Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-24
COPYRIGHT. 1913, bv d. Appleton q Co.
Copyright, Public Ledger Company
THE FIRST MOVE

T,yvELYN PRESTON ran lightly up
II the steps Of her home and insert
ing her latch key in the vestibule door,
pushed It open Just as the taxi-driVer,
following more slowly with many an
upward glance at the blind-closed
windows, reached her side.
put the suitcase down." she d.
rccted. "I'n have the front door
opened by the time you get the trunk
here"
The cool IL somewhat stale air OF
the closed house which met Evelyn as
she stepped across the threshold OF the
open door was refreshing after the
clare of the asphalt pavements, for
washington was experiencing one of
.he hot waves which come in late Sep
tember and make that month one TO
he avoided in the capital city.
EVELYN, intent on calling servant,
naused midway in the large hall as
the taxi-driver's bulky figure blocked
the light in the front doorway. With
o,,t waiting for directions he lowered
her motor trunk from his shoulders
and stood It against the wall
4 "sball I leave it here, Miss" he
inquired.
Evelyn. busily engaged in searching
for change in her purse, nodded at-
f,rmatively, and the man propped him-
self against the door jamb and waited
for his pay.
"Thank you, Miss" he exclaimed
moment later, his politeness stimu'
lated by the generous tip which ac-
companied Evelyn's payment OF the
taxi fare. Would you like me to
carry your trunk upstairs"
"No: the butler will take it up
thank YOU" Evelyns gesture or dis
missal was unmistakable, and the man
hitched uncomfortably at his cap
rlanced furtively up the hall and then
back at Evelyn who, totally uncon'
scious of his scrutiny, stood impa-
tiently waiting for him to go. He
opened his mouth, but if he intended
to address her again he thought better
of it, and with a mumbled WORD
banged out of the front door.
EVELYN turned at once and sped to
tho hack stairs, but call as she did,
no servant responded and the olind'
closed windows made the passage-way
dark and unfriendly.I With an impa'
tient exclamation Evelyn returned to
the front hall; the servants had evil
IDENTIFY not arrived from the seashore
to open the house for her.
She stopped only long enough to
push her trunk into the billiard room
lust off the hall and pick up her suit
case, then she went rapidly upstairs
to her bedroom which, in its summer
covered furnishings, looked very invlt-
ing to her tired eyes. Four nights III
q sleeper and three extra hours aoded
to the tedium Of her journey from the
West by hot-box which had delayed
her trains arrival in Washington, had
made her long for home comforts.
Going over to the windows Evelyn
drew I'D the blinds and opening the
sashes thrust back the shutters, then
tossing off her hat and coat as she
moved about her bedroom, she finally
jerked open the suitcase and tumoleo
about it's contents until she found
the garments she sought. In doing so
she unearthed a letter from her
mother, and she smiled as her eyes
caught the words:
"I am sending the servants to the
city on the fifteenth, which gives them
a day to open the house and have it
aired before you get there. Now be
sure and reach Washington on the
sixteenth. Your father will be very
angry if"
The remainder Of the sentence was
on the opposite sheet, but Evelyn did
not trouble to read further; instead
her slender fingers made mincemeat
of the letter and as the torn pieces
nuttered to the floor she sighed invol.
unfairly.
Her mother, with her usual incon-
sistency, had evidently not troubled to
study timetables in deciding that her
daughter could not reach Washington
by the 18th, and in her own mind Eve
{ lyn wondered if the servants would
be dispatched from Chelsea in time to
reach there before night. The i'm
portance of time figured very little in
Mrs. Burnham's indolent sheltered
life; her contention that prompt peo-
pie wasted a great deal OF time was
frequently borne out by those who
waited in impotent wrath for her to
keep her engagements.
Evelyn changed into her dressing
gown and then, sometimes colliding
against furniture in the darkened
house, made her way through her
mothers bedroom and boudoir, her
stepfather's suite of rooms and into
the library which opened from his
bedroom, pulling up window shades
and letting in fresh air and sunshine
as she went. Back once more in her
own room she tested the electric
lights and was thankful to find the
current turned on; apparently Mrs.
Ward, her mothers housekeeper, had
attended to some Of the details of NOV
ing back into their city house.
Encouraged by her success with the
sIectricity. EVELYN tried the water in