Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-29
By SeWell Ford

to be a little puxzlin' In her remarks
about 1t. AS matter of fact. her
scheme is bit hazy, but she's sure
it's a winner
Listen, Torchy," says she. Here
are all these Harbor Hills people
perhaps hundred families-many OF
them with poor cooks, some with
none at all. And there IS MARION
Martha of hers, who could cook for
'.oh, / see" says !. Marion hangs
out a board sign?"
ing of the sort. People don't want to
go out for their meals, they want to
eat at home. Well. Marion brings
them their meals. all deliciously,
cooked, all hot, and ready to serve.
a truck and Marths. passin' out soup
and roasts over the tailboard' eh?"
says I.
But once more I've missed. No, the
plan is get lot of them Army con-
tainers. such as they send hot chow
up to the front trenches in; have 'em
filled by Martha at home. and dellv-
cred by Marion to her customers
at might work." says I. 1T would
need some capital, though. She'd have
to invest in lot of containers, and
she'd need a motor truck"
II will buy those" says Wee I'm
gc ang in nom With her her," T: "you.d look
nice, wouldn't you?"
"You mean that people would talk?"
comes back Wee. "What do care?
It's quite as patriotic and quite as
thing else. 1t would be scientific food
conservation, man-power saving, all
that sort of thing. And think what a
wonderful thing it would be for the
neighborhOod."
Maybe Marion wouldn't see it that
way" I suggests. "Drivin' dinner
truck around might not appeal to her.
You got to remember she's more or
less Of an old maid. She might have
Trust her" says Wee. but mean
to have my plan all worked out before
l tell her a word. When you go to
town tomorrow, Torchy, l want you
to find out all about those containers
how much the various compartments
will hold, and how much they cost.
Also about a light motor truck There
will be other details too. which will
be thinking about
Yes, there were other details. No
body seemed to know much about
such a business. 1t had been tried in
places. Wee heard of something of the
sort that was being tested up on the
East Side. So it was three or four
days before she was ready to spring
this new career on Marion. But one
night, after dinner, she announces that
she's all set and drags me down there
house We finds a Limousine, with the
driver dozin' inside.
ITS the Bicycles Carl whispers Wee.
m"oh, what if he should be--Come.
Torchy quick"
you wouldnd break in on fond
clinch. would you?" / asks.
If it came to that. certainly" says
Wee, pushin' the front door button de-
termined.
! expect she would have, too. But
Rir~n 1aeSh Ian l,SA 30,
He's on the mat all right, though,
with his fat face sort of flushed and
his eyes popped moren usual. And
Marion Gray seems to be sort of
fused. too. She is some tinted up
under the eyes. and when she sees
who it is she glances at Wee sort OF
appealin'.
''Oh, I'm SO sorry to interrupt" says
yee marehin' right in and takin' Mar
hope. Mr. Bicycles, but I must speak to
Miss Gray at once about-about some-
thing very important"
And almost before Puffy" Bicycles
knows what's happened he's left star
ing at an empty armchair.
In the cozy little library Wee pushes
Marion down on a window seat and
camps beside her. Trust Wee for jab.
bin. the probe right in. too.
Tell me-" she demands whispery.
"was-was he at it again?"
say. with them shy brown eyes OF
hers. and all the curves, she ain't go
hard to look at. "Yes," admits Mar
lon. You see. had promised to give
him final answer tonight"
But surely. Marion" says Wee,
you'd never In the world tell him
that YOU"
Il don't know" breaks in Marion,
her voice tremhly. There seems to
be nothing else."
Isn't there, thought says Wee.
Just you wait until you hear"
ana with that she plunges into q
rapid outline sketch of this dinner
dispensary stunt, quotin' facts and
figures and givin' a profit estimate
that sounded more or less generous to
me.
80 you see," she goes on enthusi-
astic, you could keep your home and
you could keep Martha, and you would
pc doing something perfectly splendid
for the whole community. Resides.
you would be entirely independent Of
OF every one"
But do you think 1 could do it?"
asks Marion.
Il know you could" says Wee. amy
way. we could between us. 1 will fur
nish the capital. and keep tho ac-
menus. You will do the MARKETING
and delivering. Martha will do the
cooking. And there you are! We
may have to start with only few
family orders at first. but Others win
come in fast. You'll see."
BY that time Marion was catching
G,,ttr 1,t1