Evening star., 1919-03-02

TIME ObpAtDi LIS Slk HtSecIhS
card had It's small armies of
tourist pilgrims last Sunday
afternoon.
One party, captained by a guide who
knew entirely too much for one man,
filed up and down stairways, along
corridors, through statuary hall and
across the rotunda, making its way
at last to the Senate waiting room,
where the bomb was planted before
we went into the war. With palpi-
tating peek at the identical corner
where the thing which was to have
happened didn't, and other peeks at
the somewhat woodeny ladies and
gentlemen frescoed on the ceiling, and
at the tesselat ted floor, which was all
they had to look down on--on sun
day, and obviously with no thought
whatever for the dreamy silence OF
the place, which took on the dreamy
silence of a church on a week day
the guide led the party out with the
complaceucy of one who has SHOWN
everything.
But he had not shown everything,
for
On the tesselated floor stood green
topped table. And on the green
topped table lay leaf from n note
book And on the leaf was penciled
this.
OUTS Scotch. IS per qut...,.,.,,... "
OUTS. Rye, 81 per qut....,,......, Ss
outs. Gin, 81 per qut,.....,.'.'''.' L.
500
THAT two-sided shield of chivalry
= has umpired weighty arguments
since the day those knights charged
lance on its field of classic lore-but
that it falls short in settling the pres
ent debate between church and the
ater is evidenced by a woman who
presents a third point of view.
She is young woman with PINK
cheeks and silver hair--never mind
grown son overseas--and SO addicted
to snowy collars that when she came
to the office Monday wearing the
crepe lisses that had done duty sat
urday, she excused herself like TINS,
II was so busy all day yesterday
with people coming to the house on
little matter of business that l havo
on hand that l didn't get a chance to
wash my collars or darn my stock
ings or anything. 1t didn't seem at
all like Sunday to me
T
LIE was a small old man who some
how suggested a withered stalk
turned human. And he didn't do
thing but edge up to the passenger
the car, and burrow his head into the
furry softness of her coat while he
purred out to her:
ITS fine morning for smuggling
up, amt it?'
No strange woman is going to stand
for a thing like that. You couldn't
expect it of her. The woman in the
coat gasped her astonished indigna-
tion and moved closer to the window,
while the passengers around glared
or grinned according to the way their
temperaments were built. But the
small old man wasn't noticing, He
just sidled up to his shrinking neigh
Dor, and. having burroWed his head
again, began to favor her with con-
versation.
He was right smart old for his
years and Sarah was mighty good to
him and gave him chicken every Sun
day. and it certainly was fine morn
ing to snuggle up, seeing how cold it
was,
All the time he was babbling she
grew more gaspingly furious, until,
wasn't going to tolerate the indignity
another instant something happened
inside the soul of the woman who was
inside the coat
She had caught an idea, God love
her, that radiated her face with that
expression we call "motherly," re-
gardless of sex, age or conjugal CON
dlt1on because it is the most beauti-
full expression in the world
Perhaps she had accepted the humor
OF the situation. Perhaps, again, she
had recognized that nature had
touched the brain of the small old
man and said to him:
Go back to childhood and stay
there"
Anyhow, the woman was letting him
snuggle when man who had been
reading newspaper in the seat be-
hind bolted into the incident with an
apology. He had the care of the
small old man and--weIl, you know
how interested you get in the latest
news hot-caked from the press. And
would the lady forgive the old gem
tleman, who wasn't quite right.
And that was all there was. to it
except that 1t shows how downright
splendid woman can be--when she
knows how.