Evening star., 1922-10-26


Pumpkin Shell. and two small per-
sons. little red-haired persons In clean
yellow rompers, sat Importantly In
the rear Of that car. And bronze
haired person. in spick-spandy clean
white sweater and skirt and shoes.
pulled a gay tam over her curls and
gave one last glance. Of inspection,
one anxious "once over" The, school
contrary" had begun!
Little low breakfast tables. four
OF them, each set for four, were park
ed in the dining room. And fat.
cushiony. comfortable old person
from the kitchen door cried:
Ethel, You most forgot to give
Miss Merry her bell!"
A straight young thing in clean
blue chambray dashed out OF the door
Of the Pumpkin Shell with q perfect
ly enormous brass dinner bell-whose
clapper had been mercifully removed
serted--to cry:
Walt, Mrs. Lindsay. watt.
And Merriam Lindsay. very modern
schooima am. pa useu Q tux II .rr
under Ethel's chin before she started
her car.
Ethel, you'll grow dusty on mind
reading. because ] Just naturally
haven't any mind for you to read!"
Yes m. va. a l. hei, &c ri y
Susan Sue had suggested that Ricky
and Dicky would better be left at
home while their mother collected her
pupils. -,
why. then i wouldn't be able to get
any customers! Kicks and Dicks are
my samples of what 1 can do"
So the twins went along, making
themselves very small SOS to leave
sang all the way. Dicky would carry
the tune and Ricky knew all the
words. and there were verses and
verses and verses, all of which began
"Ding, dong, bell" And one Of them
followed the original. like this:
"Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Tommy Green--'
and dashed off in:o what Merriam
called the advertisement part-when
ii added,
The worst manners ever seen
Oh we never put our pussy In our we'll,
Ding dong bell.'
They stopped at small white
house and picked up three year old
crosspatch, who scowled at them all.
..She is simply in an awful humor.''
her nervous mother informed the col
lecting scnoolma' am. I'VE cant do a
thing with her"
can. Salu MistIeSS AleETy, Oe-
cause l was that kind Of kiddie
myself
They stopped at a big graystone
house and picked up two small boys,
eta TWO and haf-pas 'hree.
They are young fends! growled
a harassed father. Seems like their
mother would never get home from
the hospital. don't know what you'll
do with 'em. the servants have spoiled
'em So
Hist" Merriam flashed him a be-
wildering smile. Il shall vamp them
And when she had whirled these
off to the Pumpkin Shell she started
more. and the oldest in the lot wasn't
more than five years old. because.
its too hard to unteach such elderly
folk-you just can't teach old dogs new
tricks"
By $50 that shiny morning all
were parked about those wee break
fast tables with Susan and Ethel and
Merriam tying perfectly fascinating
.bibs under their chins.
That first breakfast was an awful
ordeal. Some of them giggled. and
some of them howled. and some put
their fists in their cereals, and some
of them blew bubbles with their milk.
But all of them were fed. even the
languid ones whose appetites needed
coaxing. and every little face was
swabbed clean-and some of them
with her cheeks as flushed as any Of
theirs, and her curls more tumbled,
cast a contemplative eye upon the
lot and began the diplomatic task Of
separating the sheep from the goats.
And some Of them she corralled by
the sand pile. and some Of them she
presented with roundjpointed scis--
sors and paper dolls. and some of
them she let fight over the go-carts
and kiddie cars.
There was no system to that first
session of the school contrary: II
had told their parents; And she did!
For they were not at sweet sixteen:
But all day long. out over those
Long Island hills and plains, relieved
young mothers golfed or tennised or
bridged to their hearts content. And
some of them pitted one Mrs John
Munro Lindsay. and some of them
commented on her pluck. and all of
them laughed as they recalled the
way she had collected clients.
With gay bandnnana tied about
her curls. and most piratical air, she
earlier and leve!ed candy gun at
their defenseIess heads.
"vour kiddies or my 1ife:" she had
begun. I've a living to earn for my
babies and my dog and me! And you
have an infant with the worst man
ners ever seen! Takes after his fam
ily-its not your fault. l want your
child every day or any day from 80
to $50. I'll provide meals, clean
duds, maps, manners and morals.
Bills payable every Saturday night.
I'll unteach your darling all the
wrong things. I'll teach your bless
ing the importantest things in life
how to smile. and when not to smile,
and how to blow a nose. and why we
mustn't scuff toes and how to handle
lollypop or any pop, and what to
do with olive pits. and beautiful mo-
tor manners, and how to treat police
men and presidents and prudes"
Its queer. her doing it; her father
has scads of money!
"Unless her absconding husband
took that, tool" scoffed somebody.
Which wouldn't have worried Mer-
riam if she had heard 1t. She rarely
had minute 10 worry these days; she
had almost solved the secret Of per-
petual motion. For she had wished
a heroic task upon herself. 1t kept
her racing, morning, noon and night.
BY the end of the first week she had
expelled the hopeless ones, shut her
laws over the Withdrawals, gone cut
and canvassed for enough to fill the
vacancies and learned a great many
things not to do.
Richard Slocum came upon her one
evening", at almost midnight, strug-
s""<.~>~~~.~~.~~.>>.><>>,4