Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-26

= who didn't belong. Not that
plenty of other queer ones in the
company. Course, them big Alice blue
ieyes of hers was kind of buigy and
starey. and she had sort of weird
do on her ash blond hair something
like the couture effects head
waitress or movie ticket queen will
invent Also that fringed smock af-
fair with all the bead work on it was
a bit striking.
But 1 expect it was her walk that
really got me gawpin' after her.
| Threw her shoulders into every step.
as if she was tryin to put body Eng
lish on her stride, or like she was
| coming over a ploWed field. You
know. Mannish. And I remember
| nudgin' Wee and remarkin': Say,
| who's the young lady husk with the
heavy tread?"
I'm sure haven't an idea, Torchy."
| says Wee. But, then, one is liable to
see all kinds here.
! It's a fact. Any way. every time
I've been favored with an invite to
Dunmore Hall, which has been twice
! before. I've wondered where this
| Mrs. Oakley Jones collected 'em from.
n suppose it's one of her fads. She's
a faddy party. Mrs. Jones. She can
| afford to be, for Oakley is president
| OF the baking powder trust, or some
| thing like that. Well. it might be
chewing gum. or batfitubs. or vacuum
sweepers. Don't matter
But whatever big combine he's the
| head of it's dividend producer. You
can tell that Just by countin' the two
l hIYt lnrS nd he "a, f.hn of RI &
foatin' around. even if you didn't
| notice the deer park and the marble
! swimmin pool and the 20x3G Chinese
rugs and the garage that looks like
a young city hall The 400-acre es-
| tate that's spread around Dunmore
Chinnecock Hills, a couple of ponds
| and a private 9-hole golf course
ought to give you the idea that there
was a he-sized income somewhere in
the background.
And you'd never suspect, to look
at Oakley Jones. that he could CON
| meet with kale harvest like that all
! by himself A mild-mannered. soft
talkin' inconspicuous party, Oakley:
a short. dumpy gent with watery blue
eyes and thin grayish hair. Just as
likely as not. too, while the place is
swarmin' with week end guests who
are pullin' all sorts of interestin'
stunts. you'll find him out back of
the service wing practicin' mashie
shots on the lawn, with maybe a
chauffeur and an assistant gardener
retrievin' balls for him. They say
he's a perfectly punk golfer, but no
body works harder at it than him.
mornin' and then spend most of the
afternoon tryin' to chip peck of
practice balls over a hedge into a
washtub. Maybe Bruzinski, the
great vio]inist is entertainin' mob
| in the big hall. or Sothern and Mar.
lowe. or one of the presidential candi-
dates, or Russian dancer is holdin
forth inside, but Oakley will dub
away with his n,ashie persistent.
Mrs. Oakley Jones. though. will be
right in the limelight:: Trust her
She'll be fioatin' around, smilin' and
noddin', introducin' folks here,
shooin' flock of maids there, snap
1 pin her fingers at butler, and gen
orally stage managin' her Sunday
afternoon show. It's no SLOUGH of a
rounded up three or four celebrities
and near-celebrities. and have col
lected maybe half a hundred guests
from all over that end of Long
Island. with the idea of keepin' 'em
all entertained for three or four
hours, as we'll as provided with food
and drinks to taste, you can't just sit
back and trust to luck. You've either
gotta have a good program to fol-
low or else be a shifty improviser.
This tall. willowiy lady with the
dark brown eyes and the slim,
nervous fingers seems to be equal to
L it. though, She don't start anything
she can't finish. Mrs. Oakley Jones
What if the Newport set did try to
put up the bars on her few years
back? Amt she shown 'em they
amt the only ones that can win space
in the society column? III tell the
jury she is. 1t was her idea, you can
bet. of buyin' an English country
house, havin' it taken apart and ship
ped over here to be set upon the top
of this Long Island hill: And If
there's anything outside of England
Hail I'd like to see it. Why. they
even celebrate Whitsunday and Guy
Fawkes day on the Jones estate, and
have a cricket field for the help. l
have heard that Oakley balks at
drinking tea for breakfast, but I
understand it's always ready in case
he should change his mind.
Also these Sunday afternoon af-
fairs are patterned after something
Mrs. Oakley Jones got hep to while
she was visitin' at some English
country house, only she has to sub: in
minister and secretary for foreign
affairs But they're unique of their
kind and in one way or other she
seems to get nearly all of us smart
settlers dreppin' in.
Course, the way Wee and me hap
pen to get counted in is through the
Robert Bllinses. who have sort of
blanket invitation to bring along any
Of their friends. Mr.. Robert let's on
to find these affairs sort of boresome,
but I notice that he drives over every
now and then. Maybe it's on account
of the good billiard games he gets
there, or it might be because Dun
more Hall is one of the few places
where they still serve Scotch and
soda Just as reckless as If the eight
eenth amendment had been quashed.
Anyway. it amt five minutes after
with the swingin' stride when l
drifted along where Mr.. Robert was
decantin' two fingers of the Haig
Brothers celebrated brew into tall
glass. Having completed the opera
ton, and added little more for good
luck. he's about to press the syphon
trigger, when he glances across the
"oh. say" says he. who do
YOU suppose she is, Torchy?''
"Eh?" says l., foilowin' his stare.