Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1921-09-21
ALLEGES BLUE GOWN
BY MIZPAH F. BUCKINGHAM

|
to it's best advantage the limited
glories of her new blue wolfe dress. 1t
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 all her life-how
so many marriages were unhappy be-
| cause men lost interest in their wives
when they became careless about their
| appearance and Indifferent to styles.
| So Alice tried doubly hard to look her
best, but it seemed that Lloyd was so
different" he never "enthused" about
her appearance. Why didn't he call
her peach" Classy" and such
things? 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 1t wasn't true and be-
lieved Lloyd said it just to please her,
because she expected him to. Oh, If
he would only rave about her the way
fellows were supposed to!
"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 1 guess 1 do to other
folks, too. Pm 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 Alices 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
sportiest Of white fiannels, 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.
"Oho, my sweet Alice of the Alice
blue gown, why dost thou waste thy
fair beauty here alone? Sit you here
by me and regard the laboring
classes, toiling 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-
joying the afternoon more 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.
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.
But, Vera" he was saying II
didn't say that Alice looked better
than you do, only said she had on
a very neat dress, one much more APP
propriate to an outing like this than
yours. OF course I 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 1t was tired,
! sad little smile, for when Lloyd came
rushing into the kitchen moment
later he exclaimed:
"Why, northumberland the mat
ter-all tired out? Where's Vera?
Did she go and leave you alone with
all this work? 'Fraid Of spelling her
skirt again probably"
maybe, but 1 noticed that that
same skirt seemed rather attractive
to you this afternoon" Alice replied.
sarcastically.
Satin, was it? Humph. l didn't
notice what 1t was. All I know is
she put in a pretty unhappy after
noon on account Of 1t. She was bub-
bling over with her troubles. She
and Carl had some kind Of quarrel"
80 you took upon yourself the very
unpleasant task Of heart-healer. or
something, l suppose"
"Alice, be sensible. You and Carl
seemed to be getting along rather