Belles on their Toes

taking a bath by motion study," Martha said.
    "And Bill?"
    "Buttons," said Ernestine.
    Mother started out of the room. She was pale and her shoulders were sagging. Her red hair had begun to show traces of gray in the last few months. She looked defeated, and almost old.
    "The talk went over swell, though," Martha said, running after her. "It was just that one little story."
    "I never heard so much applause after a speech at assembly," Ernestine said, running too.
    "You didn't?" asked Mother.
    "You brought down the house," Martha told her. "We sure were proud of you."
    "I'm glad you were, dear," Mother said, squaring her shoulders. "To tell you the truth, I thought it went over pretty well, too."
    "You had them eating out of your hand," Ernestine nodded.
    "I tell you what," Mother said, "I promise I won't accept any more invitations from the Montclair schools."
    "Oh, we like you to speak," Ernestine said. "It impresses the teachers, and the kids, too."
    "But no more stories about the family, is that it?" Mother smiled. "All right, I promise that, then."
    "Just try to be careful," Martha begged, "not to say anything we wouldn't say."

14
MOTHER'S NEW NOSE

    Mother left the house in a taxi one night that spring to speak at an engineering meeting in Jersey City. An hour and a half later, the chairman of the meeting telephoned us to see if Mother had been detained. The audience had been waiting twenty minutes, and she still hadn't appeared.
    Our house was only eleven or twelve miles from Jersey City, and Mother as usual had allowed more than ample time for the trip. It wasn't like her to be late for anything. Perhaps the cab had broken down.
    About ten o'clock that night, the telephone rang again. Ernestine answered it, and heard Mother's voice.
    "For goodness' sake, where are you?" Ern asked her. ''We’ve been worried to death. They called from Jersey City."
    "I just telephoned them," Mother said, and her voice sounded muffled. "It's all right. There's nothing to worry about."
    "Where are you now?"
    "I had a little trouble, dear," Mother said. "And what do you think? I'm going to have a new nose."
    The strain, Ernestine thought, has been too great for her. Something like this was bound to come. No woman could possibly raise a family of eleven, run a business, and make two or three speeches a week, without an eventual mental crack-up.
    "Of course you are," Ernestine humored her. "And you've worked hard for it, too. You certainly deserve it."
    "The new nose is going to look much better," Mother said.
    "Oh, much," Ernestine agreed. "I'm sure of that."
    "You know how thin the old one was—I never did like it. My father used to tease me about it, because it was just like his. His was thin, too, remember?”
    "I'll see that no one teases you about it any more," Ern promised. "What you need is a nice, long rest."
    "That's what the doctor says," Mother agreed brightly.
    "Now you just tell me where you are, and I'll come and get you."
    "I thought I told you. I'm right here in Montclair. They brought me to Mountainside Hospital."
    Ernestine was sure then that the worst had happened. "You stay right there," she choked. "They give you the nicest noses there of any place I know."
    "I'm looking through a magazine now to find just the kind I want."
    "That makes sense," said Ernestine.
    "They won't let anyone see me until tomorrow. I had a terrible time even getting them to let me use the phone. I'll have my new nose by tomorrow."
    Then Mother explained from the beginning. Another car had run into the taxi and turned it over. Something had happened to her nose and right knee. A bone surgeon was coming out from New York in a few hours to set the nose. They had injected something into her arm at the hospital that had stopped the pain and made her feel wonderful.
    "There isn't much left of the old nose, I'm afraid," Mother added, "so it's just as easy to give me a handsome one as the one I used to have. Goodness knows nobody would deliberately choose a nose like my old one."
    Mother hung up, and Ernestine explained about the accident to those of us who were still awake. Then she called the hospital desk for additional details. Mrs. Gilbreth's condition was satisfactory, but painful. Visiting hours started at ten o'clock in the morning. Children under twelve weren't allowed to visit.
    All of us stayed out of school the next morning. We were sure that, regardless of age rules, Mother would want to see everybody. In fact we were convinced