The Coolidge examiner., 1932-08-26
Dressed for
Dinner
By JANE OSBORN
O. by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
CWNU Service)

strobe into the boarding house din
| ing room that second night of his
residence there. dressed in his tux
edo. He assured himself that there
was nothing out of the way in his
appearance. No one, of course,
would know that the reason he was
thus formally dressed was because
! he had but one business suit at
present in which, after he had re-
turned from the office a quarter of
an hour ago, he had discovered a
ripped seam that made it quite nee
essary to take it TO the tailor.
The ten boarders at Mrs
Haven's sat at one long table and
to hide any slight embarrassment
Wren began to talk of the weather.
AS he was talking he noticed
that Miss Ames cast preoccupied
glances across the table and when
she could politely turn her atten-
! ton from him she looked brightly
across and said: Coin out tonight,
Miss Drew?p
"Why, no, Miss Ames," said the
girl addressed as Miss Drew. what
made you ask that?"
"Then you are expecting COM
pany," announced Miss Ames with
the familiarity that she seemed to
think living under the same board
/ nnruniffnd Wrnn
Baldwin eating the watery soup be-
fore him felt a surprising twang Of
jealousy. He had noticed this girl
Miss Drew as they called her
that morning in her trim dark busi-
ness frock and noticed. too. the
lovely gray eyes.
After dinner the boarders ad-
journed to the boarding house par
| lor.
Il suppose you're going out" said
the old woman.
"Oh, to be sure" said Wren, re-
membering the suit at the tailor's
and wondering somehow whether
Miss Ames knew of his errand
there. 81 do have to go out for
few minutes later on"
Then a pleasant man of sixty
named Brown approached Wren.
'If you weren't going out I'd ask
you to make up a table at bridge"
he said. "Thered be my wife and
/ | and Miss Drew If we could get a
fourth. It's too chilly to go up yet"
"Tu play" said Wren, and then,
''only | imagine Miss Drew will
have another partner presently"
But apparently Miss Drew had
no other partner. The table was
opened, Mrs. Brown went upstairs
for the cards and the four sat down
with Miss Ames constituting an un-
| invited audience with her chair
drawn up between that of Wren
and Miss Drew.
So they played, and as they
played and no caller arrived for
Miss Drew, Wren's jealousy abated,
and as 1t abated his admiration for
her Increased. All at once he looked
at the clock and saw that the hands
pointed to half-past nine. He hap
pened to be playing dummy at the
time, so without much ceremony
about it he rose and made some ex.
cuse about having to go out for a
few minutes. Then seizing his coat
and hat in the hall he hurried
around the corner to the tailor
shop, the terrifying thought that it
might at any minute close for the
night quickening his steps. Back
in the boarding house hall he tucked
his suit under his coat and has
tened to his room, then back to the
card table.
did you get what you went
after?' asked Miss Ames, and Wren
with all the nonchalance he could
command said that he did. Then
when it was eleven and time to go
to bed, Mrs. Brown said that it had
been a very nice party, and very
dressed-up party, too, she added
significantly. Brown took his wife's
arm on one side and Miss Ames
on the other and started for the
stairs. "We old folks will go along
and let you youngsters put up the
table" he said, almost dragging the
unwilling Miss Ames with him.
Then over the table Wren felt
that he ought to make an explana-
tion-perhaps a complete confes-
sion to begin with would be best.
$50 that's why | had to hurry
out at half-past nine" he finished
his explanation. 81 would have
explained then only that little Miss
Ames was so anxious to know"
Miss Drew laughed delightfully."-.
She explained, too. "T'm terribly
poor myself" she said, "but before
we lost everything I did dress for
dinner, and my first position was as
a resident social secretary where
was expected to dress. Now l am
working in an office. but it seemed
so dingy here and I just made up
my mind that I'd feel lot more
cheerful If | dressed--as long as ]