The Hope pioneer., 1922-05-11

uSu0As Auu us usual was wandering
round looking for something to do.
wanted to play on the piano, but
didn't dare to-not with all thoea
dead-hair and wax-fower folks in the
parlor watching me, and the chance Of
Fathers coming in as he did before.
was standing in the window star
ing out at nothing-it wasn't quite
dark yet-when again had that queer
feeling that somebody was looking at
me. l turned-and there was Father.
He had come in and was sitting in the
big chair by the table. But this time
he didn't look right away as usual and
give me chance to slip quietly out
of the room, as always had before.
Instead he said:
"What are you doing there, Mary?"
"Just Hooking out the window"
"Come here. want to talk to YOU"
| "Yes, Father"
l went, of course, at once and sat
down in the chair near him. He
hitched again in his seat.
'Why don't you do something-read,
sew, knit?" he demanded. "Why do
always find you moping around, doing
nothing?"
Just like that he said it; and when
he had just told me
"Why, Father!" l cried; and l know
that l showed how surprised / was.
Il thought you just said couldn't do
nothfng-that nobody could!"
"Eh? What! Tut. tut!" He seemed
very angry at first; then suddenly he
looked sharply into my face. Next. If
you'll believe it, he laughed-the
queer little chuckle under his breath
that I've heard him give two or three
times when there was something he
thought was funny. "Humph!" he
grunted Then he gave me another
sharp look out of his eyes, and said:
Il don't think you meant that to be
quite so impertinent as it sounded,
Mary, so We'll let it pass-this time.
I'll put my question this way: Don't
you ever knit or read or sew"
Il do sew every day in Aunt James
room, ten minutes hemming, ten min
utes scanning, and ten minutes bastiag
patchwork squares together. l don't
know how to knit"
"How about reading? Don't you
care for reading?"
"Why, of course do. l love it!" l
cried. "And l do read lots-at
home."
"At-home?"
l knew, then, of course, that I'd
made another awful break. There
wasn't any smile around Fathers eyes
now, and his lips came together hard
and thin over that last word.
"At-at my home," stammered. 81
mean, my other home"
"Humph!" grunted Father. Then,
after minute: But why, pray, can't
you read here? I'm sure there are
books enough" He f1ourished his
hands toward the bookcases all
around the room.
"Oh, do-a little; but, you see
I'm so afraid I'll leave some Of them
out when I'm through" l explained.
"Well, what Of it? What if you dor
he demanded.
"Why, Father!" I tried to show by
the way said it that he knew-o1
course he knew. But he made me tel
him right out that Aunt Jane wouldn't
like it, and that the books always ha(
to be kept exactly where they be
longed.
"Well, why not? Why shouldn't
they? Aren't books down there-il
Boston-kept where they belong
pray?"
1t was the first time since I'd come
that he'd ever mentioned Boston; ant
l almost jumped out of my chair whel
I heard him. But soon saw it wasn',
going to be the last, for right ther
and there he began to question me
even worse than Aunt Jane had
He'd been up on his feet, trampinl
up and down the room all the time
I'd been talking; and now, all Of 6
sudden, he wheels around and stop:
short.
"How is-your mother, Mary?" hi
asks. And it was just as If he't
opened the door to another room, hi
had such a whole lot Of questions Il
ask after that. And when he'd fin
. ished he knew everything: what time
we got up and went to bed, and wha1
T we did all day, and the parties ant
dinners and auto rides, and the folks
. that came such q lot to see Mother.
Then all of a sudden he stopped
asking questions, l mean. He stopped
just as suddenly as he'd begun. Why
was right in the middle of telling
about a concert for charity we got VI
just before I came away, and how
. Mother had practiced for days ant
, days with the young man who played
the violin, when all Of sudden Fa
, ther jerked his watch from his pocke
and said:
There, there, Mary, it's getting
late. You've talked enough-tot
much. Now 60 to bed. Good night"
Talked too much, indeed! Ant
who'd been making me do all the
talking, should like to know? But
of course, I couldn't say anything