Evening star., 1934-05-28

T-Bone, pantingly left the sun
flooded front of the newspaper Office
around the cor1.er on Second street
and collapsed in the patch of shade
thus provided lying prone in the
middle of the sidewalk with that
complete abandon possible only to an
obtuse mongrel who causes an entire
town to step around his useless brown
carcass.
The National House, Catherwoods
oldest, and therefore shabbiest, hotel,
was darkened against the heat; the
long wooden shutters swung almost
together across the high, narrow win
dows, so that the Office was filled with
half light, binding to one stepping
in from the full glare of the street.
The girl who entered hesitated
moment in the doorway, blinking her
eyes as they accustomed themselves to
the dusk. A girl in her early twenties,
carrying in one hand heavy suitcase,
its weight causing her to lean to one
side-and with the other hand lead
ing a girl-child of three.
The middle-aged man at the ink
stained desk lowered his newspaper
and watched her sharply over his
glasses as she advanced.
What are your rates for rooms?"
Her voice was curt. No, l don't want
a bath in connection. suppose there's
a bath room on the same fiocr?"
During the discussion which fol-
lowed the woman sitting by the WIN
dow across the room dropped her
knitting, her eyes going avidly over
the girl, over the child, and when the
newcomer disappeared up the brass
bound stairs in the wake OF the pro-
prietor. she rose and read the wet
signature written on the ledger.
A moment later she was at the tele-
phone, ringing vigorously.
"'S'at you, Gussie? It's Callie." She
poured a low. excited flood into the
tranmitter. Say, what do you think?
That Therrold girls come! Her an
the baby. Why, just this minute.
Henry just took EN- up to a room. l
didn't think she'd have the nerve, did
you? e. Of course, I'm sure; didn't
look at the register? Mrs. Harvey
Stoddard Therrold, plain as the nose
on your face! Imagine her uSin' his
two names like that! q. Think she
was some society person, wouldn't
you?"
Mrs. Pruitt hung up the receiver and
hurried out the side door of her Louse.
She was a heavy woman, with mo-
1asses- -colored hair streaked with gray.
Eyes, too prominent in the first place,
had been magnified by strong glasses
to the opaque roundness of blue agate
marbles-a characteristic rather STAR
ting, unless you were used to Mrs.
Pruitt
While not precisely in the Elm drive
terrace, if one were going to split
hairs about it, the Pruitt home was
1ndisputably on the outskirts of Cath
erWood's most exclusive residential
section. fact on which Mrs. Pruitt
was given to laying much stress. A
neatly tended strip Of lawn separated
her home from that of her neighbor
Mrs. Fleming-the houses themselves
being stucco bungalows, with some
pretenSion to style.
Rounding a clump of hydrangeas
growing by the neighboring steps, Mrs.
Pruitt encountered the Fleming cat,
outstretched in the sun. A miracle
alone saved the cat, and as it disap-
peared in a gray streak around the
house the lady continued up the steps
and ratified the hooked screen door,
peering into the open hallway beyond.
"Yoo-hoo Anybody home?" Then,
as a figure materialized in the dusk {:
"Oh, hello. Irene. Your mother in?
had something to tell her, so I ran
over"
She's sewing out on the sun porch
Irene Fleming lifted the latch and ad-
mitted her caller. 1--WE have Mrs
Briggs over here today. They're work.
ing on my new evening dress"
'My good land, if you aren't the
lucky girl! Another new dress Well
guess you need 'em, running around
like you do with Barbara Therrold's s
crowd and that country club set" Mrs
Pruitt's tone was rallying, but her
thoughts were sour. "Aand trying
to marrv Barbara's brother Jeff!" she
amended mentally. 1t was an ever
ranking grievance with her that Irene
Fleming had been taken up by the