Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-07
--.,,,,. 1890. bv Public Ledger co.
w,,Ys STARTS THE STORY

THIS STARTS THE STORY
~. r Burton Francis, a ioomdn
I;ok ideals and more than the
Guy measure of the milk OF
efanna badness coursing through her
! hama" .ot;cos thdt her D~dshDomdn,
;en'' watson, Is performing her hbors
Hrs' .h,,oo;sh manner, inquiries about
masgh and about her numerous
hsr subjects her TO some upfft-
chuo,en mn motherhood, suggests
Snyot, for her husband TO redo, =
interests herself N the De'o' OF INC
family.
ar,r and Mrs. Slater had been girls
Stogether and sat in school with arms
..tr;ned and wove romances OF tne
lSn,,nre, rosy -hued and golden; wien
,,Ssy consulted the. oracle OF linhee,
,aiior, soldier. sailor, ricn man' poV
,aan. beggar man.. THIEF; tne ous-
.ons on her gray winsey dress hau ne,
dared in favor OF the rlcn ma a;i..
Then she had dreamed dreams OF SIN. nS
and satins and prancine steeus unu
byeriedd reams which God in His mercy
ss LOT her forget long, long ago
When she had become the mistress OF
,,o bip stone house she had struggled
ssard against her husband s penurious-
nsss defantly sometimes and sometimes
earthly. But he had held her down
u;tb a heavy hand Of u%nyielding deter,
rm;uatiop, At last she grew weary OF
smuggling and settled down in Nsullen
s,hmission, q hopeless, heavy eyed,
s%uiritless woman, and as time went by
ssSe became greedier for money than
her husband. ~, 80, ,u,u,.,u
"Are you Mr.. Tom MotherweiiF .o-
f"That's what" Tom replied. 'only
,ou needn't mind the handle
Pearl laughed.
can right" she said. II want a
pttle favor done. Will you open the
rindow upstairs for me?'
""Why?' Tom asked, staring at her.
"To lot in good air. It's awful close
nm there. and I'm afraid I'll get the
lever or somethin' bad
N"Polly got it," Tom said. Maybe
,hat Is why Polly got It,. She's awful
sick now. Ma says she'll like as not
die. But I don't believe ma will let
me open it,
"Wbere is Polly?" Pearl asked
eagerly. She had forgotten her own
worries. "NYho Is Polly? Did she live
here?"
"sle's in the hospital nov in Bran
DON" Tom said in answer to her rapid
questions. "She planted them peoples
out there. but she never seen the flow
,rs on them. Ma wanted me to cut
them down. for Polly used to put off
50 much time with them, but ! didn't
want to. Ma was mad, too, YOU bet J"
he said, with q reminiscent smile at his
own foolhardiness.
Pearl was thinking. She could see
the peoples through the window, bright
and glowing in the morning light. They
rocked lightly in the wind, and a shower
Of crimson petals fell. Poor Polly ! she
hadn't seen them.
@ whats Polly's other name?" she
asked quickly.
"Poliy Bragg" he answered. "She
was awful nice. Polly was, and jolly,
too. Ma thought she was lazy. She
/. used to cry a lot and wish she could
70 home, but my she could sing fine"
Pearl went on with her work with q
preoccupied air.
tom, can YOU take a parcel for me
to, town today?'
~ am not goin'." he said in surprise.
PA always goes IL we need anything.
haven't been in town for u month"
Don't you 90 to church," Pearl
asked In surprise. ..
mo. you bet l don't. not now. The
preacher was sassy to pa and tried to
get money.
PA says he'll never touch wood in
his church again, and pa won't give
another cent either. and, mind you, last
year we gave $25."
1--WE paid S14," Pearl said, land
Mary got SO on her card"
f, oh, but you town people don't have
the expenses We have"
That's true, I guess" Pearl said
doubtfully-she was wondering about
the boot bills. Spa gets a dollar and a
quarter every day, and ina gets sew
enty five cents when she washes. We're
settin' on fine"
Then Mrs. Motherwell made her ap-
p%parance, and the conversation came to
IN end.
That afternoon when Pearl had wash :
"a the dishes and scrubbed the floor she
went upstairs to the little room to write
ID her diary. She knew Mrs. Fraucis
would expect to see something in it, 50
she wrote laboriously
~ saw n lot Of yalla flowers and
oack'burds. The rode was full of dust
ana wagging marks. I met a man with
Su'op buggy and smelt a skunk. Mrs.
y; made a kake today-there was no
"I'm goin' to tidy up the vranary
rs arthur. He's ofiel nice-an' told
me about London Bridget hasn't