Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-25


Velvet and scro'Lwork. onyx and
marble. mirrors and gilt frames-dear
me. how grand the elevator was,
1t looked exactly like the room ]
always thought Of when | was a little
girl curled up on a branch in the old
apple tree, eating an apple. and read
ing out of the red fairy book
The story about the young man who
was walking in the forest and tripped
over a stone and fell down a long
(, flight Of marble stairs into a per
fectly wonderful room all marble and
satin and velvet, where there was q
beautiful princess sitting in a hugh
a gold chair, crusted with diamonds
fast asleep.
There was a perfume in the eleva-
tor that was just like the perfumes
in the red fairy book-sort of exotic
and delicate and wistful, like a smile
3 you want to forget and can't.
oh. yes, it really was quite intrigu-
ing. the whole atmosphere OF that ele-
vator. And the people i'll it.
Some of them looked as If they
had Just stepped ont of a revue at a
smart theater, and one was precisely
like the tall persons you see. on the
cover of a fashion magazine. And
one Of the men wore an eye-glass
and carried "A little stick and his
clothes were distressingly correct
. Give Got a Baby Brother"
And nobody looked at anybody.
Nobody spoke and nobody nodded and
nobody smiled. They all just stared
right straight in front of them like
people in a trance-and there was
something the matter with the eleva-
tor and we had to stand there togeth-
or for quite a few minutes.
Finally q rather pleasant looking
elderly woman smiled and then she
spoke.
WELL she said. What a beauti-
full baby you have. little girl. What's
the child's name:"
And everybody looked shocked-all
but the little girl il blue-She wasn't
shocked at all or surprised either.
The baby was beautiful even if it
was only a doll-baby, and why
shouldn't people speak Of it?
She lifted her blue eyes and they
were as clear and cloudless as the sky
on a sunny day in June-you could
hear birds singing when you looked at
them, and brown water running by
over the stones and the rustic of little
silver-Iined leaves in the breeze. And
way off somewhere toward the hori-
zon--a dog barking.
All these things they made you think
Of. the clear blue eyes of the little
girl in blue.
Her name" she said. lis Bertha
Evelyn. She's six months old today.
and I'm afraid I'll have to have her
teeth attended to-they seem to be
troubling her, poor little thing"
And she laid her rosy cheek lovingly
10 the cheek Of Bertha Evelyn as if
to soothe the pain Of an aching tooth,
then her eyes lighted with sudden JOY.
If 1t Weren't for Children
she isn't the only baby in our fam
ilr,' she said. I've got "A baby broth
or. too. A real one. He came last
week. and
"Sh-h," said the nurse stepping in
front of the little girl in blue and
looking at her severely. "Sh-h."
But it was too late. We had all
turned into human beings. The man
with the eye-glass grinned sheepishly
and looked ike someone who would
lend you a dollar if he thought you
really needed ii.
= The fashion-plate lady smiled and
she had dimples-there was no dis
guising that.
N And the woman in the farthest cor
ner-the one with the tired eyes. and
The hair Of such a strange color-she
fmiled. too. under her veil-but there
were tears in her eyes.
And hen the elevator started and
we all got off at different floors, and
every one of us said good-by to Ber-
tina Evelyn and her little mother.
What bloodless automA,ons we'd all
turn into if it weren't for the children,
bless their heartsiF
They're all that keeps this gray old
worlJ from whitening up and blowing
away.