—The Adventures of Eve
Being an irresponsible record of some incidents in the career of a frivolous little lady—to say nothing of Adam, Aunt Matilda, Uncle Fred, and Tou-Tou.
The successful invasion of the London stage by American artistes induces Eve to abandon her habitual reserve and appear (for charity) in a revue especially written for her by Sir Peter Pan. In order to avoid shocking the susceptibilities of the “past smart set,” who are these war times very early-Victorian, she has depicted herself at the moment when her scarcity of costume was obliterated by the mass of floral tributes hurled by an enraptured audience
Eve as a Policeman
and
Some War-time Cooks.
Eve, Evelyn, and Evelinda rising to the occasion by forming a posse of police. With the aid of Uncle Fred they practise the necessary gymnastics to fit them for the force with such success that—
—they are able to astonish and convince a real copper as to their suitability for action
Servant Susie’s making shells for soldiers, so a splendid example is set to the ordinary citizeness by the titled rich, who are busy taking cookery lessons. It is, indeed, right that we stay-at-home men should in our trenchers share the dangers of our active brothers in their trenches
The Dramatic
Story of Eve’s
Career as a
Hospital Nurse.
A daily paper says, “You can always tell when a girl has a young man at the front by the regimental badge she wears.” Eve likes the idea, and being at the moment enraptured with a Highland laddie determines that the world shall know it
Those people who were wont to think the tight skirt unwomanly are hoping that the full skirt will bring back the modesty of the Victorian era. Eve hopes so, too; here she is in the new spotted veil cultivating a demure expression
Eve and her sisters, Evelyn and Evelinda, tired of enforced inactivity, decide to do their bit at the front—or near it, and are here seen making their preparations for departure
Here we have the wet and warm farewells on the parental doorstep. We have sternly pointed out to Eve that her costume is not the regulation one for the nursing sisterhood; but, as Eve says, all that matters is to look nice and be nice
When Eve, Evelyn, and Evelinda arrived at their destination they were promptly set to work scrubbing the floors and washing the dishes, while less ornamental but considerably more useful workers attended to the dear soldiers. Eve, Evelyn, and Evelinda, if disappointed, were full of patriotism, so they worked—and worked—
Till the authorities, in pure compassion, assisted our tired little friends back home—
Where, with the blissful consciousness of duty done, may still be found wrapped in dreamless slumber Eve, Evelyn, and Evelinda
Eve Stays on the
East Coast with
Uncle Fred—
Eve goes down to the east coast for a rest cure. The first night she heard a bang and woke with a start and a cry of “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!”
Uncle Fred, her kind and genial host, also awoke with a start and a cry of “—— ——” (censored). “It’s those —— Zeppelins,” he said
It was Zeppelins, and Eve and uncle came down three flights of stairs like shells from a gun, while, as for poisonous gas—well, you should have heard Uncle Fred!
—I repeat, you should have heard Uncle Fred when he landed with Eve on the top of him. It was the finest hymn of hate ever heard on the east coast
—And Enjoys her First
Experience of the Zeps.
Anyway, here are Eve and uncle entrenched under the dining-room table. Eve is saying, “Are your teeth chattering, dear?” which is annoying uncle, for, as Eve well knows, they are up in the glass on his dressing-table
Soon the Zeppelins passed away, and uncle, who had suffered severely down the stairs, made a slow but comfortable recovery
—And is now having the time of his life in London, where admiring crowds of both sexes take him for a wounded hero straight from the front. Uncle Fred is himself beginning to believe he has been there
Eve Buys
a Motor
Car.
Eve, deciding that pedestrianism in these days of lady-driven cars is too dangerous and exciting a pursuit, determines to get a runabout of her own. Regard her then endeavouring to fascinate one of the typical little nuts which in those days adorned a fashionable garage
The car being chosen and the preliminary instructions having been obtained, Eve, full of pride and rapture, bids farewell to her little friend and sets forth to astound and arouse the envy of her dearest friends in the park
Astound them she certainly did—not the less because of the regularity with which she mistakenly pressed down the accelerator instead of the brake. Here we see her during one of the forward leaps consequent on the error
No mechanism, any more than any man, was ever built to resist Eve’s unexpected little ways, with the result that she, although assured as to the astonishment of her friends, is less certain as to the envy she aroused. (In case of any misunderstanding, we may add that the picture is supposed to represent Eve trying to repair her car in the most crowded and fashionable spot in the park)
However, all troubles come eventually to an end, and Adam, poor dear, just back from the trenches, learns at last what real fear means. The fat rolling lines at the bottom of the picture are supposed to represent the dust which kindly Nature raised to hide the casualties in Eve’s wake, but in reality they were put in to hide Eve’s weakness in drawing car wheels
The shortage in postmen grows apace. Eve, as ever, steps into the breach, and you can imagine the unadulterated joy of one of her admirers who, unshorn and untidy, opens the door of his flat to receive from her a pink and scented missive
She signalises Italy’s splendid entry into the field of hostilities on the side of the Allies by adopting the famous Bersaglieri headgear
War economy proceeds apace, and Eve shows us that since brandy balls and “sich like” have taken the place of the tiny liqueur, society, straining after simplicity and innocence, has adopted a popular game reminiscent of our childhood. Adam, lucky man, drops the sweet, which the expectant fair catch in their tiny mouths