Evening star., 1926-11-08


sewing basket by her side.
~ After a busy morning in her
kitchen she was enjoying well
earned afternoons rest, basking in
the sunlight of her bay window. Above
her head Chicko, her pet canary, was
cracking seeds and occasionally utter
ing friendly little twitters to let her
know he appreciated her companion
ship. In the window beside her were
several pots Of plants. geraniums and
begonias, brilliant with bloom. Julia s
plants were the wonders of her neigh
| borS. No one else could produce such
| wealth Of bloom AS she. Some said
it was the way she potted them, but
Julia knew it was because she loved
them. And. pray. why shouldn't the
plants love her? Every one who came
in contact with her delighted in her
society She was big. rosy. good
natured and possessed perfect health,
and she gave herself unsparingly to
her friends.
She was singing to herself while
|.she mended a bit of embroidery. and
so absorbed was she that she did not
hear the front door open, and so she
was startled when Flossy Prentice,
the little bride who had recently
moved into the house next door, came
into the room. 1t was very evident
that Flossy had been crying-the tears
were scarcely dry on her face now.
"Oh. Mrs. kincaid" she walled
without any preliminary greeting,
I'm so upset | just had to tell some
body. l know YOU will think I'm
nuisance, but''-and she was choked
by a sob from further utterance.
Come, sit We down, Mrs. Prentice"
Mrs. kincaid said cordially. motioning
to a chair beside her, land tell me
all about it,
II hate to complain" said little Mrs.
Prentice sadly. "but-but-oh, it's so
hard to eXplain-
"Well, l don't think You need TO ex-
plain" said Mrs. Kincaid calmly.
you have been having visitation
perhaps several-from Amanda Boggs.
I have been watching her run in and
out Of your house, and l thought I'd
be pretty apt to hear from it. I con-
cluded she was up to her old tricks
why. what do YOU know about
Miss Boggs?" asked Mrs. Prentice in
astonishment.
II know a plenty" said Mrs. Kin
caid, 1--WE all do, for that matter. Oh,
she's respectable-nobody has ever
been able to breathe a word against
Amanda BoggS' character, but-but-
what has she been up to now"'
WHY. she borrows-and she is so
pleasant don't want to refuse her
/ don't mind her borrowing so much.
but it's the things she returns that
make trouble" Mrs. Prentice said
soberly.
"JJm.m," nodded Mrs. kincaid un-
derstandingly. 1T has always been
what she paid back that has maze
Amanda Boggs such a nuisance. Sup
pose YOU tell me about il, though,
she added gently.
And then Mrs. Prentice unburdened
her soul concerning Amanda Boggs.
spinster. Mrs. Prentice had scarcely
got settled in her new home before
Miss Boggs had run in with hand
full of flowers. She was very pleasant
and had quite won Mrs. Prentice $
heart The next day she had run in
again. this time to borrow drawing
of tea: a day later she had borrowed
a cup Of coffee, and then it had been
vanilla sugar. salt-but why go on?
Any one who has lived by habitual
borrower will understand. The
trouble came when she began to pay
back 1t was some time before Mrs.
Prentice realized what was going on,
and then only after her husband COM
planned of the tea and coffee. He said
the tea tasted like hay and the coffee
like smoke. Mrs. Prentice had been
slow even then to lay the blame where
it belonged, and thought in some way
it must have been all her fault. But,
try as she would, they simply tasted
worse and worse.
Today she had come to the end of
her endurance. She was expecting her
husbands mother and sister from an
adjoining town to come for a visit,
and had been anxious to have her
larder well flied with good things to
eat. She had tried to make several
things. First, buttermilk cookies.
Now. any one who loves buttermilk
cookies knows that their success de-
pends upon the best vanilla being
used When she tasted the first cookie
her heart sank: ii tasted exactly like
iniment Upon investigation she
found her vanilla bottle was all right
but il smelled queer like vanilla sub
stitute. and then she remembered that
Miss Boggs had recently borrowed the
bottle of vanilla. The next thing she
tried was angel food cake, She ex.