, 1922-08-10
Peter and
Daphne
BY MAUNA COWLES
e. 1922. by Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.

$1,000 hH> FCAAiStRA VA NA1
three sisters. Peter in question had
come home to enjoy the leisure of a
Saturday half-holiday. A new book.
a magazine or two, a pipe and a
chaise Tongue on the awning-sheltered
terrace had left Peter feeling the con-
tent of a mild summer afternoon.
Alice's %reproving peter, Peter was
the cloud floating by on the cloudless
sky. For, ever since Peter had been
brought up as the youngest child in
a household of three older sisters. he
had become accustomed to having all
his seedlings and %reproving begin with
just these two words.
There was never any installing
about the nature of the comments to
follow, so Peter said: "Well, what's
the natter? What have l lone to
~displease your majesty?" Alice was
only n year older than Peter and he
especially objected to her reproofs.
Peter, DEAR" she said, taking a
seat near his. 81 saw you downtown
this noon, and Peter, Peter-there
was a hole in you stocking. l was
walking behind you and honestly l
saw the hole first and wondered what
sort of man could be so careless, and
then 1 realized that 1t was our darling
Peter"
Thanks said Peter. "rll change
'em before dinner" He began read
ing furiously and Alice moved into
the background of the garden beyond.
Half an hour before dinner Peter
went to his room to freshen up, and
a good fifteen minutes of that time
was spent searching through bureau
drawers in search of n pair of hole
less socks. At length he found a pair,
one solitary pair among fifty pairs or
so that were more or less unsound.
81 IA manage to wear these to-
morrow and Monday" reflected Peter,
"and I'll get one of the girls to mend
some up IN Monday"
So Monday morning he approached
the middle sister, Janet.
eff you haven't anything else to do,
some time today" he began with what
he thought considerable diplomacy.
"you might mend a few of the best
of the socks I've laid out on my bed.
I've such a skad of them that | don't
like the idea of buying any more, so
if you haven't anything else to do"
Janet interrupted:
Peter, Peter" she began in dulcet
but reproving tones. That's Just like
a man. He assumes because n woman
has no regular business that she
hasn't anything to do. 1 can assure
you that when l marry Tom he'll have
to look at things from a different
angle. Really, il is so ridiculous.
Men spend fortunes educating and
~cultivating ONE They send them
TO college, have their voices trained.
have them learn all the arts and all
the graces and then they say: Since
you haven't anything else to do,
please darn my socks Really, Peter,
! don't want to be ~disagreeable. It's
the principle of the thing. When l
want my automobile painted or re-
tired 1 don't get you to do II. | take
1t to a garage, because I know you
have something else to do. | don't
even darn my own stockings and I
don't intend to darn Toms, so I don't
see why l should take on yours"
Peter excused himself from the
feminine circle of sisters a little early.
In his own sitting room he u%nwrapped
a small parcel containing darning cot.
ton and silk. a large thimble and a
paper of needles. The girl at the no.
tiOn counter of a department store
had told him that this was the neces-
sary paraphernalia. Then he sat
erect and uncomfortable by the side of
his reading table and tried to master
the art OF darning. assuring himself
that there was no use in describing
fifty pairs of socks just because each
pair needed n very little darning.
There was a rap on his door. But
before Peter had time TO gather his
mending equipment together sister
Maud had come in.
Peter, Peter said Maud. scorn
in her voice and in her eyes. 81 can't
imagine n brother of mine doing any
thing like that. | thought you were
n regular man, but | see you aren't.
! hope that you don't tell our friends
that you have to mend your own
stockings
Peter gathered the socks and the
mendlng things together with IA hang
dog look and then asked his sister to
take a seat But Maud did not. She
had been o seriously shocked.
The next Saturday afternoon Peter
made n neat package containing ten
or fifteen pairs OF socks and Jared
forth. He was going TO try and find
some oldish person who would be
willing TO darn socks II well paid.
He had no idea where he was going
10 find one. He started thinking SO
an inspiration might come. But be-
fore anything like an inspiration had
come he spicd his three sisters COM
Ing M the street. No street Ia turn
down lay between him and the trio.
one of them, probably janet. a true