Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-04-03

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| pensnblr to his darkness and IRE
placeable In his plight.
The pathos Of this gaunt old man,
empty-eyed, empty-handed, was almost
more than she could bear. No labor
OF love was too much. She got up at
dawn because he was sleepless then,
and she could give to him the few
precious hours before her departure
from the house. Her return from the
physicians Office where she was en-
ployed was made In breathless, hur-
ried fashion SO that she might give to
MIN a few extra moments before the
preparation Of dinner. Throughout all
this. Mrs. Lee, well-meanlng, bleeding
sympathy for her husband, agOnizing
for her daughter, succeeded only In
making herself more and more of an
impeachment.
Her cooking was so bad. Time and
time again the luncheons which she
served to her husband while Ella was
at her work came scorched and taste,
less to the table. irritating the nervous
old man almost beyond endurance
Finally. 1t became Elias chOre, before
she left the house In the morning, to
prepare her fathers lunch, place 1t In
the icebox and leave written instruc.
lions to her little scatter-brained
mother precisely how the food shOIld
be warmed.
Poor Ella" said the neighbors, II
don't see how she stands IT,"
Neither did Dlla. for that matter,
but fortunately there was not much
time to wonder about 1t.
The days were all too short for
what she had to accomplish during
them; the nights all too brief for the
amount Of sleep her tired body re.
Quired.
The matter Of dodgers, one Of their
major sources Of income by now, was
q troublesome and nerve-racking one.
It was not that they did not seem
satisfied, but almost invariably, once
they obtained one, he or she would BE-
called out Of the city on the death OF
a relative or a change of position or
some incident over which they had no
control.
A young man named Nestus Nevins
was to be the ultimate lodger who re-
NAMED. He was a shell-shOcked fell
low Of about thirty-two who found
himself. because Of physical disabIli-
ties, forced to live on an income which
amounted to about ninety dollars
month. The capital representing this
money had been left him by his
parents, in trust, when he was only
nineteen. 1t required care and dis
erection. in this day and age, to live on
II.
He was q pale-eyed. timid fellow.
by no means unintelligent, but boy
whose delicate health, both in child
hood and later. owing to shell shock,
had developed certain inhibitlons and
lack Of aggressiveness. He liked
books and was capable Of lying five or
six hours of the day and reading. He
was not averse to puttering about his
room, trying his hand at composition
and writing or doing bit of carpentry
for Mrs. Lee, throughout the long
bright days. without so much as leav-
ing the house.
He was the first young man who
had ever cast a second glance at Ella.
Over night, as II were, here life had
taken on turbulence Excitement
for this pale, lustreless girl that was
without precedent in her entire ex-
perience. The days had come fam
ingly alive. Everything had taken on
q Significance that It had never
claimed before. It was one thing to
be just alive. II was another thing to
waken to days that suddenly were
tipped with the strange beauty Of a
strange meaning.
Mrs. Lee saw 1t happening. She saw
the young Nestus begin to cast the
magnetized eye Of attraction upon her
child. Strange tumults beat in her.
She was the mother ambitious for her
offspring. Romance had come even for
Ella who, somehow, up to now, had
seemed immune.
II was a strange enough courtship.
The pallid youth, lying around the
house all day, only perking up enough
strength to put on his collar and
smooth his hair as the hour Of Elias
homecoming approached. Evenings,
they sat In the stuffy little parlor. Ella
reading to her father. or the four Of
them, aided and abetted by system
which Ella had worked out for the
blind man. playing bridge.
The moments OF the young people
alone together were so rare and
sporadic that when the engagement Of
their troth finally came, Mrs. Lee, for
the life Of her. could not figure out
where and how the words Of tryst
could have taken place. But they had.
Ella and Nestus were married In the
little parlor one Sunday afternoon 30
that the occasion need not Interfere
with her Office work.
The household goes on as before,
only there Is the addition Of Nestus
Nevins now, who. In his way, Is as
much to be babled MS Mrs. Lee or her
husband.
But this Is not drab story. Ella,
In her squirrel cage Of service. Is
happy.