Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1913-09-04
ENTENTE CORDIALE

ment was announced"
"Yes," agreed mother briskly
"Sue's been like one Of our own since
she was a little girl, though we
haven't seen much Of her lately; and
his folks being connected with IA
theirs business ought to make us all
the more interested. Let's get the
thing settled this evening. l wish
we knew more about him and his
family, the little I've heard gave me
the impression that they were all
sort of uppity. / guess | got the no
ton from you, father"
shouldn't wonder" said father,
rousing himself from the evening pa
per. 81 don't know Robert, Sues
young man, but his father and
Frank, the brother-well, the old
gentleman's pretty set in his ways,
and regular old fuss-budget, espe-
cially about his food, and l guess
Frank is like him-eh, Tom?'''
Sure thingp Tom contributed !;
eve lunch together sometimes, and
his discourses on the subject of eats
are something choice. The poor chap
has indigestion, though, which helps
make him fussy, l suppose. 1 only
see Bob once in while, for he trav-
els mostly, so l never had a chance to
get line on his views"
Well," observed mother, getting
back to the main topic, "about this
dinner. Shall we call it next We'd
nesday?" The family thoughtfully
searched for previous engagements,
and finally assented to the proposed
date. "That's easy" said Olive;
"and now the really important ques-
ton comes: what shall we have?
Consomme, for a starter; one can't
go wrong on that. And next-roast
beef, mother?"
"Cut it outw exclaimed Tom.
"Old Smiley won't have beef in the
house, since the packing house ele-
ment got into literature Frank told
me So" A moment of thought. then
mother suggested that roast chickens
were always nice.
Guess again." suggested his ia
ther, sitting. up and looking inter-
ested. ut comes to me now that old
Smiley told me they once had a Jap
cook who could curry fowl in Indian
style; and since Hashimura went
back home it seems that the family
can't endure the thought of common
garden chicken-never touch it any
more"
"And Frank" added Tom, "once
confded to ME that they never had
sheep in any form on the home table, |
or pork either. Goodness knows
what they do eat! Frank takes only |
limpid sawdust food at luncheon. |
Gee, mother, you are up against it |
The trouble rs, folks like that are
always sure to detest what they don't |
like. And Bob-maybe he'll be
worse yet, after couple of months
in Paris. Say, we couldn't work a
theater party, and a restaurant sup
per afterward, could veto sort of |
shift the responsibility, and not be-
tray ourselves as plain Americans,
who once lived in the country?"
ave might, if we had French res
taurant and grand opera incomes 20
Olive reminded him with scorn.
Besides, Sue wouldn't like it; she's
a honey thing, like ourselves, and if
We did anything formal she'd think
we didn't want to let Mr.. Smiley
into the family circle. Next time |
see her perhaps l can get a few
points about his preferences, if Pm
tactful, SO we can touch his heart
through the traditional avenue"
"a good idea," mother approved.
81 want to make him like us, and |
feel at home, for Sues sake, though
we're such plain folks, it's not much
use to pretend" She was inter-
rupted by the ringing of the door
bell and a moment later Sue herself
was ushered in, laughing and rosy,
and behind her a tall, good-looking
youth, whose slight reserve might
have been due to shyness or to con-
scious superiority.
Thought we'd drop In" Sue ex-
planned airily, ''and give Bobs a
chance to get acquainted. He's only
CaAn bio IN lours % fooc 81 - |