Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1913-05-23

to look at this holiday gathering OF all
types, among which her own class was
largely represented. The outdoor am
phitheater of filed benches was to her
what the ballroom and the glittering
horseshoe at the opera are to the wom-
an OF society. She saw many old
friends among the throng, girls who
had been contemporaries Of hers when
she had first gone to work" and had
long since married in their own world
and now dragged children by the hand.
she looked them over with an almost
passionate curiosity, discounted to
see the fresh youth of some, and
pleased to note that others looked
weighed down with maternal cares.
Berny regarded women who had chill
dren as fools, and the children grouped
about these mothers of her own age
three and four sometimes, with the
husband carrying a baby-were to her
only annoying, burdensome creatures
That made the party seem a little RI
diculous, and had not half the i'm
pressiveness or style OF her elegant
costume and lilac frills.
The magnificent afternoon had
brought out throng of people. Every
seat in the lines Of benches was full
and foot passengers kept constantly
coming up, standing for q few meas.
ures, and then moving on. They were
Of all kinds. The beauty of the day
had even tempted the more fashion
able element out, and the two sisters
saw many elegantly-d dressed ladies of
the sort on whom Hazel fitted hats all
day, and that evoked in Berry a deep
and respectable curiosity. Both wom-
en-, sitting high in their chairs, craned
their necks this way and that, spying
through breaks in the crowd, and fol-
lowing attractive figures with lodging
movements of their heads. When
either one saw anything she liked or
thought interesting she laid hand on
the others knee, giving 1t slight dig,
and designated the object of her at
tention in few broken words, de-
tached and disconnected like notes
for sentence.
They were thus engaged when Ha-
Eel saw Dominick and. rising. hailed
him with b. ckoning hand. He made
his way TOW them, moving delib.
erately. onc9 ,r vice pausing to greet
acquaintauceA He was taller than
any maI In tie surrounding throng
and Berny, watching him, felt a sense
OF proprietary pride swelling in her
when she noted his superiority. The
son OF an Irish laborer and a girl who
had begun life as the general servant
In miners boarding house, he looked
as II his forebears might have been
the flower of the nation. He wore a
loose-itting suit Of gray tweed, wide.
gray felt sombrero, and round his
waist belt of yellow leather. His col.
lar turning back from hi neck exposed
the brown strength Of his throat, and
on lifting his hat in a passing saluta-
ton, his head with it's cropped curly
hair, the ears growing close against
it, showed golden brown in the sun.
light.
With phrase of greeting he Joined
them, and then as they swept their
skirts off the chair they had been hid
ing, slipped in front of Berry and sat
l.
Her conversation was of a rallying,
joking sort, at which she was quite
proficient. Berny heard him laugh and
knew by the tone of his voice that he
was pretending and was not really
amused. She had nothing particular
to say to him, feeling that she accom-
plished enough in inducing him to Join
them. and, sitting forward on the edge
OF her chair, continued to watch the
people. A blonde coiffure some rows
in front caught her eye and she was
studying its intricacies through the in.
terstices that came and went between
the moving heads, when the sudden
| emergence into view of an unusually
striking female figure diverted her at.
| tention. The woman had come up
from behind and, temporarily stopped
by the crowd, had come to a standstill
few rows in front of where the sis
| ters sat. She was accompanied by
young man dressed In the Sunday
| dignity of frock-coat and silk hat AS
he turned to survey the lines of filled
chairs, Berny saw that he had a pale
skin, a small black mustache, and dark
eyes.
But her interest in him was of the
slightest. Her attention was immedi
ately riveted upon the woman, who be
came the object Of glance which IN
spected her with a piercing eagerness
from her hat to the hem of her skirt
Berny could not see her face, but hei
habiliments were of the latest mode
and Of an unusual and subdued ele
gance which bespoke an origin in {
more sophisticated center than Sa1
Francisco. Berny, all agog with curl
osity, stared at the lady's back, not
ing not only her clothes but certair
carelessness in the way they were pu
on. Her hat was not quite straight
The comb, which crossed the back O
her head and kept her hair smooth
was crooked, and blonde wisps hung
from it over her collar. The hand tha
held up her skirt in loose perfume
tory manner, as though these rich en-