Evening star., 1922-01-29

ways of young men in general. and
my nephew in particular. Still. I
must say that-er-"
"Yes?" l puts in encouraging.
Well" says she, there seems to
be two Of you:"
'"Inez and me-" says I. That's
Inez. standing there with her mouth
open and her hair down. Miss Pc
tersen's her full name"
Thank you." says Aunt Isabel.
"And yours?"
''Trilby May Dodge" says I.
"Ah! says Auntie. "And you both
seem to be rather at home here"
why not:" says l. This is our
fourth week"
She took a short breath at that,
but her control was good. "Inde eed!'
says she. And now may 1 ask where
my nephew is at present."
"Who:" says 1.
"Rumbo," puts in Robert
"Oh. yes. Bumbo!" says T. THE
one you were talking about. Sorry,
but don't know any such person."
What" says Auntie, as could
see her chin stiffening.
Fact" says l. Never heard of
Bumbo. Inez. did you?"
1nez. who has been staring puzzled
at all this. shakes her head.
"But-but this is his studio" saws
Aunt Isabel.
Then I began to get a light on the
subject Before it had been merely a
more or less entertaining mix-up,
that I wasn't in such a hurry to un-
tangle. Now 1 had clue.
What's your nephew's real name ?"
asked.
Richard White" says she.
on: says l. "Dicky White? So
he's Bumbo. is he: Say. that's rich ~
We'll, where is he?" demands Aunt
Isabel.
"Dicky?" says /. why, back in
Utica. l suppose. At least, that's
where we were told he went when
We took over the lease after his folks
shut of his allowance and he had to
quit being an artist. Called home to
a job. I hear. You see, we didn't
meet Dfcky himself. A friend of ours
who knew him found the place for
us and we moved in the day after he
left"
Goo gord: gasps the Robert per-
son. after his usual manner, and
makes a dash for the door. We could
hear him taking the stairs two at a
time.
think Aunt Isabel would have
liked to follow suit. She didn't,
though. For a moment she sat there
biting her lip. and then she looked
across at me and smiled.
"One does make some dreadfully
silly mistakes now and them" says
she.
"Oh, they're bound to happen"
says I.
But at my age" she adds. zone
should know better. I'm afraid
I've been unforgivingly rude"
"You?" says l. Il hadn't noticed
it. Looking up favorite nephew,
weren't you: Natural thing to do"
x Is X X
cd EALLY, Miss Dodge" says she,
~ 'it's sweet of you to put it that
way. You see, 1 did expect to find
him here"
"Sure you did," says I. "And I'll
disappointed than you were."
why" says she. frightening up.
II was disappointed. That's the word.
I'm so glad you noticed"
You took it sporty, though
says l.
And, do You know, in less than
three minutes I had almost kidded
her into believing that all she'd done
was to drop in a bit early for a
friendly call. I did it by stalling
around and covering up what she
really had in mind when she first
walked in on us. You couldn't blame
her SO much at the time. And al
though she began easy enough
could tell afterwards that she'd been
all set to say some bitter words. ]
suppose it was the really decent way
she'd held back that got me feeling
bit sorry for the old girl. Any
way, used up more tact and diplo-
macy in few minutes than 1 gem
orally spray around in the course
of q month. Makes you feel kind of
warm and tingly inside. too, when
you've pulled anything like that.
How about Joining me in a cup
Of coffee?" suggests. '.Afte missing
connections with a relative you may
need bucking up"
Thank you so much," says Aunt
Isabel. "And do you mind If have
a cigarette. too? You see, down there
in Bermuda-"
II get you," says I. you've caught
the habit from the English women.
Inez, toss over some matches"
So we had q nice cozy little chat
together, mostly about me, and how
much better it was to have a big
roomy place like this than to live in
hotel. Not word about Dicky
White and why he'd been yanked
back to Utica-that is, not until just
as she was leaving. .a.
you've been q dear. Trilby May"
says she, "and I've been silly old
lady. But do think Bumbo might
have written, don't you?"
Absolutely" says I. "Bdt II he
had. think Of all I'd have missed.
Watching that Robert person. for In
stanoe.s
So Auntis Left with . chuckle. /
"