Fairground Park and Natural Bridge Road, which
was a long, pleasant, breezy ride, Dora reached into her bag and handed Margaret some
papers, a manuscript of some three or four pages, fairly but closely written. What it
seemed to be was a transcription of the supper conversation of the evening before, written
as a play. The dramatis personae were Father, Mother, E., D., M., and X. E. was Etheline,
the serving girl. X. was Mrs. Bell's French bulldog, Xenia. M. was evidently Margaret,
and so forth. Dora's handwriting was copybook--she could have earned her living in a law
office.
No scene was set. The dialogue simply commenced:FATHER Mrs. Bell, Dora is
giving Xenia her lamb chop .MOTHER Of course not .FATHER Of course not
what? MOTHER Of course she would not give Xenia her lamb chop . She would not do it,
Mr. Bell .FATHER She is doing it .MOTHER She is not doing it. Dora, are you giving the
dog your lamb chop? DORA No, Mama. Not exactly .FATHER What exactly are you doing,
Dora? DORA I am giving her my parsnip .
Margaret remembered this exchange. Reading it now made her laugh. When she
laughed, Dora grinned.
She turned to the next page:FATHER Etheline, why haven't you joined the union
yet? They were around here just the other day, weren't they? ETHELINE Who was around
here? FATHER The union organizers. She saw them. Did you join up,
girl? ETHELINE No, sir .FATHER Did you give them any money? ETHELINE No, sir, I
didn't .MOTHER To whom did Etheline give some money? Etheline, do you have any
money? ETHELINE No, ma'am. I ain't never got no money .FATHER I told
you .MOTHER How would she get money? I don't give her money .DORA Mama wouldn't
give Etheline any money if her life depended on it .
Just as Margaret was thinking that Dora was a remarkably observant girl, a man
passed between the two of them and got off the streetcar at Cass Avenue. Margaret saw
nothing except that he gave his nickel to the conductor, took off his bowler hat, smoothed
the brim, and then replaced it on his head, but when she looked at Dora, the girl flared her
nostrils and lifted her eyebrow, then straightened her shoulders as if they had been
knocked to one side by the swaying of the car. Her head described the exact arc that the
man's head had described when he put his hat on. Then the car jolted forward, and Dora
laughed.
After this, Margaret could not take her eyes off Dora. When, in the course of a
morning, she had occasion to mimic Elizabeth writing a note to Mr. Hart and
absentmindedly putting a dot of ink on her nose, or to mimic Etheline sweeping behind
the sofa as if she were stabbing an intruder to death, it was most uncanny, something like
the effect of going to an arcade where she might pay a penny and watch a short film.
And this they did also. Dora was ready to do anything. The first film she took
Margaret to was called Another Job for the Undertaker , and in it an ignorant fellow from
the countryside went to sleep in his hotel room with the gas lamp on but not lit. Within a
minute, he was carried out to a hearse and driven away, much mourned by his friends. It
was shocking, really, until Dora told her that the whole incident was staged. Another of
these films was about Kansas, and demonstrated what Missourians were always saying,
that Kansans had a distressing propensity for violence. In this picture, Mrs. Carrie Nation
entered a saloon with her disciples. They were all carrying axes, and they proceeded to
smash the place to smithereens. Mrs. Nation was the victor, although she got a dose of
beer in the face when she smashed the tap.
Mrs. Bell gave Elizabeth the wedding she must have wished for Dora--a breakfast
at the big house on Kingshighway, with the Danforths and all of the members of the
Ladies' Club in attendance, and the big staircase in the front hall strung with garlands of a
yellow flower that Margaret didn't know. Elizabeth sewed her own gown, with the help
of Mrs. Bell's
was a long, pleasant, breezy ride, Dora reached into her bag and handed Margaret some
papers, a manuscript of some three or four pages, fairly but closely written. What it
seemed to be was a transcription of the supper conversation of the evening before, written
as a play. The dramatis personae were Father, Mother, E., D., M., and X. E. was Etheline,
the serving girl. X. was Mrs. Bell's French bulldog, Xenia. M. was evidently Margaret,
and so forth. Dora's handwriting was copybook--she could have earned her living in a law
office.
No scene was set. The dialogue simply commenced:FATHER Mrs. Bell, Dora is
giving Xenia her lamb chop .MOTHER Of course not .FATHER Of course not
what? MOTHER Of course she would not give Xenia her lamb chop . She would not do it,
Mr. Bell .FATHER She is doing it .MOTHER She is not doing it. Dora, are you giving the
dog your lamb chop? DORA No, Mama. Not exactly .FATHER What exactly are you doing,
Dora? DORA I am giving her my parsnip .
Margaret remembered this exchange. Reading it now made her laugh. When she
laughed, Dora grinned.
She turned to the next page:FATHER Etheline, why haven't you joined the union
yet? They were around here just the other day, weren't they? ETHELINE Who was around
here? FATHER The union organizers. She saw them. Did you join up,
girl? ETHELINE No, sir .FATHER Did you give them any money? ETHELINE No, sir, I
didn't .MOTHER To whom did Etheline give some money? Etheline, do you have any
money? ETHELINE No, ma'am. I ain't never got no money .FATHER I told
you .MOTHER How would she get money? I don't give her money .DORA Mama wouldn't
give Etheline any money if her life depended on it .
Just as Margaret was thinking that Dora was a remarkably observant girl, a man
passed between the two of them and got off the streetcar at Cass Avenue. Margaret saw
nothing except that he gave his nickel to the conductor, took off his bowler hat, smoothed
the brim, and then replaced it on his head, but when she looked at Dora, the girl flared her
nostrils and lifted her eyebrow, then straightened her shoulders as if they had been
knocked to one side by the swaying of the car. Her head described the exact arc that the
man's head had described when he put his hat on. Then the car jolted forward, and Dora
laughed.
After this, Margaret could not take her eyes off Dora. When, in the course of a
morning, she had occasion to mimic Elizabeth writing a note to Mr. Hart and
absentmindedly putting a dot of ink on her nose, or to mimic Etheline sweeping behind
the sofa as if she were stabbing an intruder to death, it was most uncanny, something like
the effect of going to an arcade where she might pay a penny and watch a short film.
And this they did also. Dora was ready to do anything. The first film she took
Margaret to was called Another Job for the Undertaker , and in it an ignorant fellow from
the countryside went to sleep in his hotel room with the gas lamp on but not lit. Within a
minute, he was carried out to a hearse and driven away, much mourned by his friends. It
was shocking, really, until Dora told her that the whole incident was staged. Another of
these films was about Kansas, and demonstrated what Missourians were always saying,
that Kansans had a distressing propensity for violence. In this picture, Mrs. Carrie Nation
entered a saloon with her disciples. They were all carrying axes, and they proceeded to
smash the place to smithereens. Mrs. Nation was the victor, although she got a dose of
beer in the face when she smashed the tap.
Mrs. Bell gave Elizabeth the wedding she must have wished for Dora--a breakfast
at the big house on Kingshighway, with the Danforths and all of the members of the
Ladies' Club in attendance, and the big staircase in the front hall strung with garlands of a
yellow flower that Margaret didn't know. Elizabeth sewed her own gown, with the help
of Mrs. Bell's
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