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Show . ?r NANCES PARKINSON KEVES WNB Service CHAPTER X solemnly swear tlmt I eiH'P'-rt R1U' defe"d t,le "lion of the Un1tei1 states ijVll enemas. 't,rMKn nlul ' thJt I will bear true faith vjljnee to the same; tlmt I '.'"obligation freely, without Ijial reservation or purpose "jj,r ami that I will well and discharso the duties of in which I am nbout to en-wholp en-wholp me God." ', Sl.ng the Vice President, Vjs fcu-k to the senate clmm-vJ clmm-vJ besule. Senator Brown, the words, a. phrase at a j-er Mr. Hammel. Anne, sit-.'.je sit-.'.je senators' gallery, her cold i ; (leached tightly In her lap, oSls of exclteineut creeping I ijoivu her spine and stabbing J jt her heart, looked at him ;;i:y eyes. Mi llie opening day of con-1 con-1 jnj Xeal had repeated the jflice administered to a new and then, literally, had 5 his seat. J had not been to the Cap-; Cap-; ,;S she had visited It, years ; - on her honeymoon journey ; yisjtcm. She confronted the , -a of the senators' gallery ! , palms. But he was strug-! strug-! riii a persistent mob which ! civing to get past him, and !. iven his massive bulk and ! Mcner could not entirely i Conrad?" he snarled, peer-- peer-- Ser with suspicious, bulging ; Senator Conrad's wife? Say, ; 3t go down any more. He's ; -ee wives In there already." ; ; was a titter of derision ; :er, and Anne felt her cheeks ', - hot. ;. 3 try to get some one to 7 me." she said with a com-itieh com-itieh she was very far from won't be very hard," a Mice boomed behind her; i -.sing suddenly, she almost .-: into Mrs. HarameL "Come ' r with me, my dear. Delight-i Delight-i ; bare yon. Tou know Mrs. "3, oont you the speaker's and Mrs. Standish are ready, of course. Now t down there on the left in the front row. Those seats reserved for Mrs. tot the ones directly be-but be-but placid, Mrs. Ham-her Ham-her way Into the gallery, eezed behind her and her guished companions, edged crowded steps to the des-toces, des-toces, and settled down bout her. Mors' gallery was already the last row, except for -apied seats which were I for Mrs. Shaw, the 8 wife. All the galleries ded, and the one above back of the rostrum, the 'ery, was seething, ate chamber, Anne thought, -sumed her contemplation s strangely unimpressive iportant an apartment. It dingy, close. The sena-e sena-e beginning to come In Tery Impressive, either! 3 disappointed. Many of bald ; nearly all of them ?; some were very lean or 'height. One, dressed lIt!eS3 Informality, a dark 1 'a his buttonhole, was Wuously striking attics atti-cs roving eyes caught m rested for a moment iM! then he bowed slightly. We sure she had not met she returned the salutation, ' herself for blushing, and 1 toat Mrs. Standish, whom kerned, to escape, was ;st Lassiter," this lady re-, re-, er sweet voice a trine dry, Brummell of the senate. tie Lovelace. I believe Uarenee Hathaway? Well, "8 ,fie same type." a grateful for the rap of . Resident's gavel. The ,N0lterl prayer. Anne, "(in',?1' Was experiencing a Chn than 'Merest; she :la7rlnS. poignantly, the " toned the church, the jrjlr !" faith that she had tne assembled congre-I,le congre-I,le bare little building ltlllenIer spire pointing ;1e 8reen hills behind It. to la' Neal was taking . w no less solemn, no 1 iam he' slie wondered, rfnnay abUt 117 She erfl, that he did. inthi ' he had not forsot- "I hlfi-!reat and pregnant :s "e- He had hardly :,, ft'hen he turned, U,,-, ,fy witn his keen ,he "eu as he found her J- h ;Xpression of love and ;'lfun ' For a n'oment m, each otner ; Anne :ure returning, her I ' she was able to re urn his smile. Then, apparently satUtled, he nodded and looked away again, giving his undivided attention at-tention to the business of the day This did not last long. The Vice I resident's gavel descended. The crowd begnu to stream out. Anne was conscious that Mrs. Hauimel was speaking to her. "You'll come to the house, tomorrow, to-morrow, of course, and hear the 1 resident read his message?" "Oh, of course I I wouldn't miss H for anything I" As a matter of fact, she had not Intended to do anything of the sort; her interest In public affairs was still bounded by Seal's participation participa-tion in them; and Neal, who had been a figure of importance today, would have no part In the. morrow's proceedings. But It was evident that Mrs. Hammel expected her to return to the Capitol the next day; and Mrs. Hammel should never be disappointed In her. ller determination was rewarded. When Neal came home that night, he gave her a beautifully engraved little card, upon the back of which she discovered the number, row and section of a reserved sent. Armed with this, she penetrated the house of representatives without difficulty ; and, having found her appointed place, she saw that Mrs. Hammel, Mrs. Hastings and several other women whom she knew, were all near her, and when Mrs. Shaw, accompanied ac-companied by a military aide, came in and sat down Immediately in front of her, she experienced an unexpected unexpect-ed thrill In being presented to the first lady of the land. When the President began to speak, Anne's sense of stimulation Increased She listened with rapt attention. Suddenly she realized that her attention at-tention had begun to wander, perhaps per-haps because she was hungry. She was relieved when the President stopped reading and inclined his head to acknowledge the applause of his listeners. Mrs. Shaw, bowing