The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-10-29

u4M OdN1uS A4LS dill, A0dA III
Maybe not, but he isn't their
age, and prefer that he should
be called uncle" Evelyn returned
tartly.
Ards squirmed. Jan couldn't re,
sist making a face. Why did they
all make such a fuss over him?
Why did mother let everybody see
how she felt about him, when poor
father was gone, and nobody knew
where he was? What right had he
to come anyway, when it was sup
posed to be just family?
When he came back with the
chair she was still scowling.
He grinned at her, and tried to
pull her into his lap. Scarlet and
indignant she jumped up, flounced
from the room. And, of course,
everybody laughed. She heard
them, and hated them, everyone
Of them, especially him.
How COULD she have acted so
silly? But why did he have to do
that, and make her look silly,
Shed liked him at first-liked him
a lot. But it was so, disgusting the
way everybody fell all over him.
Anyway she'd showed him there
was SOMEBODY who didn't care
whether he lived or died!
They were still laughing in
there. She heard them, standing
alone in the dark of the hall.
Laughing, having a good time,
when grandmother was sick!
Tears filled her eyes, but it
didn't matter because it was
dark. Tnexplicably she wished for
Lowell Kramer. He would have
known how she felt, about her
father, about grandmother, about
everything.
The kitchen clock licked loudly.
Through the half-open door of her
grandmother'S room came the
sound Of heavy breathing. She
waited, lonely, homesick, fright,
ened. Waited for someone to call
her back to the bright, lighted
room.
Finally she forced herself to
peek into grandmother's bedroom,
to see if she was all right. She
Smoothed the covers, adjusted the
shade.
I'm the only one that cares"
she thought.
But in few days, while they
were still enjoying the glow that
their devotion gave them, grand
mother got up and insisted that
she was quite well again. Uncle
Peter brought over a bottle of pre-
prohibition sherry for her, and
Aunt Edith and the girls dropped
in once or twice after that. But
with grandmother up and busting
around, waiting on all Of them,
it wasn't necessary to keep it up,
so in two or three weeks every
one, even Jan, had almost forgot
ten.
There were so many things to
do. Evelyn and Dorathea went
shopping for graduation dress.
They went every afternoon after
school for nearly a week.
Did Uncle Peter give them the
money? It didn't seem possible,
because he was so cross, and Ar.
dis had to coax SO hard for the
little white fur evening wrap she
wanted.
Ards begged, and Aunt Caroline
got very silent and wooden and
cold. But it wasn't until they
both cried that he agreed to err.
mine instead of lapin.
II hate him sometimes" Ards
told Jane, passionately. "He
makes us crawl before he'll come
through. Just for the meanness
Of 1t, when he wants us to have the
best all along. Your family all
think that mother is hard and
cold, but if she is, it's because he's
made her that way. She's never
in all her life had an allowance,
like other women.
I'VE don't know whether he can
afford things or not. He says he
can't and then he comes out with
it and he always has plenty left,
I notice. I'm never going to marry.
Nice men like David don't marry,
you'll notice"
Everybody knows he wanted to
marry mother!"
''Oh, perhaps. When he was a
boy. But he doesn't want to
marry her now"
mo! Because she's already
married, thank you"
Ards laughed, but afterwards
she was sorry. 1T guess you have
your troubles, too," she said. "Par-
entS don't know how they make
you suffer. I'll never marry and
I'll never have children. I know
too much!"
Jan was admiring but silent. It
didn't seem fair to Ards to let her
tell 50 much and then say nothing.
But Lowell had made her promise
not to tell anyone that he liked