The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1938-09-23
Grandmother likes

him."
''But a reporter, Barbara!"
Carl BEETLE chuckled. whoa,
there, Mrs. Sentry!" he protested.
Reporters aren't so bad, nova
days. You're prejudicedl"
"I'm prejudiced against any
young man who meets my daughter
secretly"
Barbara cried: "Oh, now, moth
er, that's silly! It's not secretly,
with grandmother there; but even
If it was"
Mrs. Sentry said, yielding: "Of
course, dear. I'm afraid it really is
prejudice. Ask him to have tea here
too, Barbara, If you wish"
"I'm at grandmother now more
than I'm at home," Barbara re-
minded her; and this was in fact
true. Old Mrs. Sentry had since
her sons arrest surrendered to
physical immobility. Her mind was
as keen, her tongue as sharp as
ever; but she stayed in her room at
the hotel where she lived, had her
meals served there, even submit
ted to an indignity she had long de-
clined, and hired a companion who
was also nurse and masseuse.
And Phil had used the old wom-
ans helplessness to dissuade Bar
bara from her desire to see her ia
Their. "You and ! have to make it
as easy as we can for mother,
Barb" he pointed out. "And moth
er can't be with father and with
grandmother too, and she can't go
to the jail without me, so grand
mothers your job! Don't you see?"
So Barbara yielded-Phil thought
she yielded very easily-and spent
much time with her grandmother;
and old Mrs. Sentry by degrees for
got to use toward her that tone of
sharp disapproval which had SO long
been her habit toward both girls.
There was during these weeks some
thing deeply and wistfully appeal
ing about Barbara. She was thin;
her eyes seemed larger; her color
had faded; she looked at people
eagerly, anxiously, as though hop
ing someone would say-what no
one ever did say. And Grandmoth-
er Sentry was very gentle toward
her, warned Mrs. Sentry once:
"That child is ready to crack,
Ellen. Look out for her."
Mrs. Sentry nodded. ''I- do all
] cant"
Grandmother Sentry sought in her
own ways to serve; she welcomed
Barbara, and welcomed Professor
Brace, or Dan Fisher, when one or
the other came with Barbara to be
with her.
The old woman did not like Pro-
fessor Brace, and she told Barbara
so. "He's a Middle-Westerner, of
course, but he's a rank Puritan at
heart, Barbara. Believes in the NOR
LITIGATION of the flesh or something
of the kind. Believes in duty. The
wrong kind. II he were a Spartan
he'd nurse a gnawing fox to his
bosom. Any man with sense knows
that you ought to dodge suffering
when you can. He's the grin and
bear it. type"
"He's been sort of NICE" Bar
bara argued. Standing by"
81 know. The boy stood on the
burning deck!' Anyone but fool
would dive overboardl"
Whence all but him had fled,
Barbara reminded her. "But there
are a lot of us still on the burning
deck, grandmother. And he doesn't
have to stay. He's just doing it to
be friendly"
"Like him, do you, child?"
cts sort of nice to have
friends"
The old woman saw in the girls
eyes a secret terror, mounting
fear she had seen there before; and
she was silenced. Whenever they
spoke of Mr.. Sentry, and Barbara
cried, "He didn't do it, grandmoth-
erl'' old Mrs. Sentry always assent
ed, always spoke quick reas-
surances. Barbara was grown so
s' /TO nv cONTyNTJEDl