The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1921-05-13
ALICE'S BLUE GOWN
BY MlzPAH F. BUCKINGHAM

90 1871. by Mcclure Newspaper syndicate!
"But, Lloyd, don't you like itf Isnt
IL becoming?"
Alice turned around in imitation OF
the style.show mannikins displaying
to its best advantage the limited
glories of her new blue wolfe dress. L
was a pretty dress, and becoming, T.
be sure, but II lacked the something
that well that Vera pemmingf
clothes had.
She had heard It all her life-hoV
| so many marriages were unhappy be
cause men lost interest In their wiveI
when they became careless about thei
appearance and Indifferent to styles
So Alice tried doubly hard to look he
best, but Ii seemed that Lloyd was 81
different" he never "enthused" abou
her appearance. Why didn't he cal
her peach" CLASSY" and sucl
things? Just to win some word o
praise from him she had worked lat
the night before to finish the blu
dress to wear today to the shore part!
where they, with the other member
of the Pawling Avenue club, had beer
invited to visit Mrs Carriers summel
home.
"You bet It's prettler than any
thing Vera ever had"
The answer was all that she could
have hoped for, but some way 1t hurl
for Alice knew u wasn't true and be
lieved Lloyd said 1t just to please her
because she expected him to- Oh, II
he would only rave about her the way
fellows were supposed to!
"Why, my little grille, what's the
matter2 Have l gone and said the
wrong thing again2 OF course you
look nlce-you always look nice, "a
me-"
''Yes-and 1 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 bad looking "object," either,
was Carl Houghton, arrayed in the
sportlest of white flannels, and-but
his eyes were 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 aIonef Sit you here
by me and regard the laboring
classes, toilng for our 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-
ioying the afternoon more than she
was she felt sure, as the sound of
: their merry laughter came to her
ears.
SWELL" 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.
After that the afternoon seemed
long indeed. 1t 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
ly by the window. Some one outside
was speaking and she overheard her
! own name. She paused to listen and
recognized Carl's voice. m
D But Vera" he was saying, II
! didn't say that Alice looked better
2 than you do, only said she had on
' very neat dress, one much more APP
I propriate to an outing like this than
|. yours. OF course / didn't mean that
; about Alice. because you always look
nice, to me-"
e The familiar sound Of those words
. made Alice smile as she went on with
! her work. Perhaps II was a tired,
sad little smile. for when Lloyd came
= rushing into the kitchen moment
later he exclaimed:
"why, weetheart-what's the mat
te-all tired outf Where's Verat
: Did she 20 and leave you alone with
: all this work? 'Fraid Of spelling her
! skirt again probably"
"Maybe, but I noticed that that
same skirt seemed rather attractive
, to you this afternoon" Alice replied,
: sarcastieally.
"Satin, was lit Humph. I didn't
! notice what IL was. All know Is
: she put In a pretty unhappy after
: noon on account Of II. She was bub-
! bling over with her troubles. She
A and Carl had some kind OF quarrel"
$50 you took upon yourself the very
a unpleasant task Of heart-healer, or
a something, / suppose"