Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-31
81 thought I'd never noticed him at the

81 thought I'd never noticed him at the
NO" says l. IT expect Alonzo amt
very chubby"
81 am truly relieved" says Oggie.
Now perhaps l may add that your MI.
ellis seems to have a meek and lowly
plate Of Ice cream but hardly dares men
ton the subject to the naughty waitress
Yes. he's going to risk 1t. He's holding
up a forefnger. But she declines to see
it. Too bad! He's given up and II fold,
ing his napkin very neatly; An. ma "a:
meant to tuck under the edge OF the
plate. There are limits to his meekness.
1t appears. Bravo, Alonzo!'
Yes, expect we got of a lot OF clever
stuff about the various people we saw.
Anyway, we he'd lively luncheon and
their necks our way tryin' to discover
what we found SO funny. And then
afterwards. when little Mrs. Blair joins
Oggie and Pinckney by smokin' a cigar
cite in the lobby. some Of the old ladies'
ney is moved to dance. 50 he slips AVE-
spot to the orchestra leader and gets
him to switch from the afternoon con.
cert stun to jazz one-step, and him ana
Madge Blair springs their new shimmy
was peekfn' in got saspy; Also Osgie
has to horn in by substftutin AT Re
traps and introducin' a few stunts sell
dom seen on any stage.
So. take it by and large. we were
quite a risky lot. / saw the house man
ager givin' US the once over. but he only
smiles good -natured. Most likely he'd
looked up Pinckney's name on the regis
ter and was more or less tickled to have
a real smart setter like that drop In on
him, no matter what antics he pulled.
For while there we owned the place.
as you might say. Specially after we
decided to stay all night and engaged
some of the best suites.
Somehow. though. when I ran across
the Gillises, sittin' quiet in a corner
couple of knot-hole patrons at ball
game, I felt kind of sorry for 'em.
I'd only had a sort of noddin' ac-
quaintance with Alonzo at home, but
it seemed to me that here was my
s fanSv cue halt to s" does with the
well. Mr.. Gillis.' says l, strollin'
up casual. "off on a little tour, eh?"
He admits that he is and introduces
Mrs. ellis.
Coin on up into the mountains to-
morrow. are you?" | asks.
here for a couple of days."
"Oh. you are?" says I. Don't you
find it sort of lonesome. knockin'
around this way by yourselves"'
"a little" says he. Mother and
me nnd don't lon get get away from home much
tells. But it'll be different when the
bunch gets here. I expect"
''Eh?" says I. What bunch?"
The knights" says he.
II don't get you yet" says I.
Why. the Noble Knights of Nine
r 10 y~s-
nual conclave here. you know. startin'
tonight. Lookin' for about hundred
and fifty Of 'em to show up. They
ought to be rolling in soon. some
You don't say?" says l. Noble
of an order is that?'
Benevolent. fraternal and protec-
tive" says Alonzo. as II he was
quotin' from prospectus. 1.-THE in
surance feature don't amount to much
but we're strong on the fraternal part
Got lot of our castles established
up through this section. mainly in the
small towns. And once a year we
get together at someplace like this
and have a good time. Get special
end of the season"
Il see." says I. And you're lit
tie ahead of the others"
Yes" says Alonzo. Thought I'd
be on i, hand and and md see that everything
Maybe you're one Of the officers?'
I suggests.
Alonzo mods. Exalted supreme
grand" says he
GOSH gasps. IAN that? Why you
must be the big noise"
Il suppose I am" says he. "You
was first organized. about fifteen years
ago. and I've been workin' up ever
since. l was elected exalted supreme
grand a year ago last fall and have
another aas1, twelve ,I',: months to serve"
But what do you do at these affairs?'
We start with our annual banaue,
! tonight" says he. ''There'll be speeches
| and music and so on. Then there'Il BIZ
| the annual ball. and tomorrow wei
| sports. Always manage to have &
| good time somehow or other. Yor
| know"
1 didn't then. but I do now. FRS
of ! was goin' to give Pinckney ant
the others hunch of what was or
decided not. Might be more interest
in to keep 1t to myself and see wha
happened. And for a while was kin,
of disappointed. The first few car.
! that rolled in out of the rain unloadet
a lot Of damp. bedraggled, sort O
| countryfied appearin' folks who filter
ed in with their suit cases and rain
coats and stood around the log fir,
chattin' quiet. But as more Of ZEN
came along. and old friends begun
| meetin', they got a greetin' each othel
| free and noisy.
| For the land sakes. IL there ain
Gus Preble." squeals one black-eye,
dame who seems to be dressed a littl,
| fancier than the other women.
"Oh you Gus" sings out anothe
lady kittenish.
| And shortly after that l was abb,
to pick out Gus myself. He's a poddy
bald HEADED party with a round, high
coiored face and cut-up twinkle il
L