PRUDE
of the PARSONAGE
By E T H E L H U E S T O N
(B ob b s M errill, C o p yrigh t, 1918)
T H E TW INS T R Y TO EM-
BARRASS
FAIRY
W I TH
SOM E PRACTICAL JOK
ING
WHEN
HER
BEAU
C O M E S T O VISIT H E R .
Mr. Starr Is a widower Methodist minister with five charming daughters.
Prudence, the eldest is nineteen. She keeps house. Fairy, aged seventeen. Is
a college freshman. Carol and Lark, twins, are in high school, and Constance
Is in the grades. Mr. Stark is assigned to the congregation at Mount Mark,
la„ and the advent and establishment of his interesting family In the parson
age there stirs the curiosity of the whole town. The story concerns the
affairs of the parsonage girls. Prudence has her hands full with the mis
chievous twins and Connie. Fairy has Just announced that her beau la
coming to spend the evening. The twins decide to have some fun, and havs
made tbeir plans accordingly.
C H A P T E R V— Continued.
As soon ns they finished supper Lark
said. “ Don’t you think we'd better go
right to bed, I’rue? We don't want
to taint the atmosphere of the par
sonage. O f course Fairy will want to
wash the dishes herself to make sure
they are clean and shining.
“ Oh, no,” disclaimed Fairy, good-
naturedly. “ 1 can give an extra rub
to the ones we want to use— that is
enough. I do appreciate the thought,
though, thanks very much.”
So the twins plunged In, carefully
keeping Connie beside them. Connie
had a dismal propensity for discov
eries— the twins had often suffered
from It.
Then they all three went to bed. To
be sure it was ridiculously eurly, but
they were all determined.
“ You keep your eyes open. Fairy."
Prudence whispered melodramatically.
"Those girls do not look right.” And
she added anxiously. “ Oh, I’ll be so
disappointed If things go badly.”
Fairy was a little late getting up
stairs to dress, but she took time to
drop Into her sisters’ room. They were
all in bed, breathing heavily.
She
walked from one to another, and
stood above them majestically.
“ Asleep 1” she cried. “ Ah, fortune
Is kind. They are asleep.
How 1
love these darling little twinnies— In
their sleep l”
An audible sniff from beneath the
covers, and Fairy, smiling mischievous
ly. went into the front room to prepare
for her caller.
The bell rang as she was dressing.
Prudence went to the door, preternat-
urally ceremonious, and ushered Mr.
Fabler into the front room. She did
not observe that the young man sniffed
in a peculiar manner as he entered
the room.
“ I ’ll call Fairy,” she said demurely.
“ Tell her she needn’t primp for
me,” he answered, laughing. “ I know
just how she looks already.”
But Prudence was too heavily bur
dened to laugh.
She smiled hospi
tably, and closed the door upon him.
Fairy was tripping down the stairs,
very tall, very handsome, very gay.
She pinched her sister’s arm us she
passed, and the front room door
swung behind. But she did not greet
her friend. She stood erect by the
door, her head tilted on one side,
sniffing, sniffing.
“ What in the worid?” she wondered.
Eugene liubler was strangely quiet.
He looked about the room In u pe
culiar. questioning way.
“ Shall 1 raise a window?” he sug
gested finully.
“ It’s rather— er— hot
In here.”
“ Yes, do.” she urged. “ Raise all of
them. It’s— do you—do you notice a—
a funny smell In here? Or am I imag
ining it?
It—it almost makes me
sick r
“ Yes, there Is a smell,” he said, in
evident relief.
“ I thought maybe
you’d been cleaning the carpet with
something. It's ghastly. Can’t we go
somewhere else?”
“ Come on.”
She opened the door
Into the sitting room. “ W e’re coming
out here if you do not mind, Prue.”
And Fairy explained the difficulty.
“ Why, that’s very strange,” said
Prudence, knitting her brows. • “ I
was in there right after supper, and I
didn’t notice anything. What does It
smell like?”
“ It’s a new smell to me,” laughed
Fairy, “ but something about it is
strangely suggestive of our angel
twins.”
Prudence went to Investigate, and
Fairy shoved a big chair near the
table, waving her hand toward It light
ly with a smile at Babble. Then she
sank Into a low rocker, and leaned
one arm on the table. She wrinkled
her forehead thoughtfully.
“That smell,” she began.
“ I am
very suspicious about 1L It was not at
all natural— ”
"Excuse me, Fairy,” he said, 111 at
ease for the first time In her knowl
edge o f him. “ Did you know your
Sleeve was coming out?”
; Fairy gasped and raised her arm.
“ Both nrms. apparently," he con
tinued. smiling, but bis face was
flushed.
“ Excuse me Just a minute, will you?"
