Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-12-04
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HOWsTIIE SEQ 9
|BEVERLYGIRI.S'
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CARRIED ON I
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"a BY Mcclure Newspaper syndicats,l
(wNU eervicesl

iDS (WNU service.l
rT.HE exterior Of the Beverly man
sion was one Of solid and stolid
magnlficence. II was a, double
Q house. red brick, Georgian, with
. beautiful example of fan-light over
the white doorway and a side garden
that was walled in by red brick over
grown with ivy to about the height
OF a man. $3.50 s.ss.-..t -
The street on which stood the Bev-
erly mansion was also one Of rather
solid and stclld magniticence, old fam
lies in old homes. whose children and
grandchildren, and in one or two In
stances. great-grandchlldren had been
born under the same roof.
1t was the sort Of street from which
the closed carriage and the pair Of
spanking hay horses had departed re-
! luctantly. as u gave way to the auto
mobile. It was as II the double row
Of locust trees which shaded 1t. had
attempted to form d ibarricade, shield
ing the quiet avenue from the en-
croachlng glare and hurry of the
growing city,. 94 Hga $685. l9tJhG
The Beverly sisters, Linda and
Wanda, had been born in the house
they occupied. They were an exam
pie Of great-grandchildren having been
born into the same house that had
been occupied by their forebearers.
1t was a quiet, austere household now,
the entire lineage including the girls
parents, having died out. There were
only the two of them now. pale-haired,
pale-eyed, rather pale-mannered girls,
that bespoke good stock. and the re-
pressed and careful bearings that be-
spoke good breeding.
There was portrait Of the two
girls, done fifteen years before when
they had been fourteen and fifteen,
seated on q stone garden bench.
small lap dog between them. It had
been painted during the last year OF
their parents lives and an effective
pair the girls presented u is true
that the bill for that painting still con-
tinued to come at regular intervals,
even during the fifth year following
the death of the paternal Beverly. But
then. so many bills continued to ar
rive ut all too close intervals.
What had happened was the not I'M
usual predicament Of the heirs to a
supposedly large fortune, finding that
their inheritance had been a myth.
Except for the elaborate home In
which they continued to dwell, by pn-
told scrlmping and sacrifice, the Bev-
erly girls were practically penniless.
1t was cruel fight to keep up appear
ances In that tOp-lofty looking man
sion. There were no servants, not
even a gardener. 1t was inevitable,
OF course, that people should know
that the Beverly girls had not Inherit.
ed the large fortune that had been ex-
pected. But no one In town, and NIL
raculously no one on that pretentious
street, knew to what extent these two
girls secretly struggled to keep up the
pretense Of even semi-affluence.
One by one, certain art objects Of
value had disappeared from the house |:
paintings. silver. worries and bronzes
1t was said 10 the nelghborhood that
the peculiar thing about the Beverly
girls was that although they went
about socially practically not ut all,
they seemed to sleep the greater part
OF the day. That was true. but for q
pathetic reason. II was after the
shades Of night had fallen, that Linda
RaA % 40, fltA
apd garden work which there were no
other hands to carry on. Under Gov
err Of darkness one could wash win
dows, scrub steps scour the beauti-
full fan-llght over the entrance. weed
and spade and dig In the garden.
The Beverly girls were workers. all
right: they beat rugs out OF windows,
painted cornlces. and even. one spring,
painted the entire length OF pergolas
and trelllses 10 the garden without
ever being detected In the act OF man
ual labor.
The degree to which they were old
fashioned and pathetIcally snobblsh,
never dawned upon these two girls.
They had been bred In an atmosphere
Of artificial gentillty. They knew no
other standards.
There was one annual ritual, how.
ever, which amounted almost to leg.
end, which the girls performed at any
sacrifice It usually meant long.
weary hours OF needlework, which
they secretly sold to the woman's ex.
change. and the sacrifice OF more OBJ
tects Of value from the household, but
every spring. come what might. regu-
lar as ciockwork, the girls added q bit
TO their lovely rock garden, and
called IN the services OF landscape
gardeners for the extension.
The Beverly rock garden was known
as the finest in the state. On those
rare occasions when the Beverly girls
had guests, they served them tea IN
It, as their parents and grandparents
and great-grandparent had done be.
fore them. II was the one luxury In
their lives and II cost them dearly.
II may tax the credulltles, but It Is
actually fact that many night the
Beverly girls, after they had concluded
thcIr days work In the darkness, went
70 bed hungry. But In all the lean
years, the rock garden never suffered
New and precious species OF roses
climbed It's walls eneh year. Orchi.
daceous plants especially imported
thrlyed IN It's rrcyIcea. What an