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Show . HAVING NONE OF HER OWN By RUTH H. MYERS L G McClure Newspaper Syndicate. f WNU Service. J j though she has no child. !t 1. V A Marbeth could have man-i man-i aged a dozen and loved It; It was : an inefficient waste of good maternity ma-ternity that she was a seamstress 1 and unmarried with only the children chil-dren of her customers to contact. The last time she sewed for the young Pendens, the baby had come and was three weeks old. ; Marbeth and the maid, each i prompted by the urge of vicarious motherhood, fought over him dis- gracefully. This time he was four-i four-i teen months old. He had developed clear blue eyes, yellow curls on his : head and a pleased, wondering acceptance ac-ceptance of all that was done for him. They called him Georgie. Among his toys was a large old ' arnv plenhflnr that Mr. Penrlell's sewing room floor where he screamed louder than ever. Claire Fendell's one Idea was to have peace from those screams. She Jerked Georgie up sharply by one arm and spanked him as he stood catching his breath for a fresh start "Why, you're terrible, Georgie! I never saw him act so." And over Marbeth's protests she snatched the baby up and carried him across to the nursery, closing the door with finality. The screams and choking gasps did not diminish in the slightest, nor Georgie's sobbing "Xo-no-no-no-ma-ma !" It was 3 a. m. and Marbeth by the dressing table lamp was just finishing Jum-Jum's fringed tail. Distressed at the futile clash of wills across the hall she had at last basted Jum-Jum's ear back in place and at the risk of Mrs. Pen-dell's Pen-dell's disapproval carried the elephant ele-phant In to Georgie. As she expected, the baby stopped cryingat once and received Jum-Jum with open arms. But Mrs. Pendell demurred. "I hate to let him get the uppef hand so young." Still, it was a relief to have him quiet "He's just a baby," Marbeth said. "It's really better to work around them when they're so little." After his dinner Georgie had gone to sleep with Jum-Jum still in his arms. "But Marbeth's going to make him that new coat tomorrow," his mother warned him, "and you mustn't cry." - . Marbeth had seen Georgie's hold on the elephant tighten; but that was all right She knew there would be no more scenes tomorrow. For at midnight when the house was quiet and Georgie in a sound sleep, Marbeth stole Into the nursery nurs-ery and cautiously drew the elephant ele-phant out of the baby's relaxed arms. Back in her own room hurriedly and competently she laid the, old pieces for a pattern on the new cloth, cut them out and, since she dared not use the sewing machine, set herself to the long, tedious task of back stitching and felling the seams by hand. The clock downstairs chimed three. But Jum-Jum was done at last and a smart swank beast he wasl Still benign, still benevolent, but with a well tailored elephant-gray hide, firm legs (Marbeth had reinforced rein-forced them with skewers) and a gorgeous, ornate, red and orange howdah blanket where ladies might ride. She crept down the hall back into the nursery and seated Jum-Jum on his haunches atop a fold of blanket with the tip of his new trunk touching Georgie's outspread palm. His pleased cry of surprise wakened wak-ened Marbeth in the morning out of her heavy first slumber. She heard him with a satisfaction that was followed by a sharp twinge of something like jealousy. For it was his mother he was calling "Ma-ma ! Jum-Jum ! Jum-Jum Jum-Jum !" mother had Just sent on, writing that when he was a baby Georgie's , father had loved this king of beasts and that all baby boys generally seemed to enjoy him. : Claire Pendell saw no reason to question either statement. "By the looks of It Georgie's great-great-grandfather might have ; ;owned It" she told Marbeth, regarding regard-ing the aged king of beasts with scant hospitality. "But when Pen unwrapped it It seemed to stir up something tribal in him. He war-whooped war-whooped 'Georgte, It's Jum-Jum!' And presented it to the son as if it were an enemy scalp. And now Just try to get it away from him." Marbeth laughed but she could see why Georgie or any little boy hugged him that way. He was a benevolent old fellow, If threadbare. His ears were large, flat an'd floppy; his silly tall was either tas-seled tas-seled or frayed; his trunk moved with the correct unjointedness of that always endearing appendage; his faded blanket was still plnkish-ly plnkish-ly red and edged with tarnished gold braid. : Marbeth's quick eye, trained to visualize new garments for old, lit at the possibilities she saw in a renovated ren-ovated Jum-Jum. For the present however, she would say nothing. It would be her surprise and her own gift to Georgie the adorable. She lived so far across the city that when she sewed for her patrons pa-trons on the North side, she brought her little suitcase and stayed nights until she had them all sewed up. It was maddening now to remember remem-ber that 16 miles away and a double fare each way the precise scrap of red flannel and remnant of orange soutache braid that would serve for a new howdah lay awaiting await-ing some such useful service in the piece bag hanging on her bedroom closet door. Claire Pendell knew only that Marbeth had urgent business that called her home that first night However, she was back at work promptly In the morning and she said nothing about the long walk she had taken to save another carfare car-fare over to a certain store called the Bon Ton, open evenings, where she could get the exact weight and color of thick, elephant-gray flannel she desired. Nor about how she had planned to piece Jum-Jum under his front legs and save 17 cents on another ;half yard of goods. Mrs. Pendell was delighted with the Idea of having the elephant recovered. re-covered. , That was good. It paid these days to keep on the right side of even such old patrons as the Pendell family In all its branches, and even though primarily prima-rily this gift of love was all for Georgie. "ril work on him after hours, evenings, so it won't be time out that you're paying for." "Nonsense. When you Insist on paying for all the material?" Georgie's Geor-gie's mother patted Marbeth's shoulder. shoul-der. "We'll start him right now. Bring him to mother, Georgie." And before Marbeth could warn her, Mrs. Pendell had picked up one of the razor blades Marbeth used for ripping and slashed off Jum-Jum's Jum-Jum's left ear with it How a mother could be so stupid, thought Marbeth. j Georgie screamed. 1 A hideous, rasping scream. Of protest Of astonishment Of sheer horror. "Georgie!" His mother could not jTinderstand what was wrong. He put one arm around Jum-Jum and held out the other piteously for the amputated ear. "No-no-no-ma-mal" His screams Increased In volume. Beads of perspiration appeaved under his tawny curls. His mother pulled Jum-Jum as firmly from the other side. "Georgie! "Geor-gie! Georgie! No, col Let mother moth-er have him. Why, what's the matter mat-ter with you, Georgie?" "It's the ear," said Marbeth's voice above the tumult ."Jum-Jum's ear. He thinks you're hurting Jum-Jum." "How silly! Tm not hurting him, Georgie. Marbeth's going to make him a new coat Stop crying! At once V She shook Jum-JUm violently and that shook Georgie so that he toppled top-pled over end sat down hard on the |