Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-05
THE EVENING STORY.
Hats.
Hats.
Copyright. 1918. by W. werner.l


She hated every ribbon. every feather
every flower and. Incidentally. the fool
ish. vain or greedy women who came
seeking them. Observation-Disclosures. a me-
full of hats. and nothing else What ala
ii all amount to? And how was she ever
to go on with it until she was pohteiy pu'
firmly asked to step out OF her piaee III
order that somebody younger ana pret,ief
might step into it?
This feeling of utter repusnahce nau'
of course seized her Unexpectedly ue-
spite certain permonitory symptoms ohe
had risen with a headache anu VIC
regard for her customary rolls anu iiui'
and coffee. Her mirror had been partlc-
uIarly ungracious even IN the - ,1l
light of a rainy morning oei 'han on,a
cipient lines seemed to have become
nron,inent over night The hair at her
TEMPLES was Enthusiastically whlteii,ils,
Her ewes looked dull, spotless. lheIs n han
been rouge and French penchs oiiu od
toilet table. Hitherto she mao M ~
moment for using them seemed 70 haNe
arrived. hut all her inner dencacS e
VOTED alike at need ana means, o
had put them away from ne, iNo O.,
evil temptation and gone loIln ~ aaa
natural colors though they were iaueu'
to meet the feeling and the cause tnereoi.
The cause was, of course. woman
an old woman. who was. however; yins
to trick the world and, lncldentdii!, nel
self into thinking otherwise. one Mas "a
painted as a picture or cnoIus slll anu
had lost much of her dignity thereDy:
And she was willing to lose the rest OIL
her dignity by adopting nedusedI 81
Grafton too young for her, hat alte. Ia'
was tried upon her, but none mo sa;zad
until in final desperation Molly mad seizeo
the most absurd of all ana craHiiheu
down over the empty, DYED ola pate; !
was gorgeous. tam-o -sha.tei eap
encircled with vivid roses, Win pehudn.
,ibbons-a hat made for piquant rosy
vouth and travesty above the tlred'
daubed face of the old Would-De-youhs
But she had seized upon 1t eagerly ana
had paid for it and ordered II sent 70 her
address. ,a
If had told her the truth ! Wou =,
merely have lost a customer Wlthout IA
any way convincing her Molly tnougnt;
Il didn't actually lie with my lips yet
lied by my actions when ! let her guy
that hat without telling that IL was a
mockery and farce upon her. m Sex
If sI,ch lies. I'm sick of thinking one
thing and doing another. m SICK unto
death of selling roses and pink RIBBONS 10
women who ought long ago 10 nave re-
linquished such folly to their grand
iect of hats. of this store, of myself. ana
of everything the world holds Tor me
And | wish | could die and be free OF II
ALL
\ sob filed her thoat and she sank
heavily down upon one of the chalrs that
stood outside the row of curtained re-
cesses where she presided. Before her
was a labyrinth of aisles and counters
where few customers who had DraVed
the rain were buying. Molly smut her
ewes tight and leaned her head on ner
hand. Her soul and her courage crumpled
IN like naper within her She felt old,
fimsy, intellectually worthless. "Lifes SO
untrue, so valueless." she moaned in
Wardly.
Miss Marlin
The voice vas that of Grace. one of
the young girls. who fetched and carried
fore her stood girl who looked like a
rose Just off the bush. She was smiling
and something in that smile released
Moliys lips in response. She stood up.
"Well?" Molly said.
The girl advanced little. Il want
hat" she said, timidly, "a rather nice
kind of a hat. l think | want plain
black hat
Just step inside
Molly drew aside curtain and the girl
entered into one of the tiny compart-
1nents She sat down before the mirror
and removed her hat, well worn little
felt hat, with dingy wing. Molly saw
that her hands We're trembling. She also
saw that the brown hair was very beauti-
full with it's natural waves and simple,
loosely pinned knot. She stood an In
slant studying the face reflected in the
glass The artistic instinct was strong
in Molly Usually she tried to see what
she liked and what she thought was fit
ting, but sometimes she had to let her
art give way to a customers caprice.
The brown Dresden, Grace" she said
to her waiting assistant. The girl left