Fairy was unruffled. She sought her
sister.
“ Look here. Prue— wbat do
you muke of this?
I'm coming to
pieces! I'm hanging by a single thread,
as It were.”
Her sleeves were undoubtedly ready
to drop off at a second's notice 1 Pru
dence wus shocked. She grew posi
tively white in the face.
“ Oh, Fairy,” she wailed. “ We are
disgraced.”
“ Not a bit of It.” said Fairy coolly.
“ 1 remember now that Lark was look
Ing for the scissors before supper.
Aren't those twins unique? This Is
almost bordering on talent. Isn't it?
Don’t look so distressed. Prue. Eti
quette Itself must be subservient to
twins. It seems. Don’t forget to bring
In the ste at a quarter past nine, and
have it as good as possible— please,
dear."
“ I will,” vowed Prudence, “ I'll— I ’ll
use cream. Oh. those horrible twins I"
“ Go in nnd entertain Babble till 1
come down, won’t you?” And Fairy
ran lightly up the stairs, humming a
snatch of song.
But Prudence did a poor Job of en
tertaining Babbie during her sister’s
absence. She felt really dizzy I Such
a way to Introduce Etiquette Into the
parsonage life. She wns glad to make
her escape from the room when Fulry
returned, a graceful figure In fine blue
silk!
A little after nine she called out
dismally, “ F a iry !” And Fairy, fearing
fresh disaster, came running out.
"W hat now? Whnt— ”
“ I forget what you told me to say,"
whispered
Prudence
wretchedly,
Sufferer From Annoying Complaint
Can Generally Make Correct Diag
nosis of His Particular Case.
“Yes, There Is a Smell,” He Said.
“ what was it? The soup Is ready, and
piping hot— but wbat Is It you want
me to say?"
Fairy screamed with laughter. “ You
goose!” she cried. "Say anything you
like. It doesn't make any difference
what you say.”
“ Oh, I am determined to do my part
Just right," vowed Prudence fervent
ly, “ according to etiquette nnd all.
What wns It you said?”
Fulry stifled her laughter with diffi
culty, and said In a low voice,
"Wouldn’t you like u nice, hot oyster
stew?”
Prudence repeated it after
her breathlessly.
So Fairy returned once more, nnd
soon after Prudence tapped on the
door. Then she opened It, nnd thrust
her curly head inside. "Wouldn’t you
like a little nice, hot oyster stew?”
she chirped methodically. And Fairy
said, “ Oh, yes. Indeed, Prudence— this
Is so nice of you.”
The three guthered sociably about
the table. Babbie wus first to taste
Early morning headaches may be
due to many causes— eye strain, kid
ney trouble, dissipation, too much
smoking, overeating o f proteins, ex
cessive mental labor or too high blood
pressure. The Medical Record quotes
some observations by the French Doc
tor Renon, which extended over 15
years, and In which he found In many
caws excessively high blood tension.
When the persistent headaches ars
so severe that they unfit the sufferer
for work. It is generally found that his
heart Is enlarged nnd his kidneys nre
affected.
Such eases often speedily
terminate fatally, but Intensive treat
ment will alleviate the symptoms. The
Medical Record says coul-tur deriva
tives and tobacco must be shut off.
The patient must have mental rest;
he must go on a purely milk diet for
at least a week, after which he may
eat fruits and vegetables on certain
days for two weeks more. A light,
low protein regimen follows for sev
eral weeks.
His Case.
“ Everything I have In this world I
owe to my wife.”
“ I’m almost like you, too. Every
thing I owe In this world my w ife
bought.”
Practical Geography.
“ Are you Hungary?”
"Yes. Slam.”
"W ell, come along; I’ll FIJI.” — Na
tional Geographical Magazine.
It is better to be able to turn yoar
hand to unythlug than to put your foot
In It
QUIT MEAT WHEN
KIDNEYS BOTHER
Take a jjltiss of Salts if your
Hack hurls or Hlmltlcr
troubles you.
No man or woman who eats meat
regularly can umko u mistake by
flushing the kidneys occasionally, says
a well-known authority. Moat forma
uric acid which excites the kidneys,
they become overworked from the
strain, get sluggish and fall to filter
the waste and poison* from the blood,
then wo get sick. Nearly all rheuma
tism, dizziness, sleeplessness und ur
inary disorders couio from sluggish
kidneys.
The moment you feel a dull ache In
the kidneys or your back hurts or If
the urine Is cloudy, offensive, full of
sediment, irregular o f passage or at
tended by a sensation of sealdlng.
stop rating meat and get about four
ounce# of Jud Halts from any phar
macy; take a tablespoonful In a glass
of water before breakfast and In a
few days your kidneys will act fine.
