Show een e anne Is race by y PRANCES FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES KEYE S 4 C frances parkinson keyes service CHAPTER IX continued 22 mrs hammel stirred her cup of chocolate reminiscently when I 1 first came here 11 she said 1 I thought I 1 want to have anything to do with the newspaper women miss sharp wrote me and asked me for an interview and I 1 declined to give it to her her reply was a masterpiece she told me that her bread and butter depended on getting something about me but that after oil all w was as beyond the point it if her newspaper secure a real interview with me it would take fake one if she write that article false or true some one else would it I 1 would operate cooperate co with the newspaper women give them what they had a reo right to ask of me as vice presidents wife id never regret it if I 1 told them anything in confidence that confidence would be respected in short that they were prepared to help me in every way they could it if I 1 would only let them it I 1 all sorts of false and sensational reports aou would I 1 d inevitably appear about me I 1 sent cent for miss sharp and had a frank talk with her weve been the best of friends ever since and ashes kept her word absolutely oh thanks began anne ill sirs mrs hammel interrupted she belongs to a rather interesting organization the womans comans national press club all the society editors do im going to one of their monday luncheons jolly informal affairs as guest of honor next week I 1 wonder would you like to come with me it could be very easily arranged have a good time and well I 1 think it would be a good plan all around annes quick gratitude was so real that mrs hammel was more touched than sho she betrayed and of course you must start right in making calls today diplomatic day find a list of tho the embassies in your copy of the congressional directory it if your husband brought yours up from the office lies hes been very remiss every senators wife has one with her name stamped neatly in the lower right hand corner mrs neal conrad will look very nice see only the ambassadresses ambassadress es remember the ministers wives come first to you anol and return madame Ks Es tavis call of course 1 I ashes really a dear though very shy you dont need to be afraid of her then go through the cards that were left you yesterday and return the calls of any leave cave dwellers who may be receiving saturday and sunday monday go to all the supreme court ladles ladies tuesday of course go to the congressional la ladles les it if any have called on you no W well 11 then easy wednesday I 1 think if I 1 were you id go to see mrs standish sh the wife of the secretary of state ashes a perfect dear and have such a good time at her house you may not get much farther anyway then next thursday if I 1 were you I 1 should receive again myself and er do it right after that you ought to receive and make calls on alternate thursdays till youve youve been the rounds but this time id er cr mrs roper and mrs rang ranger or will tell every one they see of course about yesterday and next thursday your house will be packed with people dhove come to see it if they were told the truth and my what a disappointment get mrs hammel gave vent to hearty laughter id like to be there myself my dear to see the fun it if I 1 can possibly make it I 1 shall be she rose and kissed anne on the cheek run bun along now and get to work my dear she said ive lotsof lots of confidence in you this confidence was wag not misplaced doggedly even as she had scrubbed floors and taught school doggedly anne set to work to pay her official calls but neal came home on the street cars cara from the senate office building and the children walked home from school so that she would not have to go for them it was barely half past three the next thursday when as mrs mra hammel had predicted annes callers began to come the polite ambassadresses ambassadress es instantly returning their official visit the supreme court ladles ladies whose program was not yet very tery full mrs standish sh always sweets sweet efficient and poised the excitement cit ement eaters and curiosity seekers regaled by mrs roper and mrs ranger miss sharp and several other members of the womans comans national press club who had been most agreeably impressed by anne when she had come with mrs hammel to their monday luncheon the professional callers who are the bane of every woman hi official life and who go from house to house either because they are utterly idle gr or because they are actually hungry supplying themselves in the latter case with unlimited sandwiches land and cakes A scattering of tourists and government workers from the conrads own state ministers colonels a judge or two with their wives in short the kaleidoscopic fragment of washington life which confronts the ofil buical cial lib hostess stess on ner her day aay at home the door was opened for these callers by a wholly correct butler froal Rausch chera cra who was ingream in great deman d for at homes anne stood in front of bright buttle fire bre which i glowed under a mantel giantel banked with flowers to receive her guests her golden hair wound like ilke a coronet above the curls curla which framed her rosy face her slim figure supple and graceful under its sheath of rose colored satin neal scintillating with cordiality sartorially perfect in gray trousers and cutaway awa stood beside her an immaculate maid the stiff embroidered bre bretell telles ca of her apron snowy against her black silk uniform was hovering over a tea table on which silver dishes containing tomato jelly sandwiches angel too food d tiny frosted cakes and tinier bir biscuits cults stuffed with chicken salad were scattered over an embroidered tablecloth and pouring the tea bland and benign above the silver service sat mrs hammel me the leader in the society section of the inquirer on the following sunday was written by miss sharp A picture of anne surmounted it this picture left nothing to be desired neither did the headline vice presidents wife pours for mrs mra conrad neither did the text which accompanied these mrs neal conrad whose husbands recent appointment to the senate has been a matter of national interest made her bow to official society in washington last thursday at the delightful rc reception which she gave in the charming residence on now new hampshire avenue which she and senator conrad have leased for the winter mrs conrad was charmingly gowned L A and of course you must start right in making calls in a ganv of pink one ofie of the many beautiful dresses which she brought home with her from paris where the she and senator conrad spent the summer mrs hammel who has been one of the first to welcome mrs conrad with whom she has many tastes in common to washington presided at the perfectly appointed tea table among the many distinguished guests were noticed there was more a great deal more but that was all that mattered the first hard weeks had been lived through t e first dreadful mistakes lived down the features about the washtub and the cow forgotten anne had begun to arrive CHAPTER X 1 I do solemnly swear that I 1 will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic that I 1 will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I 1 take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I 1 will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office in which I 1 am about to enter so help me ma god neal facing the vice president with his back to the senate chamber stood beside senator brown repeating the words a phrase at a almy after mr hammel anne sitting in the senators gallery her cold hands clenched tightly in her lap colder chills of excitement cit elt ement creeping up and down her spine and stabbing swiftly at her heart looked down at him with misty eyes it was the opening day of congress and neal had repeated the oath of office administered to a new senator and then literally had taken his seat anne had not been to the capitol since she had visited it years before on her honeymoon journey to washington she confronted the doorman of the senators gallery without qualms but he was struggling with a persistent mob which was striving to get past him and which even his massive bulk and grim manner could not entirely stern stem mrs conrad he snarled peering at her with suspicious bulging eyes senator conrads wife say that dont go down any more iles hes got three wives in there already there was a titter of derision about her and anne felt her cheeks growing hot 1 I will try to get some one to identify me she said with a composure which she was very far from feeling that wont be hard a merry voice boomed behind her and turning suddenly she almost bumped into mrs hammel ammel 11 come and sit with me my dear delighted to have you you know mrs hastings hasting s dont you thie the tip speakers eakers wife you and mrs stan dih are friends already of course now then right down there on the left no not in the front row those are the seats reserved for mrs shiw shaw but the ones directly behind aj TO BE BB A N |