The Washington times., 1938-02-11

NAA W ma III -Nii . ~
Satile, heSitatingly middle-aged
wandring" stage of a highly
With reason she had become
quietly satisfied with what life
had brought her, although some.
times it seemed passing strange
to her that the years had made
her so much slower and less I'M
petuous. Yet sometimes she was
fully as impulsive as of old.
Hers had been a meager child
hood, then fate had stepped IN
loaded with promise, whereafter
her life became one of privilege
and adventure. Then suddenly 1t
had come to Harriet, now widow
and alone. that the most romantic
thing she could do would be to
return, for a time at least, to her
own first best country" to It's
forests and hills and famed waters.
Unexpectedly she found that she
was tired of the confusionS OF an
unsettled life. She did not need
to deliberate over the matter. Yet
it was radical decision for mel
to give up the beloved oppor Ami
ties of great cities. She found it
good to be back where so many
people called her Harriet.
Though she had a long perSpec-
tive behind her, Harriet Congreve
finally knew that during all those
years she had spent in the centerS
of ancient culture or modern at
tainment, that she had never for
gotten, for a1y long period, the
lovely and once highly eminent
port which had seemed to her as
a child a depot of marvelS, every
time she was fortunate enough.
after some long interval, to go to
it from her native village but a
few miles away.
GLAMOR OF THE CITY"
To many a villager in wide
area going to the city" was
matter of glamour and a visit to
it an event. All of the country
people about spoke of The City"
often, as a place which one the
more fortunate could visit often.
1t was to the city, rather than
to her native village. that Harriet
returned, remembering so much
about it that seemed lovely.
Harriet's father had died when
she was very young, but so strong
had been her love for him that
she remembered minutely his
stories of the city.
A great trade went on here with
the West Indies, which mainly
sent back cargoes of rum and mo
laSses from Barbados and, in
small quantities, lines and other
tropical fruits and the guava
jellies.
Harriet's uncle, a master mar.
riner, often brought home great
firkins of cocoa buds, exciting to
see and to chew. Her father had
once made trip to the Antilles
with his brother and acquired
there permanent liking for pre-
served tamarinds which he could
always buy in the city.
Harriet's father had not only ex
tolled the exotic fruits he had thus
learned about, but in starting a
home had made a great beginning
OF garden and orchard. With her
as a companion. when possible, he
gathered the wild fruits of the
fields and pastures; and he was
one who seemed to have an in
Stinct which told him where there
was a bee tree. Thus all these
things became beautiful to Har.
rlet, a treasure trove.
AS a result of such loves and
experiences, Harriet Congreve
never missed an old world market
whether she visited in London or
Paris. or Basle or Marseille.
LOVED THE TREES
Once returned to her native hills,
Harriet found she loved the world
from this vantage point as enthu.
slastically as anywhere, both the
near and the far. She loved the
hemlock and the pines, and in the
city the hundreds of century-old
elm trees, aeons old in their grace.
Back at her starting point, as
She called it, it often seemed to
Harriet that she could hold up in
her cupped hands all the places
she had seen. and inspect them
lovingly as she could the pretty
tokens of her travels from China
to Peru. She even felt converse
tlonally near to the people she had
known in far places.
She lived over many an enter.
tanning contact with men and
women, and even of the inhabi-
tantS OF ZOOS, for she was a lover
of beast and bird. She had always
found them amenable to talk
whenever she met them, so she
always spoke to them. She remem.
bered the avaricious eye of a pea.
cock in Phoenix Park, Dublin. He
had eyed her sharply as he swal.
lowed the peanuts she threw him
shells and all.
Loving all such experiences, Har
rlet found herself delighted that
she could better than duplicate
them, and more affectionately
with the family pets of the homes
where she was known.
HER NEW HOME