Evening star., 1922-03-19

DEAILY." says I. stepping over Il
IN the mantelpiece and taking al
envelope from behind the near-nla
hosany clock That being the case
I'd Just like to have you take slam
at these"
Did you ever try to shoe pig in-S
a pen when he was headed toward =;
cabbage patch? Not that / want t.
cast any asparagus on the menta
makeup of Miss Inez Petersen. hut
will say that doesn't react quickly K
new ideas. For fully two minutes shs
sits staring at those green slips anf
then looks up at me stupid.
What for. these?" she asks.
Read 'em and SMILE" says ]
'Tsn't the description printed on then
plainly enough: Those are three round.
trip steamer ticket%New York tc
Florida and back
But Inez simply blinks.
"Florida 81. says she. For who?'
For u.s." says I. For you and me
and Uncle Nels. They're all paid for
too"
"Eh?'' says she. lingering over the
slips again. ''Who got 'em?"
"one of the shiftiest old boys that
ever came out of Sweden" says I.
your Uncle Nels.'
With that she shifts her gum and
favors me with two more blinks.
'Hey?" says she.
"oh, come out of it, says l. BE
human for once. Inez. Listen! That
was all bunk about his having lost
his money-just a scheme of his to
test US out. And it broke our way
beautifully. Our taking him in and
making Q fuss over him when he
showed up in old clothes and pre-
tended to be fiat broke was a big
play. Course, we meant it all But
that's just what Uncle Nels wanted
to find out. And now he's going to
blow US to q trip to the sunny south
on a steamer that sails next Satur-
day. Do you get that"
CHE did gradually. You could al
- most see the idea trickling down
through the bony part. And when it
finally registers. does 1nez hop up.
grab me by the shoulders and waltz
me around the studio In wild
spasm of joy? She does not! She
stops blinking at me and stares once
more at the tickets.
SATURDAY." says she. by Florida?
That's swell. amt it,"
Which wasn't exactly indulging in
wild Mysteries of joy, was 1t? And,
prepared as was for mild exhibi-
tion, she had me gawping at her.
"Ain't nature grand?" I murmured.
Hey" says Inez.
81 was just quoting popular song.
Inez," says I, "and thinking that the
ran who wrote the classic words
must have had you in mind. Honest.
cid dear. trying to get a rise out Of
you is just as much use as tickling
a stone lion in the ribs withNa feather.
However, ] suppose you are as thrilled
as you can be. with your Minnesota
disposition. Think you can be ready
on time?"
Sure" says Inez. ''Ill call that
Mister Lefeur on the phone and dis
charge myself. Then all I gotta do
is pack my trunk
That's what it is to have, single
track mind. Things are so simple.
How about thin summer dresses?"
Il suggests.
TT amt summer yet" protests Inez.
But 1t will be down there, you
know" says I.
In March, says Inez. Say, don't
you believe all YOU read in them ad-
yertisin' books"
And while I had read a lot about
the Florida climate and seen plenty
of pictures of mid winter bathing and
that sort of thing. I really couldn't
get up much enthusiasm for buying
organdie frocks and straw hats. Be-
sides, they were so hard to find at
this season in the stores. Yes. they'd
had 'em in the January southern
trade, and they'd have more next
month for the spring stock. but just
now there was very little left. So I
compromised by digging out a few
things from my last summers outfit
and let it go at that. Nor would
Uncle Nels put any faith in the
steamship pamphlets. He blew him
self to a heavy winter suit at a mark
down sale and added an ulster to his
wardrobe.
DUT with the closing up of the
IL studio and saying good-by to our
friends we had three hectic days. and
when we finally loaded ourselves into
q taxi and drove down to the dock
MY head was in a good deal of a
wnirl. / was glad that Barry Platt
came down to help US get of. for he's
an old hand at steamer travel. Oh.
yes. He'd made several trips on the
Albany night boat and could give us
a lot Of useful information about tip
ping the chief steward and what to
take in our staterooms. He had got
ten us nicely settled, with our suit
cases slowed under the berths, and
we were chatting in the social hall
when a whistle blew and the deck
steward began shouting, "All ashore"
Sorry. Barry. boy" says I, but
that's you.'
Not this time, Trilby May" says
he.
What do you meant" says I.
Why" says he. when I steered
Uncle Nels down to get those tickets
just naturally got SO excited that
bought one for myself. and I'm 60