Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1907-11-19
When a
Woman Will
BY NAB ERWIN
Copyright. by Daily story Pub. Co.

When pretty. clever woman makes
up her mind TO marry a man there are
but two avenues OF escape for him: To
leave the country with no trace be.
hind. or commit suicide.
Miss Helen Leonard had made mp
her mind to marry, and had picked out
the man. She was just little bit
OF dainty. fluffy thing, In white
shirt waists and short walking skirts,
who took an hour every morning to-
comb her hair to look as II she never
gave II thought. 1t fell around her
low forehead i'm careless waves of
gold and brown, and she had o habit
or brushing il back from her face
at just the right moment to show of
a delicate wrist and hand
She hated the typewriter. the let
tors. tho briefs, and the endless
amount of work of the law firm but
she loved the senior member of the
Arm, and he did not have sense enough
10 sec IT,
lie stood six feet two, was wealthy.
dignihed. but loved the wrong WON
an in his salad days, and was afraid
OF the entire sex feminine. He would
never have consented TO woman
| stenosrapher In the Office. only he had
prejudice about seeing man at
| a typewriter.
Poor little Helen had racked her
brains for months trying to make him
see she was something more than
mere piece OF office machinery. She
had smiled her sweetest, pouted her
| daintiest, and spent more than she
could afford on her shirt waists. Her
only progress was that he grew to oc.
| casionally discuss the law cases where
women were concerned with her. and
smiled good naturedly at her girllsh
remarks. Helen knew he was fond
OF her. just as dog feels human sym
pathy She had got him very close
to the edge twice, but each time Mr..
Billings, the junior member OF the
firm, had interrupted them. SO pretty
Helen had about come to the conclu-
sion that brick wall would have to
fall on Mr.. Clayton TO wake him up,
when something happened
II was not much, only that Mr.. Bill
linss decided TO take two weeks so.
iourn at hunting lodge out of
town.
Mr.. Billings was gay and handsome
and debonnaire. with n stunning WON
an for wife. whom he called his
pal She hunted and fished with
him, spent his money, entertained his
friends. and kept him so bright
Bohemian that he always spoke OF
marriage as the ideal state" II he
We're tired. she was tired. II he work.
! ed hard, she cleaned house, IL he want
! ed TO go to the theater, so did she,
and If he liked a quiet evening at
home, 1t was the only thing that would
make her happy.
| To say that Mr. Billings ever even
so much as tiirted with another won.
an, would be To tell something that
! was untrue He was too seliishly hap.
by at home. Pretty Helen answered
the telephone and wrote his letters.
and knew this; but Mr.. Clayton never
| concerned himself with the home re.
lations OF his partner.
A week passed, and Helen made no
progress. she remarked once that she
was terribly tired OF living alone, and
| nice young lady who could be her
room mate. Mr.. Clayton replied he
! knew few young ladies', but would
| look around Helen said at the
| luncheon hour as she pinned her hat
and showed all the pretty lines of her
| little figure, that It was terrible to eat
alone, and Mir. Clayton suggested that
she join the Young Woman's Christian
association. She pouted as she went
out and stamped her foot when she
| got to- the elevator
When she returned she came in all
| enthusiasm, and as he looked up with
| smile from his private Office, she ex.
! claimed that she was just dying to
hear Bernhardt. and inquired II he
had seen her yet. He mildly asked
| why she did not tip IL on to her
beau, and Helen dropped her big gray
| eyes and modestly said she did not
have beau. and made an upward
| sweep with her eyes as she finished
| Mr.. Clayton thought 1t would not take
! her long to get one, with those eyes
but what he said was That's too
| bad"
Helen could have cried with vexa-
ton She would not have felt so
! though, IL she had known that Mr.
| Clayton moved his chair so he could
! look into the outer office and see the
soft profile OF the girl as she wrote
! her letters; nor II she could have
/ known he sighed and wondered why
a nice little girl like that could not
/ love him
After he had gone Helen banged
the cover OF the typewriter down over
the machine, kicked the chair under
the table with her high heeed boot.
threw one paper after another on the
floor and stamped on them. then burst
into tears and sat down and put her
head on the table, and had a good
cry.
/ ooh dear" she said 10 herself -
/ know III have to pound that horrid
| old typewriter all my life. or marry
some man 7 don't want and who
! never, never will earn enough for me
to even have white shirt waists"
Just then the telephone rang and
some one inquired II Helen would care
10 go TO the theator that night. Helen
snapped him up with Il can't have
20 work" The voice replied that NJ