Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1918-03-15
Dependency


she lost no time in It's early dlstribu-
tion. This time the gathering Of which
she was the vital center was small but
important for it represented several
branches Of the Wlmple family; fam
lily which, by keeping close together
J and working comparatively. had man
! aged to build quite an imposing struc-
ture of comparative prosperity and dis
tinctiOn.
The black sheep of the famlly--not
SO black, after all, since his faults had
been those of omission rather than
commlssion-had been Gary Wimple;
and 1t was his widow and son who
were now under discussion.
''Now, call that very selfish thing
for Tod to do" pronounced Mrs. Abb
dIah Greene, pursuing her full lips and
rolling her full blue eyes around the
circle Of interested faces. with
mother dependent on him--but she
probably expects to come back here"
Then she shook her head solemnly.
snow, /, for one, have got my hands
full, what with the relief committee
and the Housewives league"
my house is too small now. And
Mr.. Bushfield coming fer a visit,
quickly interposed Mrs. Bashfield. 'Be-
sides we helped Grace start her milli-
merry store in Newkirk and"
"She paid you back, Aunt Maria,
when she sold her stock" The cool,
quiet voice came from little demure
woman in the corner; young but with
the spinster look already upon her
prim, keen-eyed and straight Shout
dered. You would have guessed school
teacher as EllnOr Wlmple's profession,
and you would have been correct.
Mrs. Bashfeld faced the speaker ag-
gressively. "Well, Elinor Wimple! We
didn't lend that money to her to sell
her stock and pay us back-and no
interest. We lent 1t to her to succeed
within
The school teacher smiled tolerantly.
ut wasn't Aunt Grace's fault her
health broke down. And l think it's
very noble Of her not to interfere with
Tod if he feels it is his duty to serve
his country And we ought to be proud
Of Tod"
Mrs. Greene eyed her younger rela-
tive ruminatingly. "Elinor, you always
did seem to hold the idea that because
Gary Wimple eloped with Grace Tod
hunter, and her own family cast her
off, it became the duty of the Wimple |
family to take care Of her and her son.
Goodness knows we have all done
enough for Gary"
"But not much for Grace or Tod"
reminded Elinor calmly. 1--WE always
been sorry for her. She lost more
than she gained by marriage"
"Many women do" Mrs. Bashfield
gathered up her knitting implements.
Anyway, can't take Grace in now.
Perhaps the others"
But the others promptly advanced
reasons for their own inability to as
sist Gary Wimple's widow at that time.
Perhaps little later"
Elinor Wimple went home alone,
soberly thinking matters over. She
had three coy rooms in a plain little
house near the school where she
taught. She prepared her lonely sup
per, got out her bank book, jotted
down some figures on paper and wrote
a letter that night to Mrs. Gary VIM
pie.
Mrs. Bashfield was the first to learn
that Tod's mother was coming to live
with Elinor for a while. There was
another conclave-this time without
Elinor.
"lf EllnorS done this to drive us
into taking care of Grace she'll find out
her mistake Mrs. Bashfeld spoke
tartly, hiding her discontinue behind
an air of injury. "Shes sent for her,
now let her keep her."
'But, Of course, we want things
pleasant. We can't start family quar-
REL" advanced Mrs. Greene, whose
cheeks were more ford than usual.
Wen just make it plain to Grace
diplomatically-that we are not to be
looked to-er-at this time"
Mrs. Grace Wimple had scarcely ar
rived at the school teachers home
when her husbands relatives came to
greet her. Bland and smiling, they
made their carefully rehearsed speech
es and set their little gifts on the GEN.
ter table.
'Pve brought you some yarn, Grace"
said Mrs. Abidiah Greene. "Of course,
you'll want to make yourself useful.
And knitting for the relief committee
will take up your time nicely while Eli
nor's in school,"
"Some jelly, Grace" Mrs. Bashfield
impressively made her offering. "My
house is too full to speak Of any more
entertaining now. But remembered
you were always fond of my crab-apple