Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-18

upon the tabpuret and raised her hazel
eyes with a curious feline CLINT in them
to her mother.
my dear Trixy, what question -
Mrs. Ledyard waved plump hand
deprecatingly. I've been talking of
Mrs. Hartshorne, and the invaluable
aid she has given us in preparation
for the Red Cross bazaar-----"
II know, but is she going to take
charge of booth herself? Is she 60
ing to appear in any capacity?' Trixy
pursued. Doesn't it strike you as a
bit oGd that in all the six months
she h." been here in Eastopolis Mrs.
Hartsaorns has never appeared at any
more public function than church,
"You don't mean that she might
possibly be afraid Of meeting em5ar-
RAISING acquaintances from the past. do
you, Trixy?" q guileless voice asked
sweetly from low chair by the
fern banked hearth. and Bebe Cowles
helped herself lazily to another lump of
sugar. "It would be simply fascinat-
ing to find that we had an adventures
in our prosaiC exclusive midst.
''I mean that she has managed in
this short space of time to get in with
ali of us and yet we know no more about
her than if she had dropped from the
clouds. Who and what was Mr.. HartS-
horne? When did he die, If he is dead,
as she claims? Did Mr.. lIartshornc
ever really exist?'
"Aren't you tritle hard on her,
Trixy? Of course, she's made a slave
of every unattached man in our set, but
we're bound to get some of them back
on the rebound At any rate, it seems
bit late in the day to begin asking
awkward questions Bebe shook her
golden head. Your mother would never
have taken her up, | am sure, had
there been anything-weil. baiilng
about her. Of course, we all followed
dear Mrs. Iedyard'S lead.
IL Mrs. LedyarG OWNED hint OF
amused malice in the chiIdlike tones she
rose majestically above it.
at am not in the habit of com
mitting social errors.' she asseverated.
"Any one qualified to discriminate could
see at once that Mrs. Hartshorne
breeding is unasSailable and | think II
Is scarcely in good taste, IrlXN' lof
you to utter vague insinuatlons agaIus'
such a charming woman. II she aNoiuN
thrusting herself forward III pubic al
fairs, it is due to her modest. relIr-
z ing disposition; an attitude all 100
rarely encountered iu these days. AN
for me. | don't know what l should
have done without her on the natlonaI
defense committee, to say nothihs Vi
the French orphans and the Arme-
nian relief
"I'm insinuating nothing. mo'her'
l am merely curious.
NV dear, you are allowing your
sudden preiudice to carry you to absurd
lengths" her mother responded coldlH'
II trust you will not permit your man
ner to betray it when she drops IN later
for bridge Mr.. Swarthmore IS Drins
ing her on from the Gaylors dinner
you know
''Neely SwarthmOre doesn't appear
20 share your suspicious, TriXy, Bepe
remarked slyly.
Trixy darted scornful glance at her
bosom friend, but she responded quietly
enough.
.'They are not suspicious, merely
coniectures There. the dining room
doors are opening
.I was wondering if your father
would ever let them escape Mrs
I,edyard began, but the voices of the
tbree men who completed the sextet of
the little dinner party Travelled before
them as they crossed the music r"""''
and made her pause
s.Mnryelous Most extraordinary
business acumen for Il woman Inc
sleek. pompous tones of Wendie Brad
aock president of the EastOpclis Trust
Company, came unctuously TO their
ears. "She banks with us. you know
4 and I've attempted more than once 10
advise her in her financial deals. but
events have proved the wisdom OF her
own decision.
ST know it, Colonel Ledyard
laughed genially. Had the same eX-
perience myself with her, as she trades
through me- She's invariably on the
right side of the market.
s1t is precisely this remarkable eH -
ecutiye ability which makes her work
in the parish invaluable chimed IN
Doctor Perrine's rounded pulpit tones.
Extremely generous, too-ah, ladies
/ fear we have kept you waiting, but
the colonels "reminiscences were 50
diverting-'
''Of whom were you speaking just
now?" Trixy asked, moving signit .
cantly to make room for him on the
davpnnort beside her
"Of our dear friend, Mrs. Harts
horne" The minister accepted her
gestured invitation. "She has been "i
inestimable value in the parish.
$50 understand" Trixy raised her
eyebrows and after a moment added
s'What church did she attend before
coming here, Doctor PerrineE
sI,et me see." He balanced the tips
Of his fingers together rehfctively
tsWas it st. Thomas's in New York, or
St. Christopher in? Dear me, my
memory is really so bad"
'.But surely she told yOuE' The
sentence was more a statement than a
question, yet it contained an infection
which increased the Rev. DIR. Perrine
discontinue.
well really, I--she must have men =
toned it, of course, but confess it has
slipped my mind. She has taken her
place 90 modestly, yet so willingly, IL
affairs of the church, that 1t quite
seems as though she had always been
= member of the congregation. Don't