Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-21
The Hat.

~~NNN
THE mirror was exactly opposite
the opening door and as Martha
Lane entered her room she was
1 faced by her own reflection She
paused, and the opinion she had
been forming all that afternoon was in
stantly confirmed.
It had been all agOniZiDg afternoon.
All the other women at Mrs. Sheffeld's
had come out In charming new Spring
attire. Cynthia Haven had been posi-
lively radiant. although Mrs. Thompson
had worn the more expensive apparel
Cynthia had convinced all corners that
a woman's charm Is coherent with the
shoes she puts on her feet, tbs dress
she clothes herself in. the hat that
covers her head. That hat! OH
Martha moved forward to the mirror
and sat down before it. The closer view
did just what she knew it would
brought her hat into greater promi-
nenoe. She sat looking at it with despair
/ In her eyes.
It was leghorn hat, one of those
durable, flexible weaves that will last
forever and permit endless shapings
This hat had gone through every pos
slble variation of its style. 1t had be-
gun by being fioppy, with a wreath,
but that was long ago, the year Martha
was 16 She had worn it SO for two
Summers. Then the wreath had failed
in service, and so something was done
with ribbon--blue ribbon she was still
young enough for fioppy hats with blue
sashes. Two Summers more passed.
And now she hadl bent the hrirn and
fastened Ii with Rnots of pale roses
Gordon had thought she had new hat
and she had laughed. Really? Didn't
he recognize it?" mo only the fact
that she looked very nice" In her
| thought she had blessed the old hat, not
Gordon's lack of observation. People
were beginning to ask when she was
going to be married and what she was
doing with her hope chest and she shook
her head gayly. All in Gordon's good
time. She was. Of course, ready aHy time
he spoke, but not impatient. She had
changed the old hat again by cover
! ing the crown with green leaves when
Gordon went away. He had got a job
out West. And still they were not en-
| gagged. She had half hoped that he
would say something definite before they
| parted, but he said nothing save the
! Old friendly things. And Martha kept
! her pride right on top till he was gone,
/ then nothing mattered for a long time
/ Still, she did not know then as she
. knew now that he had simply walked
! out Of her life and shut the door be-
/ hind him. And woman. however yearn-
I ing, does not open the door a man has
/ shut in this way.
/. She went on wearing the leghorn hat
! Summer after Summer, but now she did
| not care. What did she care about what
| she wore or who saw her now that
Gordon was gone? The old hat did very
| well tricked out with black velvet with
| new twist to the brim. 1t was growing
| limp and yellow and the last blocking
! had not been very successful. But the
| fact remained she must wear it be-
! cause she could not afford another one
| Times had gone wrong with them.
| Her mother. gentle ailing woman, had
| been caught in the glamour of a mis-
! represented investment and had lost
/ most Of what her father had left TO
! them. Marthas music pupils left her all
I most in body to go into the classes
! of young Prof. Weston. She kept her
! church position but that was not much.
1t was all she could do to keep up the
| expenses Of the tiny house and pay
! her mothers doctor bills There was
/ absolutely nothing for new clothes.
! Yet this afternoon she had felt With
/ sudden poignance the truth of that
! axiom Nothing succeeds like success "
! Surely nobody could have looked more
! unsuccessful than herself. wearing that
/ cid hat with its fresh disguise of color
lite and ribbon. She had been Ill at ease
and had played badly Her fingers had
tripped over the familiar passages of the
Peer Gynt suite, which she had given
| as an accompaniment TO Mrs. Thomp-
sons Greig essay.
| Yes. she had failed miserably The
hat had given her away. 1t had done
more than that. 1t had revealed to her
as nothing else could the fact that she
was too old for Aoppy brims and blue
| ribbon. She was "a and her cares had
! matured her In tiIne would age her
| The girlish freshness of l6. the charm
| that had almost won Gordon Elhridge
/ had vanished. She was thin and tired
and close to despair.