Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-04-20
the dressmaker's hands; never rest

never satisfied, stopping to
think. Judy Moran's trouble was
that she was too fat: nothing else
really penetrated the shell'of her in
good nature. Kenneth might
be politely dropped from the fl My
firm. her husband might die and be
laid away, her brother -in-law SOM
mence an ugly suit for the reclama-
ton Of certain Jewels and silver
tableware, but all these things meant
far less to Mrs. Moran than the .un-
Gathering truths her bedroom scales
reached the age Of fifty without ever
acquiring sufficient '~self-control to rid
herself Of the surplus forty pounds.
yet she never buttered a mud1n at
breakfast time, Of crushed a French
pastry with her work at noon, with
out IN inward protest. She spent
large sums OF money for corsets and
gowns that would disguise her I'M
mense weight rather than deny her
self one cup Of creamed- and-sugared
tea OF n box Of chocolates. And she
graph, or an unexpected glimpse OF
herself in a. mirror. brought to her
notice afresh the dreadful two hun
dred aid twenty pounds ="
And Elinor had her absurd and UNI
necessary troubles. ricbf mans wife
as She was now and firmly established
inD the social group upon whose out
skirts she had fingered so long. The
single state of her four sisters was a
constant annoyance to her, especially
as Peter was not fond of the girls,
"spinsters'' and "old maids" and to
ask more entertaining and younger
women to the house. Elinor had
never wanted a child. but in the third
or fourth year of her marriage she
had begun to perceive that 1t might
be wise to give her worldly old hus-
hand an heir, much better that. at
any cost, than to encourage his fond
ness for Barbara. ELEPHANTS boy, his
namesake nephew, who was an off,
cious. ~self-satisied little lad of
operate in Elinors maternal plans
and Peter Junior did not make his
appearance at the big house on the
avenue. Elinor grew yearly noisier.
more reckless, more shallow; she
rushed about -excitedly from place to
place. sometimes with Peter,
times with n Of her sisters; not
happy in either case. but much given
to Quarrelsome questioning of life. It
WdS uOt SAdL SIlS COulO HOL SSC what
she wanted so much as h a she did
not know her own. mind and heart.
Whatever was momentarily tirceome
or distasteful must be pushed out of
her path, and al almost every friend
and every human experience came
sooner or later into this category,
Elinor found herself stranded in the
very centre of life.
Alice had her troubles, too, but
when her thoughts came to Alice,
Rachael found q certain envy in her
she could AVE Welcomed: she could
have cried with sheer Joy at the
thought that her life might some day
slip into the ame groove ~ Alice's
life. Rachael loved the atmosphere
lot HhA big, shabby houAe now; It wal
the only ,pla6e to which she really
Icared to 60. Thefe was in Alice Val.
ientine's chaxactef something simple,
direct, and high-prncipled that COM
muuicated itself TO everybody and
everything in her houssheA A small
girl in her nursery might show
symptoms Of d%iphtherta. 4 broken tile
on the roof might Idelu<e tho bed
room ceilings. an old cook leave sud.
denly, or heavy rain fall upon a
lSunday predAstined for p~icknickins,
but Alice Valentino, plain, slow OF
speech. and Nslow. OF thought, went
her serene way, nursing. consoling,
repairing, readjuPttng..
she had her cares about George;
but they were not like Rachael'i
lcares for Warren. Alice knew him to
be none too strong, easily tired, often
discouraged. His professional sue
, cesses many. but there were
times when the collapse Of q. tiny
Ichild in q free hospital could blot
from Georges simple. big, tender
HEART the memory Of dozen achieves
mentS. Tho wifs1 deep in sthe claims
|of her four growing children. some
times .longed TO put her arms about
him, TO run away with him TO- some
quiet land Of sunshine apd palms.
Ieome lazy. curve OF white beach
where he could rest and sleap.s and
drift back to his old splendid energy
and stspnstt. She lonSed to cook tor
[hthA the old dishes he had loved IN
tbs early dAys-ee their-maxr4aSAs.t n