Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-21

dragged by an intellectual mother to this
| secret of his gloom and isolation. He
| openly approved Of me, however. nndins
my conversation, he gratefully explained,
| wholly free from theories and ideas
don't you know" Sympathetfcally l
| withdrew with Griffing to distant cor
ner where we sat down side by side.
/. too, was a little tired. OF theories and
| ideas.
What does she write about, anyhow
demanded Grifing. gazing drearily at his
shoes. You know / never read women 8
| things, but I've got general idea that
| hers are worse than the average. Wants
| to revolutionize society, doesn't she, and
elect woman presidents, and put babies
| out to farm, or something like that?"
FASTENED to turn the sunshine Of an
optimistic mind on this cold gray cloudi-
ness:
mot a bit. Your course in art has not
taught you to draw conclusions" l ex-
planned with brisk severity. "All she
wants Is entire equality for women and
men, Men don't give their lives TO DO
nestle service and the care Of children;
and she thinks women should not, unless
they consider 1t their specia- vocation.
Certain women who like children should
be trained to care for them all. she says,
leaving their mothers. not thus determln-
ed to the task, free to enter the arts and
professions II they choose She thinks,
too that women should not walt TO De
wooed. They should go a-wooing, II they
care to. According to her theory, for ex-
ample, no shrinking maidenly modesty
should prevent me from asking you mere
But with a gulp of alarm young Crit
fng had fled, leaving a train Of suffered
excuses In his wake. Subsequently l
caught sight of him lurking In the shad-
ows of the outer hall, from Wnicn saie
shelter he made frantic signals to mis-
mother; conveying his filial readiness TO
escort her home. To such OF these as
she saw that strong-minded lady MADE
no response. Once during her ponderous
passages through the rooms she stopped
for a few words with me, and IN the
course of these caught over her shoulder
a glimpse of her sons white. stricken
face turned on us from afaI. l knew ne
imagined / was asking her for his hand'
interview to a degree which evidently
caused Mrs. Grining much surprise ana
qualification. I learned. incidentally,
several interesting facts about MT. war
burton. She was a widow and chiidiess-
a condition In which even the loyal soul
Of Mrs. Grifing seemed vaguely to see a
providential hand.
"a Mrs. Grifiing, simply. MY son thinks
she killed him with her ideas. but, OF
course. 1t wasn't anything she did-1to was
pneumonia"
She drifted away after. this handsome
vindication Of her friend. and with
sudden realization that the night was ad-
vanced 1 again sought Jessica. I found
her wearing. the expression Of alertness
her face takes on only when she Is in
tensely interested.
shes really worth WHILE she con-
coded. dropping on q convenient divan.
tucking a small cushion comfortably be-
hind her back. and pulling me down be-
side her with the obvious intention OF
talking 1t all over, then and there.
"She's wrong about everything, OF
course: / never knew . woman whose
conception OF the universe was so con-
sistently upside down. But she's diaboli-
cally clever about II, and she has per-
suaded herself that she's sincere. really
believe she thinks she's right For the
rest, we must cultivate her. Thank
heaven. we've both reached the stage
where we don't care what peoples opin-
ions are. II only they don't bore us. What
ever Grace Warburton may do, she'll
never do that. I've asked her to come to
dinner Tuesday night
HAS she the privilege Of bringing her
smile along" I asked without enthusi-
asm. l am never as enthusiastic as Jes-
sica over the prospect Of guests-possibly
because do the marketing and because
Jessica'ss criticism of my efforts Is often
painful to my sensitive nature.
Jessica surveyed me disapprovingly:, I
think / can say one or two things that
will remove 1t IL she has 1t with her,
she remarked with conviction II let
everything go tonight because this was
into an animated monologue on Mrs. War
burton's fallacies, during which sue
ceeded In enjoying brief but restful
nap. l had not yet felt the force of the
iady's personal appeal to the degree Jes-
Mrs. Warburton arrived promptly at y
the following Tuesday evening. in a gown
whose attractions brought q light into
our world-weary eyes. 1t was one of her
good points. hitherto unchronicled. that
she dressed superbly and with sympa-
thetic understanding Of her own type.
We had invited only one other guest.
Jessica remaining Arm in her faith that
the occasion warranted a presentation Of
her Views as well as those Of Mrs War
burton. The fourth member of our little
party was q newspaper editor, rather
yellow as to his journalism, but Of great
personal charm, and with a brain whose
strength even Jessica humbly acknowl-
edged AS for me, / openly sat at his
feet and quoted his opinions as often as
she permitted me.
The evening opened auspiciously. Ush-
cred into my bedroom to take OF her
wraps. Mrs. Warburton commented al
once and rapturously upon the rising-sun
quilt made by my great-great-grand-
mother-a proper appreciation of which is
indispensable in guests in our home. She
also said fitting things about our Delft
and brasses, and realized the antiquity
of the Japanese prints on our dining
room walls. Moreover. she hung in rap
ture over Hedwig's mayonnaise, and men,
toned casually that THE Walkurie was
her favorite opera. melted to a de-
gree which imperiled the firmness Of the
frozen punch, while even the editor
frankly prejudiced against her as "a
menace to the community turned on heI
| a momentary kindly gleam We had
reached the salad before Jessica lured heI
| toward her hobby, which Mrs. Warbur.
| ton needed no urging to mount. She
| leaped into the saddle with bound. Once
there. II l may be pardoned an abrupt
departure from metaphor, she rested hel
| elbows on the table, buried her chin IN