The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1918-07-09
Vernon Pope
BY JANE OSBORN


spending money" every day, she went
to little basement flower shop and
exchanged that silver piece for a rose
or a couple of carnations, a few DAFT
fodils or pansies, or any other bloom
that that small sum would secure.
Don't you ever buy candy2" the
girls in the office would say to her
when she steadfastly refused to share
with them a little bag of licorice
drops or chocolates that they brought
back with them after luncheon.
Every girl has sweet tooth; it's
funny you haven't"
swell, maybe l do like sweets" Hes
ter would say. "But to me flowers are
so much sweeter than candy. And a
rose on your desk will stay sweet for
days, and the candy Is all gone in am
afternoon"
On her way from business she used
to walk up the avenue past the big
florists windows, and there look eager
ly in to see the flowers, whose names
she did not know, that were arranged
to tempt the folk who could afford to
pay as much for a box of flowers as
Hester received for working a whole
week.
Then Hester read in the paper that
a great flower show was to be held
early in the spring. The tickets were
90 cents, and that meant that five
dimes would have to be saved, and
that five times when she might have
bought little nosegay she would have
to go without. To spend so cents
for a single evenings entertainment
seemed like extravaganza to Hester,
so she determined to go to the flower
show, on the day that it opened, as
soon as she was through work at her
office and remain there with the flow
ers till the doors closed. She would
have from half-past five till eleven
o'clock, if she chose just to wander
about and smell the sweetness and
revel in the color of the flowers that
the paper said were to be even more
gorgeous than In previous years. To
be sure, this would mean going with
out dinner; but she bought q sand
wich which she ate rapidly at lunch
counter on her way to the show, and
this satisfied her craving for food.
At first Hester wandered about the
great hall In daze, now standing
trans1xed before a table on which
nothing but roses were placed, and
then hurrying from one rock garden
to another, searching out In each new
and hidden beauties, till she knew the
characteristics. but not the names, Of
all the plants that ever found place
In rock gardens. If any one stopped
to notice the enthusiastic young girl
as she stood with hands clasped and
eyes cleaning before one of the ex-
hibits, Hester did not know 1t, for she
was too intent on enjoying the flowers
every minute of the hours she had to
spend to notice the other spectators
at all.
After she had wandered about for
over an hour, she finally stood lost In
admiration and almost perfect content
before the tulip exhibition that had
been awarded the first prize. 1t was
the exhibition of the millionaire, L. X.
Pope, whose world-famous tulip hot
houses and gardens made certain his
taking the first prize for this class of
flowers every year. Hester had not
read her evening paper every day
without knowing the reputation that
Mr.. Pope and his family had gained
in fields other than tulip raising Mr..
Pope himself, as every one knew, was
at the time seeking a divorce from
his third wife. and his only son, young
Vernon Pope, had given interesting
reading recently in the evening papers
because of his elopement with must
cal comedy star of considerable repu-
tation.
Hester didn't in the least approve
of the Popes, but she did love their
tulips, and when she heard one woman
who stood for while beside her say
to her companion, Il can't even ad-
mire the exhibition when think what
kind of people the Popes are" Hester
wondered for brief minute whether
she were weakening in her very rigid
standard, because she could admire
the Pope's tulips as much as she did.
1t seemed to her, as she stood there
feasting her eyes on the sea of golden
tulips, as pure as morning sunlight,
that just to grow flowers like that
would make people want to be good
and decent.
The exhibit, as every one said, was
the most attractive of any shown, for
tulips, in beds of red and yellow, pink,
white, and of that rich dark red char
acteristic of the 'black" tulip, were
arranged about a little Dutch cottage
that had a real little door and two
windows with white muslin curtains.
If Hester had any well-defined idea of
heavenly mansions it was of some
such little differentiated Dutch cot
tage as this, surrounded by beds of
glorious peoples and paths of pure
white pebbles like those she now gazed
upon.
A young man came out of the cot
tage, and Hester watched him eager
ly. OF course, it was young Vernon
Pope, and as he opened the door she
looked to see If there was girl in
the cottage; if there was a girl, of
course it was the dancing girl he had
eloped with. For a moment Hester
envled the dancing girl, just because
she might claim admittance to the
differentiated cottage. But no girl
followed Vernon, and there appeared to
be no one left in the cottage. Vernon
crunched his way down the white
pebbled path to the white-painted
fence that hemmed in the exhibit. A
young man that stood on the outside
of the fence appeared to be friend
of Vernon.
Congratulations said the man on
the outside of the fence. 81 knew you
would get the first prize for tulips,
but you've taken the prize for the best
show Of any sort in the exhibition.
got it straight from the judges just
now"
The smoOth-shaven young Vernon
showed supreme satisfaction. "You
don't sayI" he commented. "That GER
tainly will make Pop happy. He was
so keen about this cottage effect, and
he spent so much importing those
Dutch bulbs this year."
Its sure a slick show" commented
the bringer of good news. Couldn't
be better"
"Yes, it could" corrected Vernon,
and Hester permitted herself still to
overhear the conversation. "We were
going to get some nice little blonde
haired girl to dress in Dutch costume
and add local color to the cottage. Pop
got the costume straight from Hol-
land, and we were going to get one of
the maids to dress up; but the only
blonde one got huffed at the last min