Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1930-03-21
Elias Lifted
Face
By GENEvRA COOK

(Copyright)
FILA MILLER was the despair OF
- all the girls In O'Rileys laundry.
She had colorless eyes and a pale
skin and faded hair "She needs to
have her face lifted" said Eileen
Moriarlty. you're wrong" snapped
KathIe Maloney, "she needs to have it
washedl"
Ella had worked in O'Riley's laun-
dry since she was fourteen. Now,
three years later, she was real
ironer, on her own merits and on her
own legs-seven to six, seven to six;
after six her life was her own to live.
The home Of Ella was a drab little
house on the scraggly side Of scrag-
gly hill, where lived and labored the
mother of Ella and Of her six young
err brothers and sisters; and every
night after the supper dishes were
done and the kitchen floor swept clean
of the days litter, when Annie and
Bessie were sent to put Johnnie and
Mary to bed, Ella would say: swell.
Ma, guess I'll go up to bed" and an
thorough cleansing with cold cream,
you see, to say nothing of taking 1t Off
with the tissues.
Such was the life of Ella Miller I'M
til April 4, 1928. Now every one
knows there Is something a little
magic about April, little breathless,
something tiptoe somewhere, In the
grass, in the trees, in the sky, maybe,
or maybe just in peoples eyes. Well,
something must have been tiptoe in
Ella Miller this April morning, though
she wasn't aware of It; for on this
day she carried yellow handkerchief.
1t was through no intent Of Elias
that she dropped the handkerchief.
She had never played that game when
she was child, and she had not
much Imagination. But a bumblebee
had lighted on the third finger of her
left hand, and being swatted at with
all the fingers Of her right hand, in
righteous and concerted action, had
venomously stung. Ella dropped the
handkerchief.
1t was retrieved and handed back
to her with a courtiy bow delivered
by Jimmy Ward, who was pretty good
at delivery. In fact, he was de-
livery boy. Usually he dealt In such
commodities as cabbages and onions.
but on occasion he could deliver a
very nice bow. That is what he was
doing now. AS he bowed, he smiled.
Now 1t is a curious thing what a
smile from male creature will do to
such a one as Ella. I really cannot
explain 1t to you, but will tell you
what happened and leave you to Judge
for yourself. When Jimmy Ward
smiled at Ella, slow color crept into
her sallow cheeks, and lights shone
behind her eyes so that you could see
they were brown. And Ella smiled
back. She folded the handkerchief
and said, "Thank you" Then she
said "Thank you" over again, and "Pd
hate to lose that handkerchief. just
got It,"
Gee, new one, huh2 bet you
got it to match your dress"
Ella looked at her dress and be-
came for the first time conscious Of
It. 1t was of clean white cotton shirt
ing with faded yellow stripe. "Yes,
1t matches this dress"
Jimmy swung his basket Of vegeta-
bles to his right hip. "You look good
in yellow" he said. ut goes with
brown eyes"
AS Jimmy looked at her, Elias eyes
grew browner and rounder, and the
lights In them shone with marvellous
light. She remembered why she had
dropped the handkerchief. She stuck
out her finger for him to see.
ut stung mep'
Down swung the onions and the
cabbages. Lets see It." He took the
finger In his hand. Gee, I bet 1t
hurts"
ut hurts" There were tears in
Elias voice.
"Looks I'll do 1t up for you-or no,
Tll-I1l-" He bent his head swiftly
and Ella Miller had received her first
kiss.
"Oh," she gasped softly. Then.
after a moment, 1T doesn't hurt any
more nowp' It Is probable that
neither of them noticed that the sting
was on the third finger of Elias left
hand.
On subsequent Tuesday, Thursday.
and Sunday evenlngs-these being the
nights when Bryan's Groceries wasn't
open, Jimmy Ward frequented the
Miller home already full. And on
Wednesday, Friday and Monday morn
ings Ella Miller, her step elastic, her
head up, went humming down the
street and into the door Of o'Islley's
laundry.
In fact, she went singing every day.
And she bought some cold cream, and
some fine face powder, and n little
compact OF rouge, and she began to
eat yeast and ralslns every day. Oh,
you could SEQ the change In Ella Mil
ler-easy, without half an eye And
after a while she began buying towels
and lunch cloths to embrolder.
And 1t was after one Of these eve
nlngs Of the courtshlp Of Jimmy Ward
an evening, suppose, much like
any other progress Of like nature; the
same lifted eyes and held hands, the
snme quickenlng pulse and-weIl, we
all go to the "moyles"-that the new
ella, with her glowing cheeks and her
radiant eyes, called n gay "HelloW to
Eileen MorIarlty and KathIe Maloney
"well," said KothIe, "whot on earth
has happened TO that glrl7 She must
have had her face llftedw
III don't think so, Kathle," said
Eileen. "What think some one has