Gilpin observer., 1920-10-21
Lurking in
the Laundry
BY DOROTHY DOUGLAS

Henry, the laundryman, was a philos-
Opher, a matchmaker or merely pos
sessed of q wholesome desire to vary
the monotony of collecting shapeless
bundle of s6iled linen on Monday and
delivering 1t neat, spotless package
on Friday. He might even have just
taken strange interest in trying to
help shape the destiny of human be-
ings.
Henry was a happy married man
himself, with two fine, sturdy children.
His own blissful state might have
been the primary reason for tamper-
ing with the life of man and girl
who dwelt on the same floor of con-
verted apartment house.
The old house had been made into
one room and kitchenette apartments
and there were but two on each floor.
1t was with the second-foor tenants
that Henry found time to arrange a
maneuver which he fancied might lead
to better things. A splendid young
man and an equally splendid young
woman occupied that old house In up
per West End avenue.
Henry realized that destiny is a
strange thing and he figured that what
might never occur in the way Of
meeting in the Ordinary course Of
events could easily happen If aided by
Henry.
His package Of laundry for the first
floor front invariably consisted Of the
most cobwebby feminine dainties of
blue, shell-pink and lavender which. to
Henry's mind. denoted a girl of ex-
treme breadth of mentality. She could
enjoy all colors instead of being mar
rowed down to but one hue.
The package delivered to the second
floor rear contained the regulation
well-made shirts, collars. huge silk
handkerchiefs and other bits of manly
apparel.
Whether David Collins and Patricia
Deane had ever glimpsed one another
in passing was not known to Henry,
but he figured 1t was an oversight Of
fate had they not done so. Also, be-
ing a thrifty man, Henry realized that
with rents so criminally high two peo-
pie might better live in one apartment
and put the exorbitant sum for the
other in the savings bank rather than
the landlords pocket.
As matter Of fact, David had seen
Patricia's sturdy little figure being
buffeted by the wind down Broadway
each morning. In his heart he hoped
that her daily toll was slight. David
was the type of man who disliked hav-
ing women folk tossed about by men
in the business world. David thought
all women should be sitting at some
mans hearthside with dainty slippered
feet on the fender.
Patricia had once or twice been
conscious of observing a well set-up
man entering the room behind her
own. She was not especially given to
pondering about young men whom she
did not know. There were plenty, she
was well aware, whom she did know.
1t was not always easy to keep them
from tangling themselves up on her
pathway. Patricia's hair was fair and
In her rich hazel eyes was a tre-
mendOus amount Of both common
sense and allure.
Henry the laundryman did not call
for and deliver laundry every Monday
and Friday morning without seeing
great deal more than the doors Of
studios or apartments. His keen eyes
jumped to many true conclusions re-
garding his patrons.
In the eyes of David Collins there
was strange expression as of seeking
something not yet on his horizon.
And In the hazel eyes Of Patricia
Deane. Henry fancied there was
great loneliness Of the soul. 1t would
seem that while the girl was happy
there was still an unrest
So. Henry spent fifteen minutes in
the seclusion Of his laundry cart un-
doing two packages of clean laundry.
Onto the one containing cobwebby
pinks and blues and lavenders he at
tached the bill with David Collins
name and on the other with Its manly
shirts and collars he put the one with
Patricia's name. Having SO far start
ed his career as matchmaker Henry
carried the packages to the second
floor and delivered them. 1t was the
fifteenth OF July.
And on the evening of that same
fifteenth Patricia had an engagement
to have dinner with Jack Averill and
wanting to look particularly lovely
was intending to put on her freshly
laundered white voile.
When she first opened her laundry
and saw masculine attire galore and
no white voile her feelings were those
Of outraged femininity. Her lovely
snowy dress, the one Jack most liked
of all her wardrobe. was no doubt in
the hands Of the chap whose shirts
and collars were so utterly useless to
her.
And being sensible as well as beau
tiful Patricia Immediately came to the
conclusion that the mixed laundry
would have happened to tenants in