unday Bee
MAGAZINE SECT'iONI
Vol. 52 no. 10. -
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1922.
KIVK CENTS i
The Purple Lady
By George Wood Pangbom
The
3
Two Little Children and Some Paper
Dolls; Two Big Children, the Rack
of Dire Need and a Mother
Who Wouldn't Give Up.
I Jt T WAS a rainy afternoon, to Joe and Althea were in
A the all ir, cut ting fashion ladies out of an old (jodev's
f JL Lady' Book, lhat is, Althea cut out the ladies. Joe
designed animal on yellow wrapping paper, Theie,
lie taiil, would eat ttie tadic up. Hut when the hark of
Althea' writ went to her mouth and lier eye, fixed
mournfully on him, filled and filled, he (aid hastily that
it wat only a few of the animal who were like that. The
rett wrte good and would protect the ladic. Just let hint
She lad never known the dream to be quite a dreamy
before.
The far comer of the attic were a little dimmer than
the liked; in particular, the comer where the model of the
machine Mood, all leg and elbow and lonif finger. It had
been there ever tince she made the acquaintance of Joe's
attic (which wa the tame always), and though Joe had
explained all ahouHt how it wouldn't go and couldn't huit
anybody ihe had never quite liked it. It lood in front of
a little black trunk which she had eyed longingly through
the machine' sprawling lever. But Joe laid the trunk
thing weicn't old fashioned thing you could dress up in,
but the machine' thing, drawing and model, lie had
een them once, and ome day, when he wa a man, he wa
to have them and the machine and ee if he could find out
what it needed to make it go. it wa something about
printing; he knew that much, and he told Althea what
printing wa. He wa a wibe little boy.
Then she looted sharply at Ihe psper lady, but the wa flat
and dolhih. Like yet, only in the way the hair wa clone
and the big kirt I ke a flower. 't he face wa quite differ
ent. She put an inquinnggreaty finger on Ihe uaix-r lady'
eoimtenance and Ihat person' la.t claim to beauty vau
ished. U
Althea at in the largest, moil comfortable chair in what
bad hern Mr. Mark' room, but wa now her. Although
there wa furnace heat throughout the home, in thf room
a bit of wood fire also helped to tbnM bark the January
cold. For it wa the January of I'JiH, and a winter storm
wa raging against the window.
Mr. Mack wa titling on an ottoman at Althea' feel-
a dowager who had quite resigned her crown, but, who re
mained O, ye, remained a power behind the throne of the
new queen. Now, in the old queen' fare, o long a it wa
unobserved, wa the light of battle; perhap of desperation.
Ml
She uxu ititint 01 7h floor, and fir yi'ule purple $kirt$ math a kU(fwy circle about her.
have hi turn at the scissor and she would see. And so,
indeed, it proved, for the beasts fought so terribly among
themselves that in a short time good and bad alike were
nothing but a heap of torn scraps, while the ladies, quite
unscathed, still stood along the floor crack. Then Joe said
U- studied the cookies being taken out of the oven and
went down to ee.
Althea wa hungry. Teople at home were sick. People
. .i home, though this she did not know, were nearly at their
1 "its' end. So the kitchen at home wa at tixes and sevens,
and the little cooking done there was almost inedible in re
sult. Mrs. Mack knew all about il and was terribly sorry,
and helped by having Althea over at her house o much that
she had begun to feel a if she had a little daughter of her
own, as well a that quare, blundering, noisy little son.
And a she watched the two together, how splendidly they
got on, her dreams would sweep foolishly forward to a time
when Joe should no longer he to square and blundering,
nor Althea so tiny and frail. What a pfr (hey would make
it they carried out the fine promise of tfuitf babyhood!
Perhaps it wa hunger that made Althea' dream feeling
o strong that day, for he had come a ay with even lens
lumhr.in that unul, and that after almost no breakfast at
nil Now, at the smell of the cookie, giddy and ttrange, a
if i he wall were mit, that he had to but thrut out
hrr hand and put it quite through them, 1'hi ten-Mtion
ii n-'thinkt new I be irt tint the hail telt it it had
'rialiti'iicd her; then it td become rather interesting. f.r
!wav fi lt ht almost anything qu-er nmrhi htmien
. ii f.ir cmmi'le, he c mi l dream ttiee p.ipir ladiet
il' There a mie of them in a nitride u,nv wbti had
ih i n'l null'' hv c.oildit't he dre mi t'm !ly
mid instpil ,o i)t 4,1,1 t(t ),i ,tf,iiin,. ab.oit
'if t'.iof intteit if ftt f t-nf one lnv ti ingle nf a
s'i-' it t ..i I in ' . r . o:.
