South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-06-08
HOW DICKY'S MOTHER ..LEC-
TURED."

/ saturn as she Churned ner way out
. TO sea. ] turned around quickly with
/ d sense OF guilt At having ignored
my mother-in-iaw's presence.
But she was nowhere 10 be seen.
/ 1 looked around wildly. There were
\ few people walking along the sea
wall. and none Of them was the ED
! or Mrs Graham.
/ Ny anxiety was a good counter
irritant for the misery Of few min
utes before, when 7 had watched the
Saturn starting on its way across the
ocean 10 battle-swept France. L
knew the ship held my brother
cousin, Jack, and I had forgotten
| everything else.
Where had she gone She did not
know the city. She would, therefore,
hardly have gone into the subway
entrance. or climbed the elevated
stairs Ny common sense began TO
assert itself. OF course she must
have gone 10 the aquarium II
was the only logical solution OF her
absence.
/ hurried on TO the old Castle Gar
den. ready 20 be quite abject in my
apologies. realized that IL had
been a most objectionable thing in
me 10 keep my husbands mother
standing in the cold while I gazed
seward after a ship holding any
man, even one as near and dear al
my Cousin Jack had always been
TO me.
do not know what 1 expected
reproaches, perhaps an angry de-
mand to be taken home at once. But
the elder Mrs Graham is a past
mistress in the art Of dominating
a situation.
She was standing near the door Of
the aquarium as 1 entered, and
really made "A striking figure OF we'll
bred dignity. Utterly oblivious OF
the curious glances Of the other
visitors, she stood calmly looking
through her lorgnette at the walls
Of the aquarium. the cases that
lined them, and the people that
walked past her, bestowing the same
impersonal gaze upon all.
\ Cold Reproof.
hurried up 10 her, but she turn
ed away as | came, pretending not
20 have seen me. 1 smiled involun
tarily as she did so, recognizing the
adroitness with which she compell-
ed me 10 be the first 10 speak.
II am so sorry, Mrs. Graham" I
said breathlessly. II did not hear
you go away at all. Why did you
not speak TO me2"
She turned slowly and surveyed
me with her lorgnette. IL was not
an angry look, not even disap-
proving one, but there was some
thing in its cool disdain that made
me feel almost like an insect.
Il did speak TO you twice" she
said. 1T really did not seem worth
while TO try it again"
"Oh, Mrs. Graham" cried in
shocked protest.
TT really doesn't matter in the
least" she said indifferently and
her tones dispatched me 10 OBJ
livion. we will walk on now"
Her words and tone were exactly
what she would have used 10 q ser
want. 7 flushed resentfully. but
realized that / deserved some sort Of
.unishment. so 1 said nothing, but
turned and walked by her side.
Her quickness Of thought and her
pride compelled my admiration. She
must have known something Of the
events Of the day before, she must
have realized that il was the pres
ence of Jack on board the Saturn
TO which my utter forgetfulness OF |
her presence was due. But she !
would not acknowledge by word or
look the fact that there had ever
been any other man in my life but |
her son.
Which would YOU like 10 see /
first" ] asked timidly after a mo-
ment. the wall tanks with fresh !
and salt water fishes or the floor !
tanks with the seals and the sea
lions?"
some Happy Memories.
There is no hesitancy about Mrs. |
Graham, a trait which I like i'm |
mensely. She never keeps you
waiting. but decides at once what |
she wishes to see.
The wall tanks first by all |
means" she said We will circle !
this room and then come back 10 |
the seals"
She did not linger over the i'm |
mense glass cases which contained ,
the leaping fish Of every country in |
the world. but she stopped several I
before tank holding |
speckled mountain trout Her face 1
sOftened as she looked at them.
When I was a small girl I used /
TO go with my father 10 fish for
these" she said. II would follow I
down the bank while he whipped I
the stream for them. have never /
forgotten the experience"
'I think they make the most tooth /
some dish in the world. - I returned. /
hoping fervently that the innocent |
little remark would meet with my /
mOther-in-law' approval
AT least il did not arouse her re- !
sentiment. Tor she began 10 talk OF /,
the building. This land was once I
an island 200 feet from the shore" /
she said, and this circular building /
was originally a fort. which was |
built during the war OF 1912 for the \
defense OF the city against the Brit /
.sh"
she might have been a sightseeing /
lecturer or a teacher instructing a