Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-11-20
camaraderIs among these seemingly
NJ. TO-

leisurely people. "a mans si
Now with Italy--Oh, fine, and all
that-it was nevertheless different
To begin with, German, especially aft
er YOU had been In the hardware busi-
ness In Meyersville all these years.
was something you had picked up
from customers who lived In a part Of 7
town vulgarly known as "Saurkraut
Patch" One felt at home with the
Germans because there were so many
OF them In Meyersvllle. But the
EyetallansS certainly were hard nuts
to crack. No getting next to those
fellows. Fine for Dora and the boys.
Steve had chance to see some Of the
big things Mussolini was planning In
an engineering way. and Rome and
Biorence certainly were filed with
mighty Old things. But funny. Just
next to impossible to get decent
dish Of spaghetti In Italy.
Well. 1t was all part Of the phi
losophy Of alive and learn" There
was the whole thing In nutshell.
Live and learn. Dora was living this
tripl To see her eyes shine over the
blue crepe dress from Paris testified
to that. Boys were too young to real
ize 1t. but every single day was stor'
ing up In those young minds impress
slons of lifetime. Days might drag
a bit for Pop. Monroe and his III
equipment for running the business
might weigh more heavily than Pop
would have liked, but Just the same
the means justified the end. s
1t was at the conclusion Of the third
month that Pop came to what, for
him, was a heroic conclusion. After
all, trip Of lifetime; boys at tbe
formative period; Dora having the
time Of her llfe-the thing to do,
even II he had to wire his brother In
Wichita for a loan of one thousand
dollars on collateral Of his building
loan association stock, was to stick II
out another MONTH
Two weeks In Paris was mighty lit
tie for a woman who had looked for
ward to It all her life. Why, as the
guide he had engaged to do the gal
lerles with them had remarked, "the
Louvre itself was worth two weeks
OF intensive study" to say nothing OF
the fact that the Eiffel tower and
places like that were worthy Of
Steve's careful consideration. And
hlst0ryi To stand at the top of the
Champs Elysees and look down that
fine street was to live all over the
days of Napoleon who had planned
out that street. Yes sir, 1t might
mean long hours Of sitting around the
street cafes Of the town, and Pop
certainly did not care for the syrupy
drinks or the inky coffee that seemed
the order Of those terraces, but again
on the prlnclple-only come to Eth
rope once. Pop as his surprise Of the
voyage, sprang his news to the fam
lly-after the money had been wired
for from Wichita. the original return
passage Cancelled, and the new pas
sage for six weeks later purchased.
II seemed to Dora that n ever her
influence over her three sons had
reached Its triumphant peak II was
during Pops release Of his tldlngs one
evening In their narrow hotel sitting
room In the Hotel Chiffon In Paris.
Leonard. whose nostalgia for his
swimming hole at Cracks creek back
home had been something with which
his mother had secretly struggled the
summer through, began frankly to
cry, but then LennIe was the baby
and Pop never even noticed. But
Steve, who should have known bet
ter, actually started to be rude to
father and explain that the tendon In
his heel and all been a hoax to es-
cape one more day Of the agony OF
traipsing Europe, and except for the
heel Of Dora's shoe, dug into his in.
step. would have wounded his father
for life. The same way with Bobble
There was a dreadful moment when II
seemed that the boy would explode
some of the secret nostalgia with
which Dora had been coping all these
months had she not jumped quickly
Into the breach, tldlng over the dis
aster OF 'iettlng Pop know the horrible
truth.
"a "Why. dad, that's mighty darling
generous Of you. But declare
honey. I think and the boys have
had about enough :"
"There you 20 again. sacrificing
your own desires to what you imagine
are mine. This time. though, Pv'
,toreseen all that. This trip aln't
over. honey---lt's just about TO beglr
for you and the boys-you're not go
ing TO say when you get home that
you didn't see Europe. See that pack
age tberel That's guide booksw dI
As Dora afterward explained. tear
fully. prayerfully. to her three insur
gent sons. "Stlck II out, darlings--
for my sakel n I can make the hes
OF Il, surely you young ones can
Wen be home again in eight weeks
darllngs.J know II seems awful lOni
now-but mother will do her hest Il
let you out Of the tralpslng. Stick I
out. dnrlIngs. FOR Pops sake. Pop I,
| antovInO n 40 I"