Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-03
THE DAILY NOTELETTE
PRETTY GIRLS
By Liliiace VI. Mitchell
TiE State Bank of Remington Ii

TNiE State Bank Of Remington had
L just installed machine which OBJ
waited human adding and subtracting-
one which totalcd n column "f figures
in neat little typewrittcn letters. much
to the as'oniShmcnt of the elder men
of the village. who declared that "it
cant be done. The company which
made the machine suggested that they
send some one up TO their school for
two or three weeks to learn how to
operate the machine efficiently. And.
OF course, there was no one but Ed
Collins to go. Ed Collins was the only
one who worked in the bank except the
president.
Ed Collins was delighted at the pros
rect OF going. | !c rushed right down
Main street as fast as he could to tell
Anna about it. lie felt confident that
she would be quite rs delighted as he.
But she wasn't. She was sweeping the
front porch. which was already speCk-
less. Her hair was in Il soft coil at
the back Of her head and there were
slight pufTs over each car. Her crisp
blue apron had perky bow of white
lawn holding il together ut the back.
and her checks were pink from the cX-
ercisc of sweeping. Altogether she was
pretty sight-pink and blue and
creamy skin topped by golden hair. She
was not beautiful. There were at least
half a doz,n girls prct,icr in Rcming-
ton than she. hut some way Or other
Anna and Ed had always gone to-
Sethcr, ''as the folks in Remington said.
Ed was thinking about all of this as
he sat in the living room of his aunt $
tiny fiat on the next Saturday morn
ing. lie had applied himself to the
work at the school and had learned all
that he needed to know for the bank
work and was ready TO start home
again. When his aunt had suggested
staying in the city until Sunday night
he bad eagerly accepted the invitation,
for h" wanted tn look about Il little.
He had been dumfoundrd when he had
first seen the vast numbers of pretty
girls that lived in the city. lie had
heard vaguely that city girls wer"
''look"rS," as the Remington boys said.
but these girls in this n"ighborhOod
/ were absolutely stunning.
There was one upstairs that he had
seen several times in his short stay and
had wished that his nUnL would intro
due" them. This girl was pretty
blonde. whose hair was always waved
and dressed in the latest way. Her skin
was marvclous-a pink and white pune
tuatcd by soft red lips. She had never
looked at him directly, but he had felt
that she knew he was there. She was
fairly young girl. probably not NOR,
than seventeen. That she was yet il
| high school he knew. for he saw hcl
carrying books in and ont in dainty
/ fashion.
ED. there's tho postman. Run dow
! and get the mail for me- called hi
aunt from the back Of the fiat.
Ed felt annoyed at her use of th'
| third person. 1t made him seem suci
! kid Couldn't women ever rcaliz'
that a fellow was n man by the tim'
he was working and earning living
! He rose and moved reward rnc from
door. There was another little tinkl
Of the bell as he opened the front doo
and looking down he saw Il girls figure
wrapped in a dressing gown Of blu
velvet ahead of him. lie was about I,
step back and wait until she had re
turned to her apartment, but the post
mans call, "Registercd letter to sigl
for" made him continue his descent.
lie saw now by the golden hair that
it was the girl from upstairs who wore
the blue gown. She was trailing down
slowly. Her mothers voice from above
came:
"RcIc, was that the post
Belle What Il wonderful name
How fitting Ed had had enough Fr"nrI
in tho Remington High School to rccnI
that Belle translates into the EngItsI
word pretty. IIc ambIcd downstairs
little quicker. The idea flashed int,
his mind that Belle was far NOR,
attractive name than was Anna.
"Thcre's two cents due on this letter
miss" said the postman, with his eye
on the pile of letters in his hand,
"Wcl, by gosh. - cam" ih" higI
voice Of the girl. who seemed to b
angry from her tone. 'why didn't you
say 50 before l lcapcd way down
hcrc:'
Ed grinncd as he thought Of the Ian
guorons descent which she characterized
as "lcaping." Small towns might b.
slow. but-Bclle had turned to so bacl
for the required two cents.
Her front hair was done up in som
remarkable way in metal favcrs. Col
cream had been lavishIy smcarcd o
her face and still lay there waiting T.
be rubbed or washed off. No vestig
of color marked her face, neither tn
lips, which were II mere lac pink il
color, nor the checks, which were un
deniably white.
, Guess I'll 20 back tonight" he sal
,, to his aunt as he handed her the mail.
! "Wcll, just as you like" said hi