Evening star., 1931-06-21

moi The tempest was noisy enough; but what
went on indoors outdid it ten times over. You
see the Rocky Meadow Club is family club;
but in bright weather when everybodys out in
the open air all day, you'd hardly notice 1t.
The minute the rain began to come down,
though, it looked to me as If the children OF
practically every family at Marys Neck got
bored at home and rampaging into thA
club to express their animal spirits away froIn
their parents
was spending the day at home reading,
myself when the steward telephoned in a kind
of quavering voice asking me If I wouldn't
please come over there and I hadn't got
inside the door before could hear that
pandemonium was going already. ANY
time you noticed him right closely you could
see that the steward was a sort OF haggard-
looking man underneath his outward express
sion, as you might call it; but now he was
showing his worriedness right cut in the open.
II thought it might be better in some ways
if you were here, SIR he told me. You see,
sir every of the children has the feeling
that his special father and mother are
pretty much the owners of the club, and yet
as club is property belonging to everybody,
as it were sir, all the children have the I'M
preston that they can do things here that
they'd never in the world be allowed to Go at
home"
What have they been up to?" asked him.
II mean besides making all this noise" We
standing in a little hallway with the
door closed that led into the big lounge room
Of the club, and a good deal seemed to be
happening on the other side of the door. There
were two pianos in that room, and each of
them was having duets played on it with fists
or elbows; awful squealing kind of singing
was going on, too, and a tramping like couple
of herds of ponies chasing each other around
The steward gave me a ghostlike kind Of
smile. There won't be any trouble about
wi Ar Fran 4 no
comes in today, sir. Little Paulie Timberlake
and Brockie Griggs and some more have got
the papers all torn up and the pieces rolled
into balls, sir. They take these balls and stuff
them into the paper drinking cups at the
water-cooler, soak them with ice water, then
fold the wet cups down around them and
throw them at one another, sir. They've had
several quite battles, sir as 1t were, and the
two colonial glass lamps, presented for the
center table by Mrs. Weeder, are both gone,
sir. They were in the line of fire, as it were,
and Paulie Timberlake got one, and his
friend, little Brooke Griggs, the other sir
Have the lamps replaced Immediately"
told him. Tell the club treasurer to send the
bills to Mr.. Timberlake and Mr. Griggs"
I'm afraid the treasurer could hardly do
that, sir; the Timberlake family and the
Griggs family are both very influential, and
we've found by experience that families be-
come very offended when bills like that are
in the club, sir, with members not speaking to
each other, and was the principal reason why
the last treasurer felt he had to resign. I'll
have the lamps replaced sir, since you
say So"
DUT just then the noise beyond the door got
- even louder; there was a crash that
sounded like an article of furniture completely
giving way, and a burst of very loud yelling
Look herel" I said. you know the house
rules of this club; why haven't you enforced
them?"
He gave me another ghostlike smile. I'm
afraid it would take considerable muscle, sir"
that way, the parents would very likely
threaten to resign from the club unless we
were vacated from our positions, sir"
I didn't wait for any more talk with him;
opened the door, and the very instant did
so paper cup packed with ice-water- soaked
newspaper and feeling like soggy SNOWFALL
landed on the side of my neck. 1T was meant
for me- sir" the steward told me- They were
expecting me back, SIR
Well, didn't care whom it was meant for
was pretty mad. I strobe out into the middle
of that room and clapped my hands together.
"Sfence!" I said. Silence in this room"
The noise stopped and the children all stood
still right where they were, kind of solemn and
not looking at anything, the way they do when
they think maybe they're going to be in trouble
about something. You listen to mel" said
speaking loudly and sternly. You all know
who 1 am. I'm the chairman of the house
committee of this club, and I'm going to
enforce order and respectable behavior here.
If any of you wish to look at the magazines or
books in the reading room you may do So and
the rest Of you will have to sit down and talk
quietly together or be silent. Well have no
more Of this uproar. Do you hear me?"
One little boy standing in front of me with
his hands behind his back said, 'Yes, sir" in
a respectful tone that didn't altogether like
It was little Paulie Timberlake, only years
old, and his manner of looking at me was