The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1921-11-15

Carol coaxed tho powerful matrons
TO call on Bea- They half scoffed.
half promised to 80.
Bca's successor was the oidish
broad. silent oscarina. who was sus
picious OF her frivolous mistress for
a month. 20 that Jaanita Haydock
WAS able TO crow. There. smarty.
I told you you'd run into the do
nestle problsmr' But oscarina
adopted Carol as daughter. and
with her as faithful TO the kitchen
as B-a had been. there was moth.
ing changed In Carrots life.
Ill
she was unexpectedly appointed
TO the town library.board by ole
Jensen. the new mayor. The other
members were DR.. westlakc. Lyman
Cass. Julius f1ickerbaugh. the at
torney. Guy Pollock and Martin
Mahoney. former livery stable keep
er and now owner of q garage. She
WINS delighted. She went to the first
meeting rather condesccndingiy. re
garding herself AN the only one. be.
sides Guy. who knew anything about
books or library methods. She vas
planning TO revolutionize the whole
system
Her condescension was ruined and
her humility wholexomcly increased
when sAs found the board. In tho
shabby room on the second floor
Of tho house which had been con-
vertcd into the library. not discuss
Ing tho weather and longing TO play
checkers. but talking about books.
She discovered that smiabis old
DIR. wetlakc read everything In
verse and Tight fiction: that Ly-
man Cass. the vcaifaced. bristiy.
bearded owner Of the mill. had
tramped thru Gibbon. Hume, Crote.
Prescott. and the other thick his
tornns. that he could repeat pages
from them-and did. when DIR.
wessiAke whispered TO her. Yes.
Lynn Is a very wcll.informed man.
but he's modest about IT," she felt
uniformed and immodest. and
scoidcd at herself that she had
missed the human potcntiaii,ics In
this vast Gopher Prairie. When DIR,
wcstlake quoted the Paradise.
Don Quixotc.~ Wilhelm Meister."
and the Koran. she reflected that
no one SHE knew. not even her
father. had read all four.
She came dlffIdently 20 the second
meeting Of the board. She did not
plan TO revoiutionize anything. She
hoped that the wise elders might be
so tolerant az TO listen to her sug-
gcsfions about changing the shelving
OF the Juveniles.
Yet after four sessions OF the
had been before the first session.
She had found that for all their
pride in being ressiing men. West
lake and Cass and even Guy had
no conception OF making the library
familiar to the whole town. They
used IL. they passed resolutions
about II. and left II as dead as
Moses. Only the Henry books and
the Elsie books and the latest OPP
timisms by moral female noveIists
and virIie clergymen were In gen
erai demand. and the board them
selves were Interested only in old.
stlitcd volumes. They had no ten
derness for the nolsiness OF youth
discovering great literature.
II she was egotistic about her tiny
learning. they were at least as
much 30 regarding theirs. And for
all their talk OF the need of add
tionaI iibrary-tax none OF them was
willing 10 risk censure by battling
for II. tho they now had so small
a fund that. after paying for rent.
heat. light. and Miss Villetts' sal
airy, they had only a hundred dol
lars a year for the purchase Of
books.
The Incident OF the Seventeen
interest.
She had come to the board meet
ing singing with a plan. She had
made a list OF 30 European novels
Of the past ten years, with 20 inn
portant books on psychology. cduca-
ton, and economies which the
library lacked. She had made Ken
nicott promise to give fifteen dollars.
II each Of the board would contrib
ute Ine r<&ititt eit'y 'Veff sf'@'' ~"
books.
Lynn Casr looked alarmed. scratch
ed himself. and protested. Il think
II would be a bad precedent for the
board members TO contribute money
--lh--not that I mind. but II
wouldn't be fair--establisb prece-
dent. Graciousl They don't pay us
cent for our services! Certainly
can't expect us to pay for the privi-
lege OF servingr
only Guy looked sympathetic. and
he stroked the pine table and said
nothing.
The rest OF the meeting they gave
TO a bellicose investigation of the
fact that there was II cents less
than there should be In the fund.
Miss VlIlets was summoned. she
spent half an hour In cxplosively
defending herself; the II cents were