Redemptorist High School - Almarre Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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r . 5 in W omance an arnmg Cotton Some people can be very prosaic about absolutely unprosaic things Of this type was Mrs Mowbray who always insisted on association romance and darnlng cotton It was to this association fatally impressed on her con scientlous and plastic young mind that Marjorie Mowbray attrlbuted the wretchedness of an entire afternoon which might otherwise have been the day of days Marjorie remembered well the process that had been employed in sowing the seeds of belief in the indissolubllity of the bonds which united romance and darmng cotton How often she had heard her mother say Now Marjorie if you insist on going about with holes in your stockings vou know that no man will ever look at you That is one of the first things a prospective husband notices whether or not this intended wife is neat or slovenly in her habits You have a much better chance of attracting young men if your stockings were patched so much that there wasnt any stocking left than rf they were full of holes But mother had been her xnvariable reply stockings take so long to darn and when they start to go they go any way You cant stop them Well you wont take my advice now but mark my words youll be sorry some day that you didnt And the raven never croaked more truly In the meantime Marjorie grew up Growing up took up a great deal of time because it meant as well growing out of certam childish ideas and prejudices However poor Marjorie did not outgrow the old belief in the mysterious connection between romance and darnmg cotton And in this failure to complete her outgrowmg process lay Marjorie s temporary undoing Maryorle had been at the Missouri State University two years when she met Bob Carew handsome clean and lovable Their liking for each other had been mutual and they were on the hugh road to the happy intimacy deeper than mere friendship when the incident occurred which nearly tumbled ruin in thelr path It was May and the air vibrant with the chatter of a legion of birds and heavy with the odor of springtime s lush earth stole all sense in a maze of rapture Marjories singing heart slipped through her hummlng lips IH to the high quiet of her room where the essence of out doors entered through the wide flung window Of a sudden her humming ceased Frantically she began to paw through the stockings in her open bureau drawer Pair after pair she unrolled slipped onto her arms for inspection and discarded The pile on her bed grew that in the drawer diminished Finally there remained but a smgle pair Almost prayerfully Marjorie slipped her hand into one of the pair Here tenseness left her I 1 1 - 1 H . . . . . - . . . 1 1 1 J . 1 . . , s u 11 - ' as - 1 s 1 1 11 , . . an 1 ' 9 1 1 1 1 - 1 u , . - 1 . . . . . , . 1 s - , - 1 1 1 . . . , . 1 . . , . . . . . . 1 1 1 - , . - 1 as - 1 n A life-saver to a drowning man! she breathed. I had almost forgotten about this pair. She was ready when Bob came to call for her, shedding a radiance about her which those who know themselves to be loved can claim as peculiarly Forty-two

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:Er 'L ' ' - ' vig. . I f sf? J. there sounded a sharp metallic tmkle at Marjorie s very heels Instrnctlvely she jerked her head about What she saw sent her heart downward with sickness She had dropped a hairpin yes but there where her slipper stopped ,Q W 4 K BX 'ng i i ' I their own. They sauntered .slowly in the directino of the lake. Suddenly and her stocking began to fulfill its office was a small, round aperture a hole in her stocking. Did you lose something? Bob said, solicitously. No, no, she said hastily, only a hairpin. In her heart there rose an agonized cry, Oh, he'll see it, he'll see it! They walked the remaining distance to the lake almost in silence. Inwardly, Marjorie seethed with misery. What if he should see? Why did this have to hapfpen today of all days? Why hadn't she darned that hole when she discovered it several weeks before? Why, and again, why? On the lake, they rowed for a wretchedly strained half hour, for lVlarjorie's mood soon communicated itself to Bob. Then, determinedly, Bob paddled the canoe to a tiny, tree-embowered cave. Now, Marjorie, what's wrong? Marjorie was plainly startled. Wrong? Why, nothing, Bob. What makes you ask? What makes me ask? Don't you know? Why, no. You mean to say you have been moody all this time for no reason at all? A confused red spread over lVlarjorie's face. Oh--I-have I been moody? I didn't know-, she finished lamely. Marjorie, his voice had softened, why, have I hurt you? lVlarjorie's heart jumped .with a strange emotion. No, oh, no, Bob, you have always been kind. Then what is the matter? Should she tell him? She had the perilous sensation of walking a tight rope. With an inward defiant challenge to herself, she made her decision. You know when I dropped that hairpin? Bob nodded. When I looked around, I saw-well, I saw this, and she turned her foot so that he might see the awful cause of her black despair. Bob was plainly bewildered. And, she hurried on, her cheeks a fiery red, mother always said -she used to say-well, she said, 'girls with holes in their stockings,' she swallowed painfully, that is, untidy girls - But Bob was laughing with hilarious abandonment. Oh, he choked, I know the rest-mother used to say the same thing to my sisters. Then he sobered suddenly. You funny little girl, he said, but his tone said, You dear, sweet little girl. I am sorry you have worried yourself like this, but I am glad it happened, for you have told me something I wanted to know. Told you something? That you cared. NELLIE KEARNEY, '2 7. Forty-three