The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-12-31

yellow rounds that clinked on the bottom of the kettle, inserted nb. sei,tiy -mindedly, Don't say I'll bet like thnt all the timc, Mary Frances, Tho idea! It sounds hor- rid. You should honr yourself and you wouldn't do it."
 Infringing him homo to dinner tho. boy friend% Mary-Francct insisted.
 "No," Ann said, and sliced the carrots. "She wouldn't think of bringing anyone home to dinner especially without tolephonlnR ahead of time. She's probably com' ing homo to change her dress---"
 Nary Frances had rushed away through the buffers pantry, bent on reaching the mirror in tho dim ing room--n monstrous, chilly place, where, painted on tho high ceiling, great fat fish lay Inert In dead looking bottlc-greon waves. One long slide across the hardwood floor, for which Grand had onco refused an offer of $500, 5000, s2,00O Che sums varied according | to 0rand'B memory and moods and not according to his honestly, brought her to tho mnssivo built In bullet and tho mirror.
 She tipped her head back and bit her lips and pursed them Into n soft pink rosetet; she dampened her two little fingers with her tongue and traced her fine brown eyebrows; she pinched a deeper color into her checks and preened her brown bobbed hair.
 yyhat ahn tyuQ nnlV 1h Vpufa old? Wasn't sho tall for her age !? Dreadfuliy tall? Didn't everybody think she wns IS years old, any way? Well, everybody. Just every. body. Well. then, everybody but the teachers and kids at school. Well, boys and girls, then. They were not children. Everybody.
 In the front hall Ccclly was laughing again, above the pleas- ant undertoncs of c masculine laugh and voice. Mary-Frances had to walk right up to them be- fore Cecily said, "Oh, Mary-Fran- ces, dear!" as If she were amazed to find a third person existing any where in the world. This Is my little sister. Mary-Frances, MT McKeel."
 Cecily, Mary-Frances knew, would like to have her curtsey, but she wouldn't do it--not at her age. She bowed, primly-though !, demurely was the word she had Tn mind-and stuck out a small hand that had not been washed since she had come home from school. He was polite, of course; but. | in so far as Mary-Frances was able to judge by the dim light shed from the one small globe high In the hall ceiling, Cecily's admiration of him was unwarranted. He was an inch or two above average height. but Cissy had said that he was tall. True, she had added that he was thin; Mary-Frances substituted skinny" as more apt. His hair, which Cissy had de- scribed as auburn was merely dark ish, and he wore 1t too short. ana he should, at least. smooth it down with his hands, as Phil and the movie men smoothed theirs. if he thought 1t unmanly to look in the mirror. She could reach no de- cislon about his eyes-cecily had described them as jolly and brown l--because he was staring too hard at Clssy. who, in spite or the Tact that her nose needed powdering. looked prettier than usual. though she was acting awfully silly and laughing all the time. She shouidn't let this Mir MeKeei see thnt she was 50 excited. Resale had told and told her. had told all three of them, exactly how to act with men: "NOnchaiance savored with win someneas; dignity s0ftened with coynesa." i.
 The door on the right 0f the hall Tod into the library; the door on | the left ted into the music room. Ceolly paused for an Instant bee