Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-12

the more than twenty pounds that L S
have shaved off me and doubled them y
on again. | would have liked to lead n
her that minute into DR.. Johns Office r.
and just to have looked at him and u
said one string BEAM" Aunt II
Betty introduced her as Miss Chester
from Washington.
"Oh. my dear Mrs. Carter, how
glad I am to meet youl she said as
she lowered over me in willowy s
way, and her voice was lovely +
and cool almost to slimness. Il ana
the bearer of so many gracious mes &
sages that | am anxious to deliver
them safely to you. Not six
weeks ago left Alfred BEN
nett in Paris and really-re-
ally his greetings to you almost
amounted to steamer luggage. He
came down to Cherbourg to see mo
off, and almost the last thing he said
to me was Now, don't fail to see Mrs.
Garter as soon as you get to Hills
boro; and the more you see of her than
more you'll enjoy your visit 10 Mrs
Pollard. Isn't he the most delightfufI
of men?e She asked me the question.
but she had the most wonderful wax
of seeming to be talking to everybody
at one time. so Mrs. Johnson got im
the first answer.
Delightful nothingl But All Benz
nett is a man of sense not to marry
any of the string of women suppose
he's got following him" she said
Miss Chester looked at her in mild
kind of wonder, but she went on mur
dering Mr. Johnson's shirt-sleeve within
the needle without noticing the gIancd
at all ft
well, well. honey, I don't know
about that. said Aunt Betty, as she
famed and rocked her great, big.
darling, fat self in the strong roclAer
| always kept in the breezy angle Of
the porch for her. "Al is not old
enough to have proved himself en-
tirely, and from what | hear" she
paused with the big hearty smile that
she always wears when she begins TO
tease or match-make. and she does
them both most of her time.
But at whom do you suppose she
looked? Not me, Miss Chester.
That was cold tub number two for
that day, and / didn't react as quickly
as | might, but when | did I was iii
the proper glow all over. When re-
vived and saw the lovely pale blush
on her face / felt like a cabbage-rose
beside a tea-bud. ] was glad Aunt
Adeline came out on the porch just
then so could go in and tell Judy TO
bring out the iced tea and cakes. When
I came from the kitchen | stepped
Int nd 81
Alfreds letters from the desk drawer
and opened it at random as you do
the Bible when you want to decide
things, and put my finger down on a
line with my eyes shut. This was
what it was
and all these years | have
walked the world, blndfolded TO its
| loveiness with the blackness thar
came to me when | found that
| you--"
/ didn't read any more, but showed
it back in hurry and went on out
on the porch. eomforted In way.
but feeling some more in sympathy
with Mrs. johnson than / had before
Aunt Betty and her guest from
Washington had interrupted our all
| gebraic demonstration ON the man
subject You can't always be sure
of the right answer to X in any
proposition of life; that is, woman
can't
And. furthermore, | didn't like thar
next hour much, just as a sample of
| lfe, for instance. Aunt Betty had
got her joining-together hunnor well
started. and right there before my
face she made a present of every
nice man in Hillsboro to that lovely.
distinguished, strange girl who could
have slipped through a bucket hoop
if she had tried hard. / had to sit
there, listen to the presentations,
watch her drink two tall delicious
glasses of tea full of sugar and con-
sumo without fear three of Judy's
puffy cakes, while | crumbled mine
in secret over the banisters and set
half the glass of tea out of sight be-
hind the wistarla vine.
1t was bad enough to hear Aunt
Betty Just offer her Tom. who, if he
is her own son, is my fayorite
cousin, but / believe the worst
minute | almost ever faced was when
she began on the judge, for I could
see from Aunt Adeline's shoulder be-
yond Miss Chester how she was en-
! joying that, and she added another
| distinguished ancestor to his pedigree
every time Aunt Betty paused for
breath ! couldn't say word about
! the fish, and Aunt Adeline Wouldn' !!
/ almost loved Mrs. johnson when she
bit off thread yiciously and said:
"Humph!" as she rose to start tbs
tea party home.
That night / did so many exercises
that at last | sank exhausted in
chair in front of my mirror and put
my head down on my arms and cried
| the real tears you cry when nobody
is looking. | felt terribly old and
ugly and dowdy and--widowed. IL
couldn't have been jealousy, for I just
love that girl. 1 want most awfully
to hug her very slimness, and it was
more what she might think of poor
dumpy me than what any man in
Hilsboro, Tennessee, or Paris.
France, could possibly feel on the
subject that hurt so hard. But then,
looking back on it, ] am afraid that
jealousy SneuS IebtneFs every Hi5iih
so you won't know in the morning.
for something made me sit up SUD
denly with a spark in my eyes and
reach out to the desk for my pencil
and check book 1t took me more
than an hour to figure it all up but
] went to bed a happier. though in
prospects a poorer woman.
It is strange how spending mans
money makes you feel more congeniai
with him, and as ] sat in the cars on
my way TO the city early the next
morning | felt nearer to Mr.. Carter