Evening star., 1917-10-28

suader. You wouldn't think it to look
at her. either: just a quiet old girl with
gray hair and little home-g grown pink
left in her cheeks. But say. when she
looks you square in the eye and pulls one
of them twisty smiles. it's all over You
find yourself trottin' right along the way
she points.
/ amt mesmerized so strong. though.
but what l got sense enough to play 1t
safe by calm up Wee first. j don't
think she was strong for joinin' the
reunion until / points out that l might
be some shy at wanderin' down into
the art student colony and collectin'
q strange young lady illustrator all by
myself
Course. I could do it alone If had
to-" l throws in.
.'H-m-m-mr' says Wee, usin' up a
nickers worth of long-distance time in
throwin' bluff. IF that bashfulness
of yours is likely to be as bad as all
that, perhaps I'd better come"
So before 6 o'clock Wee and I are on
top of n green bus rollin' down toward
Warrington Square, and I've sketched
out just how | came to get rung in on
this hunt for stray niece. BY 6:10
we're in the dinky reception room OF
one of them Belasco boardin' houses.
tryin' to convince a young female IN
a paint-splashed smock and n fioppy
boudoir cap that we amt tryin to Kid
nap or otherwise annoy her.
Whats the big idea?" says she. L
don't get you at all
Maybe if you'd read the note it
would help, ] suggests.
oh! says she, and takes it over by
the window.
She's a long-waisted, rangy young
party. who walks with a Theda Bsra
slouch and tries to talk out of one side
of her mouth. Hello she goes on.
The Parker Smith person. That 3
enough. It's all of. You tell her for me
she's just wasting time
Just as you say" says /. But, if
you ask me. 1 wouldn't pass UP an
aunt like her without takin' a look"
Aunt" says Claire Lamar. alits
Hunt 'Listen-she's about as much
an aunt to me as am to either of you.
And I've never shed any tears over
the fact. either. The only aunt that
i'd ever own was one that my family
would never tell me much about. ] had
to find out about her for myself. Take
II from me, though. she was some
aunt"
Tastes in aunts differ. I expect" says
]. And Mrs. Parker Smith don't claim
to be a reglar aunt, anyway. She
seems harmless. too. All she wants is
p chance to give you n rosy prospectus
of life on a COW farm and blow you
to a dinner at the Napoleon"
"At where?" demands the young lady.
please say that again and a little
slower"
Il engaged the table myself" says I.
Covers for four at the old Napoleon"
Think Of that" says Claire. and
it's been three months since I've had
the price to sit at my little corner
table there and gallop down the menu
reckless, How did she guess
l suggests that the Napoleon must
have been an old-time favorite of Mrs.
Parker Smiths" ! expects it's been
swell place to eat for long time.
adds Still pretty spiffy. l hear. l
know what Fin goin' to start with, Wee,
four kinds of caviar canapes and a
bowl of that petite marmite. Eh?
Have a heartr says Claire. Here
sill meals. with now and then a
ptomaine- -defying gorge at the Pink
Poodle'S sixty-cent table d'hote. Oh,
I'll come, III come, But ] warn you:
the Parker Smith person will under
stand before the evening is over that
l was born to no COW farm in Illinois"
With that she glides off to do a din
ner change.
claire seems to have worked up
regular studio temperament. eh?" l re-
marks. And she's some breeze"
Wee smokers.
Il believe ii is going To be quite an
interesting party, don't you?" says she
The signs point that way" says |.
But the old girl really ought to wear
shock absorbers if she wants to last
through the evenin'. S-s-s-sh, Claire
is comm back
This time she's draped herself in a
pale yellow kimono with blue triangles
stenciled all over it.
speaking of perfectly good aunts.''
says she. there And she displays A
silver-framed photo It's an old-tiIner
done in faded brown. and shows dashin'
young party wearin funny sleeves, a