The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-03-24

Aesop, Amy and Robert love and I'M
derstand those pictures and the beauty
of the architecture. There's just no
use my pretending, Aesop, I don't
know Del Sarto from a Raphael, and
the worst of it is, don't care. I'm
tired, papa. My neck aches from gal
leries as much as your feet do"
"The beauty is there alright, moth
er. It's just that we haven't had the
time to prepare ourselves to admire II,
the way the children have. The whole
worlds not crazy, travelling these coun-
tries over for the wonders of their art
and beauty. It's just that we Kam-
merers the Grocers haven't had time
to become anything else"
There's something in that, father"
said his wife, easing the back Of her
neck with ministering of witch-hazel.
II long, just as much as you do, to be
able to make the children feel we're
up to 1t, but I may as well confess,
Aesop, I don't know what it's all
about. Take that lecture today in the
gallery on Siennese art of the Fiji
teenth century, it wasn't easy to fol-
low what he was saying, father, the
way it was for the children because
they've had enough preparation for
travel, to know what it was all about"
Exactly, mother! While we've been
at home, being grocers, our children
have been preparing themselves to en-
joy the things we will be outcasts
from all our lives, If we don't hurry
up and begin to lay the ground work
for US to enjoy it, too"
snow, what do you mean by that,
Aesop% asked his wife.
What he meant by that was to come
as great shock in the lives Of Robert
and Amy when they heard it, and the
way they heard 1t was this:
One evening in the bar Of the Ex-
celsior hotel in Rome, over cocktails,
Robert said to his sister:
"This trip is an awful frost, Amy.
Good Lord, If I had known the gov
ernor and the governors lady were
going to be a pair of sawdust babies
on orr hands! Did you see the poor
old l',ater flop down for a cat nap to-
day n the house of Livia, right in
from Of the murals?"
"Y ), and it would have to be in
from; Of 80 Guarded by Argus I
woul int say it to the dears for
worlds, but can you imagine how they
would welcome taking an earlier boat
home? We could hop down to An
tibes then for couple of months on
the Riviera"
"Tll be the last to suggest it to
them"
Leave it to me, darling. know
the mother like book. She will jump
at the released"
1t was at this point that Aesop
walked in on his progeny who were
tossing off the remains of their cock
tails.
"Say, Rob, say Amy, what say?
Here in this envelope I've two trans
portations back home"
"Oh, father-not quitting us, are
you?"
mo. You're quitting us. Ma and
have made up our minds to stay
over in Europe this year, and catch
on to this thing called the culture
game. I'm going to need you two
children back home. Rob, you're 60
ing to take charge of the fruit and
vegetable departments, A to 2 and,
Amy, I've wired back to our Miss
Punt to take you on in her depart
ment and get you limbered up in the
fascinating study Of imported spices"
"Why, father"
"Nope. You mother and I aren't 60
ing to need you around for the next
little while. We're going to get our
selves ready, the way we did you, to
know what it's all about"
And so it was, that the house of
Aesop Kammerer, Fancy Grocers,
found itself presented with a new
manager Of the fruit and vegetable
department as well as an assistant to
Miss Punt, in the Fascinating depart
ment Of rare and exotic spices.