had a moral bringing
up, think. and probably went into
the millinery business when she was
young and irresponsible. She merely
told me that this hat was bargain!"
The girl with the new spring gown
made critical inspection of the ex.
panse of chip and trimmings in ques-
ton. Il don't see why it should be
4 bargain she remarked, finally. "1s
It off color, or something's"
ooh, think not" said young Mrs.
Allison with an involuntary smile,
but you see it was copied from an
S85 Partisan model, and the woman
or whom 1t was made refused to take
t because she declared 1t was too
sma1lin