New Britain herald., 1923-05-16
Why Mfs. DaFkas Was Nawtad About Alfraf and IaslA


 Little Mrs nuTkee put her head oE
 one side, iFresistibly reminding me ai
 q wise Fabin, and eyed me shTswalF
 50 Eau sss that, tea,h she said
 pstsntly seauissflhg in my comment
 that Alfred and Leila s'sFe dwelllns
 toe much upon seme petty psrsshsl
 problem Of their aNR, and led a shock Of some kind 70 take them oui Of themselves Well, that's all right, as far as |. goes, but il dessst go far enough, There's more the matter
 between them than just lemPers' ment And my getting sick wouldn't
 help matters any, Of course, i'
 would keep 'em heth busy but il
 would give that bess Dean q ehanes to pile On the sympathy stun, l ean just see her waltring In with nowsrs and broths and eseings fnr me. always timing her visits when she's sure alf Is home
 I, took all my power 10 hlia inc sstonished concern her words sass me. bent lower over my packing that she might not see my face nniil was able to pressn. sn unrp n, | countenhnce 70 her,
 Madge BeEtns to undersiand
 Bess Dean Before mo rose the vision of Leiia's auivering lips and tortured eyes when upon the prseed. ing evening she had mistaken another woman for the pretty. seheming Bay out her belief. saw also Alfrei's agitation and picky's inexplicabls an- noyanee at her abrupt question. And here. from the lips Of Alfred Dur. kee's mother, I was hearing words which hound on" the stitches in inc fabric of worry over Bess Deans ac- fivities which I had knitted since my good-by to Leila.
 straiEhtened myself with . pre- tended catch in the muscles of my back, and spoke with apparent casual. mess.
 ''So she's still affecting the neigh borly sympathy pose. Is she7" I asked. "I remember your telling me about that the last time we lunched togcth- or in the city"
 remembered something else of that conversation, also. Mir. Durkee had said that Bess Dean contrived to take the same train as Ali every Sat- urday morning, saying that she had classes at Columbia, a statement which tho little woman frankly dis. believed.
 I had thought at the time that the situation had dynamite concealed in 1t, and had resolved to thwart Bess Deans cattiness if 1t were in my pow CT. Then for weeks, because of the injury received in the final roundup of the gang of conspirators headed by the man. Smith, had been un- able to attend to anything. And after l had recovered. my search for an apartment in the city had left me so little time or strength that I scarce. ly had thought of my friends in Mar ,in.
 My conscience dashed me sorely with the remembrance of Leila's troubled face, and I listened tensely for my little friends reply to my question.
 "Its Mess.'
 She's doing everything she can think of to make Lena jealous :" Her Fluffiness snapped. T don't think she cares two cents for Ali. or any other man, but she simply can't rest unless she's making some other wom- an miserable. I've seen her type be- fore. She's like a cat with live mouse between her paws. And Leila's got just about as much spirit as mouse, too"
 l paid mental tribute to the of her insight and the pat ness of her smile even as I hazarded : } hesitant question::
 But surely, All"
 'Alf's a man !'' Ais mother de- ,lared with an intonation that con- signed everything masculine to an asylum for the feeble-minded. T font mean that he's in love with her. ,r anything like that. He's just as ,razy about Leila now as he was the lay he married her, but he's an cas- ly fattered as-as-well-as the oicky- y-bird," this with half-fright- med, half-defiant glance at me. ''and hat Bess Dean Is just devilish. that's III, in the way she does things. She's [ managed her moves so slyly that Ali i hinks she's a most wonderful friend T o Leila, and resents the fact that a