Evening Star Newspaper, August 26, 1923, Page 76

THE SUNDAY STAR, WA SHINGTON, D. C, AUGUST 26, 1923—PART 5. WA AN 17 iR C—— O\ V2SNV P/ — NIz N ~ A Story by Booth Tarkington—Lu Allen Gained a Reputation for Brain Work by Going Out of Town When Maud and Bill .Were a Little Upset on Account of Moving to a New Place PON the third Saturday of last May one idea possessed the minds and governed the actions of all the better bachelors of Marlow and all the wid- owers, better and worse. She was the first seen on the main street side of the square at about 9§ oclock in the morning. Mr. Rolfo Williams. whose hardware establish- ment occupies a corner, caught a glimpse of her through a window. His clerk was only a little ahead of him in reaching the sidewalk “My goodness, George!" Mr. liams murmured, “who is that?" “Couldn’t be from a bit more'n haif a mile this side o' New York!" said George, marveling. “Look at the cloes!” The lady was but thirty or forty feet away, and the murmur of the two voices attracted her attention. Not pausing in her light stride for- ward, she looked back over her shoulder, and her remarkable eyes twinkled with recognition. She nod. ded twice—first, unmistakably to Mr. Williams, and then, with equal“dis tinctness, to George. These dumfounded men were no more flustered than was old Mr. New- ton Truscom (clothier, hatter and gents' furnisher), just emerging from his place of business next door; for Mr. Truscom was likewise sunnily greeted. My gasped. Adam.” “Look!" said Mr. Truscom. “She’s goln’ in Milo Carter's drug store. Sody-water, I shouldn't wonder:" * % *x ALF an hour later, Mortimer Fole I'I was b drifting about the square exchanging comment Wwith other shirt-sleeved gossips. He dropped into E. J. Fuller's (E J. Fuller & Co.. furniture, carpets and wall-paper). “Listen here, EA." said Mortimer. “what'd she do when she went into Charlie Murdock’s and bought a pa- per o' pins? She went in there and spoke right to Charlie. ‘How are vou Mr. Murdock? she say like to fell over backwards! And then, when he got the pins wrapped up. she says, ‘How's your wife. Mr. Murdock “Where's she supposed to be now Mr. Fuller inquired, not referring to Mrs. Murdock. “Over at the ho ope,” Mortimer rcpiied. “Ri ht now she's went upstalrs in the Ga field block to Lu Allen's office.” Mr. Fuller at once came out from behind his counter Where goin’, Ed?" Wil- Williams her from Mr. saw goodne: “1 never Mortimer in- Futler replied. said the soclable you say you 2 AT, ith you." Where'd replied Ed. 1 yself! t suits me, kind o' want e Lu Al Thereupon they set forth across the square, but when th obtained a faly view of the Garfieid block, they paused, She of their quest was dis- appearing into the warn obscurity of Pawpaw street, and beside her saun- tercd Mr. Lucius Brutus Ailen, attor- c. In the deep, congenial aple trees her parasol ry. and Lucius dangled from his hand Mr. Williams stood upon the corner with his wife, and P. Borodino Thomp- scn. “That's Lu Allen's lady-walk,” sald Rolfo, as E. J. Fuller and Morti- Ter joined them. “He always kind o sags when he goes out walkin’ with the girls. Sags toe-ward 'em. Looks to me like he's just about fixin to Jean on he “Don't yo worry!" his wife sald| testily. * Lucy’'d slap him in a min- ute!. She always was that kind of a girl. e ucy! " Mortimer echoed. “Lucy who. “Lucy Cope.” “What on earth are you talkin' about, Miz Williams? That ain't Lucy Cope!” Mrs. Williams laughed. “Just why ain't {17 she asked satirically. “I ex-| pect some o' the men in this town bet- ter go get the eve-doctor to take a look at ‘em! Especially”—she gave her hus- band a comparsionate glance—‘‘espe- clally the fat, old ones! Mrs. Cal Burns come past my house 'while ago: says, “Miz* Willlams, Lucy Cope Ricketts is back in town,’ she says, ‘and none the men reckanized her yvet,’ she says, and you better %o on up to the square and take a look for yourself how they're behavin™!"” ‘Well, sir,” Mr. Willlams declared. “I couldn't hardly of believed it, but it certainly is her.” * ¥ Kk % R. FULLER intervened in search 4 of information. He was not a native, and had been a citizen of Marlow a little less than four years. “Did you say this lady was one of the Ricketts family, Mrs. Williams?" he inquired. “No. She married a Ricketts. She's