Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-12

have good chance at dinner to notice her.
because she's going to bring him back with
her. and of course she'll ask him to stay.
Mrs Massey wouldn't say another thing right
then, largely because 1 said her hint was pre-
posterous and just laughed at 1t. Enid was an
intelligent girl, not crazy, told her but when
dinner time fulfilled her prediction that the
Turpie boy would be there began to feel
little disturbed I felt more the more
noticed Enid and listened to her 1t was
plain could be that she wasn't behaving
very naturally.
When we sat down at the table she began
talking excitedly about nothing at all and
dropped her RS something I'd never known her
to do before, because she'd always been girl
that fairly abominated any kind Of showing
off pretentiouSnesS. She kept interrupting
her own chatter by laughing in an affected way
that sounded too musical, as she d practlced
it, and she referred to me several times as
funny little papa" not meaning little in size,
OF course but seeming to imply that conse-
ouential people ought to take me more or less
as sort of joke. The consequential people
involved appeared to be herself and Maow-
field Turpie not including her mother or
Clarissa, because pretty soon she went so far
to speak Of her mother as funny little
mamma" and of Clarissa funny old
Cla!iSsa"
THEN spang in the middle OF something she
was saying she stopped. All her excitement
and laughter and talk wilted right down like
the water of garden hose somebody turns off
unexpectedly at the hydrant. Nobody else had
said anything; there wasn't any visible cause
she just suddenly quit doing everything except
sit and look across the table at that Turpe boy,
with her mouth partly open.
She did this all through the meal. Shed
chatter and laugh while, not giving anybody
else chance to say word Then, right when
fi1ANIn
manently, she'd have another seizu e of looking
at him. usually with her mouth partly open.
He seemed used to it and kept right on eating,
though looking back at her approvingly quite
little and getting kind of more dampish on
his face, thought didn't make very good
meal of it myself account of getting dis
turbed enough not to feel so we'll inside, and
Ends not seeming herself got her mother and
Clarissa and me to feeling so constrained that
it was quite relief at first when Eddie Bull
finch came stumbling in while we were eating
dessert.
He had sort of hard look on his face and
didn't apologize for coming right out to the
dining room, but sat down in a chair against
the wall No thank you" he said, when Mrs.
Massey asked him if he wouldn't sit at the
table and have some dessert with US III wait
here. 1 guess it won't do any harm my just
waiting in spite of the fact that it's customary
when any girl invites somebody that's visiting
to dinner to also invite whoever they're visiting
instead of sending word that their host can
come around after dinner and sit in the
rumble to go to the movies with them. Not
that it makes any great difference to me, be-
cause I'm just able to take food at home as
some place else where I'm practically requested
not to-"
Enid looked furious and gave contemptuous
sort of sniff, but Mallowheld Turpie didn't
show any symptoms of being interested at all
lust went on finishing up his second plate Of
floating islands-and the rest of us felt pretty
embarrassed. Mrs. Massey murmvfed come
thing about being sorry Eddie hadn't come to
dinner with his guest, to which he responded
by saying, "Yesm, 1t wasn't your manners I
was abiding to, ha, ha!' in such harsh,
cracking voice that 1 was glad to zee Mrs.
Massey get up to go into the living room for