The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-01-22
<TT made me think Of your
mothers sister. your Aunt


Flora, that died when you
were little" he said. ''She
was always telling how she was going
on the stage, and talking about how
she was certain she'd make a great
actress, and all so on; and one day
YOUR mother broke out and said she
ought "a gone on the stage, herself,
because she always knew she had the
talent for it--aud, well, they got into
kind Of a spat about which one'd
make the best actress. had to 60
out in the hall to laugh?'
Maybe you were wrong" Alice
said, graveIy. If they both felt it,
why wouldn't that look as if there was
talent in the family7 I've always
thought"
No, dearie," he said. with a final
chuckle Your mother and Flora
weren't different from a good many
others. expect 30 per cent Of all
the women I ever knew were just sure
they'd be mighty fine actresses If
they ever got the chance. Well,
guess it's a good thing; they enjoy
thinking about it and it don't do any
body any HARM"
Thus Alice illuminated the dull
time; but she retired from the inter
view with her father still manfully
displaying an outward cheeTfulness,
while depression grew heavier with
in. as if she had eaten soggy cake.
Her father knew nothing whatever Of
the stage, and she was aware Of his
ignorance. yet for some reason his
iunocently skeptical amusement re
duced her bright project almost to
nothing. Something like this always
happened. it seemed; she was con
tinually making these iIlumtnations.
all gay with gildings and colorings;
and then as soon as anybody else so
much as glanced at them-eveu her
father, who loved her-the pretty de-
signs were stricken with a desolating
pallor. rs this nfe7" Alice Won
dered, not doubling that the question
was original and all her own. rs il
life to spend your time imagining
things that aren't so, and never viii
be? Beautiful things happen to other
people; why should I be the only one
they never can happen tor"
The mood lasted overnight; and was
stiu upon her the next afternoon
when an errand for her father took
her downtown. Adams had decided
10 begin smoking again. and Alice
felt rather degraded, as well as en-
barrassed, when she went into the
large shop her father had named, and
asked for the cheap tobacco he used
in his pipe. She fell back upon an
air of amused indulgence, hoping thus
to suggest that her purchase was
YnaGe for some faithful old retainer,
now infirm; and although the calm
ness of the clerk who served her
called for no such elaboration OF her
sketch, she ornamented il with a little
laugh and with the remark, as she
dropped the package into her coat
pocket. I'm sure it'H please him;
they tell me it's the kind he likes
Still playing Lady BOuntiful, snil-
p ing to herself in anticipation of the
JOY she was bringing to the simple
old negro or Irish follower Of the fam
fly, she left the shop; but as she came
out upon the crowded pavement her
smile vanished quickly.
Next to the door Of the tobacco
shop. there was the open entrance to
a stairway. and, above this rather
bleak and dark aperture. a sign-board
displayed IN begrimed gilt letters the
information that Frinck's Business
College occupied the upper floors of
the building Furthermore. Frincke
here publicly offered personal instruc-
ton and training in practical mathe-
mates. bookkeeping, and all branches
Of the business life. including stenog-
rsphy, typewriting, etc"
The building was not what the
changeful city defined as a modern
one. and the dusty wooden stairway
as seen from the pavement, disap-
peared upward into a smoky dark
ness. So would the footsteps Of a
girl ascending there lead to a hideous
obscurity, Alice thought; an obscurity
as dreary and as permanent as death.
And like dry leaves falling about her
she saw her wintry imaginings in the
May air: pretty girls turning into
withered creatures as they worked at
typing-machines; old maids taking
dictation" from men with double
chins: Alice saw old maids OF a dozen
different kinds taking dictation.'
Fer minds eve was crowded with
them, as it always was when she
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