The Washington herald., 1921-09-18

express, and n was mr. eaner to Keep nef
opinions pent up than to try to compete with
Pas verbosity.
And % every one had forgotten that Mrs.
Aeneas Splint had been Miry Downs, the
only gtr In town who had attended the
Classical Instituts at watertown, whose
graduation essay, entitled lis Woman the
weaker Vessl?' had created such Z turors,
and Who boasted Of having talked to Susan
B. Anthony for i've whole minutes. Now
the erstwhils Woman's Rights advocats sat
curing hsr husbands sfhcial plume with .
silver fruit knife.
Hello, Pa" Erfnned Dfess, holding up
he hat. Il was just telling Ma her old
bonnet WIN be looking shabby beside this
sorEeous feather"
'tHnsh, Dicie, dout tease your Par"
protssted Mrs. Splint.
Your mother don't need feather" re-
torted Pa bumptiously, rubbing bis hands At
his own joke ''Shs amt going 10 be in any
II the ceremoniss," I" and taking the hat from
Dicis and s.tttng il on his head, he strutted
hack and forth across the faded length Of
The ras carpet
.Dicis don't know What she's mfssfn',
does she, Ma, seein' her Pa minglin' with an
the has feIers In the county? Joe Sewsll
just seemed kind Of peeved. Guess he thought
thsy'd ought to have sent him stead Of me,
but spose thsy want good taIker and Z
rood mixer, and that Joe Sewelrs q regular
crab. Il takes q feIler With the gift Of CAB
b get along thess days, and always had
that, eh, Miryr'
'Yes, Enos," sid Elmirs, quietly taking
k.k g., hfrr r,nfffn~ I'm h.
you always had"
NIHD same gift Of CAB accompanied the
L Aeneas Splints the following eyentful
week a. far ss the huge revolving door Of
the oficial headquarters hotel. But once
the door had deposited them inside the bril-
hantIy lighted, crowded lobby, the over
whelming grandeur literally struck Aeness
dumb. When an important looking ofheial
Of the order approached and asked II they
needed any assistance, It was Elmira, the
authorsss Of "Is Woman the Weaker Yes
sei?' who stepped forward and with the
ueatest spIomb announced, ''Mr. and Mrs.
Aeneas Splint, of Centerville. They are
holding q room for Ms" And It was her
work -sttfened fingers that wrote with heavy
strokes from q stub pen, Mr.. Aenesi
spIint and wife" on the register which the
clerk spun toward them with brusque indif-
ference.
It was Elmirs who took the dime from
her worn little purse and slipped 1t deftly
into the bellboy's hand, after he had dropped
their extension valise and Pas cases in the
corner a. she had ordered. II was Elmirs,
with her head up and her eyes shining, her
cheeks flushed with excitement, who directed
the bowling and scraping major domo Of the
dining room to seat them at q table neal
the music As the waiter placed the huge
menu card in Mas hand and stood at at
tention at her elbow, the sun Of Pas supe-
riority went into an eclipse behind the re
fulgent moon Of Mas radiant poise.
"what are you going to have for supper
Enosr asked Ma, passing the card across
the serried ranks Of cleaning silver.
Aeneas' awed eyes Travelled slowly ur
and down the list, and without even an echo
of his old bombastry, he passed the menu
back to Elmira and said, ''You order
MAJ
When the carefully chosen meal appeared
On the table, Ma, luxuriating In the must,
and brilliant color around her., thorough,
enjoyed her juicy steak shared with hus'
band too speechless to find fault with iti
rareness. For the first time she could re-
member, Elmirs and Aeneas ate in silence
Then Elmira, reminded By the cowed lool
in her husbands eyes that she was missini
the familiar monologue, cast about fo
something to open the conversation.
Around her, white shoulders cleaned
from various tables spirsis of fragrant stean
rose from under lifted silver covers like in
cense to the great god Jazz, whose powel
was made manifest through the jangling
Intoxicating music Of the spirited orchestrs
At thu tahls NEXT To her n man and 4