Evening star., 1917-10-14

grip. I've hear a lot about you"
Talk about your lady husks! why,
say, this Jean person looked like she
might be as well muscled as any trapeze
performer you ever say do the giant
swing. You know, Hank is quite sizable.
specially across the shoulders, and Mrs.
Merrity in her younger days was con-
siderable of a wild rose. Well. jean
takes after 'em both, in way. She s
big without bein' awkward, and, while
she has her mothers dark hair and eyes,
she has sort Of a heavy face. like
Hanks. So she amt a handsome girl. by
any means, but, at the samee time, she S
kind of stunnin'.
That don't begin to describe Jean.
though; for she's about the oldest com
bination l e4Ar ran across Don't get
the idea she's just one of the cow girl
type Nothing as crude as that. AS we
found out afterward, she could sit in at
a dinner party without usin' the wrong
forks. and could carry her end of the
table chat with the best of EN-. She
danced. could take hand at bridge, or
would sit around 1istenin' to polite
gossip.
Yet there was something odd about
this whaling big girl who moved around
so restless and had so little to say. 1t
wasn't that she was just bored. Seemed
to be deeper than that; something she
was choking down, keeping back. I'd
noticed it most when she was siZin' up
people. specially the Watrouses.
They're our real headliners, you know,
when 1t comes to countin old family
jewels and country estates and S-of-
arms. Course, Mrs. Thobald Chandler
Watrous only married into all this; but
she was long on the ancestor stuff her
self. so l understand. And for Miss
Cornelia, why, she goes way back to
the days when the Stuyvesants were
newcomers.
They look enough alike to be sisters,
with their long, straight noses, thin
lips and pointed chins; and, believe me-
when they sweep into a room majestic
they're some pair to draw to. Me,
dive for the discards about then; for
some years now. and they've been here
on and off to see Sadie, l don't sup
pose I've ever been officially recognized
or ever will be.
They're too busy. for one thing, run
min the church and regulatin society.
They take both jobs mighty serious, too
l expect Sadie had to pull some wires
before she got 'em to notice that Jean
existed. 1 understand Jean had to be
exhibited on neutral ground and looked
over thorough before she could even
be introduced to 'em. AS for Hank and
Mrs. Merrity, they wasn't so much as
mentioned. But that was all right. They
didn't want to be.
You see." explains Mrs. Merrity. "she
thinks even Bedelia is too artificial. too
civilized. But, Of course, we have only
the imitation. If she could know the
real thing once. without whiting as long
as l did. she might like it better, And
perhaps-oh, who knows
Business of maternal pipe-dreams by
Reney. 1 had to smile. What the tests
was / didn't hear, but Jean passed. The
Watrouses fixed a day and place where
they'd meet her at a tea, and after that
she could be admitted anywhere almost
as free as if she wore a fire badge.
Whether she was wise to all this
or not / can't say. Sadie insists that
she didn't tell her a word. But it was
weird to see Jean size up the Watrouses
when she thought nobody was lookin'.
Almost creepy. Honest. And yet. as a
matter of fact. they seemed to take
quite fancy to her. Anyway. Sadie
was almost chesty over the notice they
took of her candidate.
Just think, Shorty" says she.