Peace in Friendship Village

eneral cooking sale. Or a bazaar. Or

strip of white cloth s

can taste them. I know just what every human one of us would bring. Bazaars is death on your feet. And if I sit down to anot

agrees Mis

me it Hewitt Park for them that's done so much for the town a'ready. And if

ere open,[Pg 131] the muslin curtains were blowing, bees were humming in the yellow-rose bush over the window, and the street lay all empty, ex

nd so up-stairs?" ask' M

ootstep that had been padding overhead

them, just before Miss Mayh

nocking for when the door

red sweater all saying "I'm going for a walk," even before she did. Only s

here. And when you ain't, you're off gallivanting over the hills with nothing wha

Miss Mayhew says

t me put you up a couple o'

g

miled bright at the other two women, who smiled back broa

an't stop to think of food," M

at's she want to be bothered wi

't necessarily mean unkindness. Wi

ke and put them in Miss Mayhew's hand, looked up at her and was s

nny, but when it comes to tears I'm more to home. So I just p

I didn't ask. "I—I—" she sobbed out quite open. "I'm a

ay a word of that moment, when I went back to

isturb her, she set there scribbling so hard when I stuck[Pg 133] my head in. She ain't bee

egun foldin

" I says. "Sit and visit till

dy. "We ain't a-going

hat room ever since I see her fix i

as there, like her saying something. And the two women began looking things over—the books, the pictures—"prints

Holcomb says, looking at a scene

ady, balancing an ivory glove-stretcher with Miss Mayhew

lcomb contributes, pointing to the little lace

g

akfast, like she was going to do some work; then sh

as when I come out wit

ys I, "it

swer—bureau, chest of drawers, bookshelves, I looked on all of th

de me want to say: "Well, you look just exactly the way you ought to look. And I believe you are it." He looked like what you mean when you say "man"

room no matter what occurred between me and the one th

d come, up till this day. And when[Pg 135] I'd told the women all about it, they couldn't recover from looking

her cheek—and I didn't take it as any reflection whatever on my housekeeping. I've always believed that there's som

wed suit. We three stood staring at what was inside. For my wardrobe, that had never had anything in it better than my best black silk, was hung full of pink and blue and rose and whi

the edge of the fresh-made bed—a

f awelike. "Ball-gowns," she says it over,

g

ng close up and staring. "She's an actress

. They're just light colors, for afternoon wear, the most of them—but

er wear any of 'em?"

y ain't done so because she don't want to do diff

se and looked at the th

here like that since the Hewitts went away. We'd all love to see them. We don't see things like that any too often. I s'p

f touching. But we all came and stood by the war

ould admire to see these. And Mis' Hubbelt

g

he went on

n exhibit—a loan exhibit? And put all those clot

s I. "Instead of a bazaar o

is' Sykes has never had a chance to wear her navy-blue velvet in this town once, and sh

ever had it on her back but the once—it had too much jet on it for anything but formal—and that once was to the funeral, and then it

nephew sent me from Japan. It's never been out of its box since it come, nine year

hite raspberry buttons. And there's Mis' Merriman's silk-embroidered long-shawl—oh, ladies," I says, "won't it

ly let us take hers," sa

eping done in the chamber yet. The ladies both flew for home then, and I went at the sweeping, being I was too excited

sant, and their shadows were moving pleasant, too, as if they were independent. Everybody's windows were open, and somewhere down the block some young

you're back," said I.

s sweet with my yellow roses—it was almost as if the moonlight and they were t

is," she says,

, "isn't a nig

t isn't—is it? I w

ys, "I want to a

robe door had happened to swing

illage," I said, "and I'd kind of like to do it, even i

sat with her head turned away f

d to think we were going to have them, and these things of yours kind of make me think of the way I use' to think, when I was a girl, I'd have things some day. Of course now I know it don'

anything. I thought m

," I said. "We'd only just come a

and I saw that her eyes we

can really use those things of mine. B

light things when you've had to go around dressed dark, either 'count

me, light. Wasn't that a funny th

, "is yours to use just th

pretty," I told her, "and more I

ybody pitched in to work, both on account of needing the money for[Pg 141] the little park us ladies had set our hearts on, and on

nce the Hewitts went away. But I couldn't think of a soul likely to have a big evening wedding for their daughter but the Mortons, and little Abbie Morton, she

oplady, reflective. "Like enough with a catyier and all

, we called it—at my house, and I tell you it was fun gett

town, and they were all set up around the rim of my parlor. Mis' Sturgis had just got her black silk put up and was trying to make out whether side view to show t

says. "This jet ornament was on my mother's bon

from the old country. It got old, and I took the best of it and appliqued it on a crazy quilt and slept under it for y

a sudden. "What a lovely shawl!

