The Washington times., 1933-08-03
All In a Day
Love in a Cottage
-6y-
MARK HELLINOER

The windows were all open,
but it made no difference. The
heat was stifling. Whatever
slight breeze there may have
been was coming in the kitchen
window. So Mildred sat there
most of the afternoon with her
elbows on the sill and her chin
cupped in her hands.
She gazed out over the ex-
panSe of dirty back yards and
the maze Of clothes lines. From
the street came the sound of
honking cabs and noisy trucks,
and the rumble of the IL"
trains. From the open kitchen
window facing on the rear court
she could hear the dumbwaiter
groaning with a load of ice.
Hates the City
And Mildred thought: hate
1t: I hate the city
She had thought that for a
long time. Ever since she had
been forced to confine her play
to the sidewalk when she mad
been a mere tot. The city had
always seemed big, and hard,
and sometimes very brutal.
Life seemed to be divided into
two distinct parts. The first
was day life, which consisted of
eating, working, worrying, and
fighting with a narrow-minded
father. The second half was
the night life, which consisted
Of getting dolled up and guzzling
cheap. gin in cheaper dance
halls.
So, with an outlook like that,
you can't blame Mildred for
hating the city. And, by the
same token, you can't blame her
for accepting Fred'S proposal of
marriage.
Fred, you see, was not a city
boy. AS matter of face, he
was the direct antithesis of the
cosmopolitan male. He had
hayseed in his hair and lard on
his shoes. But he was a clean
kid. And honest. And a little
dumb.
Mildred had met him in a
Catskill camp one summer.
Fred, who had no folks, owned
a little cottage there. And on
some summer nights she had
allowed him to take her for
a little ride in his secondhand
flivver.
When she left the camp for
home she forgot Fred and the
car. But Fred didn't forget Mil
dred. Not by a long shot. He
wrote to her often and some.
times made trips to the city OF
see her. When the proper time
arrived Fred had proposed. And
when the proper time had
elapsed, Mildred had accepted.
Wholesome Life
Married life in the country
appealed to Mildred very, very
much. 1t sounded clean, and
sweet, and wholesome. 1t
brought to mind green pas
lures, beautiful landscapes, the
smell of roses after rain, and a
vine-coVered cottage.
So while her mother cried
and the church organ walled,
times made trips to the city to
Fred. And within an hour,
the happy couple had started
on their way to place they
would call home" What did
1t matter that Fred's Job paid
but a small salary? What did
it matter that the flivver shook
like an old man out with his
first chorus girl?
Those things were trivial. =.
Now, with your permission,
we will skip a year in the lives
of Mildred and Fred. And in
year, a whole lot of things
can happen-and usually do.
In Mildred'S eyes, the vine
covered cottage was now a hut
in the wilderness. The green
pastures were barren fields.
The beautiful landscapes we're
sickening. And the smell of
roses after rain had changed
to something akin to a stable.
Fred. too, had changed in
her eyes. The clearness, the
wholesomeness of her husband
had altered considerably. Now,
he seemed to be just a stupid
man who understood nothing
Of the finer things in life, and
who could be found every eve