The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-04-16
A Tragedy in Shoes


OF W children. You m1gnL as Wen
say it. 1t is perfectly ridiculous 10
wear plain white canvas oxfords with
a dainty georgette gown"
Why do you do it?" interrupted the
intimate friend"
'It is penance, my dear! OF course,
you know l made the gown myself at
a very reasonable cost, and then one
day ] passed a smart shoe shop and
=! saw the dearest pair of pearl shoes
that exactly matched it-they were
SIS. l hesitated, and you know the
adage-before ! knew it l had bought
the shoes"
Wasn't that a little extravaganza"
"A little! 1t was a heap! Anyway,
/ am being duly punished. / mean
to wear these canvas boots all sum
mer."
why not wear the gray ones, mas
much as 0 have bought themT'
uuerried the intimate friend.
"You must swear secrecy if l tell
you. The joke is distinctly on me and
it begins with the children. OF course,
having none of your own, you probab-
ly don't appreciate how patriotic the
kiddies are. They sell Liberty Bonds,
secure Red Cross pledges. grow war
gardens, and, as for Thrift Stamps
sometimes l am nearly distracted the
way Dorothy and Keith argue over
who has the most and how they are
going to save and earn money for
more!
Il pay Keith for washing windows
and Dorothy for washing dishes and
both of them for garden truck. Keith's
latest earning venture is backing
shoes for the family, and naturally
his father and l feel that he should
be encouraged; but it has been rather
trying. He insistst upon polishing our
shoes upon the slightest provocation.
while Dorothy refuses to have hers
done until they become positively dis
graceful. You see, she doesn't want
to aid Keith in getting more Thrift
Stamps than she herself has.
"The other day / was going to
speak at the Serve Nothing Club and
hadn't had a minute to prepare, SO /
was going over my speech while l
dressed. / Was all ready except slip
ping on this frock and had dropped
down at my desk to make a few notes
when | heard the children quarreling
on the back porch. And that oma
next door is always making remarks
about how my children quarrel. You
know, she has only one angel child
with a canary for company, and of
course you can't get up much of a row
with a canary.
Anyway, l grabbed my b~athrobe,
notebook and pencil and vent out to-
investigate. / had sent Dorothy put to
have her shoes polished and she had
resented it, squirming about until
/ Keith had daubed backing on her
stockings.
$50 l superintendent the remainder
OF the job, meantime composing the
opening sentences of my speech.
had already outlined it.
''Then / sent Dorothy in to change
her white stockings and I sat down in
the chair she had vacated and told
Keith to do my shoes while / worked
on my speech.
He said: why, mother. vol don't
want these shoes polished and l told
him l pretty nearly knew what l
wanted without his telling me and he
shouldn't interrupt M again. !
thought he was getting tired of his
Job, aa he does of everything he UNI
dertakes.
He protested for the second time
and was right in the middle Of a
beautiful sentence. / was SO annoyed
that / cracked him sharply I'VE the
knuckles with my pencil and told him
to proceed. He did.
Sat the same time he continued to
cry and sniffle SO that I couldn't con-
centrate. Finally / laid down my
! notebook and, patting him on the head,
| fold him not to mind my being cross,
that I'd bring him a Thrift Stamp
when / came home. Then / caught 8
glimpse of my shoes! l simply gave
one scream and tainted!
1.-THE n%eighbors rushed in; n call
ed a nurse, another a doctor and l
believe some one sent for IN ambu-
lance while a fourth turned In a fire
alarm"
"why the Mysteries? Was it snake
bite Or
"Worse-much worse. / had made
Keith blacken my pearl gray SIS
shoes!"
"How terriblel observation-disclosures.
of course"
"Pifflei 1t was retribution. fate.
purgatory, a lot OF things rolled into
one to reproach me for being extrava-
CANT. But I'm thoroly chastened. Mo
deration is to be my motto until after
the war"