Evening star., 1923-01-21
Around the City
. BY Na,nis L.ancaster..


and as the young man in the
cage attended strictly to the
business In hand, she conhded
TO him her reason for needing the
money.
'I had two others, but I set more
store to this one. because, as the
saying went at the time. 1t hurt me
TO let go the money. my income hav-
ing stopped. Still, I wanted to help
my Uncle Sam out, and now. just as
the bond has matured, Uncle Sam
grabs every cent OF 1t back for in
come tax-gobbles it up. leaving me
(. ..%-nothingw
He must have been a kindly clerk.
for, having made out the exchange.
he responded nicely to the garrulous-
ness Of the small person, well on in
years:
We'll. hundred-dollar income tax
shows for a nice little nest egg laid
away"
yes, doesn't It? It belongs to my
daughter and her husband, but times
are SO hard they thought it ty<would
be better to use my bond as long as
just had 1t ON hand. OF course.
was saving II for my last sickness,
but as Laura and Charlie say"
And when the money was counted
out and handed over and tucked
away the little old woman sort of
wavered along outside. And the clerk
voiced prophecy'to the depositor next
In line:
II bet Laura and her Charlie are
waiting outside-and the poor little
old dame called Uncle Sam the gob-
bler!"
The depositor knew it was proph-
ecy. for the reason that when she
got outside she glimpsed the woman
who had owned the bond. Also q
youngish, sharp-featured man. Also
"a puffy-fgured, youngish woman
And the man was buttoning UP. his
inside coat. And though there was
no one else in the party. so far as
she could see, the depositor felt
and believed-that standing by, in
invisible judgment, was that Great
Recorder we know about-the One
who registers uor dealings In the
book OF eternal life.
An Indian, full-blooded enough to
"A belong to the Catlin collection
over at the museum, or, more likely,
to the tribal travellers now In town,
went shopping the other day. A
gay blanket took the cuss OF his cheap
slnt. and another concession to prim-
tive custom expressed itself in foot
wear that tried to look like moccasins-
and failed.
At one department store he browsed
around from floor to floor, looking
and looking. until he had bought an
ivory-silk waist, a gilt chain and
cross, box Of initiated handkerchiefs
and two bottles Of cologne. Then he
went up in an elevator to the phono-
graph section. where he bought band
records, a Woodrow Wilson speech
and the latest Indian song by Cad
man.
And while he was having his own
good. Industrious time all to himself.
a more or less swarm of customers
tagged after like children at pa
rade. Two Of them-each loaded
down with crochet bags that showed
for marketing; good-natured types of
the humanity that gets its world
knowledge from church, neighbor
gossip and moyies-felt called on to
put their curiosity in words-about
like this:
Say. Lii, I bet he'd like to scalp
the lot of u.s."
You'd oughter take pill for that
Imagination of yours, Mag! Why.
woman. can't you tell he's civilized?
Look how he bought a white waist
when he mighter got red one, ander
gold chain steader beads"
"I see all that as we'll as you do,
but amt trus'n' Indians, myself. I
can feel that he's got arrows and
warwhoops and things inside him, or
he wouldn't be wearing that red an
yaller blanket-nor that feather in his
"oh. get out! Don't Templars wear
feathers in their hats?"
She might have added as additional
weight to her argument that Yankee
Doodle did that same. but
While they were shutting their
comments between them the Indian,
hugging the records in his arms with
such other packages as he couldn't
cram in his pockets, went his way.
He was an Indian. all right, and his
name might have been Lo, but he
wasn't poor, in accordance with po-
etical copy. And by the time he gets
back to the Pueblo lands he is trying
to protect from marauding squatters
or to the Catlin collection, wher-
ever he belongs-he won't have an
untutored mind
n n y
TWO girls in car were showing
each other their Coue strings,
and. with the jubilant spontaneous
ness with which youth vivifes
every fad that strikes its fancy were
telling how often they went over the
knots and how much good it was do
ing them, day by day; both laugh
ing. but believing, with all their
lightsome hearts-which, of itself,
IL 1t had not been for two older
women on q side seat, near enough to
take In every motion the girls made
and every word they spoke. Having
looked their contempt. one Of them
rasped out with Intentionally loud su-
Isn't it ridiculous the way some
sense?"
Perfectly idfotic! OF course, no per-
son Of real Intelligence pays any at
tention to it. but"-and so on, until
every passenger around was taking
notice.
Naturally, the two girls recornized
themselves as targets and enjoyed Il ac-
cordingly. With real Coue smiles that
showed double decks Of snowy teeth,
they winked at each other, dimpled at
whoever they could catch looking at
them, and juggled their knotted strfnSs.
And after bit they got out at 7th
street junction, and that ended that
Why shap9d r~ 49,