If.m mil! . ftvtei iaOi'v tvv.l- iT.i.t C'i'tii
ui! id 0 v i lb.- .itw' Por it t"itn .1 mote like
line tik, h It H t.-il v nr n .., iilil ..I ihe MOltl, and
d'JK thriii iiji goii . .tt it..inN
But, of course, now that things turned to dream, the
machine was as unsubstantial as the rest, so as she looked
at it through half closed eyes Althea was not surprised
that it should thin, dissolve, become invisible. O, how
lovely I She had done it! She had dreamed the lady real!
Yes, there she was, a real dream lady, lady size, too, not
Just a doll, and she wore a great braid of yellow hair around
the top of her head like a crown,
She was sitting on the floor in front of the trunk, and
her wide purple skirts made a billowy circle about her until
she was like some great inverted flower. The trunk wa
open, and it was not just full of drawings and things. She
was taking out the loveliest little dresses, just right for a
doll, and holding them up and looking at them, then folding
them up and putting them away again, the way you do to
see if there are moth. Clove pinks! Well. I should think
so! There they were at her throat, just where the lacy
ruffle made a V, finished at it point with, a tiny black vel
vet bow. As a paper lady she had not been wearing clove
pfnk. In a number of way he wa not quite like Ihe
paper lady only the way of wearing her hair, and the gown
with it lovely wide skirts. The material had a vite
ground and wat all sprigged with tiny flower and true
lover' knoM,
And then, while kite held up a tiny white dre between
her l.u'e and Althea, Althea uw that her eye wrte looking
at hrr hme the liltte outheld die Her mouth wa hid
i!rn. Iml Alilira knew it smiled,
llui just a Althea wat about to pe.ik Jo had to come
Morntiitu up, and then lhre wa no lady enrept the paper
mie slil! in hrr hii.aild ihe sprawling marli ne, as before,
l.i in tttM of the trunk,
There were not only cookie and milk, but a plate of
oidaul es It wa nn aecomit ol Ihn ssndwichrt, Jo ts
planted, lh be bad been o hwtr. Id mother bad Intiiled
n I. uMitot wh'lc ti e mt lU'io up, and they mint be
eileu lost she id,
VHbea ! her mii((t , it,f ku. ,,.
el ihiotih us !ti at t'lt- mink, It stai solid enough naw.
Only when the young woman's eye were upon Iter then
it was calm, confident, reassuring.
"How warm and safe I am here," said Althea. "When
I think of those mothers and babies 1 feel wicked."
"I know," said Mrs, Mack. "But we are not wicked.
We are reserves. Our part i to keep ourselves steady."
"Yes," said Althea, "only when the wind is like that I
seem to hear them,"
And, indeed, the wind had found a crevice which it could
make whimper and wail like a tiny child in trouble.
"But it is the wind," said Althea. "Just only the wind."
She turned from the frosted window to Joe's mother, ,
"How was he when you looked in last?" 1 '
"Sleeping, I think. At least he was quiet."
"Well," said Althea confidently,"! can be patient. It
isn't a if I couldn't understand why he can't bear the sight
of me. 'The world i no place for women,' he said. That
tell it atl. He never could bear even small crueltie. and
he bat been seeing thing that it almost kill u to read
about. We know how he ha fought hi medal would
tell us, even if he didn't know anyway."
"Ye," said hi mother, and her voice wa calm. She
even bent down and adjusted the lug more pietittely, "It
it a wound of the spiiit, but a honoiable a one a the other
or Ihe gat. I have tomrtimr thought that in this war
more than in other war, the enemy ha bad power to reach
man's soul. I may it mistaken; yrt, rven if it U so,
stub a wound must heal. I do not believe any tueh wound,
even of the toul, ran tuilt the teal center, t'ome, now,
we mustn't get loo serious. That it a romttiion l h
enemy,
".Stt you. have the little thing all airing! How tweet
and toiilidriit they look wild Ihe little ileye tpread out I
Wait nil the arm get In them and begin M Hap and wave!
Jo wort out tvertthitigl I nevr uw tuilt a baby, II
scrubbed through to long dienc jut h did later
through In knkker. It' a ihama that he didn't l. e any.
thing of his wardruht fr hit nwn baby but they nvr
th'iik of that! II ihvtsfd Uu lfvtl uJ kukid II. luntf
