Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1916-12-08

mothers feelings. looked about for
cheer. 1.-The opening night will be
fun she said. That proved healing
thought They began to talk Of cur
tain calls and newspaper notices and
of the five hundred thousand dollars
that Shenandoah had earned-or was
it The Merry Widow?-and presently
they were entering Billy,s name for
,Groton and wishing that Serene Gage
could have known. Sabra went to bed
but Mrs. Gage stayed up to read the
last act to Chloe. She tried valiantly
not to be disappointed over the lack
of happy embrace at the close Ibsen
ended that way she knew.
"A very powerful play she declar-
ed.
Eyes. very Chloe assented. 1t NOR
tilted her that she did not seem to
have any real opinion of her own II
was so young, not to know what one
thought! But the play was, OF course,
powerful.
The good news was even better by
morning. The richness of the oppor-
tunity grew on them till the house
seemed to hold no other topic. Chloe
had had her secret doubts as to Raj
ston's talent, her moments of smoth-
| cred impotence that he did not fling
off his coat and help them by any man.
!ner of honorable work when disaster
was upon them. It takes years and
much forbearance for woman to sur
mount the ancient convention that
man, whether fitted to it or not, must
earn money. Now she saw how small
her vision had been, and Joy that she
had never given it words made very
dear little sister of her. Ralston stay
ed home all the morning to build card
; board models of his scenery, and
Chloe painted charming paper dolls for
the characters. Mrs. Gage, seated by
! the window with portfolio on her
knee. looked on with keen interest
She was starting an endless chain Of
! ten cent pieces for the benefit Of
diet kitchen. but the letters to the ten
! friends who in their turn were each to
get ten Gems from ten friends. and 20
on until the tens overlapped and pro.
, tested. were making slow progress.
Its like rainy Saturday when we
were children" said Chloe. "Only
was always so much hitler. had to
of the way
I'm sure Sabra and Rawly were
always very nice to you, dear" Mrs.
Gage protested.
! We'll, they didn't let any one else
! bully me- Chloe admitted with sigh.
You want the heroine blonde, don't
you, Ralston? And blue eyes?"
There! That just shows the intell-
gence of the public we rave to write
| for Ralston said disgustedly.
Blonde and blue eyes-baby doll
for woman who faces a crisis like
| that"
But having her husband grow tired
of her wouldn't necessarily change the
color of her hair Chloe persisted
paint brush suspended "And the pub.
lie likes them blonde
THE public be-blowed Make it a
burnt black. black with dash Of
auburn underneath. very straight and
heavy. And long Chinese eyes"
Il should think he would have got
tired of her. said Chloe, washing her
brush. Opposing and teasing Ralston
joyed her daring.
swine: woman OF mystery and dis.
tlNCtlOH WdSISu vi d IdI-HeCkoO DuS-
mess man." he explained. "She would
have held a man like Trevelyan all
her life, if she had been free to 60 to
him."
Held Chloe repeated, carefully
removing a dimple from the heroine's
cheek I'VE say that of people in fic
ton, but we never think of mother
having held father, do WEI.
Mrs. Gage looked up in mild sur
prise. "Oh, my dear we were too busy
to think of such things" she said sim
! ply But to the end of his life your
! father did like pretty woman she
, added with a touch of pride Chloe
looked into her face. so scanned and
withered, with the tenderness of her
own great secret in her eyes. She
must love Alex like that--so that in
her aged plainness she could take an
amused pride in his liking for pretty
woman.
There is no holding about that. 1t
is belonging, one to the other, for