The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-30

Aunt Selma had been talking woo
mans suffrage in front OF the fire.
place, but now she turned to me.
'is this the vase Cousin Jane Whit
comb sent You as a wedding present?
she demanded. indicating hideous
urn-shaped affair on the mantel. II
came TO me as an Inspiration that
Tim had once said II was an ancestral
urn. So ] said without hesitation that
it was And because there was
Pause and every one was looking at
us. ] added that it was beautiful
thing.
Aunt Selma shifted.
"Hideous," she said. IT looks Ike .
Cousin Jane shape and coloring }
Then she looked at it more closely, .
bounced on il. turned il upside down +
and shook It A card fell cut which +
Dallas picked up and gave her with ,
a bow Jim had come out of the
den and was dancing wildly around |
and reckoning to me. BY the time
had made out that that was not the I
vase Cousin Jane had sent us as
wedding present. Aunt Selma had eN-
amined the card Then she glared !
across at me and, STOPPING, put the
card In the fire. / did not under !
stand mt ali. but / knew I had in |
some way done the unforgivable thing. /
Later Dial told me II was her card, /
and that she had sent the vase to
Jim at Christmas. with generous
check inside. when she Strengthened
from the fireplace, il was to new
theme, which she attacked with her
usual vigor The vase incident was
over. but she never forgot It, she
proved that she never did when she
sent me two urn-sha ped vases with
Paul and Virginia on them. when l.
that is. later on.
The Cause In England has made
great strides" she announced from
the fireplace. Soon the hand that
rocks the cradle will he the hand that
actually rules the world Here she
looked at me.
I'm not up on such things" Max
said blandly, having recovered some
of his good humor, 'but-tsn't 1t usu-
ally a foot that rocks the CRADLE
Aunt Selma turned on him and Mr.
Harrison. who were standing together
with a snort ...-,-.
What have you. or YOU, ever done
for the independence of woman - she
demanded.
MIR. HARRISON smiled He had been
looking rather grave until then. we
have at least remained unmarried,
he retorted And then dinner was
again announced.
came across the room to whore ] sat
collapsed in a chair and bent over
me.
DO You know" he said, looking
down at me with his clear discon-
cprting gaze, do you know that have
Just grasped the situation? There was
such a noise that did not hear your
name, and | am only realizing now
that you are my hostess ! don't
yvS,t, eufn "a
this was a bachelor establishment but
/ did odd wasn't IT,
/ positively couldn't look away from
him. My features seemed frozen. and
my eyes were glued to his As for
/ telling him the truth---wen. my tongue
refused to move. / intended to tell
him during dinner II ! had an oppor-
. tunitN: | honestly did But the more
/ looked a thin and saw how candid
his eyes were. and how stern his
mouth might be, the more ! shivered
: at the plunge. And, of course, at eV-
$ cry moment ] expected that awful
. old woman to ask me what | paid my
, cook and when / had changed the
r color Of my hair--Bella's being black.
Dinner was "A half hour late when
I We finally went out. Jimmy leading
e off with Aunt Selma, and I, as hos
q tess. trailing behind the procession
with Mr. tArhlSon. t'allas LOOK III
p the two Mercer girls, for we were
. one man short and Max took Anne:
, Leila Mercer was SO excited that she
= wriggled. and as for me, the candles
e and the orchids--eYerything --danced
1 around In circle, and l just seemed
to catch the back Of my chair as II
a flew past. Jim had ordered away the
= wines and brought out aome--Neak
I and cheap Chiauti. Dallas looked
E gloomy at the change, but Aunt Selma
- didn't approve of expensive vintages.
10 Naturally, the meal was glum enough
a Aunt Selma had had her dinner on
the train, so she spent her time In
I asking me questions the length of the
. table, and in getting acquainted with
me. She had brought bottle of some
a sort of medicine down stairs with heI
/ and she took a claret- glassful while
Y she talked. The stuff was called Po-
. mona. shall / ever forget it?
. 1t WAS Mr.. HARRISON who first no
= ticed Takahiro. Jimmys Jap had been
1 the only thing in the menage that
Bella declared she had hated TO leave
But no was doing the strangest things;
his little black eyes shifted nervously
, and he looked queer
ITO Be Cor..IS4ed.)