Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-03-19

worm"
ale viii rccoYcr. dare .ay. h;
. the time he dorm, long trousers"
Mercy! | hope -. 1t would he
awful to have q son in long ,rouSel,
looking like Il worm What college
are you planning to send him."
Mbb detected irony and subtle
sarcasm in Mary'S reply. Her qucs-
ton was Il sally in kind. But there
was nothing but deadly seriousness
in the mothers reply rs she said:
ave were thinking of Dartmouth
my own father graduated from there,
you know"
"No; didn't know your father was
y college man." said Mibb blankly.
81 always thought of Silent Wheeler
as your father. It's queer your
mother chose to marry him after first
marrying Dartmouth man."
"Shc was left with little child,
knowing no business with which to
support herself, without insurance.
All she could do was keep house.
There was no alternative. She ac
ceptcd Mr.. Wheeler thinking to give
me home. Poor mother. ! wish
she could see my baby"
This last was somehow the sudden
wistful healt-cry of little girl.
Nib was uncomfortable. She
leaned over the carriage and pokcd
Thomas. Joshua a coupl" of times
with a stiff forefnger-as old ladies
sometimes poke at prospective pot
roasts at the butchers.
"Please-don't" cried Mary hur-
ridly. you'll awake him and I've
Just rocked him to sleep" But
Thomas Joshua stirred ind stretched
and opened his eyes and his mouth
and great and terrible was his sudden
lamentation. Mary lifted him in her
arms.
"He must be an awful aggreva-
ton at times, bawline like that.
Mary smiled sadly. She laid her
lips for moment on the downy lit
tie head where an artery was thrOb-
bling.
"Aggrevation? Poor Mabel, what |
Il lonesome unhappy time you must
be having"
Lonesome! Unhappy! Just be-
cause / haven't got a-a-a-worm?"
Mibb laughed. 81 should say not
Every woman has got right to hap
piness-in her own way.'
eyes," agreed Mary, LIVERY wo-
man has right to happiness in her
own way" She looked at the other
in her exquisite black silk with the
cut steel buttons and the paniers and
the puffs and the overskirts and the
rare ruching at the throat and the
Gaudy jewelry on her charactcrless
fingers. "Someday, Mibb,' she said,
"you will be sorry"
"Sory for what?" =
"Sorry for what you told Herbert
on this same subject last Sunday af-
ternoon.'
"What do you know about that?"
Herbert came over here Sunday
evening to see Jack and and
Thomas Joshua. He and Thomas
Joshua romped on the carpet for
half hour. After we'd got Joshua
away to bed and we sat talking a.
bout the future, Herb broke down
and cried like a motherless little boy
me-us!-all about it." {
"This,' said Mibb arising coldly, C
is as enlightcning as it is disgusting.
[Ierb-going around-peddling tales
Of our privacies-to the neighbors
~
"The fault is yours, Mabel. You
shouldn't give him cause"
"He had probably been drinking"
eyes, little bit. 1t made me feel
yery badly. I've been thinking about
t all the week."
"Indeed! How many men do you
feel badly for? should
hink the mess you've made marrying
wage-slave like Jack Purse who !;
ant provide you with home bigger j
han doll house and the whole
saddled with debt-would c
,e quite sufficient"
"Herbcrt and / were quite good
riends for a long time before he I
married you, Mabel" J
"But not good friends enough so II
hat he asked you to be his wife," c
II never wanted to be his I
vife." She said it slowly, wonder V
ne if she were telling falsehood.
because you never stood chance. q
you know the story about the fox e
nd the grapes"
In the voice of a lady, Mary re- II
lied:
"Herbert has been like brother.
n fact, I remember very distinctly S
he time and situation when he ask "
d if he might consider me as
ister." .
Gall of which is as amusing as it u
Illuminating" The Henderson girl u
ffected fine superiority. Then her \
rood changed. With a deadly ex- D
ression of cheap-charactered bad
emper, she snapped: "But if he a
links he's got license to peddle our Il
omestic differences all over Paris ..
lst because I'm too wise to tie my Il
elf down to brace of night-squaw- a
ng sour-smelling brats, he's going to o
nd he's started something he'll have
warm time to finish" She gather
4 I'D her finery and made ready to