Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-11-07
that matter. On her seventy-ninth
birthday she had received nothing

that matter. On her seventy-ninth
birthday she had received nothing
else.
She had always liked flowers well
enough. At weddings and funerals
she considered them Indispensable, but
Oh birthdays surely a very few should
suffice. 1t was not as if she were un-
accustomed to flowers. There always
was a vaseful in the house somewhere.
Why was it that her friends had sent
nothing else to her today? Was 1t
because they felt that flowers were the
only gifts possible to her? Was it be-
cause they felt that the useful and the
entertaining We're henceforth needless
and that there only remained to her
simple eve pleasures? 1t was as if
| they said to her: You are too old for
the vanities and the utilities of life.
But your eyesight is still fairly good.
You can enjoy a bright pink rose or a
gorgeous orange slashed tulip. The
more lively the color the greater will
be your enjoyment. Therefore, we are
sending the gayest posies we can find
and the strongest-scented ones, too"
Poor old Mrs. Minter! Every dash
of color, every wave of odor reminded
her that she was passing on. She had
always hated perfumes. she had al
ways avoided bright colors. Her life
had been thing of delicate tints and
family lasting fragrance. She was
modest and quiet to the core, and these
Haunting colors annoyed her. She
closed her eyes. She would have liked
to have stopped breathing. Her very
soul sickened. She almost wished she
had never lived to see this birthday.
Seventy-nine! And all that was left
to her in the regard of her friends was
flowers! Such flowers!
! Suddenly the room began to swim.
| The flowers began to chase round and
round her in circles of blurred color
pink, yellow. scarlet. She made a
sound and somebody came running. The
next thing she knew she was upstairs
lying in her bed. Her son had carried
her there. He was standing beside her.
She smiled up at him.
I'm all right, doctor" She had al
ways called him doctor since he earn
ed his medical diploma. I'm not sick,
she went on, joking. 81 just took a
notion to lie abed. Haven't I got a
right to lie abed on my birthday"
He laughed. You certainly have,
dear. 1 guess you're all right now.
You've had a little too much excite
ment, and
! Flowers. Dick. don't you let 'em
things into this room They go to my
head"
He patted her ham. Just as you say,
dear" he promised
! Old Mrs Minter lay comfortably in
her airy room, with its family gray
walls and solid, lustrous mahogany
furniture Her birthday was drawing
to a close and she was not sorry. She
believed that she never wanted to see
another flower How could people be sc
! lac king in perspicacity?
| Two things she wanted and had fool
| ishly hoped to receive on her birthday.
Therein lay the disappointment; she
had not received them 1t was childish,
perhaps. to want them; it must be, for
| they were nothing old ladies are sup
posed to need One word from her and
she would have them. Daisy and Mill
bred. even her stately dauShter-in-law,
would go to the nearest department
store to grant this foolish wish of hers.
But she did not want it granted so
She did not want to ask for it; she
wanted somebody to perceive it. And
nobody had. A tear started down her
cheek
I'm a foolish old woman" she said
What do 1 want of a japanese silk
kmono? I'm ashamed of myself for de-
string such a thing. AS for box OF
chocolates: it would only make me i'll
Dear, dear. what notions old folks dc
| get No, my friends know better what
! is good for me than I do myself
| A Japanese silk kimono and a box OF
chocolates, She who had a fullness Of
riches was miserable for want of those