Putnam patriot., 1910-11-04

1PTe sue ID tuan yVo
 Now 1 know you're stark. staring. gibbering'-
 Not bit of it. I'm inspired that's all I've solved your problem: you only can't believe it"
 How could IT What the devil are you getting at. any yhowf
 This pet scheme of mine. Lend me your ears Have you ever lived in a one horse country town. place with one unspeakable hotel and about twen- ty stores and i've churchesT
 "Ne'
 q have was born in one of 'em. Have you any idea what becomes of the young people of such towns"
 Not a glimmering."
 Then I'll enlighten your egregious density The boys-those who've got the stuff in. them-strike out for the cities to make their everlasting for tunes. Generally they do II too."
 'sThe same as your
 'sThe same as me-" assented Kellogg. unperturbed. But the yaps. the Jas pers. stay there and clerk in fathers store. After office hours they put on their very best mail order clothes and parade up and down Main street talk ing loud and flirting obviously with the girls The girls haven't much else to do. They don't find 1t so easy to get away. A few of 'em escape to boarding schools and colleges. where they meet and marry young men from the cities. but the majoJity of them have to stay at home and help mother. That's tradition. If there are two children or more the boys get the chance every time. The girls stay home to comfort the old folks in their old age Why. by the time they're old enough to think of marrying-and they excitement they find ayailable-you won't find a small country town be- tween here and the Mississippi where there aren't about four girls to every boy''
 "It's horrible thought"
 You'd think so if you knew what the boys were like There isn't one in ten that a girl with any sense or self respect could force herself to marry if she ever saw anything better. Do you begin to see my drift? ?''
 "I do not. But go on drifting"
 "No? Why. the demand for eligible males js 300 per cent in excess of the supply. Don't you know-no, you don't: got to that frst-that there are twenty times as many old maids in small country towns as there are in the cities? It's fact, and the reason for it is because when they were young they couldn't lower themselves to accept the pick of the local matri- monial market. Now. do you seeg
 You're as interesting as a magazine serial Please continue in your next I pant with anticipation"
 You're an ass. Now take a young caap from a city. with good appear ance. more or less a gentleman. who doesn't talk like a yap or walk like a yap or dress like a yap or act like e yap. and throw him into such town long enough for the girls to get ac- quainted with him. He simply can't lose. can't fail to cop out the best look ing girl with the biggest bank roll in town. I tell you. there's nothing to itr
 ITS wonderful to listen to you, liar. IT"
 I'm talking horse sense. my son. Now consider yourself-down on your luck. don't know how to earn decent living. refusing to accept anything from your friends. ready tyou say 10 do almost anything to get some mon ey. And think of the country heir esses with plenty of money for two. pining away in-in innocuous desuetude-hundred of them, me, straight. good girls, girls you could easily fall in love with. signing their lives away for the lack of the likes or you Now. why not take one. Nat-when you come to consider 1t. it's your duty-marry her and her bank roll. make her happy. make yourself happy and live a contented life on the sunny side of Easy street for the rest of your natural born days! Can't you see It nowr
 "Yes." Duncan admitted. half per suaded of the plausibiiity of the scheme. T see, and l admire i'm mensely the intellect that conceived the notion. Harry. but l can't neip thinking there must be . catch in 1t somewhere"
 Not if you follow my instructions
 Duncan drew a deep breath. sat back ard looked Kellogg over very critically.
 If didn't know you 90 we'll. liar ry." said Duncan slowly. "fd be cer- tain you were mad I'm not at all sure that I'm sane. It's ravfng idlocy, and it's a pretty darned rank thing to do to start deliberately out to mar " woman for her money But se been through little hell of my own ID my time. and it's not ailuring to con template a return to it. There's noth- ing mad enough nor bad enough to stop me. whatve l got so do?
 Kellogg beamed his triumph -You'h try it on. thenY
 -1'n try anything ea ifs . ece- oempfibse. Bav lived piece of oak1eo. but eccd may come of f: yos eas1 tall whaf-ve got se dor
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