New Britain herald., 1916-03-21
Why Madscs Hope of Winning Mrs. Gr:.l,ams Friendship Withercd.

! anything better calculated to rivet my
 mother-in-law's attention than the luncheon at Fraunces' Tavern.
 When she had announced her in 1 tentiOn of abandoning our sightseeing ] trip in order that she might go home 1 and discuss with her son some mys- teriOus secret connected Wlrh his Iast life and that of Lillian Gale. I had told her that she would be un- 3ble to see him, and suggested 1 luncheon at the old revolutionary inn. 1 was determined that no one should talk to Dicky on the subject before I did, but I had been very doubtful as t0 the reception my suggestion would receive.
 To my surprise the ruse succeeded ] l erfectlN. The elder Mrs Graham enthusiastically adopted my sug- eestion, and from the moment she made the decision no one would have Creamed from her appearance or her actions that she had just been swept by a storm of emotions, or had under gone heart attack.
 I began to understand what Dicky had meant when he said that his mother was like a child in many things. She was the last person in the world, I had thought, to whom enc could compare a child but there Was something very youthful in her Whole-hearted enjoyment of the place and her mercurial forgetfulness of the emotional storm through which We had both passed.
 There is only one word that de- scrlbes this,' she said when our cab oreW up before the door of the old hostelry. Tt is one of the most atused words in the language but it, surely fits this place."
 Il suppose you mean 'quaint.'" said smiling. 'It always comes into ny mind when I see the building"
 Exactly she returned good naturedly. "No. we will not go in for a little while. I want to get a good view of the outside first
 This is really wonderful door way,' I said.
 She examined if critically.
 Yes, it is a good doorway" she as scented at last. "The knocker is a fine example of colonial work also.''
 I smaled to myself at the note of absolute finality in her voice. Xvi dently Richards mother was herself again.
 "ilave you seen the sign 9" I asked, litulcdtllS the tuG1OuSlN inscribed reetal sheet which hung above our head announcing, as it had in the days before the revolution. that Sam raunces, the 'half-breed West Indian. was 'minc host of the inn.''
 She looked at it with interest "HOw queer it is," she commented. that these inanimate objects remain jn the world while the brains that planned them and the hands that executed them have been dust for a century,"
 ''Hcre Washington Took Farewell"
 She had voiced my own thought so accurately that I looked at her in won derment I was finding many points of view in common with my husbands mother. A tiny sprig of hope began to sprout in my heart, a belief that sometime I might break down her prejudice against me. and find in her the womanly companion- ship which I so sorely needed.
 We passed to the side and read the tablet placed upon the building after it's restoration by the Sons of the Revolution.
 Here Washington took farewell of his officers" my mother-in law read aloud.
 "These arc the things which alone make those patriotic societies worth while," I commented idly
 My mother-in-law stiffened. ITO &nyon having the right to belong to them they are worth while in any case" she said frigidy.
 I flushed hotly, both at the needless rebuke, and my own tactlessness. had forgotten what Dicky had once told me of his mother
 Mrs. Graham's "Anccstor Bug
 ''She has the ancestor bug he had said laughingly. If there's an an- cestral society in existence which she hasn't joined I'd like to see 1t, for it must be a curio. I think shes go out and burn incense on the graves of her revolutionary ancestors as the Chinese do, if she dared ] had felt Q momentary foolish little pang that for all I knew my great-great- grand father might have been hanged for stealing sheep.
 Resolved to tread moro carefully, I followed her through the old door way. Save for the modern dress of diners and the uniforms of the W alters, We might we'll have been transported back to the days of the revolution.
 A young man in plum-colored coat and knickerbockers of pre-reVolution- ary fashion bowed low before us as we entered and ushered to the door of the dining room His long, curling wig was powdered. his shoes 1 had immense buckles, and his whole i was most imposing.
 But my mother-in-lawS mood had 1 suddenly veered from admiration to 1 captiOusness.
 "Thats a very silly thing" she !! commented acidly. and inaccurate ! es well. The lackeys of that time 1 did not wear powdered wigs.'
 But I do not think this man is 1 supposed to represent a lackey" I 1