The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1919-11-15
The Ostrichette
By WILL T. AEfES
lCopyright, 1919 by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicatc.)

"She's all of that, Name. All the
duds she's got on, counting them
things on her feet, wouldn't bring
plugged dime in a rummage sale. Bet
he found her living in tree some
where"
Heard Harris call her an ugly duck
ling. Don't hit her at all. She's an
ostrichette."
The two girls behind the soda foun-
tain counter at Benson's had given
much of their first Monday morning
half hour to a critical inspection OF
the new waitress for the ice cream
parlor, who was also to help at the
fountain.
"Bet you Benson hired her to break
her in on Jeff's job" And the girls
giggled joyOusly. JEFF was the drug
store roustabout, negro, who washed
the cream cans, changed fountain
tanks and carried an advertising sand
witch afternoons.
Name and Edie weren't the only
persons in the store who wondered.
before the week was out. why Benson
had hired Julia Weeks.
The reason was that long ago. be-
fore old John Weeks went to keeping
Fog Island lighthouse, he and Benson
had been friends, and when old John.
In his last hours, wrote a note to Ben
son asking him to give his daughter
a Job. he insured for the girl a more
than ordinary chance to make good.
But Benson didn't usually explain
things like that to his employees. The
girl told nothing about herself. So it
-sas only known that Julia Weeks was
to have her chance. But she was, as
big. brown-eyed Ralph Matthews. the
chief dispenser, said, IAN awful
mess"
Julia was grotesquely i'll dressed;
her clothes might have been thrown
to her out of somebody's second story
window. Size knew nothing at all
about doing her taffy-colored hair. Her
eyes were a pallid blue and her eye
brows scant Apparently she had never
heard of such thing as a powder
puff. Her color and skin showed the
marks of the weather and too much
frying pan diet.
Worse still, she was reaching up
toward feet 9, walked with the
stumbling gait of plOwman and
dropped at least one dish out Of every
six she handled. She couldn't remem-
Der more than one order at time
and frequently got that one wrong.
She spoke Pumpkinville English.
and Name Kennedy declared she
didn't know there had been war. But
withal there was a queer decisiveness
about her.
Matthews first assistant, who stood
the opposite trick as head dispenser
In Ralph's off hours. was fresh, SIAN
gy little fellow named Bartuso.
From Ralph, Julia accepted admoni-
lions, rebukes, satire, actual seedlings
with a submissiveness that was pa
fhetic; from the girls she took the
fhoughtless cruelties of their kind with
bovine Indifference; from Bartuso she
would stand nothing at all.
On the fourth day the assistant
dispenser. finding Julia alone in the
fee cream parlor, made some unkind-
~ bantering remark. By way of rejoin-
der Julia punched him on the nose and
wiped him five times across the face
with the table swab. After that she
was let rather severely alone.
Slowly Julia lost much of her clumsi-
ness, but it was nearly three months
before she began to show that she
possessed the primary feminine attri-
butte. Then one day Ralph noticed her
standing before one Of the cream room
mirrors trying to fluff out the hair
over her ears with her fingers. Within
the week Edie exclaimed under her
breath to Name: "For Gawd sake, see
what's got on silk socks and Louie
Ounce heels!"
IL was even so. The evolution Of
Julia had begun. In another month
the very ugly duckling had become,
If not a swan. at least as nifty and
pert looking a chicken as adorned any
soda fountain in town.
Nobody in that store, except Miss
Robbins, of the toilet articles. knew
any morea about eyebrow pencils and
lin sticks and brick.colored rouge and
such matters: while her taffy-colored
hair had been converted into a crown
ing glory of startling designs. Julia
had most successfully standardized
herself.
"What's the Lady Giants game.
Mame?" Edie wondering!y remarked.
AShe's dollihg something fierce. But
when it comes to the men, she's some
thing wrapped and put away in the
cooler-wouldn' give one of them a
glad look on bet"
search me. kiddo. Mebbe she's got
the movie bug. Some OF 'em are like
that"
Now Ralph Matthews was not ONLY
big but he was fresh-colored and
xood-Iooking and cool-headed and cap
abe and had winning smile. A head
dispenser ike that. with bunch OF
girls on tie counter with him. is most
unlikely to escnpe being the object
of rivnlry.
Name Kennedy. however. ackhowl-
edged no rival. She claimed Ralph for
49, 0wn And with all her feminine