a Cope; she’s all there is left of the Copes. Her and Tom Ricketts got married ten years ago and went to live in California. He's been dead three-four years maybe and she's come back to live in the Copes' ole house. Everybody knew she was comin’ some time this spring. If you want to know why the men never took any interest up to this morning tn Lucy Cope Ricketts' goin’ to come back and live here again, it's becaut all they ever remembered her she was kind of a peakid girl; sort of thin, and never seemed to have much com- plexion to speak of." “How's it happen Lu Allen's so thick with Mrs. Ricketts?” E. J. Ful- Jer inquired. “How's it come that e . e's her lawyer Mrs. Willlams informed him, “and he was executor of the Cope will, and all. Besides that, he used to be awful attentive to her, and nobody was hardly certain which she was goin to take, Lu Allen or Tom Ricketts, right up to a year or two before she got married. Looks like Lu was goin' to get a second chance, and money throwed in “Well, Lu's a talker. but he'll have to talk some mow!" P, Borodino Thompson announced thoughttully. “I used to know her, too, but I never-ex~ Charlie | | why pected she was going to turn out like this!” Meanwhile, in the sun-checkered shadow of a honeysuckle vine beside an old doorway. Mr. Luclus Brutus Allen was taking leave of his lovely friend. “Wiil you come this evening, Lucius, and help me decide on some remodeling for the house?” she asked. “No, thanks said Mr. Allen. “I never could decide which I thought your voice was like, Lucy; a harp or a violin. Doesn't make any difterence what you say, whenever you speak a person can't help thinking of wild roses shaking the dew off of 'em In the brecze, that blow along about sunrise.” Mrs. Ricketts looked nt him stead- ily. “When will you come and help me with the plans?’ she asked. Mr. Allen returned immediate m: “I never in my life saw any girl whose hair made such a lovely shape to her head &s yours, Lucy! It's the one thing in the world without any fault at |thing just perfect—except your nose and maybe the Parthenon when it was ne That brought a laugh from her, and Lucius gre rosy “By George!” he said. “To hear you laugh again!" “You always did make me laugh, Lucius.” “Especially if 1 had anything the matter with me,” he said. “If I had {a headache or tooth ache I'd always |come around to get you to laugh. Sometimes if the pain was pretty bad it wouldn't go away till you laughéd {two or three times!” She laughed the more: then she ighed. “Over ten years, almost cleven—and you saying things like this to every girl and woman you met. |all the time!” | “nobody takes much notice what a {chunky kind of man with a reddish Ihead and getting a little bald says. 1tUs quite a privilege.” * ¥ & X Sus laughed again, and sighed {O again. “Do you remember how | we used to sit out here in the even- {ings under the trees, Lucius? One of the things I've often thought about | since. then was how, when you were jhere, papa and mamma would bring thetr chairs and join us. and vou'd and the hundred years' war, and—" And then some other young fellow would turn up—some slim, dark- {haired Orlando—and I'd be talking astronomy with the old folks, but you and Orlando were strolling under the |stars—and didn't care what they {were made of:” No,” she said. “I mean what I've { thought about was that papa and | mamma never joined us unless you were here. It took me a long while to understand that, Lucius; but finally I did. Do the girls and boys still sit it in the vards in the evenings, " he answered. “These rears have changed the world, and gasoline. Bore “bout the only man in still_got any hitching p By tomorrow noon at the latest, yowll find his old white horse and phacton tied to the ring in the hand of that little old cast-iron nigger boy in front of your gate yonder Mrs. Rickets glanced at the decora- tion he mentioned: then she smiled “That's one of the things I want you to advise me about,” she said. “I don’t know how much of the place to alter and how much to leave as it is. And will 1 find Mr horse tied to our poor old cast-iron darky boy?" “He's seen you, hasn't he?” “Yes, but he looked startled when I Thompson's town that spoke to him. girl, he was one of the beaux of the town, and he never came then.” “He will