Evening star., 1927-11-06
" Wv B B

TT had been raining for three DAYS
1t was the rain, as much as any
thing, that caused the Cowans to
i decide on an Atlant'. City holiday
That and Pa Cowan's bronchial
cold and Evelyn's everla sting tele
phoning and Evelyn's children's noise
and the state of irritability t. which
the whole family was reduced after
three days of being coopcd up. Six
not counting the girl-in seven-room
fiat are likely to cut Jagged edges ir
each others nerves, even if they are q
devoted family.
And the Cowans were a devoted fam
lily. They spoke of it often. Were
very devoted" They were always say
ing Let me do that" or I'm go. You
sit STILL" and Here's a nice juicy piece
just looking at you. Don't you want
it?" Naturally they quarreled good
deal. Take. for example, Evelyn's tele-
phoning. 1t was enough, Carrie said
to drive stone image crazy. Still, be
fore taking Evelyn's telephoning, it
might be well to take the family, one
by one.
There was Pa Cowan. 60; Ma, 65;
Evelyn, the widowed daughter, 33;
Evelyn's two children, Dorothy and
Junior, aged 4 and Z. respectively, and
Carrie Cowan, the unmarried daugh.
ter, aged-Carrie, the unmarried
daughter. Not that Carrie seemed TO
mourn her maiden condition. nor was
she reticent about her years. She was
always the first to speak of these, and
jokingly.
: Evelyn, after her husbands death
had come home to live. 1t was hard,
she told her friends after you've lived
in New York for nine years. and had
your own things and everything to do
with. OF course, she never said this
in the presence of the family, except
sometimes when Carrie was there.
Carrie went about almost exclusive
ly with married people. She made a
fourth at bridge or NAH -jong. She
filled a last-minute vacancy at dinner.
She had presented dozens of baby
jackets. rattles and teething rings. She
heard the innuendo of the married
women in Evelyn's group. She cried
gayly, Not knocking anybody's hus-
band, but I wouldn't change places
with any of you" But, within her,
some one else cried out, "Oh, Heaven
1t wasn't as if Carrie hadn't had
her chance. When she was 30 there
had been a man, and an engagement,
with everything announced, and Pa
Cowan was going to take him into his
business. Cotton goods. Then Pa had
made some investigations, and the
man was no longer seen. Ma Cowan
said that Carrie had had lucky escape.
Strangely enough, it was hard to make
weeping. she had said, over and over,
81 don't care. I'd have married
him, anyway"
"Yes," Ma Cowan had retorted.
''and been miserable the rest of your
life"
I'm miserable anyway"
''Not half as miserable as you
would have been if you'd married
him"
How do you know? Anyway, I'd
have had" She stopped, and her
face had twisted comically and
tragically. and her hands had reached
out, clutching after something that
was slipping out of her life--forever.
Pa Cowan. spruce. little tremu
lous, given to discussing the doings
OF the day at the dinner hour: Seems
nobody stays where they belong any
more. Run, run. Florida, Bermuda
and / don't know where. Koch was
saying today you can't get sailing
for Europe for love or money, and
here it's January-tfe worst sailing
on the Atlantic of the year."
Pa Cowan wanted to go to Florida,
Bermuda, and he didn't know where.
Oh, how he wanted to sail on the
Atlantic in January, Pa Cowan had
always meant to live the life of
Robert Louis Stevenson hero,
though he had never read r. l.. S
But he had gone into the cotton goods
business at "a, and there he was at
SO. Another writer with whom he
was unfamiliar was Mr.. Thoreau. so
he did not know that the line aholt
most men living lives of quiet des-