Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-10
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story of woman's Transformation.
BY MARION RUBlNCAM.
cr,,cr,ca nv George Matthew Adams.
ESTHER'S NEW IDEA.
.~,Ix.
Protected by George Matthew
Chapter Il.

We never did any WoIk Sone"s -
ternoons. That was . rule opserVso ~
lipiouslv in the house, and very weiuo'nr .a', r
rule too. For aside from any rehe'ous ,ha bo
'aroJ resnect for the day, il gave us the
o,i,, hours during the week to relax, TO
.h;9t about things other thap the
;n,,odiate task. to take hold OF our
selves once more. ,t ..ho~
Violet and James would 60 together
os,en and sit under the trees In the iittle
woods across the fields from our house;
Violet would carry her books along anu
would road aloud and study, whiie James
Law ON his back on the grass ana listei,uu' i.,'
II was rather charming, and SO uhlihe
tbe snirit existing between most prothers
aud sisters that VIC knew. o.,
"Whnt are YOU reading all the tiine
Esther said fretfully one hot Sunuey aS
the two started away ;, ~;
Elementary psychology VI an
swered. nY ao,,t GEO
ne any such fancy knowledge Will 90 Jaiiies
az good. Won't make him plow any
better. as Jim would say: >,
lanes is so interested in machinery
said III wonder what books or maga-
-;,,cs could get him about thatI
..Iach;nervr' Jim said suddenly,
coming through the door in time to near
,,,. nncstlou Don't talk to me about
Iar,cs and machinery let HIM repair the
reaner when it broke this summer ana YOU
.ba,,Id have seen the mess he made
lie fairly storncd out of the room
.rrncd around To Esther In surprise
She shrugged her shoulders niue
action that somehow emphaslzeu 'ne m
lavers of fat over them and over All hei
body. ,o cor,
flames wanted 10 make up some so['
of engine. dunno what 'she eNpla,,iii'euI '.I
$50 last winter hchorrowed some nun
wheels from the reaper ana sollle %,
bcarinrs Jim tried TO run It, not knoWiht
on1 4 wouldn't work Of course, and go'
s,uck somehow, | don't know how. ANY
,,'a,, James remembered and put back th'
narts be'd borrowed but even then some
,bing was strained and il cost Jim lot @
Sbc walked. lat-footed. across the room
.WoU. | guess. III lie down n hlt,
che announced. ''What YOU dom, Enid
"I'm going to rest too, perhaps read,
soid starting upstairs to my room.
looked at myself in the unirlendiN
Glass when was alone. did not look a
we'll rs usual.
That IS the tragcdyof age, after all
~ lcas, thr tragedvof middle age. outi
can mt almost any strain upon ITS vitallt,
ond wake ND with rosy checks and brgh
owes next morning But we who are IN Tn
middle period must be so careful. we nav
soliftlc to give out that we must sometime
be phvsicia vampires, and draw GU
vouth and vitality from our surrounding
sat on one OF the unconior,,aoI
chairs and began to take down my nan
shaking il out and running my hnger
through it, careiuuiy stIlnuL'Il y
the scalp as the girl mad told llie m h1s
winter. was ncglccting my routine an
tho routine had done me good.
Tho door opcned and Esther came i
without knocking. That was little ioI
mality Esther considered quite unneces
sarv in the family
.;If YOU We nothing TO hide you won
mind. and if YOU have anything to hldf
Io,gbf 70 know il, = was her method OF eH
She had taken off her housedress an
Tho nimsy corsets she sometimes Wor'
end rolled around herself curious oil
garment. 1t had once been house
drass il was striped gingham with tn
Wrcck of a r1lffle around the wide sklr-
and hastily put in seam where the sleeve
had been shorn of at the elbow. Esther
method of making a Hmono out oi IT Wa
To slit it up the front and turn pack IN
raw edges. The voluminous affair We
wrapped around her now and held by Dem
rrasped at one side with her hand.
Go right along, don't mind me,
.he said, stretching out on my bed.
| turned a little red l felt soIneho
that | was doing something, wrong
irving TO make myself look better. 81
IN 81
and nv hair down, and there was nothlI
10 do Int 90 on with my treatments.
remembered when she found
once irving on white dress and her 7
marx that there was mo fool like an o
one - / became a little defiant. / got up al
went through the stretching and oenon
exercises Helen taught[me -,
These will keep the figure fiexit
and Young ! said, and unconscious
spoke IN superior tones.
glanced at her careless wrapper
and st the pretty kimono which SON
how made me look so much youngt
Then | went on with my treatments, {
plaininc what was doing and why. Al
Esther. fat on her back, watched with
great deal Of interest.
YES. YOU do look better, she &C
seded. sincerely through rather grudglnG
when | was through ana tlaU way
doing your hair does. improve you
I sliDped into one of my pretty dress
and stood up for inspection. And tn
Esther made an amazing remark:
81 been thinking, =. she said slow
"that since going to the city did you
much good, made you new all over,
I might say. that i would go back W
Violet this winter / can stand Int
improvement myself, i guess. BesiC
Won seem to have had q real good tim
And again l felt that unseen hal
clutching nv throat and sitting the
hraa+h ont of me-