Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-03-20
THE
MYSTERIOUS
IMPULSE
SO 8
BY Fannie Hurst
10. Mcclure Newspaper syndicAtel

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
10. Mcclure Newspaper syndlcate.l
~ VERYONE in the hotel bowed in
acknowledgment to Eleanor
IL Morley's impeccable quality OF
sweetness In her treatment OF
her mother. This included Mrs. Midge-
ly herself, who recognized how fortu-
nate she was In possessing daughter
like Eleanor. And there was plenty
Of time for reflection like this to flow
through the brain Of Mrs. Midgely. To
one as accustomed to leisure as she.
the days offered plenty OF leisure to
do countless things she had never
found the moments to do during the
years she was struggling as a widow
to rear Eleanor. educate her and keep
going the small Connecticut farm left
her by her husband, who had died Of
exposure trying to coax fecundity from
a sparse and rocky bosom.
Since Eleanor's marriage TO the
Spencer Morley Of the well-knOwn
chocolate mints, Mrs. Midgely was en-
titled to feel that she was more than
compensated In leisure, repOse and
comfort for the long, lean years when
she had carried on her small and pm
tient-looklng shoulders duties that
should have been shared by three or
four.
The Morleys and Mrs. Midgely oc-
cupied a spacious three-rOom suite on
the bay-window corner on the eighth
floor Of modern uptown apartment
hotel. They shared a common bath
Of white tile with an inlay OF green
ducks swimming above the tub. The
sitting room contained bright bay
window, with EleanOrs growing plants
and canary bird. There was piano
strewn with Eleanors music, small
white poodle dog which slept twenty
hours day on a pink silk cushion and
a small printed sign nailed to the door
which held out to the guests not only
rules and regulations, but every offer
Of comfort. Eleanor and Spencer Oc-
cupled nice square bedroom, rather
dark because II faced a court, fur.
nished in Circassian walnut. Mrs.
Midgelys room, smaller still, and, II
must be admitted, darker still, had no
window at all, but practical skylight
through which, II you peered hard
enough, you could see faint CLEAN
Of stars against the opaque glass.
For this suite, furnished, the Nor
leys paid the sum Of eight thousand
dollars year. That meant that Mrs.
Myd0ol,, x,rano rod tha flrao hrau A, 20 ata
In the bathroom, over an electric ring,
laying Turkish towels along the tran.
som to keep the coffee smell from per-
colating into the corridors, thus In
dieting them for violation of the mo
Cooking in Rooms" rule. Lunch Mrs
Midgely and Eleanor took in small
cafeteria two or three blocks away
from the hotel At evening the three
Of them, mother. daughter and son-ln-
law, emerged quite grandly down into
the main dining room of the hotel for
a table d'hote dinner that began with
an elaborate appetizer and marched
on through soup, fish, fowl and des-
sert to finale of bridge In the lobby,
a motion picture or, occasionally, a
theater.
Mrs. Midgely did not play cards, but
even with her daughter and sOn-ln-
law much In demand for that pastime,
evenings In the hotel were seldom to-
dlOus There were women of Mrs.
Midgely's own age--many OF them
similarly situated or living on in.
comes Of their own-to talk with, to
say nothing Of odds and ends OF elder
ly men, eager to pass the time Of day
or night. Sometimes a group Of the
older folk made up party among
themselves and attended motion pic
ture. This always delighted Eleanor,
who often rushed around organizing
the party herself
Sweet girl, Elean0rl And Spencer,
too, was all that could be desired In
q sOn-In-law. To be sure, he was
sometimes a little abrupt when things
that had to do with business were on
his mind. Mrs. Mldgely sometimes
suspected he came home with Whit
OF liquor on his breath. But, IN the
main, he was kind, good fellow,
highly tolerant OF the fact that from
the first day Of her marriage Eleanor
had been numbered with the presence
Of third person. And Eleanor was
In love and In n perpetual state OF
bedazZleinent over the change Of for.
tune which had hurtled her from tho
life OF the small farm in Connecticut
to the apartment hotel where exist.
ence was fabricated and moved for
ward easily, even luxuriOusly
II II bewidered Mrs. Midgely 10 find
herself sometimes sitting the day
through like a well-fed, sleepy dog on
the upholstered chairs Of their apart
ment or on the upholstered dlvans OF
the Hobbies, she knew that the mere
thought was an ungratefu one. Mrs
Midgely's hands, even though they
were manicured now by the blond girl
In the hotel beauty parlOr, stu bore
traces Of the manual labor they had
done In those years when she was
struggling to rear Eleanor.
It seemed sacrleglous to regard the
sitting about as tedlum. Eleanor did
not. She was another girl. Her bright
hair was alive and electric with vi.
tallty. Her legs In their sheer silk
stockings, flashed about eagerly on
their missions Of enjoyment and pleas
ure. And she was perennialy sweet
and thoughtful about her niUtber, TOO.
Sometimes Mrs Midgeiy would wake