Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-19

Mrs. Coventry-Oh, deari' said
the Woman 1 Know. And she picked
up her feet and stepped d~aintily and
pretended to be walking upstairs.
And when | asked her what she
meant, she said:
She'll walk on yOu-up and up and
up. She'll use you for a pair of stairs,
you and your friend, you and your
family, you and your house, you and
your car, you and your husbands bust
ness, yes, even you and your orchard
and your little row of currant bushes.
You and your milliner, you and your
dressmaker, you and your club, you
and your seryants-everythiDg that is
yours she will use to help her up the
stairs, and she'll think you never
notice it, and you'll pretend you don't,
but some day she'll begin to wonder
why you're never at home when she
calls, and what's the reason you don't
call her up any more on the telephone.
Ten chances to one, she'll think
you're jealous of her-and let it go at
that"
And then she told me what the
Staircase Lady had done to her.
She Managed CleverIy
Il met her two years ago., in the
mountains. She was awfully nice. so
good natured and agreeable, always
ready for a game of bridge, never too
tired for a little walk, fond of swim
ming, fond of canoeing, not a bad hand
at golf-danced very well, had two
children and a pleasant, quiet sort of
husband.
"She had a young son, somewhere on
his college vacation, and a daughter
who was still at the boarding school
age. She looked aWfully young,
though. dressed very well. never
g%ossiped and never seemed the least
ill-natured about anything.
"'She's a darling l thought. How
glad / am / found her. And we had
a lovely summer together, and in the
winter, when we came back to town,
we kept up the friendship. One day
| noticed that she seemed to know ali
of my friends by name.
She knew where they lived and how
many children they had and what the
nan of the family did for a living.
She knew whether or not they had an
automobile and what church they be-
longed to and what club and every
thing.
And she had never met a single one
of them-not yet.
1T wasn't long till she did meet
them. though. She managed it so
c~leverly that / didn't realize what she
was doing until | came to look back
at it a%fterward, and the first thing |
knew she had me buying hats at her
milliner's and ordering dresses at her
dressmaker's, and she had my cooks
sister-in-law cooking for her, and she
always happened around when we were
planning to take someone somewhere
in the car, and once or twice we sen
the car for her, and people thought it
was hers. and she didn't correct the
impression.
And she brought people to see my
new living room-when ! wasn't there.
She knew | wouldn't mind, she said,
and ! suddenly woke up to find that
the Staircase Lady fairly lived either
in my house or in the houses Of my
friends, and M of my relatives gave
the Staircase Lady's husband a very
good contract, and one of my hus-
bands in-laws is interesting himself in
the Staircase Lady's son and his fu-
ture.
How Far viii She Climb
And one of my dearest friends has
proposed the Staircase Lady for her
very exclusive club, and all at once
we began to wonder who she really
was, anyhow, and where her own
family was, and her own friends-and
now we call her the Staircase Lady.
l suppose it's mean, isn't it, but really
don't you hate people who make a
| convenience of your"
Yes" said |, Il do. ! have a rela-
tive who loves to be generous-with
my things.
Now, / like to be generous, too
with my own things, and | would love
TO do a little of the giving myself.
My relative thinks I'm awfully queer
about it. | wonder if ] amt'
And the Woman | Know and /
laughed together, and that was all
there was to it. But ] think / shall
have rather a good time watching the
Staircase LADY, wonder just how
far she will climb by means of me and
my few modest friends.