Evening star., 1920-01-25
BY SeWell Ford

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II suppose 1t win look something like
that" admits Hobbs. 'but don't know.
as shalt care. II we are to travel We
might as we'll be comfortable"
Then you're actually goin' to start.
are you?" says +.
Looks like it," says he. i've sold oug
the store. The new man takes possess
sion next week. ! think we'll be ready
by then"
You bet we will" says Rosie from
the back steps.
Say. she must have kept him at 1t
steady, for I never knew Tobias to
finish a job on time before. but when
l drops around the followin' Thursday
blamed IL don't find em most ready
to pull out.
What do you think of our land
cruiser" asks Mobbs, wavin' at the An
ished product.
TITS all of that. says I. "Why, these
private Pullman people have nothing on
you, have they?"
It's fact. What he's erected on that
fiivver frame is a perfectly good house
and lot. Uh-huh. He's sheathed it up
on the outside just like reg'lar cot
slopin' roof. and even foldin' back
porch.
Take a look inside" says Hobbs,
lettin' down some steps.
Well, you wouldn't believe you could
get so much room as there is. In front,
juttn' out over the hood. is a sort Of
elassed-in bay window with one Of the
original seats fitted in for drivin'. Be.
hind that is a combination bedroom,
dinin' room and kitchen. with plenty OF
headfoom and the floor covered neat
with oilcloth. On either side are foldin'
hunks that can be let down at night,
with wire springs and mattresses. Then
there's a table with hinged legs so 1t
can be slowed away, a two-burner oil
stove. lockers for dishes and supplies
and extra clothes, an electric light in
the ceilin' run by storage batteries, and
even little washstand in one corner.
Where's the bathtub and the re.
frigerator?" I asks.
Had to leave those out" saws
Hobbs, but I think we can manage.
At least we shall be Independent of
hotels, We plan to drive as far as we
like every day, and then when we
come to a good place in the country
We shall stop. get our dinner, and
spend the night. I've put in screens
so that we shall not be bothered by
mosquitoes when we get further
south, and l figure that we can live
in our car all winter if necessary"
"And you expect to get to Florida
in that?" says 1.
I'VE are going to start. anyway"
get under way early Saturday morn
ing and be down in South Carolina
by the last of next week. Then for
where the golden apples grow"
Honest. he acts Ike a kid startin' for
his first trip to the country. Looks
about ten years younger, too.
DO you know. shorty" he goes on.
'Ive wanted to do something like
this all my life. but somehow / never
got around to it. Can't say just why
, | haven't either. or how it happens
I'm really going now"
+ II shouldn't wonder says !, "but
Y what Mrs. Hobbs might have had
+ something to do with it. Anyway
. shall want to hear how you're coming
along. Send me a postcard now and
3 then, will you?"
He says he will, and he's been keep
in his word. The first bulletin comes
S from Washington, where they'd hung
a up for two or three days to take in
$ the sights. Then came one from Rich-
l mond, and another from Charleston.
4 I'VE are living regular gypsy
a life," Hobbs writes. "and enjoying
r every moment of it. Now and then
: we stop for day while I repair a
: clock or two for some farmer. Am
n making more than expenses. No more
{ shop drudgery for me. This is the
a life! Perhaps we shall go on and on"
: "A fyin jeweier." thinks l. But
who would have thought it of To>
o bias?"
v SO here the other day when Sadie
S announces that the Purdy -Pells are
a thinking of going to Florida for the
c winter, il they can rent the right
kind of u house, | has to chuckle.
, That's nothing" says |. The
q Hobbses are there. They took their
t house with 'eni."
Copyright 1920, by Seweh Ford)
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