now,” said Luclu “Qh, surely not!” she protested. a little dismayed thing! _ “You seem to be able to help it, Lucius,® she said. t course you don’t know that the way you declined to come this evening is one of the things that make life seem such a curfous and mixed-up thing to me. After I—when I'd gone away from here to live, you were what 1 always remembered when I thought of Mar- low, Lucius. And I remembered things You'd 414 to me that I hand’t thought of at all when you were saying them. It was so strange! I've got to know- ing you better and better all the long, long time I've been away from you. It. seems queer and almost a little wicked to say it, but I could remem- ber you even more clearly than I {could papa and mamma—and, oh! how T've looked forward to seeing you again and to having vou talk to me about everything! Why won't you come this evening? Aren't you really glad I'm home again?” “That's the troubl “What in the world do you mean?" she cried. { “I gather,” he said, slowly, "from what you've said, that you think more about me when I'm mot around where you have to look at me! Be- + sldes—" “Besides what?" she insisted, as he moved toward the gate. “r'm afraid!” sald Lucius; and his voice was husky and honest. “I'm afrald,” he repeated seriously. “I'm afraid to meet Maud and BiIL" She uttered half a word of protest, and it went unheard. Frowning, she stood watching his departure Then, all at once, she pressed an insignifi- cant handkerchief to a charming mouth overtaken by sudden laughter. But she made no sound or gesture that would cheek Lucius Brutus Allen or rouse him to the realization of what he was doing. The sturdy gentleman was march- ing up Pawpaw street, unconscious that he had forgotten to return the long-handled blue parasol to fits | owner—and that he was now jauntily | carrying it over his right shoulder, { Mrs. Rickets epoke half alou “Nobody — not one— never any- where!” she said; and she meant that tLucius was unparalleled. ‘When Mr. Allen debouched upon all—the only | “Well,”” Mr. Allen said, thoughtfully, | talk about the moon, and astronomy | “Yes!" Lucius interrupted ruefuily. | Thompson's | sides, when T was a | "o : Besides, w | “Wookin' at himseff in the wookin'- | “He couldn't help it if he tried, poor | Main street from Pawpaw, he encoun- tered Mortimer Fole. “Takin’ it to get mended, I suppose, Lu? “Get what mended?" asked Lucius, pausing. “Her parasol,” Mr. Fole responded. “It you'll show me where it's out of order, I expect I could get it fixed up about as well as anybody. I'd be willin' to carry it up to her house for | you, too. my way home " No, Mortimore, thank vou.” brought the parasol down from his shoulder and stood regarding it seri- ; it isn't out of order, I—I just brought it with me. What's the news?" “Well, I don't know of much,” said Mortimer. “P. Rorodino Thompson was goin' to drop around and call this |evening, but Rolfo Willlams' wite | talked him out o’ goin’. ‘My heavens she says, ‘can’t you even give her a couple of days to it unpacked and stralghten up the house? So Bore I says he guessed he'd wait till tomor- row afternoon and ast her to ge | buggy-ridin’ Milo Carter's fixin' to ’Ro up there before long, and I hear |Henry Ledyard says he's liable |start in mighty soon, too.” I go by there anyhow, on { to *xw A NEAT young woman, descendant of vikings, but tamed ii all ex- {cept accent. showed Mr. Thompson into an eighteen-eighty parior; went laway, return. Mrs, ketts would {be glad to see him, she reported. add- {ing: “Yust walt some minute." ! The visitor waited some minutes, |then examined his reflection in the |8lass over the Eastlake mantel; and 1 |ment of his tie. gwa He faced the doorway confusedly. Two pretty little chil- dren stood there, starchy and fresh, and lustrously clean, dressed in white; a boy alout seven and a girl |about five—and both had their !mother's blue eyes and amber hair. He's dressing himself,” said the bo “Wookin' at himself in the wookin'- gwass!” the little girl repeated, and, pointing a curling forefinger, she asked: “Who? Who that man “Well, tots,” the visitor said, “who are you? What's your name, little girl?” “Maud.” the little girl replied, with- out any shynes: “What's yours, little man “Bill,” said the boy. “Bill Ricketts. You got somep'n stickin' out