Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1916-11-23
A MIXED DISPOSITION
BY LOUISE OLIVER.

Polly Love is your ideal of wom-
am"
eyes, Jim, dear. bright. wholesome
little Polly, with her silly glggle rs you
call It is my ideal of woman and |
wish you'd marry her"
swell, like Polly, of course, but"
he flecked the ash off his cigarette and
failed to finish.
81 know what you mean, Jim. Your
type is the dashing kind with dis
position like all the months of the
year combined. June one instant,
April the next and regular January
| freeze to follow. Jim, you men make
me tired with your queer ideas of
women. Take ii from me, they aren't
the celestial beings you think, any of
them-except Polly. She's an angel"
IF she were here she would laugh
at your wonderful wit" answered jim
sardonically. mo doubt that's what
she's doing now anyway, wherever she
is. She's always laughing And per-
petlal good humOr bores me as much
| az lnceSSant sunshine,
Had Jim known 1t, he was right
when he said that Polly was laugh
| ing. And this was the occasion. That
morning a letter had come from Cor
nelia Graham announcing that she
would visit them for a week on her
way TO Boston.
Corneia was pretty rich and spoiled
and the entire relationship held her
| In reverentlal awe
"Oh. we can't have her with the
plasterers and paperhangers here, y
protested Mrs. Love in panic. "And
| the rugs are all up and away at the
cleaners. and we've no girl. OF all
times for her to come! Why couldn't
she wait a week !"
And then Polly giggled, isn't It
| the limit? Well-she isn't waiting,
| and If I'm not mistaken she's here
now. for there's taxi fust stopping at
| the curb and--behold. milady,"
Polly rushed out to the porch. "Hel-
| 10, Cornelia You dear! Tn so glad
to see you. Come right in. but don't
You dare to sit down or you'll ruin
that exquisite suit you have on. We
look like an accident ward In hos
pital--all plastered up"
Cornelia was led through shrouded
furniture and buckets of calclmine and
glue up to the second floor to Polly's
room, the only room in the house that
hadn't been dismantled.
Then Polly flew to the kitchen TO
see what she could scare up to eat.
'aThere isn't much" she declared,
searching the cupboard. Here's a
can of corn and some salmon, but
believe there's another thing. If | had
more eggs l could mix up a custard--
two aren't enough. I'll slip over to
Laura's the back way and get some
eggs. I hate to borrow, but | must
Polly got the eggs and went home
unseen by Jim in the library.
'"rhat poor child" said Laura, "ls
in an awful fix Cornelia Graham,
that rich cousin Of theirs, has just
come and their house is a mess. Can't
you do something to help them out,
| JIM?
'Do you mean that girl that was
here last summer?"
ayes"
"By Jove, you don't say You bet
I'll help them out. I'll telephone right
away and ask her to lunch and the
theater this afternoon"
When Jim called at the Loves q
workman had put n ladder across the
front door. so he went around back,
Polly was at the stove getting their
own lunch the best she could. She
was lifting n saucepan from the fire
when she heard inns voice. She
turned quickly, the pan bumped against
the high oven and the whole thing
turned upside down on the floor at
her feet.
She was tired hot md excited
company had come on top Of con-
fusion, and here was man at the
kitchen door whose good opinion she
valued very much and who, she knew.
was very fastidious. Yet Polly gig
gledl
"You two get out Of herew she
laughed "and I'll clean up this mess.
No. Of course you can't help. I've gos
corn all over my shoes"
When they had gone Polly called :
Mother. can you come here? Moth
err There were tears of pain in her
eyes now.
IL spilled the corn and il was
hot. Some Of It went on my foot and
it-hurts"
Jim came in at six.
"Say Laura, I take back what |
said about mixed disposition this
morning"
what, So Soon2'
YES I've had a taste of them al
1 this afternoon, everything from Janu-
ary to December. I've been scorchcd
and frozen in turn until ana numb. "
Then You don't think inCeSsant sun
SO bad? Speaking Of which 7 have
some news. Polly's I'm the hospital
/ She spilled something hot on her tcct
I and scalded herself dreadfully."
Then something happened 20 James
Porterfield Morgan. He thought of
/ Polly standing at the stove and laugh
ing through her agony.
Dear little Polly" he mCttereG.