The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1914-10-08
TAKING THEIR Time
BY CLARENCE LYONS,


: The woman with the purple straw
hat spread her skirt a little more
widely. so that nobody could take the
seat next to her in the street car, and
then resumed conversation.
Some women are so queer" she
said to her friend with the orange
feathers. which stood up at least a
foot above her hat. II could use
stronger language than that, but / am
of a charitable nature and always
willing to give people a chance. How
ever, that woman at the milliner's was
the limit!
I always go to Miss Cretonne for
my hats because she has style and is
cheaper than anyone. else. She hasn't
a shop. you know, but does hats at
home. So l dropped in on my way
TO the Ladies' Aid meeting and ex-
pected to be through In a jitfy. Some
body was in Miss Cretonne's office. SO
she left me down outside In the hall
and said she'd be ready for me in a
short time.
THE minute I heard the voice of the
creature who was In there, l knew
what to expect. 1t was sort OF drawly
and undecided, and it had an edge on
1t that meant. I know you're waiting
out there. but I got here first and
I'm going to take precisely as long as
I like!'
"Well, she made Miss Cretonne
bring in, one by one, every hat she
had in her sewing-room, and she didn't
like any Of them. One was too little
and another was too big. Finally she
decided that she didn't want a black
straw, anyhow. She said If Miss Gre
tonne was really up to date she'd have
straws in the new Bulgarian colors,
and, anyway, what she was interested
in was getting her old cert straw re-
trimmed. No, she didn't want ribbon,
and as for flowers, they were impos-
sible.
Would Miss Cretonne please step
across the DON and hold up the hat
with that bunch of flowers pinned on?
Couldn't she see it just killed the hat?
Why. her cousin had just got back
from New York, and she said nobody
there would be caught dead with iow-
ers on her hat. No, she wouldn't have
the new Numidi feathers. She was
sure they got these feathers off the
heron or the robins at the nesting sea-
son, and, anyhow, If they were only
ostrich. as Miss Cretonne said, it vas
painful to the birds when they were
plucked. Hats were an awful trial,
she said. Wouldn't 1t be lovely If it
were the style not to wear any hats
at all?
Here I coughed to remind the wo-
man that I was on earth. That caused
her to tell Miss Cretonne that it was
perfectly dreadful how much pneu-
monia there was around this season
and that her brothers wife out in
Idaho nearly died with pneumonia last
month.
"You think you don't want feathers.
them" Miss Cretonne broke in nerv-
ously.
Perish the thought! She never
could bear feathers since she went
to a funeral and sat behind a hat with
sixteen ostrich plumes on it. Maybe
1t was only fifteen, but they looked
like twenty. What did Miss Cretonne
think Of a plum color straw to wear
with a green suit? Something a little
bit different, wasn't it? The woman
across the street from her had a plum
hat last year and she always had been
crazy about it.
Here I coughed again to convey
dellcately my conviction that If. she
wasn't crazy she was at least feeble
minded. Then she rather thought she
might like a black hat. after all, and
wished Miss Cretonne to get some