Evening star., 1922-02-18
: COLD FEET!
n n RS. JOHN MUNRO LINDSAY
M was sitting on the edge Of
her bed at 2 in NOR
u ;ne sforino into the daY
COLD FEET!

She felt old and haggard and dis
illusioned.
John, tired out from the exhausting
evening they had just lived through.
slept profoundly.
Merriam was dumbly thankful that
he could. And vastly relieved that
their unexpected guest, Mile. Jeanne
Everett Leslie, was at last quiet. For,
though the baby boasted only ten
months Of life, she had proved con-
might be termed "howling success"
During her four hours of frenzied
yelling she had subjected her youth
full hosts to the entire gamut OF
human emotions.
John, being masculine, had shrugged
his shoulders philosophically when
the fray was over.
But Merriam. being \ woman.
brooded over it. For blissful weeks
past the bride had been indulging
ing those joyous hours she had felt
that whatever else went wrong in
the universe was of relative unim-
portance. She had a precious secret
to buoy up her courage.
1t had helped her to endure hear
ing about the loss Of her fathers for
tune-for hadn't she far more Won
derful treasure coming-a baby!
She had even been able to reconcile
herself to the agonizing uncertainty
about her fathers disappearance. For;
if he were alive and well, she had
an intuitive feeling that he simply
must return in time to welcome his
coming grandchild. And if the very
worst were true-that her father
were dead-she comforted herself
baby could inherit the vast legacy
of her fathers fine personality.
She had literally forced herself to
ignore the minor ills of this world
because they seemed so silly to fret
a Coming baby before one.
But all this had been before Mrs.
John Munro Lindsay had had the
sorrow to meet Mile. Jeanne Everett
Leslie.
child to the tender mercies Of the
inexperienced Lindsays, Mile. Leslie
had quickly abandoned all pretenses
of company manners. Her wild. mex
plicable weeping had frightened her
hosts into believing. that she was Sc
feet, kicking so strenuously from the
blankets, were the cause of a mild
case of collie had not occurred to
either Lindsay until Susan Sue. fifty
eight and disgusted. had rescued the
| baby.
Privately Merriam astill doubted
Susan Sues diagnosis. She didn't see
how feet that looked so red-hot as
the baby's had looked could have
been in the least cold.
But whether the child had been
cold or warm did not greatly matter
The fact was that an actual living,
kicking, screaming, squirming baby
a baby with the back of its head
bald and what hair it had disgust
ingly straight and a red hole for a
mouth-had tt mporarily banished a
lovely vision of dimpled cherut
with golden curls and roguish eyes
| and a Cupid's bow for a mouth, that
had dwelt for weeks in Merriam's
dreams.
So she sat on the edge Of her bed
/ and shivered to think of the years
and years of such nights as she and
John had just spent that were prob
ably stretching out before them.
"Only, probably, after a-night a OF
! two I shall have to stand it ali
! alone" she thought dolefully. "For
after all, Susan Sue is only loaned to
us and soon we shan't be able to
afford any sort of servant And John
| will go out nights to play poker, to
get away from the baby's awful yell
ing. and shall be alone with it.
And all day long I'll have those weird
bottles to wash and I'd have to cook
stuff to fill, and I'll have to push a
baby cab around the streets and