The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-09

that you've bought with the money from
 your lettuce investment"
 | The look that came over the, face of
 the suburbaness was sad to behold l It was not the happy, superior look of
 the successful, nor yet tn expression of the person to whom fortune has been un- | kind.
 | It was just plain mad.
 My dears,' she spcttered, ''it just
 goes 10 show how little we see of one
 unfortunate topic of lettuce in my pres l ence Haven't you heard?r ooth or us expressed ignorance. and
 our hostess didn't need any further en- I coufagement from us to voice the story
 of her wrongs to a new audience. It seems that in the independent free 1 for-all suburban community in which our dear friend lives. that some few of the neighbors are suffering from "chick- enitis."
 Not in the scientific. anxious, fash toned in vogue in other quarters. but in
 the happy go-1ucky manner of another
 day, when feathered folk wandered in
 and out and up and down the land, scratching with democratic feet any sec ! ton of that part of the country that hap pened omeet their fancy There were no fences, or if there were they'd not been made to meet the exi- gencies of this occasion, SO the long and short of 1t was that the perfectly good lettuce bed out of which our friend had hoped omake enough money to go to Europe and purchase yacht. besides had furnished salad for the neighbours chick ems, free of charge. of course and with out even thank you'' in return. And it was done so nicely" said the suburbaness.' l watched it in a perfect passion of anxiety for the first three weeks and l opened the frames at the right time, and hired a little coal black darkey to 'shoo the chickens off. but you see. I made the fatal mistake of placing the bed too far from the house to watch it from indoors. Anyway. life wasn't worth living if I had to spend the better part of the waking hours watch ing few old leaves sprout, and so--" Why didn't you build fence around it." I interrupted
 "It would have cost more than it was worth' she said in resigned tone. John got furious about the money I'd already spent on it. and so in order to
 keep peace in the family I had to give it up."
 Tt seems to be of when you are in Rome. do the Romans' I remarked. sympa Chickens and garden ing never did seem to belong to the same community at once and the same time, and if it's the fashion to have chickens | in a particular settlement then every l body should have chickens and let lettuce and gardening and things like that go.' Honest. Dolly" said Peggy as We boarded the trolley that was to take us back to the city, wouldn't you rather live in town than anywhere in the world" I'm afraid I would" I answered, truthfully, flor I love the brick pavements and the white lights with a love that the rural born can never know" As we sped along, I swept my glance
 over the beautiful country we were leav- ing where the gray mist hung low and faint enough to soften the outlines of a dark. dull day of early spring ino one gracious picture with the sharper lines of the trees in the foreground making it all blend like a chiaroscues Japanese print and felt guilty of my lack of ap- preciation.
 q guess after al," confided to Peggy, Eff I am to be real honest with you, heart to heart. would say the sub urbaness has chosen the better part She has all the beauties of nature and she has the blessed, blessed quiet. That is some- thing
 And the inconvenIences,' sighed Peggy.
 Yes I agreed, regretting that Peggy and I are not as poetic always as we should be-