Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1921-08-05
ALICE'S BLUE GOWN
BY MIzPAH r. BUckINeHAm

IL becoming
Alice turned around in Imitation ii
the style-show mannikins. disnlor,s
to its best advantage the llm,tas
glories of her new blue wolfe dross :
was pretty dress, and becomine
be sure, but 1t lacked the "somatb,nsO
that well that Vera Demminr's
clothes had.
She had heard 1t all her life-ho.
so many marriages were unhapnv \.
cause men lost interest in their wive.
when they became careless abouf tba,.
appearance and Indifferent to stvlos
So Alice tried doubly hard to look no.
best, but 1t seemed that IIoyd wac =
different" he never "enthusedp ahor,
her appearance. Why didn't no cali
her a peach" CLASSY" and spch
things? Just to win some word ~
praise from him she had worked lsta
the night before to finish the h,uo
dress to wear today to the shore mart,
where they, with the other members
of the Pawling Avenue club, had bAan
invited to visit Mrs. Carriers summer
home.
"You bet. It's prettier than anv.
thing Vera ever had"
The answer was all that she conla
have hoped for, but some way IT hurt
for Alice knew 1t wasn't true and ha.
lieved Lloyd said 1t Just to please her
because she expected him to. Oh I'll
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 Won
look nice-you always look nice, to
me-"
"Yes-and l guess l do to other
folks, too. I'm tired of your being 50
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 a bad looking object" either,
was Carl Houghton, arrayed In the
SportieSt of white tlannels, 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 labOrng
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 50 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, 81 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 Carts voice.
But, Vera" he was saying,
didn't say that Alice looked better
than you do, | only said she had Cd
very neat dress, one much more aF
propriate to an outing like this thaD
yours. OF course l didn't mean tha'
about Alice, because you always loOa
| nice, to me-"
The familiar sound of those wofus
made Alice smile as she went on WIN
her work. Perhaps 1t was tlreu
sad little smile, for when Lloyd CAM
rushing into the kitchen monen'
later he exclaimed:
why, sweetheart-whats the mar
ter-all tired out? Where's vera
Did she go and leave you alone wiz
| all this work? 'Fraid of spelling DE-
skirt again probably
Maybe, but | noticed that tna'
same skirt seemed rather attracu'
to you this afternoon" Alice rephe1
sarcastically.
Satin, was it? Humph. l diop
notice what 1t was. All | know
she put in a pretty unhappy ai''.
noon on account of it. She was pay
bling over with her troubles. '
and Carl had some kind Of quarrei-
$50 you took upon yourself the W..
unnlaaaant fack Of haa ri healer W