of your vest at the top.” . Mr. Thompson turned again to the mirror, whereupon the child, Maud, instantly shouted: “Wookin' at himseff in the wookin'- gwass!" Her voice was 8o loud, and the In- formation it imparted so disconfiting. that the visitor felt himself break- Lucius engaged in a fundamental rearrange- | somewhat | | | | | | i | ing out suddenly into a light perspir- | ation. Maudie,’ laugh. She responded by shouting at an ven higher pitch than befor “Wookin' at himseff in the wookin’'- gwass!" She began to leap into the air, re- peatedly clapping her hands together, at arms' length above her head while she shrieked, ‘aught him! ‘Wookin' at himseff in the wookin'- Wookin' at himseft in the wookin'-gwass!" Meanwhile, her brother likewise, began to leap and to voeiferat: “Stickin’ out of his vest!” shouted BllL * “Got somep'n stickin' out of his vest! Out of his vest, vest, vest! Out of his vest, vest, vest Then, without warning, denly slapped his sister heartily upon the shoulder. “Got you t: he cried; darted away, and out through the open front door to the green sun- shiny yard, whither Maud instantlv pursued him, “Why, no, 1 wasn't, little he said, with an uneasy he sud- Lk OUND and round the front yard they went, the two little flitting white figures, and round the house, and round and round the old back yard and into the empty stable. ‘When they came out, two minutes later, Bill was carrying, to the ex- treme damage of his white blouse, a large can of red paint, while Maud was swinging a paint brush that had been repo-lnlg in the can, Maud applied the brush to the side of the house, but Bill indignantly snatched the brush from her hand. “Shame!” he sald. “You know what you got once! “When?" Maud demanded. aid T get 12" “When brother responded | “For markin’ on the nurs'ry little box o' paint She did not! “She ald, too Not! “Did!" one now paint on the house. “I won't!" “Will, too! You know it's wrong to ick paint on a hous: 't Maud in spanks you more'n she spanks me.” Fou walt an’ see!” What we goin' to paint?” To Bill also it was evide something available material seemed sparse. There came loudly through afternoon the sound of General shak- ng his harness and etamping the Bill. “And you'll if she finds out yo You wil get tuck t that dd to be painted. but the | i | light, too; so that we can both see how little we've changed. The chil- dren were the reason I was so long; they were washed and dressed like little clean angels, but they're In rather high spirits—you know how children are for the first few days after coming to a new place—and they slipped down into the cellar and found an old air passage to the fur- nace, and crawled through it, and so s IO SPULOIIN ) ing all the way from California to|even me, I says, ‘because they don't live in a town like Marlow! But the parasol was not sent, nor did Luclus bring it. It remained, as did Mr. Allen himself, obscured from her sight and from her knowledge. Mortimer dropped into Mr. Allen’s office and expressed surprise at find- ing its tenant In town. “I been up here two and three times a day fer a IR AR SHE PAUSED, GAZING FIXEDLY OUT OF THE WINDOW. they had to he all washed and dressed over again, and when I got through doing it I had to be all washed and dressed over again! “I hope they didn't annoy you. Mr. ‘Thompson; I thought I heard them romping down here, somewhere. They're really not so wild as they | must seem: it's only that coming to a place altogther strange to them has upset them a little, and There! The catch ylelded, and she spread the shutters wide. “Now we can have a litzle meore 1t | She paused in the middie of the | word, gazing fixedly ou: of the win | dow. But the caller was looking at her | with concentrated approval. “I have bhe said, “or, rather, I have topped by on my way to take a | drive, because I thought it might be {cooler than sitting indoors to take a | turn around the square first and then |drive out toward the Ath City | pike and return by way of—" | “Mercy!” exclaimed Mrs. Ricketts {in a tone g0 remarkable that he stopped short; and then his eyes fol- lowed in the direction of hers. He uttered a stricken ery. * ¥ * ¥ LL four of General's legs had been conscientiously painted and {the artist was beginning to work on nder side of General's ribs. Ricketts