New Britain herald., 1916-11-01
How the Study Club Revenged Nadge
 for Mrs. Smiths Discourtesy.

l strode up the aisle of the club toward ] ne, her eyes snapp1ng and her face fairly purple with anger and l chagrin. The reason for em otion 1 well knew. Upon her head and upon ! mine reposed two "creations'' of the milliner's art, which were as alike as : the traditional peas in a pod. l Knowing the wealth and the repu
 tation for fastidiousness In dress : which Mrs. Smith possessed, I knew
 that the hat she wore must be the
 Paris original from which the clever
 1nilliner to whom Lillian had intro
 duced me had made the hat I was
 n.yself wearing. But her tone and words were too
 i,1solent to be borne. I looked at her
 coolly, and said with touch of
 hauteur:
 May I inquire of you, Mrs Smith,
 what concern it is of yours "
 ! Perhaps you have seen the effect
 upon an angry hen of having a basin
 of cold water thrown over her. The
 simile came into my mind involun-
 tarily as I saw the blank look of as-
 tOnishment upon Mrs. Smiths face
 when I answered her insolence by a ! rctort in kind
 It had evidently not occurred to her l that any one, especially one occupying l a position paid for by the club, of which she the virtual dictator,
 would dare to dispute any request or
 command of hers.
 1 Mrs. Smith Retorts.
 l I could see the reflection of still
 another thought in her mind. The sight of the duplicate hat had evil i cently so angered her that she had 1 nSna1 noise knew 1 that she almost would have given her right hand if she had not forgotten ] her dignity so far as to speak of the i hat at all.
 ] But, even though I disliked her cor 1 iially, I could not help but admire the quickness with which she dis missed the incident. Without turning her head, or in any way noticing the amused and interested faces of the club women around her, who had
 witnessed the little contretemps, she said, carelessly: "Of course, your re-
 tuctance to give the name of your
 milliner, and I trust you will overlook my rather natural surprise and in dignation at finding that the expensive
 r.odel which I had supposed to be mine had been put into the hands of departm ent store copyists." She turned away with little shrug of the shoulders and went back to
 the rostrum, leaving me to follow as hest I might. ,, The insolence of her tone and words was so pointed that I was sorely tempted to walk out of the club
 rooms, never to return. But the quick glimpse that I got of the faces of the clubwomen who had seen the incident showed clearly their resent ment of her insolent conduct toward me. Besides, I reflected that in reality 1t was not Mrs. Smith who had en- gagged me to lead the history section of the study club, but these other women, whose flashing eyes and Heightened color showed how much they sympathized with my embarrass- Inent
 Messages of Sympathy.
 So, with my head held as high as Mrs. Smiths own, I followed her | down the aisle to the rostrum where I took my accustomed seat behlnd the i table that was always reserved for ; speakers, and waited for the time to i, come when I was to begin my talk.
 Mrs Smith had disappeared l through 8 small door into the rear 1 of the rostrum. When she came back l a few moments lalGI SIdlleo IT. Voluntarily at the childish pettiness of l tho woman. for she had removed her l hal and took her place at the secre- 1 +arv,s table with no head covering l whatever
 Fortunately for my own boise, my l ,ndignations against Mrs. Smith had i eiven way to amusement at the ! v-Cman's foolishness.
 When I had first taken my seat at 1 +bn table I had felt so angry and 1 h77uiliated that 1t seemed as though 1 T could not bear to raise my eyes to l meet the gaze of the women gathered ] before me. But I knew that I must face them when I rose to address
 them. and I decided that it would be 1 l better. to look at them first while sit
 +,ng down So while the tinnid presi- 1 don't whom I had once likened to a ! 1 frightened rabbit, hurried through 1 l the Dreliminaries of the meeting, l 1 i raised my eyes and gazed over the ] l assem- b1ed women with a look which ! 1 I strove to make as calm and indiffer | 1 ent as possible.
 l I was richly rewarded for the effort. 1 l I found that I was not mistaken in ! ] the cursory impression I had gained | i that the women resented Mrs. Smiths , 1 actions. Almost every woman's face l 1 looked as II S1o were try HE CO SeAlo 1 a message of sympathetic good cheer , 1 to me.
 A Vote Revenge.
 Upon the face of one woman In 1 particular Mrs Taymore, there was a i l look so expressive that it seemed all | 1 most as if she were speaking. Of all l ! the women I had met in the club, I !
 lik ed Mrs. Taymore the best. She did l 1 not have as much wealth as did Mrs. l ] Smith, but of brains and tact and ! 1 lbility she possessed much more than 1 1 IL lrr ido1. ln1 La nf