e?" s

n't have anything but the shawl Mis' Hubbelthwait had wor

to go through the cold hall and bring in the kindli

hat on a figure," she says. "Why, i

aisley shawl, and covered the ironing-board under the cloth with the rest of it—and nothing would do but that old chair must be toted up in her room! And yet I'd spent four dollars for a new golden-oak rocker when she'd engaged the rooms.... But me, I urged them to let her do as s

made real inexpensive with no lining, and not fussed up at all—but they had an air to them that you can hardly ever get into a dress, no matter how c

this," says I. "I bet you loo

g

and soft all in one, sort of fel

dress," she says. "I had—th

I says, "and take char

shrunk back, and

icture Man that was on the bureau that liked

d, and went on putting

een dresses in all, around the room. In the very middle was Mis' Toplady's

been in the bottom drawer of the s

, and put the dress on. It looked real funny, though, to see that smirking, red-cheeked figure

st of us; and Miss Mayhew had on a little white dimity, and she insisted on helping in the kitchen—we were going to give

, no man ever calling me up without it's the grocery-man to try to get rid of some of his fruit that's going to spoil, or the fl

and strong and deep and sure, and as

orie Mayhew t

I, thoughtful. "Why, I dunno'

ont name?

hew's. That's who we're

n there is a Miss M

he Miss Mayhew—the one I mean—and anybody that

g

d when he spoke again, his voice had someho

understand each other perfectly.

ays I hearty.

lemon-juice in my big stone crock. And when I told her, first

ho can want me? Wh

hild," I says to her. "Him and me,

uldn't help heari

es

es

u a

matter in

you

utomob

ell. An

t all, I a

Mayhew's voice. Then she hung up. And I[Pg 147] stepped out of the cloak-closet. I took hold of her tw

But stranger though you are to me—or more so—I want to say something to you: If you ever love—I don't say Tha

nd of still, and long and deep. And I

are so foolish—oh, so fooli

e time," I says. "And love is gold, and pride is cl

g here in two automobiles in about half an hour. The telephone was from Prescott—that'

I says over.

no

g

hat give us our library? And th

It wa

ays, "my land—let m

or peaceful, each lady looking over her own dress and giving

r years on end. And now look at us—dressed up in every-d

er wedding dress on the wax

an't we dress up, I'd like to know? Here's all our best bib an

ost into a wail. "The exhibit that the

have it, won't they? We'll tell them which

form and scuttled for up-stairs. I took mine too, and headed with them;

f ashamed. "Do you think it'd spoil your e

it. That won't spoil the exhibit. The exhi

n no time, hooking each ot

ng to appear, when the two big c

guess that kind of city folks has gone out of fashion, never to come back. The Hewitts didn't seem like city folks at all—they seemed just like folks. It made a real ni

to what we done," I says. And I told them, frank.

but I was. He was the picture that wasn't on Miss Marjorie Mayhew's dresser any longer—and, even more than the picture, he looked like what

o do it. For I caught his name—and he was the only s

y eyes. Not for us. He was looking every-which-way, and I knew fo

is

econd. I took him up the stairs, a

she see who was with me, she looked more so than ever. But she spoke gentle

she, and gave him he

151] walked across the room, put his hands on her shoulders, looked deep into her eyes fo

x to seven folks coming up to take their things off, and heading st

ng good housekeepers in to see it. And so they done. And, more heads appearing on the stairs about then, I

could anybody have helped hearing that lit

d you—how could you do like t

at you'd never come. I tho

y, "six solid weeks of my life. I

d up, "and you hadn't come, I—I

g

put it?" he

t, kind of lig

nd-bag,"

were still

saying over, crazy, to some folks. But then of course you always do expect your ho

we went down the stairs together.

s to-night. And I'm never going to

why. Because it'd be har

s' Holcomb met me, her silk

have much exhibit, but the Hewitts have

n. But I hardly sensed what she said. I was looking acrost to

ew you were referring

g

eyes twinkling, "is the

I then, bold. "But—I see yo

ooked at me, and they both

t we three understand

OOTNOTES:

914, The Delineator.