raised the window. nd still, Maud! Now walk ht this way—walk toward me. ‘Il nstant | "And as Maud obeyed ! jumped ‘out of the window. her mother Bill in- BILL.” ground as a mayfly persisted in an- noying him. Maud pointed with her curling fore- finger. “Wet's paint that,” she said. Maud was pointing at General. Hand-in-hand, the brother and sis- ter approached General. The kind old horse wae pleased to have the fly chased away, and after the first stroke of the cool wet brush on his Tight foreleg he closed one eye in hushed ecstazy and stood motionless. General's owner, meanwhile, in the quiet parlor, found time to complete the bestowal of his tie. A step descending the stair, a whis- pering of silk—and Mr. Thompson faced the door with a slight agita- tion. More would have been warrant- ed by the vision that appeared there. 8he came quickly toward him and gave him her hand. “How kind of you to remember me and come to see she said. “And how inhospit: ble you're thinking me to have kept Youmwllllnl 80 long in such a stuffy room! : She turned to the nearest window as she spoke, and began to struggl delicately with the catch of the old- fashioned “inside shutters. “We'll let some air in and some stinctively began to defend himself. “You never told us we couldn't paint horses!” he said hotly. "We haven't painted him much; we've only—" “March!" tone that meant the worst. to the kitchen—not through house! Both of you! Quick Round the corner of the house went said his mother in the “Round the 1 | ! i j ot sick right 1 week, Lu,” he said, seating himself. “Where on earth you been? “Argument before the federal court in Springfield” Lucius answered. What did you want to see me about, Mortimore?” Mortimer removed his hat. about Henry Ledrard yet?" quired. “No. “Well, sir, he went up there,” sald Mortimer. “He only went oncet!” “What was the trouble?” Mr. Fole cast his eves high aloft Maud and BIlL" he eaid What did they do?” “Henry was settin’ in the parior talkin' to their mother and, the way 1 heard it, all of & sudden they heard somep'n go ‘Pop!’ outeide in the hall ‘Heard he in- and when they come to look it was | that new, stiff, high-crowned straw hat he went and ordered from New York and had shipped out here by express. Them two children have just about got this tawn buffaloed, Lu!" Oh, onlv breaking a straw hat.” aid Lucius. “I don't see how that's—1" “The two of 'em come up-town. Mortimer interrupted firmly. ‘““They.| | come up-town and they went into E. J. Fuller's store and Ed says they come mighty near drivin’ him crazy, walkin’ up and down bhind him | Singin’ ‘Gran’mammy Tipsytoe.' Then they went on over to Milo Carter's, and they had a dollar and forty cents with ‘em that they'd went and got out of their little bank. They et sven big ice-cream sodles aplece and he store. And that ain't half of i “What's the other half?” asked gravely. “Well, you heard about Bore, course. No, 1 haven' * o ok % ORTIMER rubbed his head. reckon that might be so0." he admitted. “I guess you must of left town by the time it leaked out.” “By the time what leaked out?" “Well, you remember how he start- ed off, that day,”” Mortimer began, “to git her to go out buggy-ridin' in his phaeton with ole General?" Yes." “Well, sir, he turned up at the hardware store about two hours later Lucius of “E i | 1 | | i ' i | | | i | | i | ( spare nobody! Why, look. 1 says. ‘Ain’t they goin' after Milo Carter almost as much as they are you and Herry,' I says, ‘on account of what happened to Milo's store? I says. ‘And look at E. J. Fuller, I says. ‘AIn't the name of Gran'mammy Tipsytoe perty near fastened on him fer good? He don’t go all up and down pickin' at his best friend, I says. ‘E. J. Fuller's got a little com- mon sense!’ 