Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1921-08-05
ALLEGES BLUE GOWN
BY MlzPAA f. BUCKINGHAM

II becomtngF
Alice turned around In imitation OF
the style-show mannikins, displaying
to its best advantage the limited
glories of her new blue wolfe dress. II
was a pretty dress, and becoming, to
be sure, but 1t lacked the something
that, well that Vera Demmings
clothes had.
She had heard 1t oil her nfe-how
30 many marriages were unhappy De
cnuse men lost interest in their wives
when they became careless about their
appearance and Indifferent to styles.
So Alice tried doubIy hard to look her
best but ii seemed that Lloyd was so
different" he never "enthused" about
her appearance. Why didn't he call
her a peach" CLASSY" and such
thinrs7 Just to win some word Of
praise from him she had worked late
the night before to finish the blue
dress to wear today to the shore party
where they. with the other members
of the Pawling Avenue club, had been
Invited to visit Mrs. Carriers summer
home.
@You bet. It's prettier than any
thing Vera ever had"
The answer was all that she could
have hoped for, but some way 1t hurt
for Alice knew It wasn't true and be-
lieved Lloyd said 1t just to please her,
ecause she expected him to. Oh, If
he would only rave about her the way
fellows were supposed tol
"why, my little grille, what's the
matter? Have l gone and said the
wrong thing again? OF course you
look .nice-you always look nice, to
me-"
"Yes-and / guess / do to other
folks, too. I'm tired Of your being so
quiet and never noticing" she flung
at him, and ran hastily up the beach
to the cottage.
A plan Of action had already
formed in Alice's mind. She had said
she didn't care, and she would show
Lloyd that she really didn't.
Not a bad looking object" either,
was Carl Houghton, arrayed In the
sportiest Of white lannels, and-but
his eyes we're what Alice noticed.
What admiration she read in them as
she knew he was taking In every de-
tail Of her dress.
soho, my sweet Alice Of the Alice
blue gown, why dost thou waste thy
fair beauty here alone7 Sit you here
by me and regard the laboring
CLASSES, toiling for u suppers in yon
clam bed"
"Twould give me greater pleasure
than all other Joys combined to while
away the weary hours for thee" re-
piled Alice, laughingly, glad to find
that her purpose was so easily to be
accomplished.
Yet somehow her eyes kept wan
dering down to the shore, where she
could see that Lloyd was keeping
rather near Vera, and that he was en-
Toying the afternoon nor than she
was, she felt sure, as the sound Of
their merry laughter came to her
ears.
well" she thought, II guess he'll
see now that her sport satin Is pref
tier than my dress"
Soon the group passed from sight
behind the boathouse, and Alice felt
her spirits sinking lower as she saw
that Lloyd and Vera were earnestly
engaged In conversation.
49, AhAA 49, oAa-AOn 0onnnd
long indeed. It was not until the
crowd came back to supper that she
enjoyed herself again
Alice later was carrying things into
the pantry when she stopped sudden
~ by the window. Some n outside
was speaking and she overheard her
own name. She paused to listen and
recognized Oarl's voice.
But, Vera" he was saying, II
didn't say that Alice looked better
than you do, l only said she had on
a very neat dress, one much more ap-
propriate to an outing like this than
yours. OF course 1 didn't mean that
about Alice, because you always look
nice, to me-"
The familiar sound Of those words
made Alice smile as she went on with
her work. Perhaps IT was a tired,
sad little smile, for when Lloyd came
rushing into the kitchen a moment
later he exclaimed:
why, sweetheart-what's the mat
ter-all tired out7 Where's Vera?
Did she go and leave you alone with
all this work? Traid of spelling her
skirt again probably"
Maybe, but l noticed that that
same skirt seemed rather attractive
to you this afternoon" Alice replied,
sarcastically.
Satin, was it? Humph. l didn't
notice what II was. All l know Is
she put in a pretty unhappy after
noon on account of it She was bub-
bling owe with her troubles. She
and Carl had some kind Of quarrel"
$50 you took upon yourself the very
unpleasant task of heart-healer, or
.0nnakHtn~ c7zH11nB