The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1922-11-23

Ne1ShbOr
By Margaret Taylor
exc yST29SgI 70

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tie Lee, for they were newcomers, and
we knew lot about the family, long
before they came for this reason:
The Lees were vastly wealthy and
we have no rich families in Kenton.
Long, long before their arrival, we
knew that Mrs. Lee was a Cathcart,
that the Cathcart family lived in Eu-
rope most of the time while their
daughters attended not college
expensive private schools in New
York one year at Washington, D. c.,
the next. Their names were in all
society events; but what we did not
know was why Baird Lee was bring
ing his family back to the old home
place, which was not much better
looking than lot of other old houses
in our town. But he did bring her,
and in less than a week Bette Lee
was calling on me.
/ imagine she was very lonely, for
she was an only child, and when I
looked at her, my first idea was that
Bette was very pretty, little pic
ture of pink bingham and her very
straight yellow bobbed hair suited the
round face and wondering eyes. Such
eyes, such wonderful eyes the kind
that you never forget them when you
see them and imagine that there is a
searching soul in them when you
look into their innocent depths.
l spoke to her and she spoke to me,
without so much as returning the
smile I expected.
Were there burglars in your house
last night, Mrs. Sniff" She could
not say Smith.
Mercy, no child. No. What about
burglars, Miss Bette? Were there any
burglars in your house,"
For an instant she hesitated, then
looking back Of her at her house, she
surveyed it for an instant, then came
closer to me, whispering, eyes, but
you must never, never tell. He got in
and tried to kill my mother, Mrs.
Sniff, and my papa just up with
shotgun and killed him dead!"
Now we had never had murder in
our midst. This thing was terrible.
looked at the child, then across the
street at her mother sitting on the big
veranda, watching Mr.. Lee water the
flowers in their flower boxes.
81 am going right over and ask
your father all about it. Why this is
terrible" 1 exclaimed.
She burst out laughing and said:
ooh, don't do that 1 am just making
pictures!" And she laughed again.
Making pictures! She was lying if
ever a child was, yet saw her point
of view She wanted to tell me some
thing, in fact to get acquainted, and to
do so, she had told that queer story.
One evening she came in and I
knew that she was going to tell me
another picture as she called it. But
l was wholly unprepared for the one
she told. She looked at me for a
while, then said, MRS. Sniff, I see
you have gold toofie. Well, sir,
what do you think? My mamma has
to get whole lot of teeth, maybe a
million. Last night she got just as
mad as anything at my papa and he
slapped her and she slapped him and
finally"
Bette" I demonstrated, you
simply must not tell such pictures as
that. 1t is very wicked. You must
tell pretty pictures. You know your
papa never slapped your mamma.
Look out there, if you don't believe
me. My mamma is holding a hanky-
chuff to her mouth just now. My papa
he Just bumped her up against a sew
shine and bang went all the toofes in
her head. I am not making pictures.
What? 1 must not tell it! Why not?'
1 did not know what to say. Pres
emily John came over to see me. Mrs.
Lee wants to know if you will do her
a big favor. She has neuralgia in
her ear and wants to go into the city
, for treatment and can't take Bette.
: She knows Bette likes you, and has
asked me to see if you will keep her. :"
, Bette had told big untruth.
Bette" I begged, "why do you do
this? 1t is not nice and it would make
t me feel badly if you were not a good
little girl. Why do you tell stories" "
: She wriggled around a little un-
) comfortably, then to my utter amaze
/ ment she said, well, it is just like
this. My mamma is SO lonesome that
, she just cries and cries. She writes
pictures like you see in the movies and
, she sells them. I hear her read them
: to my papa. I can't write, but 1 can
IL, zr- cS-.;er 90 i,4e.f told Won