E-text prepared by Al Haines
The Romantic Career of the Practical Miss Dale
by
Indianapolis
The Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publishers
Copyright 1916
The Bobbs-Merrill Company
The knocking at the side door and the thumping overhead blended in atravesty on the anvil chorus, the staccato tapping of somebody'sknuckles rising flute-like above the hammering of Joel's cane. TO sometemperaments the double summons would have proved confusing, but PersisDale dropped her sewing and moved briskly to the door, addressing theceiling as she went. "'Twon't hurt you to wait."
The stout woman on the steps entered heavily and fell into a chair thatcreaked an inarticulate protest. Persis' quick ear caught the signalof distress.
"Mis' West, you'd be more comf'table in the armchair. I fight shy ofit because it's too comf'table. If I set back into the hollow, it'sbecause my work's done for the day. And here's a palm-leaf. You lookas hot as mustard-plaster."
Having thus tactfully interfered for the preservation of her property,Persis cast a swiftly appraising glance at the chair her caller hadvacated. "Front rung sprung just as I expected," was her unspokencomment. "It's a wonder that Etta West don't use more discretion aboutfurniture."
Mrs. West dabbed her moist forehead with her handkerchief, flopped thepalm-leaf indeterminately and cast an alarmed glance heavenward."Gracious, Persis, first thing you know, he'll be coming through."
"'Twon't hurt him to wait," Persis said again, as if long testing hadproved the reliability of the formula. "He called me up-stairs fifteenminutes ago," she added, "to have me get down the 'cyclopedia and findout when Confucius was born."
"I want to know," murmured Mrs. West, visibly impressed. "He'scertainly got an active mind."
"He has," Persis agreed dryly. "And it's the sort of mind that makeslots of activity for other folks' hands and feet. Does that noiseworry you, Mis' West? For if it does, I'll run up and quiet him beforewe get down to business."
Mrs. West approved the suggestion. "I brought my black serge," sheexplained, "to have you see if it'll pay for a regular making-over—newlining and all—or whether I'd better freshen it up and get all thewear I can out of it, just as 'tis. But I declare! With all thatnoise over my head, I wouldn't know a Dutch neck from a placket-hole.I don't see how you stand it, Persis, day in and day out."
"There's lots in getting used to things," Persis explained, and leftthe room with the buoyant