Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-06-04

Grant. HE is very clever and very lit
erary,'' she replied something, my
dear. which. don't you think. would pc
better for Young woman 10 bands tnd
Gated patches of vegetables.
| But Janet of the happy. sun-broWned
! face and wind-blown hair appeared quite
! oblivious of any question, as, looking up
for moment commiseratlnglS. sne salo.
| And do you mean that you are gong 10
/ be housed up with all that cleverness IN
] this gorgeous weather for one whole
month? Mercy! I'd be bored to death
I Poor Mrs. Parker.
! She turned again to her vegetables,
+, Mrs Parker. scornfully. to Mrs Rundel
remarking, tartly: II can understand
i young woman adoring flowers, put When
! it comes to fussing over etapies--
I'm going to take course IN an agrl-
cultural college" Janet cut in. her smile
| tantalizing IF profits are y. A. TINS
year. I'm just batty on the subject,
Mrs. Parker!
! Mrs Parker shuddered. The remain
| ing moments of her visit were given I'M
! dividedIy to Mrs. Rundell
| John arrived the following Monday. In
| one brief glance Mrs. Parker SloW1ngly
| realized that in appearance he mad 1ul-
filled every promise of boyhood. He had
been a handsome little chap: he now was
fine looking man. AS they sat on the
veranda at the aIterglow of the sunset
I! she asked herself il it would be possible
to present to her friends finer cornbl-
nation than that found in Cousin John
Something else. also, she discovered be-
fore many days had passed. As boy
| he had been termed mum. she recalled
AS man he had not. she found. as
Janet Rundell would be apt to put It.
| the gift of CAB He was that aoomi-
nation a taciturn man. In vain did she
de. -ibe their literary work in Bryn-
WOOD, pore over literary reviews that
she might bring up a late noted work TOR
discussion. it was all Of no use. Cousin
John never got beyond the point or pc
ing good listener.
Friends began to drop in, all her lit
erary ones, of course, and then she be
came almost hysterical over his dreadful
silences. She heard. writhing lnwardly,
the president of the club declafm on the
latest writing of popular essayist and
held her breath to the point OF torture.
Now was Cousin Johns chance! She
had seen him reading a review on that
very thing that morning. And she knew
he was so capable of discussion! But he
smiled politely, was the we'll bred guest
and listened attentiVely
AS the days passed his taciturnity be-
came an absolute agony. At hrst her
friends merely wondered silently out
finally elevation of eyebrows plainly told
miserable Mrs. Parker that they con-
sidered she had been telling a lot OF
tommyrot.
The Rundells' was the only place where
she was not questioned 6iHbdl
and they were not of the literary set and
did not count. Mrs. Rundell smiled on
John very kindly and talked about his
mother John smiled, too, and listened.
AS for Janet. she paid scant attention
to him. invariably disappearing in the di-
rection OF her vegetable garden. If she
did happeIA to remain on the veranda
during the visit there was nothing about
her to recall the quaint, amusing young
woman Mrs. Parker really liked In the
bottom of her heart. She was naturally
stiff and as taciturn as John himself,
upon whom she looked with eyes decld-
adly unfriendly His long-drawn-out 81
lences Infatuated her. She thought he
found them uninterestinS, miserably en-
dowed intellectually and in her own IN
dependent way she left him severely
alone.
Once Cousin John said to Mrs. Parker
as they left the Rundells. Miss Kun
dell is a pretty girl. but trife pecn-
liar. isn't she?" 1t was the first refer
ence he had made to any of Mrs. Par
ker's friends.
..Oh, Janet's all right Mrs. Parker
answered, absent mindedly. IF she would
set her mind on something BESIDES the
growing of roots.
"TheSthe what?'' Amusement and in
terest blended in Johns voice.
oh" Mrs. Parker replied disinterest-
edlv. rshe's crazy about growing vege-
tables. that's ALL She actually is anx-
/ ious to take a course in an agricultural