The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1912-08-23
Losing the
Social Instinct

dropped an extra lump of sugar into
her callers tea and set the cup down
hurriedly.
''Well, why not?" inquired young
Mrs. Allison 'That will do, dear. /
bowlful"
Explain yourself, Ce1este!" de
manded the young matron with au-
! burn hair, severely "Has any one
been saying that am getting fat and
stolid or is this your fnimitable way
/, Of criticising my winter WARDROBE"
Young Mrs. Allison smiled inscruta-
bly,.
Celeste" said her hostess again,
sharply, 'if you weren't my best
friend l should call that a positive
grin
Young Mrs. Allison continued to
grin, happily. well, she said, after
selecting the thinnest sandwich on the
tray and biting into it with caution,
''to begin with, you've moved to a sub
iurb, haven't you?"
"Umrmm; is that all?'
''No, but that's one thing"
''Very well; what next?"
"And you've stopped wearing false
hair"
F'Why, yes, so I have" admitted the
hostess, TRANQUILITY. Il got tired of the
messy stuff, and when l happened to
think it over l couldn't see any reason
why I shouldn't let my hair stand on
it's own merits"
Exactly" agreed young Mrs Alli-
son. Thirdly, you've dropped the
bridge club"
The matron with auburn hair sighed.
ct had to-" she explained. "And," she
added, with a sudden burst Of conf
dence, you've no idea, dearest, what
a relief it is. For two years, once a
week, I've hooked myself into my best
clothes and sat all of a pleasant sun
ny afternoon in some ones stuffy
drawing room gambling for, let US
say, a green sunshade that would
make me look, if l won it, like horse
show poster. I have partaken enthu-
siastically Of siruplike ice creams and
dinner hour" She paused for breath
and smiled suddenly upon her caller.
s'Instead of all that" she concluded,
''I now repose in this easy chair with
a book and box of chocolates, which
achieve the same effect upon my ap-
petite, but are less strenuous"
Nonsense" said young Mrs. Alli-
ho o1 inc
that's all! All suburbanites do. But,
as remarked to begin with, you have
adopted the wise course
She frowned thoughtfully, while her
hostess waited in silence.
"Well?" her hostess demanded, final
ly.
tits very tragic" said young Mrs.
Allison. "You know my Aunt Elvi-
raj"
The matron with auburn hair nod
ded. "The poor woman who was so
i'll at your house last summer" she
said.
Poor nothing" contradicted young
Mrs. Allison, sternly. There's moth
ing the matter with Aunt Elvira but
imaginary diseases. She's SO grabbed
that her own children won't live with
her, and she's so rich that her other
relatives have to. She takes private
car down to Florida every winter and
I had thought that Fred and I could
make rather pleasant use of an invi-
tation to go with her this year, be-
cause Fred didn't get any vacation in
the summer.
well, my love, last week Saturday
positively dragged Fred home from
the office to go out to the Country
club with me in the afternoon. l felt
that my system demanded the diver
sion and didn't want to go alone. 1t
was horrid, chilly trip and our sup
per out there was miserable. When
we got home this is the message writ
ten on Aunt Elvira's visiting card that
met me in the hand of the maid:
"'Dear Celeste-Pm sorry you
couldn't take time from your pursuit
of pleasure to comfort my tired and
travel stained self. I'm going over to
Cousin Emma's. Respectfully, A. E."
The matrOn with auburn hair gasp
ed. "But did you know she was CON-
ing?" she asked
ooh, no. said young Mrs. Allison,
composedly, mot having sixth sense
for her arrivals in town. It's just
one of her little eccentricities, that's
all! Cousin Emma goes to Florida
on Thursday she added, sadly.
well, of all things!" cried The ma
iron with auburn hair, sympathetically.
after you and Fred had it all
planned!"
WELL" admitted young Mrs. Al
llison, slowly, "as mater of fact,
Fred hadn't planned exactly. He SEEM
ed positively to enjoy the situation.
He said he had a picture of himself
going, anyway. And he added that he'd
rather pound rocks than to go any
where with Aunt Elvira. Good-by,
dear; I'm going to join your easy chair
brigade and do my hair fat in the