1 says.” Mortimer sighed, and prepared to conclude the interview. “Yes, sir, them two chuldern, Maud and Bill, have perty much got our whole little city buffaloed! They's quite some talk goin' on about the brain work you been showin’, Lu. 1 expect your reputation never did stand no higher in that line than what it does right today. I shouldn't wonder it'd bring you a good deal extra law practice, Lu! Mrs. Rolfo Williams says she always did know you were the smartest man in this town'" “Now what are you talking about?” s demanded, sharply. in" out o' town sald Mortimer admiringly. “Keepin' out the way o them chuldern and lettin' other fel- lers take the brunt of 'em. Yes, sir; there {sn't a soul raises the question but what their mother is the finest- lookin’ lady that ever lived here, or but what she does every last thing any morta} could do in the line o' disciplinn; but much as everybody'd enjoy to git better acquainted with her and begin to see somep'n of her, they all think she's liable to lead kind of a lonesome life in our community unless—" hand upon the door-knob— “unless gomep'n happens to Maud and Bill!" He departed languldly, his farewell coming back from the stairway: “So leng, Lu." * % ow % Mr. Allen pushed aside his work and went to a locked recess beneath his book-shelves. Therefrom he took the blue parasol, and a small volume {in everything dissimilar to the heavy calf-bound legal works that concealed all the walls of the room; and, re- turning to his swivel-chair, placed the! parasol gently upon the desk. Then, allowing his left hand fo remain lightly upon the parascl, he held the little beok in his right and read mu- singly. Some portions of the book he reud over and over, and there was one part of it in which his interest seemed quite unappeasable. Again and again | he turned back to the same page: but at last, as the room had grown dark- er, he let the book rest in his lap, took off his glasses and used them to beat time to the rhythm of the ca- dences, as he murmured, half-aloud: lamplight seems The flicker of surprise, As T tura it low to rest me of the dazzle in my eses, Aud light my pipe in silence, that seems to yoke Its fate with my tobacco and to vanish with the smoke. to glimmer with a save a sigh rospectios—for the loving art Into being are like perfume from the blossome of the heart, And to dream the urr divine- Wkhen my truant fancy wanders with that old sweetheart of mine. He fell silent; then his lips moved again: ¥ And I thrill beneath the glances of & pair of azure eyves the summer and dreams over is & Jux- As glowing tender as Suddenly he broke off, and groaned " he said all in & And thirty-five years old— blame near thirty-si He needs interpretation, this unfor- tunate Lucius. He had never been atraid of anybody else's children. No: it had to be hers! And he knew he was afraid of them because they were hers. He was a man who had always “got on" with children beautifully; but he was afraid of Maud and Bill— of what they would do to him and of what they would think of him. At last he bestirred himself. He knew that Saruly, his darky cook, must be waiting for him with impa- tience. Having glanced down into the and says she wasn't feelin’ too well, | square and found it virtually devoid and so they just set around and talked, instead of ridin’. But Bore never went back there, and ain't §oln’ to, you bet, any more than what Henry Ladyard is! There ain't hard- 1y & man in town but what Maud and Bill's got buffaloed, Lu.” Mr. Allen occupied himself with the sharpening of a pencil. “What did they do to Thompson?” he asked casually. “Well, sir, after he went up there and wasn't no sign of him on the Square fer awhile, I walked around there the back way by Copes' alley, and just as I was turnin’ in one end the alley, by Glory! here come P. Borodino Thompson leadin’ ole Gen- eral and the phaeton in at the other end, and walkin’ as fur away from him as he could and yet still lead him. “Well, sir, pore ole General—honest, he looked more like a slaughter- house than he did like a horse, Lu! ‘What {s the matter, Bore! I says, and you never hear a man take on the way he done. “Seems Maud and Bill had painted ole General red while Bore was in the house fixin' to take their mother out on this here buggy-ride. And, well, sir, to hear him take on, you'd of thought I was responsible for the whole business! BSays it might as well be all over town, now he'd ran into me! But I kind o' soothed him down, and last I fixed it up with him to give me credit for a little in- the dread pageant, and the green |surance my wife's been wantin' to gras: passed. But when Mrs. Ricketts re looked like murder where it! take out on her stepmother, it I'd put General and the phaeton In George turned, after delivering Maud and . Coles’ empty barn, there in the alley, Bill into the hands of a