This famous salts Is made from the
aeld o f grapes and lemon Juice, com
bined with llthla, and has been used
for generations to flush and stimulate
the kidneys, also to neutralize the
adds In urine so It no longer causes
Irritation, thus ending bladder weak-
neas.
Jud Halts Is Inexpensive and can
not Injure; makes a delightful effer
C H A P T E R VI.
vescent
llthla water
drink
which
everyone should take now and then
to keep the kidneys clean and active
Practicing Economy.
It was a dull day eurly In Decem and the blood pure, thereby avoiding
ber. Prudence and Fairy were sew serious kidney complications.
ing In the bay window of the sitting
room.
There are thousands of
"W e must be sure to have nil the
scraps out of the way before Connie children w ho are bright
gets home,” said Prudence, carefully
but
fitting together pieces of u dark. warm, but fr a il— not sick
furry material. "It lias been so loug
u n d e rd e v e lo p e d — they
since futher wore this coat, 1 am sure
she will not recognize It."
play with their food— they
“ But she will ask where wo got I t catch colds easily and do
nnd what shall we any?"
"W e must tell her It I* good* we have not thrive— they only need
had In the house for a long time. That the pure, rich liquid-food in
Is true. Arid I made this fudge on pur
pose to distract her attention. Poor
ch ild!" she added very sympatheti
cally. “ Her heart Is Just set on n brand-
new coat. 1 know she will be Itterly
disappointed. I f the members would
Just pay up we could get her one. No
vember and December nro such bad
months for parsonage people. Every
one Is getting ready for f'brlstmns now.
and forgets that parsonage people need to start them growing and keep
Christmas money, too.”
them going. Children rel i sh
Fulry took a pin from her mouth. “ I
S C O T T ’S and it carries rare
have honestly been ashamed o f Connie
the Inst few Sundays. It wns so cold, nutritive qualities to their blood
and she wore only thnt little thin sum streams and gives them flesh-
mer Jacket. 3h** must have been half food, bone-food and strength-food.
frozen."
the steaming stew, lie gasped, and
gulped, and swallowed some water
with more haste than grace. Then he
toyed Idly with spoon and wafer until
Prudence tasted also. Prudence did
not gasp. She did not cry out. She
looked up at her sister with wide eyes
—a world o f pathos In the glance.
But Fairy did not notice.
"Now, please do not ask me to talk
until 1 have finished my soup,” she
wus saying brightly.
Then she tasted I t ! She dropped
her s|>oon with a great clntter, und
Jumped up from the table. “ Mercy I"
she shrieked. “ It Is poisoned I”
Babble leaned buck ill Ills chair and
luughed until his eyes were wet. Pru
dence’s eyes were wet. too, but not
from laughter! Whnt would etiquette
think o f her. ufter this?
"Whnt did you do to this soup. Pru
dence?” demanded Fairy.
"I made It— nothing else.” faltered
poor Prudence, quite crushed by this
blow. And oysters forty cents n pint.’
” IFs pepper, I think," gasped Bab
ble. “ My Insides bear startling testi
mony to the presence o f pepper.”
And he roared again, while Prudence
begnn u critical examination o f the
oysters.
She found them llterully
stuffed with pepper; there wns no
doubt o f It. The twins had done deud-
ly work 1
"Revenge, ye gods, how sweet,”
chanted Fairy. “The twins are get
ting even with a vengeance— the same
twins you said were adorable. Babble.”
It must be said for Fairy thnt her
good nature could stnnd almost any
thing.
Even this did not seriously
disturb her. “ Do you supjiose you can
find us some milk, Prue? And crack
ers !
I’m so fond o f crackers and
milk, aren't you. Babble?"
“ Oh, I adore It. But serve a micro
scope with It. please. 1 want to ex
amine it for microbes before I taste.”
But Prudence did better than that.
She made some delicious cocoa, and
opened a can of pear preserves, donut- !
<‘d to the parsonage by the amiable j
Sirs. Adams. The twins were very |
fond of pear preserves, and had been j
looking forward to eating these on
their approaching blrthduy.
They j
MANY CAUSES O F H E A D A C H E
were doomed to disappointment I The
three had a merry little feast, after
all. and tlielr Ipughter rung out ao
often and so unrestrainedly that the
twins shook in their beda with raga
and disappointment
It speuks well for tho courage of
Babble, uud the attractions o f Fairy,
that he cume to the parsonage again
amt again. In time ho beenmo the
best of friends with the twins them
selves, lint he always culled them "tho
adorable*." and they never naked hliu
why. The punishment Inflicted upon
them by Prudence rankled In their
memories for inuny mouths.
