The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-06-05
Continued From Page y

sweetness that was natural to her.
Drawn by that sweetness, Tom
went on. Come to see you tonight?"
Mary Rose hesitated. She hated
to hurt Toms feelings. But she
didn't want to see him tonight. She
wanted to be alone after the racket
of the day-to think about John
Manners.
And, anyway, was it fair to lead
Tom on, when she knew she could
never really care about him?
"Not tonight, Tom. I'm awfully
tired she said, and went past him.
He stood watching her until she
disappeared into the deepening dusk
of E. New York St. Then he kicked a
tree box with such vigor that his
foot was numb for minutes after
ward.
"Oh, lord, I always lose out with
her." he remarked aloud and bit
terly.
He had hung around that corner
since shutdown waiting for her, when
he should have been making rounds
with his father.
He burned up the road on his way
there now.
Mary Rose opened the gate and
went around to the back Of the
house in East New York st. In the
warm, b%ght kitchen her mother
was standing at the stove. tasting
something. She turned, spoon in
hand, as the girl opened the door.
where's Flossie?" she asked anx-
iously. Didn't she come home with
your
Mary Rose bent to kiss the
troubled forehead before she
answered. mo- she said, "but
she'll be along soon. You didn't ask
her to do any errands, by any
chance did you?" .
Mrs. Middleton shook her head
Her frown deepened-
mo, l didn't" she said fretfully.
1T suppose she's somewhere or other
with that young Jessup again! Dear
me, ! can't see why she wants to
waste her time on an upstart like
him, I'm sure. With her looks, too"
Maybe she likes him, DEAR" Mary
Rose suggested hoping from the
bottom Of her soul that FlosAe was
with Sam Jessup. She was dread
fully afraid that she wasn't.
Upstairs in the little bedroom that
she shared with F1ossie, she took off
her hat, and put an apron on over
her black dress. AS she opened the
top drawer Of the old walnut bureau
for a clean handkerchief, her eyes
caught the CLEAN of gold in one
corner.
A little cigaret holder lay there,
half-hidden by an untidy mass Of
ribbons, handkerchiefs, collars and
water-wave combs. The sisters
shared the drawer; and F1ossie's half
of it was always in wild disorder.
Mary Rose picked up the little
trinket and examined it. Even be-
fore she saw the 1S-karat mark on
it, she realized that it was very, very
expensive, Stripes of jade and
platinum banded it brilliantly.
Not in month of Sundays could
Flossie Middleton have afforded to
buy it, with her $40 a week. And
Mary Rose knew it.
Good grief! Now, where did she
get that thing, do you SUPPOSED" she
asked herself.
AS she stood there looking at it the
telephone downstairs rang sharply.
Then the sound of her mother voice
answering it, and a moment later
she called:
THAT was F'lossie on the phone.
SheS not coming home for supper,
so we may as well sit down and eat
right away. Everything's ready"
The table was set in the kitchen
the room that was the heart and
soul of the fatherless house. Here
the three women ate their meals and
chatted costly afterward as they
washed the Dishes Here they
brought their sewing and(their read
ing at the end of the day.
The arrangement saved not only
work, but fuel and light-important
items. For the Middletons were poor.
When Dan Middleton had died of a
stroke five years before, the little
house had been all the heritage he
had left to his widow. and his daugh-
ters.
But they got along beautifully on
Mary Roses $50 a week and Flossie's
$20-or part of Flossie's twenty. For
money flowed through Flossie's
hands like water.
She had never keen known to
bring her pay envelope home, I'M
opened
There was always something that
she "just had to have" for herself
of chiffon stockings and fancy
carriers, a slave bracelet of plated
silver. Pretty things to wear were
a passion with F'lossie.
did she say she was with Sam
Jessup when she 'phoned?" Mary
Rose asked her as she helped her
self to hash and green peppers
stuffed with corn.
Mrs. Middleton nodded. Eyes, she
did. / suppose I may just as well
make up my mind THAT she's going
to marry him and be poor all her
life, like I've been" she said in a
dreary tone. Work and worry
worry and work. That's all I've
had"
Cfo Be Continued