bow-ing graciously in every direction, was preparing to leave the gallery ; and Mrs. Hammel, touching Anne's arm, was asking .her a question. "You are coming over to the luncheon, of course?" "The luncheon?" "Yes the senate ladles' luncheon. Don't tell me there is another thing you haven't heard about! Well, I will explain as we go over in the subway. We will say good-by to Mrs. Hastings here. They don't come with us." Breathlessly, Anne followed Mrs. Hammel through the crowd to the basement of the Capitol, and into a small open electric car. The little car leaped forward, and they bounded bound-ed noisily away. By raising her voice Mrs. Hammel succeeded In making Anne hear above the clatter. "Every Tuesday. Marble room In the senate office building. Take turns acting as hostesses. Six at a time. Cold meat, salad, rolls, coffee, cake, no more. Can't have competition compe-tition in menus. I'm the president. Great fun. You'll see. Here we are. Get out." The marble room proved a most imposing apartment. Down its wide length ran a long narrow table, covered cov-ered with a white cloth. Thermos bottles, plates of rolls and jelly, and large heavily frosted cakes were placed upon this at regular Intervals Inter-vals ; and several well-dressed women wom-en were fluttering about it, pouring water and straightening silverware. There was a good deal of informal merriment a much pleasanter medium me-dium for getting acquainted, Anne reflected, this luncheon, than those stiff, brief calls. A few of the women she had met already. They welcomed her cordially and presented pre-sented her to ' others. When the rich, moist cakes had been eaten from the same dishes on which the meat and salad had been served Mrs. Hammel rose In her place at the end of the long table, and announced an-nounced the names of the hostesses for the following week Mrs. Bean, Mrs. Brainard, Miss Bullard, Mrs. Clay, Mrs. Conrad. Anne found herself carried off for a conference. A salad, It was decided, was to be her contribution. The merry little party broke up when the deliberations of the committee com-mittee were finished. The morning after the senate ladles' la-dles' luncheon, Mrs. Lee called Anne on the telephone, and inquired in-quired if she might not stop and take her to the Congressional club reception on Friday. "You have had an invitation to Join, of course?" "Yes-but you see I have been so busy making diplomatic calls- "I know-It is hard to wedge both the calls and the clubs in the same afternoon. But everything Is over at the club a little after five, and that leaves almost another hour for calls afterwards. If you are pretty well caught up couldn't you manage somehow?" , "I believe I could; especially as l would love to go to the club witn you," Anne said frankly. "I am so glad, for I would love to take you," responded Mrs. Lee' cordially. "Promptly at 2:45 then" In her eagerness to be prompt, Anne wns standing on the steps of her house, watching the street In both directions when Mrs. Lee drove up; and as she took her place beside be-side the older woman in the big limousine, Mrs. Lee regarded her with covert but thorough approbation. approba-tion. Anne had on a dress and coat of sapphire blue velvet, with close-fitting close-fitting collar and cuffs of ermine; and her sapphire blue velvet was faced with white satin. Her white gloves, her suede shoes, and the bended bag which she carried were all perfectly in keeping. "Usually we have a program on Friday afternoons," Mrs. Lee explained, ex-plained, "a concert or a lecture, or something like that; then a short reception afterwards. But as this Is our first gathering of the season, the afternoon Is entirely given over to the reception it is so pleasant, Isn't it, to have this meeting place for seeing our friends?" The crowd suddenly surged forward, for-ward, bearing Mrs. Lee and Anne with It up ' the stairs, and into the great oval room at the top. At the front end of the room, the Marine Ma-rine band, gorgeous in the scarlet, gold and blue of full dress uniform, was playing. In a little dining room beyond, an enormous basket of American Beauty roses towered between two silver candelabra, on a table spread with a lace cloth and covered with delicacies. Mrs. Hastings Hast-ings sat at one end pouring tea and Mrs. Lassiter at the other pouring coffee; they both greeted Anne cordially, cor-dially, and Mrs. Lassiter detained her for a moment. "My son and I were sorry to miss you when we called yesterday," she said. "Have you and Senator Conrad, Con-rad, by any miracle, a free evening next week or the week after? We would like so much to have you dine with ns " "We would be glad to come any evening," said Anne with her accustomed accus-tomed frankness. "You are the first person who has asked us to dinner." "What a neglected opportunity !" murmured Mrs. Lassiter, "but it won't last long. Next winter we will have to speak for you months ahead. Meanwhile, I will get In touch with you again, very shortly, Mrs. Conrad." Mrs. Lee seemed as pleased as Anne herself at the invitation, and she told Anne something about the Lasslters as they drove away. Mrs. Lassiter was a wealthy widow, it seemed, and acted as hostess for her son, who was unmarried, and the greatest "catch" in the senatorial circle. "You made quite an impression impres-sion on him at the opening of congress. con-gress. He asked who you were Immediately Im-mediately after he saw you in the gallery, and has told several people he thought you were the prettiest woman there." The promised dinner invitation was delivered by hand before Neal and Anne had finished their own supper that night. Mrs. Lassiter requests the pleasure of Senator and Mrs. Conrad's company at dinner on Wednesday evening December the 14th at eight o'clock. 