“The offense was ugalnst Fairy.”
said Prudence, with n solemnity she
did not feel, "nnd the reparation must
be done to her. For three week* you
must do all of her bedroom work, uud
run every errand she requires. More
over. you must keep her shoes well
cleaned and ulcely polished, nnd must
do every hit of her durnlngl”
The twins would huve preferred
whipping n thousand times. They felt
they hud got a whipping's worth of
pleasure out o f their mischief 1 But a
punishment like thla sat heavily upon
their proud young shoulders, nnd from
that time on they held Fairy practi
cally Immune from tlielr pranks.
Prudence did not bother her head
about etiquette after that experience.
"I'm strong for comfort," she declared,
“und since the two cunnot live together
In one family, 1 say we do without eti
quette."
And Fulry nodded In agreement
smiling good-naturedly.
SCOTTS
EMULSION
N o th in g h a r m fu l in S C O T T 'S .
Scott f t Bownc. Bloomfield. N. J .
There are a lot o. us careless
about providing for the preacher
and his family. Some of us seem
to forget that his needs are Just
as real and urgent as our own.
Are you prompt with your tithes?
IH
T H I C K , GLO S SY HAIR
F R E E FROM D A N D R U F F
Girls! T r y It! Hair gets soft, fluffy
and beautiful— Get a 25 cent
bottle of Danderine.
If you caro for heavy hair that glis
tens with beauty and la radiant with
life; bus an Incomparable softness and
la flu ffy and lustrous, try Dundurlne.
First American M. D.
Just ono application doubles the
The first native o f Engllsh-spenklng
America to receive flu? degree o f Doc beauty f your hair, besides P. Imme-
| dlately dissolves every particle of
tor o f Medicine was William Bull, who
i dandruff.
You can not have nice
died In Loudon Just a century anil a ! heavy, healthy hair If you havo dan-
quarter ago. lie was born In South j druff. This destructive scurf robs tho
Carolina In 1710. and In Ills young man ! hair o f its lustre, Its strength and Its
hood went to Europe to study .nedl- very life, and if not ovorcomo It pro
clne, receiving Ills M. I). degree at Ley- duces a feverishness and It hlng of
ren. He practiced Ills profession with tho scalp; tho hair roots famish, loos
considerable success In his native col en and die; then tho hair falls out
; fast. Surely get a 25 cent bottle of
ony, und In 1740 became lieutenant
Knowlton's Danderlno from rny drug
governor o f South Carolina, a position j store and Just try It.
he retained until the revolution. Re
maining loyal to the crown, In 1782 he
As we grow more sensible, we refuso drug
accompanied the British troops to Eng cathartics and take Nature’s herb cure, (iar-
I
field
Tea.
________________
land. where he resided during the re
mainder o f ills life. Lawrence Bohurn 10 C E N T “C A S C A R E T S ”
was the first physician In the English
IF B ILIO U S OR C O S T IV E
Colonies o f America, arriving In 1010,
and holding the position o f physician For Sick Headache, S ou p 8tomach,
Sluggish Liver and Bowels— They
general o f the colony o f Vlrglnlu for
work while you sleep.
one year. Ills successor, John Pot, wus
the first permanent resident physician
Furred Tongue, Bad Taste, Indiges
In the colonies.
tion, Sallow Skin and Miserable Head
aches come from a torpid liver and
clogged bowels, which cause your
Facts About the Eye.
stomach to become filled with undi
There are uny number o f differ
gested food, which sours and ferments
nerves nnd muscles which must w<
like garbage in a swill barrel. Th at’s
In harmony, or vision will he defect!
the first step to untold misery— Indi
The great switchboard controlling
gestion. foul gases, bad breath, yellow
these motions must act Immediati
skin, mental fears, everything that Is
making the proper connections betwi
horrible and nauseating. A Tascarot
the brain which Is culling for n ni
tonight will give your constipated
her, nnd the many wires which hi
bowels a thorough cleansing and
straighten you out by morning. They
to act to connect all o f the nerves «
work while you sleep— a lOcent box
muscles which must focus the eye u|
from your druggist will keep you feel
the object to he seen. The eyebnll m
ing good for months.
he turned In the proper direction,
thnt the light strikes the pupil prope
Garfield Tea, by purifying the blood, erad
nnd tho pupil Itself must expand
icates rheumatism, dyopepHia and many
contract according to the dlstnnce
chronic ailmenta.
the object. In order to see It clearly.
Jollied the Judge.
"This is the seventh time you’ve
Growing Teak Timber.
been before me,” said the magistrate
Forestry experts hnve demonstrated sternly.
that teak timber can he grown on plan
“ That so?" replied tho culprit. “ It
tations thnt Is ns strong as that from do beat all how some folks hold on to
natural forests.
office, don’t It?” — Boston Transcript.
iiU
UK C O N T I N U E D . )