The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-23

grounds were rather spacious. and ti:e house stood well back from the street
 Mrs. Nixon usually rented her house For the summer months. The summer of 1918 had proved an unprofitablr season for her. It was war time, and the people who lived in the cItIse lproved unduiy reluctant to venture far from their bases of supplies. Conse- ouently Mrs Nixon and her daughtnr Angie remained In occupancy. more hcartsick than ever over the horrors of war. J'.@t as they were about tc give up ho the unexpected happened Joseph P, Singer the reai-estate agent, offices in the Lemson Block. appeared bright and early one morning to in- Guire If the cottage could he had for the month of September and part d; October.
 You may ask any price you like ,Ahbie." he said The letter received th's morning was written on the paper of the Plaza Hotel in New York"
 'Twsll you write and toll the party"
 T am reQuestei 10 telegra ph. Abbie [" said he. "The party wants to know right away"
 As tho result of this conversation and subsequent exchange of tele- wrams the party arrived in Tinkls- fown on tho first day of September SShs came in Q maroon and blacl simousine with . smart looking chauf eeur, French maid. O French poodl, and what all of the up-to- date ladie sn Tinkletown unhesitatingly described ns French gown Ia mode.
 The same dny. man cook and 0 ~hired sirl" arrived from Bogga City, having come up by rau from New York.
 As 10 whether she was young, middle aged or only we'll preserved, no one was In position to Asseverate She was never abroad without the thick. voluminous veil, and her hands were never unglowed Mrs. Nixon and Angie Aescribed her voice as refined and ele- gant, and she spoke English as well as anybody. not excepting Professor Rank es the high school
 By the end of hcr frst week in the Nixon cottage, there wasn't person 7m Tinkietowa. exclusive of small Nabiea. who had not advanced theory concerning Mrs Smith the new ssnant On one point all agreed; ahe vas the most "stuck-up" person ever seen In Tinkietowm
 ghe resoiutsly avoided an contact with her neiShbors. On several occs- sions, polite and cordial citizens had Sowed and mumbicd "Howdy -do- to fher as she passed in the automobile. but there is no record of . single i'm stance in which she paid tho slightest heed to theSe eivilitiea- All of her xnarkettng was done by the man cook and while he was ablc to speak English quite nuontly whom obtecting to the quality. the quantity and the price of svcrythinG he was singuiarly unable to carry on ( conversation in that Ian guags when invited to do SO by friendly ciergs or proprietora
 As for tho Preach chauffeur, his knowledge of English appeared to be limited to an explosive sort of profan- sty. Lvm Gillespie declared on the third day after Mrs. Smiths car first came to lie garage for live storage ,ehat that felle. Francose" knew more English cuss- words than all the Irish men in the world
 The yelled lady did . good many surprising things. Tn tho first place Shs had been in tho Nixon cottage not more than an hour when she ordered the telephone taken out--not merely discontinued. but taken out. She gave no reason. and satisfied the telephone company by making the local manager ,A present of ton dollars. She kept all of the green window shutters open during the day, letting the sunshine siito the rooms to give the carpets the drst surprise they had had In years and at night she sat out on the screened-in porch. with reading lamp. until an hour when many of the residents of Tinkletown were looking out of their windows to see what sort of day tt vas going to be.
 She paid cash for everything. and always with bright, crisp banknotes. fresh from the mint" she slept till noon.
 Nearly every afternoon. directly after luncheon--they called 1t dinner in Tinkletown-she appeared in the back yard and put her extraordinarily bar bored dog through a raft of tricks. Passers-by always paused to watch the performance. She had him walking first on his hind legs then on his front IeEs: then he was catching . tennis ball which she tossed every which way (just as . woman would. said Al: Reesl'ng); and when he wasn't catch ing the ball. he was turning soner- saults or waltzing to the tune she whistled, or playing dead. The poodle's name was Snooks.
 The venerable town marshal Ander- con Crow. sat in front of Lamson's store one hot evening about a week after the advent of the mystery. He was the center of a thoughtful specu- lative group of gentlemen representing the first families of Tinkletown. Among those present were. Ali Reesllns. tn. town drunkard; Harry Squircs. the r.- porter: I'd Higslns. the feed-store man, Justice of tho Peace Rohb; Elmer K. Pratt. the photorrap phcr; Situate M Jones: and two or three othe-s of less note. The shades of niKht had just descended. some of the gentlemen hal already yawncd three or four times.
 'Thcrs amt no law a~ainst wearin' . veil" said the Marshal. The only thing I got as'inst her Is that she's settin' . new stylc In Tinkietown. rr tho last two-three days I've seen norc'n one of our fair sex lookin ~t vs.ls in the Five an Ten Cent Store"
 soay. Anderson broke In Harry OauirsA ~has 1t ever occurred to you
 GM.:AG