k
had reported that Mrs. Tweed had actually put her out, and told her to
go to a region which is never mentioned in polite society except in
theological discussions.

"I know," Mrs. Tweed said, when the Red Cross President came to see
her, "what you are coming for, and I don't blame you--I sure have been
fierce, but you don't know what a good time I've had. Gee, it's great!
I've had one grand tear!--one blow-out! And now I am almost ready to
be good. Sit down, and I'll tell you about it; you have more give to
you than that old hatchet-face that came first; I wouldn't tell her a
thing!

"I am twenty-five years old, and I never before got a chance to do as
I liked. When I was a kid, I had to do as I was told. My mother
brought me up in the fear of the Lord and the fear of the neighbors. I
whistled once in church and was sent to bed every afternoon for a
week--I didn't care, though, I got in my whistle. I never wanted to do
anything bad, but I wanted to do as I liked--and I never got a chance.
Then I got married. William is a lot older than I am, and he
controlled me--always--made me economize, scrimp, and save. I really
did not want to blow money, but they never gave me a chance to be
sensible. Every one put me down for a 'nut.' My mother called me
'Trixie.' No girl can do well on a name like that. Teachers passed me
from hand to hand saying, 'Trixie is such a mischief!' I had a
reputation to sustain.

"Then mother and father married me off to Mr. Tweed because he was so
sensible, and I needed a firm hand, they said. I began everything in
life with a handicap. Name and appearance have always been against me.
No one can look sensible with a nose that turns straight up, and I
will have bright colors to wear--I was brought up on wincey, color of
mud, and all these London-smoke, battleship-gray colors make me sick.
I want reds and blues and greens, and I am gradually working into
them."

She held out a dainty foot as she spoke, exhibiting a bright-green
stocking striped in gold.

"But mind you, for all I am so frivolous, I am not a fool exactly. All
I ask is to have my fling, and I've had it now for three whole months.
When William was at home I never could sit up and read one minute, and
so the first night he was away I burned the light all night just to
feel wicked! It was great to be able to let it burn. I've gone to bed
early every night for a week to make up for it. What do you think of
that? It is just born in m