"Oh, I'll give Mary a chance. She don't want to dance in the pig
trough."
Mary laid down the paper. "I wish you people would finish eating.
Luke, are you going fishing with me out at the old mill? Then you
better get the walks swept. We'll be home in time for dinner, mother.
I'll leave the things as nearly ready as I can. How about you,
Trudy?"
"Gay wants me to go to the Boulevard Cafe--they dance on Sunday just
the same as weekdays--and then we'll do a movie afterward. I suppose
Steve and his Beatrice are now revelling in the Constantine
conservatory, with Steve walking on all fours to prove his devotion.
Why is it some girls have everything? Look at me--no one cares if I
live or die. First I had a stepmother, and then I tried living with a
great-aunt, and then I went to work. Here I am still working, and a
lot of thanks I get for it. I'd like to see the Gorgeous Girl have to
work--well, I would!"
Mary brushed by with some dishes. Whereupon Trudy settled herself in
an easy-chair and ran through the supplement sections, discussing the
latest New York scandal with Mrs. Faithful. The next thing on Trudy's
Sunday program was washing out "just a few little things, Mary dear;
and have you a bit of soap I could borrow and may I use the electric
iron for half a jiffy?"
Presently there were hung on the line some dabs of chiffon and lace,
and Trudy, taking advantage of her softened cuticle, sat down and did
her nails, Mrs. Faithful admiring the high polish she achieved and
reading Advice to the Anxious aloud for general edification.
After ironing the few little things Trudy shampooed her hair with
scented soap and by the time its reddish loveliness was dry it was
high noon and she repaired to her bedroom to mend and write letters.
At one o'clock, in the process of dressing, she rapped at Mary's door
and asked to borrow a quarter.
"I'm terribly poor this week and if I should have a quarrel with Gay I
want to have enough carfare to come home alone--you know how we
scrap," she explained.
About two o'clock there emerged from the front bedroom an excellent
imitation of the Gorgeous Girl. Trudy had not exaggerated when she
boasted of her own style. Though patronizing credit houses exclusively
and possessing not a single woollen garment nor a penny of savings,
she tripped down the stairs in answer to Luke's summons, a fearful,
wonderful little person in a gown of fog-coloured chiffon with a
violet sash and a great many trimmings of blue crystal beads. She
boasted of a large black hat which seemed a combination of a Spanish
scarf and a South Sea pirate's pet headgear, since it had red coral
earrings hanging at either side of it. Over her shoulders was a
luxurious feline pelt masquerading comfortably under the title of
spotted fox. White kid boots, white kid gloves, a silver vanity case,
and a red satin rose at her waist completed the costume.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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