despairing | until after dark, and not say nothin’ servitrel were gone. General and the phaeton |to George or anybody about It, and then drive him over to Bore's and “Oh, oh, oh!" she murmured, and)unhitch him snd wash him off with went droopingly into the house, her.mind's eye she saw Mr. Thomp- son in all his special dressiness and lemon yellow tle, driving through the streets and explaining to people: “Yes, Lucy Ricketts has come back and her children did this!” She re- membered what Lucius had sald: “I'm afraid to meet Maud and B{ll!" She bogan to feel strickenly sure that Luclus would return her parasol by & messenger. If did that (she thought) what was the use of com- In jturpentine that night. “Well, sir, it I've told Bore Thomp- son once I've told him a hundred times, what's the use his actin’ the fool about it! ‘What earthly good's it goin’ to do, I says, ‘to go around of life, for this was the universal hour of supper, he sct his brown straw hat upon his head and took the parasol under his arm—merely for the pleas- ure of its society. Upon the bottom step of the flight of stairs that led down to the street, he found seated a small figure in a white “sailor suit.” This figure rose and spoke politely. “How do you do?’ you Uncle Lucius?’ “Who. What's your name?" “BIlll, Bill Ricketts,” said Bill. Luclus made‘a hasty motion to re- ascend the stairs, but Bill confidingly proftered a small, clean hand that Mr. Allen was constrained to accept. Once having accepted it, he found himself expected to retain it. “Mamma lef' me sittin' here to wait till you came down stairs,” Bill ex- plained, “That man that came out said he was protty sure you were up there. She told me to wait till either you came downstairs or she came back for me. She wants her parasol. Come on!" s ‘Come on where Up to your house,” said Bill. “She Maud waitin’ up there for you." ok kK ¥ w the truth. And after a rather hurried walk, during which the boy spoke not once unless spoken to, but trotted contentedly at Luciua side, confidingly hand-in-hand with him, when they came in sight of the small brick house in the big yard, where Luctus lived, a tiny white fig- ure was discernible through the dusk, rocking patiently in a wicker rock- ing-chalr on the veranda. At sight of them she jumped up and came running to the gate to meet them, But there she paused. gravely. She made a curtesy, formal but charming. “How do do, Unka Wucius?" she ald. “Mamma would wike her par- aso’.” Saruly, looming dark and large be- it said. “Are mad’ I eays, ‘and abusin' the very]hind her, supplemented this informa- I says, ‘that done the most to]tion: help you out? The boys are bound to have their joke,<' I says to him, ‘and if it hadn't been you, why, like a8 not they might of been riggin' somep'n on Lu Allen or Cal Burns, or “Miz Ricketts done lef' the lit tle girl here to wait for you, Mist’ Allen. She tell me ask you please he so kine ms to bring the chillun aleng home, with you, an’ her parasal with ‘em. She tell me the chillun been a Mortimer paused with his | title upset, jest at first, ‘count o’ mov- in’ to a new place, but they all quieted down now, an’ she think it'll be safe fer you to stay to dinnuh. An' a ov'ything In my kitchen's plum done to a crisp 'count o' you bein’ 8o late Mist’ Allen, if you leave it to me I think you bettuh.” “T'll leave it to you, Saruly,” said Luclus, gently, “I think I'd better’ And then, with the parasol under his arm, and the hand of a chlild rest- ing quletly in each of his, he turned with Bill and Maud, and, under the small, bright stars of the May even- ing, set forth from his own gate on his way to Lucy's. (Copyright, 1923.) GRASS FOR GOLF LINKS. (Continued from Third Page.) The national sclentists say that co: rosive sublimate is a perfect worm killer, The national Department of Agri- culture will analyze golf grass seed samples free of charge. American | B0l clubs would do well to ben {by this form of protection against the sale of misbranded or adulterated seed + In co-operation with the federal De partment of Agriculture and the United States Golf Association, the Florida experiment statlon at Gaines ville, Fla., has also conducted soms recent tests with golf grasses that have been epochal in adding a num- ber of new varleties to the availabl list for