The Holbrook news., 1922-04-28

I'm so afraid I'll leave some of them out when I'm through" I explained.
 "Well. what Of il: What if you dor" he demanded.
 Why. Father" 1 tried to show by the way l said il that he knew-of course he knew. But he made me Iell him right our that Aunt Jane wouldn't like il. and thar the books always had to be kept exactly where they be- lOnged
 Well. why not? Why shouldn't they? Aren't books down therein Boston-kept where they belong prayf'
 It was the first time since I'd come that he'd ever mentioned Boston; and l almost jumped ont of my chair when I heard him. Bur I soon saw 1T wasn't going to be the last. for right then and there he began 10 question me. even worse than Aunt Jane had,
 He wanted to know everything. everything: all about the house, with its cushions and coZy corners and cur tainS way up. and books left around easy to get, and magazines. and Baby LesteR and the fun we had romping with him. and everything. Only. Of course. didn't mention Mother. Aunt Jane had told me not to-not any where: and 10 be specially careful be- when he asks you himself, right our plain? And that's what he did.
 He'd been up on his feet, tramping up and dGwn the room all the time I'd been talking, and now. all 1f E sudden, he wheels around and stops short.
 How is-yonr mother. Nary" he asks. And 1t was just as If he'd opened the door to another room, he had such q whole lot of questions to ask after that. And when he'd fin- ished he knew everything: what time we got up and went to bed, and what we did all day and the parties and dinners and auto rides. and the folks thar came such a lot 10 see Mother.
 Then all of q sudden he stopped- asking questions, I mean. He stopped just as suddenly as he'd begun. Why, wus right in the middle of telling about concert for charity we got up Just before l came away. and how Mother had practiced for days and days with the young man who played the violin when all Of sudden Fa- ther jerked his watch from his pocket and said:
 There there. Mary, it's getting late. You've talked enOugh-tOo much. Now go to bed. Good night"
 Talked too much indeed And who'd been making me do all the talking. l should like to know? But, of course. 1 couldn't say anything. That's the unfair part of 1t. Old folks can say anything. anything they want to to you. but you can't say thing back 10 thenl-nOt thing.
 And so 1 went to bed. And the next day all that Father said 10 me was. "GoodmOrnlng, Mary" and Goodnight" just as he had ever since l came. And that's all he's said yesterday and today. Bur he's looked times and others, when he's been in the room with me, I've looked up and found his eyes on me. Funny, isn't fl? TWO WEEKS LATER
 Well l don't know as I have any | lf .i.l I pose l ought to write something; so I'll put down what little there is.
 of course, there doesn't so much happen here. anyway, as there does at calling it home down to Boston as If this wasn't home at all. II makes Aunt Jane very. very angry, and l don't think Father likes 1t very well) But. as 1 was saying, there really doesn't so much happen here as there does down to Boston; and 1t isn't nearly so But, there. I suppose I mustn't expect it to be interesting. I'm Mary now. not Marie.
 There aren't any teas and dinners
 
 ful-eyed prospective suitOrs here My! Wouldn't Aunt Jane have four fits? And Father. too. But I'd just like to put one of Mothers teas with the little cakes and flowers and talk and tink ling laughs down in Aunt Jane's par Tor. and then watch what happened. Oh. of course the party couldn't stand it long-nOt in there with the hair wreath and the coffin plate. But they could stand it long enough for Father to thunder from the library. Jane, what in Heavens name Is the mean ing of all this?' And for Aunt Jane to give one look al the kind of clothes real folks wear, and then flee with her hands to her ears and her eyes up- raised to The ceiling. Wouldn't il be fun?
 But. there. What's the use of imag- ming perfectly crazy. impossible things like that? We haven't had a thing here in that parlor since l came hut one missionary meeting and one .adies' Aid Sewing circle; and after tEe last one (the sewing circle) Aunt Jane worked a whole day picking threads off the carpet. and smooth ing down the linen covers because they'd got so mussed up. And I heard her tell the hired girl that she shouldn't have that sewing circle here again in hurry, and when she did have them they'd have to sew in the dining room with sheet spread down tn catch the threads. My, but I would like to see Aunt Jane with one of Mothers teas in her parlor!