2141 Massachusetts Avenue. "Less than a week off!" exclaimed ex-claimed Anne. "Oh, Neal, what shall I wear?" Neal laughed. "What a question for a woman who has just got back from Paris! Your clothes are lovely, love-ly, Anne, you know they are, and you mustn't try to save them. When the ones you have now begin to get shabby you must have some more. I think that white velvet with the glittery trimming rhinestone do you call it? is about the best and I guess you better wear the best." "It is going to be hard, Neal, driving driv-ing a car in evening clothes." "I know I do wish we could afford af-ford more help. Dora must stop doing the washing, that's certain. You must send it out, Anne, or get a woman to come in and help with it and to get supper the nights Dora goes out." "We can't afford it," Anne objected. object-ed. . "We have got to afford it, Neal retorted resolutely. "Thank goodness good-ness this is a short session ! 1 11 be back in Hinsboro the fifth of March, digging away for dear life No vacation for me this summer! My poor old clients will have to cough up enough for us to live on decently here, since the government won't, and next winter we will be doing things right. In the mean-timer mean-timer we will have to find some kind of temporary solution." The solution presented Itself in an unexpected, not to say startling, manner. When Anne returned from her round of calls the following afternoon aft-ernoon she drew back in alarm b fore a muddled figure which was r uched on her front steps in an nttitude of deepest dejection At her startled exclamation, the figure folded itself and stood up-a gaunt, unkempt man, young but haggard, dressed in a shabby uniform. uni-form. "Good evenin', marm," he said awkwardly, taking off his frayed cap, "sorry If ah frightened you. Don't need a man, do you?" "Good gracious," exclaimed Anne, "I don't know. What kind of a man? What do you mean?" "Well, ah meant my kind of a man," the intruder explained hopefully. hope-fully. "Ah ben lookln' for work quite a spell. But ah can't seem to find none. 'Pears like the fellers that stayed to home while we-all was to war collared all the Jobs. Ah's plumb broke." "Can you drive a car?" asked Anne without circumlocution. The haggard hag-gard veteran grinned. "Well, ah hain't had much experience expe-rience with Rolls-Royces and them, lady, but a small car " "It is a small car," said Anne with surprising suddenness. "Are you willing to wash windows and Rl fell iSii! MM w "Well, Ah Meant My Kind of a Man," the Intruder Explained Hopefully. Hope-fully. tend a furnace and put on a white coat and open the door?" "An'm willing to do anythin'," said the man with pathetic eagerness. "Are you are you white? It is so dark I can't see. I've had my maid a long time, and I don't know how she would feel about a colored man in the house," said Anne with slight confusion. "That's all right, ma'am, ah don't mind your askin'. Yes, ah'm white all right. 'Pore white trash' you'd call me ah reckon. Ah come from the mountings, Kentucky ah seen your hired girl. She's powerful pert lookln'. Ah'd be pleased to help her any ways ah could. Ah can cook, too, real good." "What's your name?" demanded Anne. "Delancy. Mah first name's Hod Horace." "Well, Horace Delancy, if I get you the clothes you need and feed you, will you come to me for thirty dollars a month? Until you have proved you are worth more? There's a little bit of a dark room in the rear of the basement. I'm ashamed to ask anyone to sleep in it, but If you " "Oh, marm," exclaimed Horace Delancy, "oh, lady !" He pitched suddenly forward. Anne caught him, supported him. Neal swung suddenly Into sight around the corner of the street and ran towards the house. "This is our new chauffeur," said Anne calmly, "an answer to prayer. He just fainted away because, I expect ex-pect it's some time since he had a square meal ; but he is going to be another household treasure just like Dora." Horace Delancy, warm, fed, bathed, shaved and clad In neat whipcord, drove Anne and Neal to their dinner din-ner at the Lassiters the following Wednesday evening. It was of course a crazy thing to take a man off the street like that into one's house. Both Anne and Neal admitted it. But somehow, neither of them hesitated to do the crazy tiling Just the same; and Dora's harsh and suspicious comments com-ments were nullified by her kind and charitable actions. And she was repaid In kind. Horace Delancy had scarcely recovered from his faint when he assumed control of the furnace. The following morning morn-ing he drove the children to school, Neal to the senate office building, and Anne to the central market; and before evening he had washed every window in the house. It was not until Sunday, however, that his supreme opportunity came. Dora went out, and he served his astonished aston-ished benefactors, not the cold "pick-up" supper which is usually associated with a religious observance observ-ance of the Sabbath, but a meal in which fried chicken, corn fritters, beaten biscuit, fruit salad, and Lady Baltimore cake were a few of the more substantial offerings. (TO EE CONTINUED ! |