The Washington times., 1933-03-07
Writer Pens Gripping Tale
Or a 1893 Courtship

bedroom for the bill that had
been her Grandmother Dunn's
graduation gift a month before.
In the Drawer
It was under the paper that
lined the top drawer Of her
white dresser. She had put it
away with three one-dollar
bills that she had been saving
for a long time.
But she took it out now,
without a twinge of regret, and
flew back into her mothers
room with it Anything, any
thing, anything to get Dodie
out of the flat before half
past IL!
Five minutes later she stood
at the front window and
watched Dodie and Maud Hama
berry go down the street, side
by side.
Both were in Summery white.
But. across Maud Hanaberrys
wide shoulders was slung a
white fox scarf. Sharlie knew
that her mother would have
loved to be wearing a white
fox, too She was sorry
for her mother. Sorry for
Dodie, who had been married
to a failure for 10 years.
Sharlie had known that her
father was a failure ever since
she had been old enough to
understand the things her
mother said about him.
She knew that he made q
tiny salary working at some
unimportant job in the big
railroad freight offices down
town in the Bangor Building.
She knew that the reason
Edna Ballinger lived with them
was because the board she paid
"came in handy" for meeting
the household expenses.
She knew that they would
have had to move out Of the
flat if Mr.. Gunderson, the land.
lord, had raised their rent last
April when he had raised the
Barnum's rent.
He would have raised it,
too, I hadn't vamped him
a little" Dodie had told her
at that time.
The AdmOnitiOn
Don't tell your father how
long the old fool sat around
here this afternoon talking to
me-"
Mr.. Gunderson always "sat
around" talking to Dodie when
he came to collect the rent on
the first day of the month.
Men always liked to talk to
Dodie. She was so pretty and
she laughed a great deal, show
ing the Whitest of teeth and a
dimple in one of her smooth
pink cheeks.
Sharlie was pretty, too, but in
a differnt way.
She was tall and slim. She
had a quick shy little smile, and
her eyes looked out at the
world from between thick up-
curling laShes that were so
black they looked artificial
like the ones that motion-pic-
ture actresses wear.
She had been brought I'D on
the street. as little girl. Do
dies never-ending chant to her
had been: Run out and play,
Sharlie, and don't bother me-"
But in spite of the street, and
in spite Of Eddie Wallis, Sharlie
somehow or other had kept her
woodsy charm. Her eyes were
still clear and bright, and wide
as a. child's eyes, and her low
laugh had the happy ring of a
little girls laugh. She had a
sweet soft way Of talking to
people, and sometimes she
blushed. Hardly anybody knows
how to blush any more.
Sharlie Primps Up
The instant her mother and
Maud Hanaberry were out of
sight Sharlie rushed into her
room to get ready for Eddie
Wallis.
From the bottom of her hand
kerchief box she took a bright
red lipstick and a box of sun.
burn powder.
When she had made up her
face, she put her hair behind
her ears and rolled her stock
ings down around her ankles.
Then she went into Dodie's
room and put some of Dodie's
perfume behind her ears
She was Eddie Wallis "zany"
now, and some of the woodsy
charm was gone from her.
At 1890 Eddie arrived. He
came roaring up the street in
his car.
It was a noisy open car and
it was odd looking. Eddie's
father, who owned a hardware
store on Seventeenth Street,
had taken it from a man who
owed him a lot of money, so
Eddie said.
"It's got a front-wheel drive,
like a racing car" Eddie had
told Sharlie the first time she
went riding with him in it. 1T
must have cost a lot of jack
when it was new"
Battered and Banged
It was not new now. It was
battered and some Of its paint
was gone. It went like the wind
sometimes, but when it did it
sounded as if it was coming to