use on the golf courses of the gult states. Centipede grass, In- | troduced from China, which has sur- |face creeping runners like carpet { grass, makes a splendid fairway grass for a looss sandy soil and is even satisfactory for use on greens tha™ are kept well-rolled. Bahia grass | comes from Cuba, where it forms the fairways of the Havana Country C1 [Tt makes a fine turf even on loos} sand. Blue couch grass has been in ported from Australia, where it m |a fine dense turf for putting gree: |even in sandy solls. Korean gra {from Japan, according to the Flovida | experiments, is superior for tees ! New Kind of Water. H EW kind of water, unknown | natur ¥ created ‘laboratory J. J. Thomson, discot - "prl-r of the electron and master of | Trinity College, Cambridge, England | predicted in his recent lectures at t | Franklin Institute before lec i group of about 300 leading | physicists and other scien i Water is made up of two atoms «f hydrogen and one ato: of as every high school student knows Prof. Thomson and many others since kis pioneer work on the composition of matter have been determining how those atoms are arranged. 1 recent vears a theory of the struc ture of water has been worked out that allows the arrangement of the hydrogen atoms symmetrically in several ways. This is not entire! satisfactory, because such an 1ram:e~mvm. should make water no polar in its actlon toward lgh while in reality water lets light through it more easily in one w than another. Now Prof. Thoms suggested that the atoms of ordinar:” water are In the form of a twisted cube, giving only one possible sym- metrica! grouping of the hydrogen atoms. This arrangement theoreti cally would have properties that would fit the sort that we use and drink every day. The new or alio- tropiec form of water would have the form of an ordinary cube. The new form and ordinary water would be related somewhat llke diamond ordinary black carbon, which a both carbon. If it is found he pre dicts that it will have a amount of energy and low and, unlike ordinary water, conduct electricity fairly well be American large bil it will How Coffee Is Grown. \OFFEE usualy is epoken of as a berry or bean, but that part of the coffee tree that we usec is really the seed. The trees grow naturally to a height of from twenty to thirty feet, but this natural growth is checked by the growers, who keep the trees as low as five feet. The cut- ting does not injure the tree and it |1s far more convenient to gather the fruit. The coffee tree begins to bear when it 1s about three years old and it continues for about twenty years, the singular fact about it being often noticeable that the fresh blossom and the ripened frult will appear on the same tree at the same time. ‘The fruit of the coffee tree is round and red and looks like our cherries and, being sweet to the taste, is eaten by the natives as we eat cherries. ! BEach berry contains two seeds, the beans with which we are familiar, in- 1closed in a skin, with their flat sides together. The meat of the fruit is valueless, so when the fruit is gath- 1ered it is dried so that the seeds may be easily removed. How coffee first came to be used as a drink is not known, but it has been so used for at least a theusand IYtlru in Persia. It was introduced {in Europe about 300 years ago. ' Get Rid of Mountain. FOR some time past, it seems, work- men near Bisbee, in Arizona, have been trying a new venture in copper mining. Instead of following the pre- scribed method of hollowing out a mountain and using shafts and tun- nels, they dig it down with steam shovels and cart it away. Onme can form some idea of the magnitude of the task when he learns that it will take more than sixteen years to com- plete it, that during the process ap- proximately 25,000,000 tons of copper ore will be carted away, and that from it something like a Willion pounds of copper will be extracted. During the five years the work has been carried ‘on five million cubio yards or more of material have been taken from the mountain, though that amount does not represent pure ore. {As fast as the material is dug it it hauled over a fifteen-mile railway ta smelters and mills, where it is treated. An engineer hulorously remarks that when the huge pile is gone there will be room for the town to grow. ’