Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-29
The Quick Shunt for Puffy

blown In from Cleveland. where
"a been shunted by the ord.
&ence department 70 report on new
motor Kitchen. And aftsr spendn'
ten days soppin' up information about
D machine that was q cross between a
road roller and an owl lunch wagon,
and film my system with army stews
,cooksd on the ny. I'm suddenly called
on. Some one at Washington had dis
covered that this flying cook stove
thing was problem for the quarter
! masters department, and wires me to
drop 1t. -
+ 10. was all for enjoyin' q little
Tamfy reunion, havin Wee tell me
how she'd been gettin' along and
what cute little tricks young Master
Richard had developed while I'm
gone. But right in the midst Of our
Intimate little domestic sketch Wee
Ehas. to break loose with this outside
high stun. :
III can't help thinking about poor
.Eh?'- says I. lookin' up from the
sQe1h where young Snookums has Just
tettled himself comfortable and de.
1aaimbsr. (which. Marion?
Why, Marion Gray" says she.
sChr says I. 'The old maid with
the patient eyes and the sad gmile?'
She 10 barely thirty" says Wee.
Il ssIya's says !; but she's tak'n'
~Vho wouldn'tT says Wee.
And havin' got that far, saw
mitht - we'll let her get the whole
Story of her chest. she's been seem
person ever since we moved out here
10 Harbor Hills. Kind Of plump,
fresh -colored party, and more or less
BRIGHT and entertainin' In her chat.
when she was in the right mood; "a
merry over some Of the things Miss
Gray had been tellin' her. And while
mo wAs at our house she seemed full
OF life and pep. Just the sort that
zee gSts along with best. She was
the Eilins'. But outside Of that you
never saw her anywhere. She wasn't
In with the country club set, and
most Of the young married crowd
seemed to pass her UP. too.
Thought much about 1t. knew she'd
! lost both her father and mother
within the last year or 80. SO ex-
pect put It down, to that as the
but Wee has all the inside dope.
Seems old man Gray had been
s srgHets ANA duria IN. Ill the last 81
It he'd been promisin' to check out
Meanwhile Mrs. Gray and Marion had
been film in as day and night nurses.
He'd been q >peevish, -grouchy old boy,
too. and the more waitin' on he got
the more he demanded. Little things 1.
70. the chair cushions adjusted. the
light Just right. He had to be read
70 10 many hours q day. and played ,
TO. and sung to. He couldn't stand 1t
I Didn't want to think, he said. Didn't
want to see the women folks knittin'
( or. circulating; he wanted 'em to be
4 attending to him all the while. He
had little silver bell that he kept
/ he rang 1t one or the other Of 'em had
~ jump. Maybe You know the kind.
Course, the Grays Travelled q lot
south In the winter. north in sum
mer-alweys huntin' . place where
Il he was at the seashore he'd COM
plain that they ought to be in the
mountain. and when they got there
II wouldn't be week before he had
decided the air was bad for him.
they should have known better than
to take him there. Most likely one
more week would finish him. Another
len9 railroad trip would anyway. So
st ss T tSs ' s.og Sut an% hnTs
these nendish children kept quiet on
HAT. tennis court outside? And
wouldn't mother try to mix an egg
nog that didn't taste like liquid
Havin' been humorin' his whims a
rood deal longer than Marion. and
not being very strong herself. Mrs.
Gray finally wore ont And almost
before they knew anything serious
4 was the matter she was gone Then
lt all fell ON Marion. Course. II she'd
been q paid nurse she never would
have stood for this continuous dou-
hle-tine ast. Or. II there was home
inspectors, same as there are for fac
tories, the old man would have been
lacked up for violatin' the labor laws.
But, being only a daughter there's
nobody to step in and remind him
that slavery has gone out Of style
and that in most states the female
NJ the species was gettin' to be q
reg lar person. In fact, there was
few who thought Marion was dom
any more'n she had q right to do,
Wasn't he her father, and wasn't he
payin' all the bills?
IN be sure" adds Wee, "he didn't
realise what an old tyrant he was.
Nor did Marion. She considered 1t
her duty, and never complained"
Then l don't see who could have
crashed in," said 1.
mo one could" says Wee. THAT
was the pity"
And It seems for the last couple of
years the old boy insisted on settin
down in his home here. where he could