Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-28

We all knew that she was talking
about Dulcie, Just as you can usually
tell by the tone when any of our moth
ers' generation arc talking about Mis-:
Prescott. 1t is seldom even necessary
to mention names.
1T certainly is" Corinne agreed
"She"-we all knew, CT course that
"she" meant Dulcie--"she washes a
sweater every day for little Dulcie anC
puts on two clean dresses a day, a
hand-embroidered one fer afternoon
She SAYS that she thinks it's very i'm
portant to instill an appreciation OF
beauty in a child's mind"
"A child of 10 months has got pre-
cious little mind to instill anything in
II you ask me-" said Mrs. Frank KirSted
FRANKIE, come away from those eggs.
We had met as some of the crowd
nearly always does meet, at the Busy
Bee Grocery, doing our marketing.
'Dulcie makes me sick, anyhow" said
Rosemary feelingly She's so pleased
with herself. She told me yesterday
that it was a girls duty to keep just as
young and frcsh-looking after her ba-
bies come as she did before. She said''
Rosie paused for effect-"that she
made a point of lying on the sofa and
relaxing every afternoon while she puts
little Dulcie on comfort on the floor
Tor ner daily rolllc.
We all just looked at each other,
words falling us. Rosie recovered
speech first.
when my four go in for a 'rollic,' "
she said, lis not the time I pick for
relaxing. I sit tight and only pray
they won't jar the filling out of my
back teeth"
"I don't wish anybody any i'll luck, "
said feelingly. but l hope Dulcie's
next baby is twins"
At this moment I missed one of my
own twins.
where's Jill?" I gaSped.
The other girls looked around.
"She didn't go out the door, know, F"
said Mrs. Kirsted, because I've been
watching it
I hurried to the back of the store.
There, among the boxes ready for de-
livery, was Jill, taking a can of baking
powder out of this order and putting 1t
in that, Juggling a head of lettuce or a
bag of bananas half across the store
to put it in some other box.
Mortified, tried to undo the dam
age she had done, hoping Nat wouldn't
come back till I was through, but the
order slips in the boxes were carbons
and not very plain, and, though did
the best I could, I had the feeling
some people were going to be surprised
at the groceries they got that day
Talking about Dulcie always makes us
all forget everything else.
There is nothing that makes me feel
as well acquainted with people as old
as mother and Mother Horton as real
izing that every generation seems to
have its Dulcie. And Miss Prescott
is the Dulcie for mother and fathers
bunch. Not that she was ever as pretty
as Dulcie or as good at taking other
girls beaux away, which was the way
Dulcie used to keep all our crowd ner-
vous most of the time before we were
married. but Miss Prescott had some
thing almost as important as beauty.
Even when she was just a young girl
in MontroSe, she was rich. Not terribly
rich like the Scoggins and the Burrises.
but rich enough for single woman.
Plenty of the Montrose men who
were young at the time she was
wouldn't have minded marrying a girl
with money of her own. Mr.. Pettloone
used to court her, mother told me. ana
even funny, grouchy old Mr.: Long: IL
oiyeH you a funny feeling to hear about
snvIAdv like that ever having courted
anyt-Sdy but their own wives; 1t always
Seen1l as though they must have been
horn married. And I must say, look
ing At the men who courted Miss
PRESCOTT. after 25 or 80 years. it didn't
look as though she'd passed up much.
4 r. X
CTAYING single and being independ-
~ emit Miss Prescott had chance to
he q pest to people of her own age IN
a way that, naturally, would never even
have occurred to Dulcie. When II pc
came very clear that she wasn't gong
to get married, Miss Prescott hao TAKEN
to clubs. " =.
Not but what clubs are all right. In
their wav: mother and Mother Hor-
ton belong to the Ossih. and everybody
who amounts to anything belongs TO
fine Woman's Club. Clubs. as father
saws. are all right for women who can
take 'em or leave 'em alone, but MISS
prescott wasn't one Of those women
Clubs had got her. father said, the way
drink gets some men. Father. OF course,
was prejudiced against her and her
clubs because she was the hrSt one IN
town to get the idea that women's CLUBS
ought to do good work for the conInu-
nitv. not just furnish pleasure for
their members. And father was one OF
those who got caught in this flrst 9ooo
done to the community:
at don't know anything about doing
the community good" said father, dis
oustedly. "but she's certainly done the
merchants, and done them gooo.
rather. who always uses excellent gram
mar. except when he doesn't on pur-
pose, meant, of course, that MISS FTeS-
colt had done the merchants well.
It was about closing the store. on
Saturday night All the stores used 10
keep open TIL 10 o'clock. Saturday nignt
was the big shopping time OF the week
.1Sx xs-laN flQnI
town All the farmers drove In right
after supper, and, If you went downtown
after 7 O'Clock, 1t was as much as your
life was worth to get across Main street
The curbs of all the side streets were
lined with cars.
everybody took this for granted, OF
course. It's the same in Verblen. anc
even in Berrytown. but Miss Prescott
who has been to London and Parls, ano
goes to the State capital all the tlne
said that all the storas in the bigger
places closed at 6 o'clock on SATURDAY
like any other day.
At first nobody paid any attention tc
this. The president of the Woman'S
Club appointed a committee and made
Miss Prescott chairman. The first th1ng
one Of the committee caIcd on fa"nei
And toid him that the owner OF the
emporium said he wo I'D shut up Sat
urday night If father would How any.
body ever got old Spirney to promise
that, nobody ever knows. AT hrst IA.
ther hemmed and hawed around, but
Mrs. Holder kept right after him, anc
II began to be rumored that the fur.
niture store was going to close, anC
wells. the jeweler. Father held out fol
O while, but when mother came frcn
Che Woman's Club all worked no about
1t and said father was purposely max
ing her lie hard for her, he gave in.
That was only the beginning: MIS-
Prescott iust wore the Woman's Clui
out. sicking them onto first one thint
and then another. Nobody liked t
stand out against beins progressive; th'
club took UP one reform after anothei