La Junta tribune., 1907-06-15
Collector E
Cupid q
BY ESTHER HARNDS
BY ESTHER HARNDIN
copyrIsl... lsee. b p. G. E..,n.

. elected to inpi>teu WIN Dttter tear was
Z a small desk OF mission wood. around
I which had centered ber happy house
I hold Interests How she had kept her
accounts. calculating with lnhnlte
! pains her steadily reduced iivinc "x-
penses. And she had written To the
\ little town in Sew England letters
I which fairly brimmed with the content
I ment she had found In her life In the
/ busting city which would have terri
/ ned most girls from her native village
| For she had been content-nay. more.
she had been happy. She had done
! her best. too. TO make things move
/ smoothly. but now
No, she would not say that she hated
| Kit and Lucy. but she did think they
were playing Z very small part Then
| she dried her eyes. pulled out her bank
! book and n sheet Of blank paper and
| began to figure At the end Of Eve
| minutes down went her head again.
and this time n sheet Of paper sprin-
/ kled all over with relentless figures re
| ceIyed the Hood of tears.
Perhaps at this time Kit and Lucy.
/ who work ed In the suit department Of
Keith 4 Blanks store. felt Z bit un-
| happy too. 1t was n rainy. depressing
| day, and customers were few. The
| noorwalker went downstairs to con
suit with the head Of the advertising
| department. 30 Kit and Lucy stood
shoulder TO shoulder IN the big square
window overlooking the rain swept
street
Il never dreamed she'd take Ii SO
hard" remarked Kit, with slight asp.r-
| ity In her voice.
why. she just acted as II We were
cheating or doing something dssbcn-
est" assented Lucy in aggrieved ac-
| cents I'm sure We haven't hurt the
furniture. and the company has had
more tnnn rent on 1t. They'll polish It
up and sell II for new"
Il don't think II was the furniture
exactly" said Kit Peggy Is just
crazy about keeping house, but for my
| part don't think girls In business have
any right TO do housework. got SO
just hated to think OF going home and
waiting on myself"
Mrs Hopkins says we can have our
old room back Mt the same figure. She
knew we'd get sick OF light housekeep-
ing She says the head bookkeeper at
Ainsley's has the second story back.
and lie plays the piano splendid!y,
Maybe We can get up some Friday
night dances"
We'll. anyhow. I'm glad we're giving
| up the apartment Peggy makes iovc-
( iy salad dressing and fudge. bat ! can't
make n bed dcccntly. so housekeeping
was n mistak. SO far as ! am con-
cerued."
Talking In this strain, each Imagined
that she was convincing herself, II not
| her companion, that they had treated
| Peggy Ia a perfectly fair way and
| were altogether justified In their posi-
,Ion Down in their hearts they did
not feel quite comfortable, and neither
could forget the pathetic figure they
had left in their small living room.
! Peggy. Kit and Lucy had met at a
noonday lunch room in the days when
Peggy was working In fashion syn
licate office for $40 week. \ kin
drei spirit OF homesickness had
/ brought them together. and when Peg
Ky had pushed her way to the point
D
\ of her own and command regular or
ders she had He'd the offices OF the fash
4 ion syndicate and h2d asked the girls
/ to start up small establishment with
/ her. They had selected an apartment
with northern exposure for Peggys
/ work. furnished 1t on the instalIment
/ plan, and for a time all went well.
| Peggy. being most domestic in her
instincts. picked up the burden Of
| household management, aud Ia time
the other two girls not only depended
/ upon her for mana giug the little estab
lishment. but failed to do their share OF
the work. In her first enthusiasm
! Peggy bore this mcekly. but very soon
she found that the housework inter
fered with her work nj the easel. She
ran behind on her orders, and then.
automatically and kindly. she took up
/ the question with her housemates Kit
and Lucy promptly announced that
they We're disappointed In the house,
keeping scheme, and they would be
only too glad TO return. to boarding.
where working girls belonged. If she
wanted to pay the rest on the furni-
ture and keep the fat open for herself
they would not bcgrudge what they
had spent.
And that was just what Peggy found
she could not do-meet the rent and
furniture payments. She sat up. wiped
her eyes and figured some more The
\ girls We're leaving saturday. the rent
was paid for two weeks longer. and
the collection day for the furniture
company was ten days distant. She
would enjoy II while she might rcr-
haps within the fortnight She shook
her head. II was no use to depend
upon girl cb,ims.
She felt somehow that the furniture
company would get the best of the
bargain. and vet she would be break