Evening star., 1922-03-15
r HEY had been Swapping at each

|T HEY had been swapping at each
| other. You could tell by the
| sulky silence with which they
/ were walking along the flag
ging that divides the Capitol grounds
from the House building across the
way. Then the woman voiced injured
feelings:
| II don't see why I keep on living
with you, anyhow"
And he answered with frankness
that goes with wedding rings:
| "If you think you would rather go
it alone, why don't you try it?"
| Three more yards of sulky silence,
| and then an ejaculation, as joyously
| fresh and buoyant as bird chirpS
| after a rain:
SAY. kid, look at the darling yellow
| blossoms
Beats a robin all hollow! And
| catch on to the sappy spikes along
| the coping-look like little green SOL
| diers on parade!'
| Oh, yes, there are miracles these
days, same as ever. This one was
! Spring!
TWO women who belonged to Lin
coins dear, plain people adven-
tured into a department store to buy
pan. Each retained the lumpy con-
tour and skirt-braid length Of past
that knew not straight fronts and
| silk knees. and both carried baskets
that featured soupbones. Also. their
! good. honest, red hands showed for
! capable drudgery. and to the floor
walker who glimpsed them. bewil-
dered from the revolving door that
had whirled them in. the one who had
| nerve enough to speak voiced her
desire with the loudness of one who
is used to calling across the open
fields. They wanted a pan. 1t had
to be made out of granite. with a
good stout handle and lid with one
| of them black buttons on 1t that
wouldn't burn your fingers when you
teched It," The hoorwalker led them
an aisle. Then he told them to take
They didn't want the elevator: they
wanted a pan. And they were study
ing each others faces with be.
wilderedness that had thrill to /,
door on her passengers and shot the
lift upward.
"oh, 1 know! Why. that's a heller
vator that saves you stair steps
Let's go up once?
"Up that thing? For the lands
sake. Mollie. what you talking about,
Why, that door that tumbled US In
was bad enough, but, anyhow, il
didn't break no bones. guess car
make the pan 1 got do, anyhow
Come on, let's be getting home"
"Oh, come on Annie! All you got to
do is stand quiet and get toted uI
without moving. Come on!'
"You can do it all you got a mind
to. but I amt getting myself killed
by no new-fangled way IN this town
not as long as 1 can keep my five
! good senses together! Besides, we
got to hurry if we're going to make
soup"
"My soup amt going to suffer
Say, look at the people. regular float
ing upward, as If they had wings
See how easy it is! Oh. come on
Annie"
But Annie plainly wasn't built or
the, adventurous plan. She wouldn,,
bulge. She wasn't going to break
her neck when she had dinner to get
1t was palpable that Mollte was al.
ways wanting Annie to break hel
neck.
"All right, then, watch my basket
for me. I'm bound to have try al
every fresh thing that comes along
It's going to be just as easy as the
Washington Monument. Watch me"
minutes Mollie was back again, hel
face a red glow of exhilaration.
IT'S grand! I'm going to do it all
over again"
put your pot on to boil II you're 60
ing to have soup for Jim's dinner
I'm a-going, anyhow-rlght now! Wher