The Washington times., 1911-05-01

, All of them nad ScnemeS Tor making
fortunes II only they had a few thou
sand dollars capital. Now and then
you'd find group of them In one cor
ner discussing rumor that so and so
had lost his job. They spoke of this
as they would of death, But none
of those subjects interested me, especi-
ally in view of what was looking for
ward to in my own family.
In the afternoon of the early fall
the women sent over jellies and such
stuff to Ruth and dropped in upon her
with whispered advice. She used to re-
peat II to me at night with a gay. little
laugh and her eyes sparkling like dia-
monds. She was happier now than
had ever seen her, and so was l myself.
When / went In town in the morning
felt very important.
thought / had touched the climax
OF life yhen I married Ruth. but when
the boy came he lifted me a notch
higher. And with him he brought me a
new wife in Ruth without taking one
whit from the old. Sweetheart, wife.
and mother now, she revealed to me
new depths of womanhood.
She taught me, too, what real courage
is. l was the coward when the time
came. / had taken a day off, but the
doctor ordered ME out of the house. ]
went down to the club and l felt more
one of the neighborhood that day than
ever did before or afterward. 1t was
Saturday, and during the afternoon
| number of the men came in and just
silently gripped my hand.
The women, too. seemed to take
new interest in us. When Ruth was
able to sit up they brought in num-
berless little things. But you'd have
thought II was their house and not
mine the way they treated NE; when
didn't belong there, and ought to tip
toe out.
Wed been saving up during the sum-
mer for this emergency, so that We had
enough to pay for the doctor and the
nurse. but that was only the beginning
of the new expenses. In the first place.
we had to have servant now. l Sc
cured a girl who knew now to cook
after a fashion for 81 a week. But that
wasn't by any means what she cost
US. In spite of Ruth's supervision the
girl wasted as much as she used. so that
our provision bill was nearly doubled
II we hadn't succeeded In paying for the
furniture before this. l don't know what
We would have done. AS II was found
my salary pretty well strained. ! hadn
any idea that so small thlnR as a
baby could cost so much. Ruth had
made most his things, but ] knew that
some of his shirts cost as much as mine.
When the boy was older Ruth IN
sisted upon getting along without a
girl again. I didn't approve of this:
but l saw that II would make her hap
pier to try anyway. How in the world
she managed to do II ! don't know. put
she did This gave her an excuse Tor
not going out-though II was an excuse
that made me half ashamed OF myself
and so we saved in another way. Even
with this we just made both ends meet
and that was all.
The boy grew like a weed and before
7 knew II he was five years OLD; IntiI
he began TO walk and tax oiqh dn', InLns
CT him as a possible man. He olon |
seem like anything in particular. re
was lust soft and round and warm. But
when h" began to wear knickerpockerss
he set me TO thinking hard. He WASH I
going to remain always baby; ne was
going tc grow into a hoy and then a
Young man. and before / knew II ne
| would be facing the very same proo.
lem that now confronted me- Ana ina
problem vas Row. to give him a iair
ed him to do something better than
had done. When ! stopped 10 think
of II had accomplished mighty llttle:
7 had lived and that was about all ina
I mad lived happily was due TO ,ns hutm;
But II I was finding difficulty in keepinSS
even with tho game now what was !
going to do when the voungster wouId
prove a decidedly more serious item OF
EXPENSE
talked this over with Ruth and we
10th decided that somehow, in some
nav NE must save some money every
wear We started in by reducing our
household expenses still further. But II
seemed as though fate we're aGainst us,
for prices rose Just enough TO aosorr
ali our little economies. Flour went Ut
and sugar went UP. and. though We had
done awav with meat almost whoIiE
now. vegeta Dles went up. So. too, dio
coal, Not only that. but we had long
since found II impossible to keep TO our
selves as we had that first year: Little
nv little we had been drawn into inc
social life Of the neighborhood. Not
month went by but what there was
dinner or two or whist party or
dance, Personally didn't care about
such things, but as Ruth had become
matron. and in consequence had beer
thrown more in contact with the wo,
men. she had lost Eer shyness anc
grown more sociable. She often sus.
gcsted declining an invitation, but We
couldn't decline one without declnine
ali. saw clearly enough that l hao
NO right to do this. She did more worn
than I and did not have the dalII
change. To have made a social exile o.
her would have been TO make her little
Letter than a slave. But II cost money
It cost a lot OF moEey. We had 10 nc
orr mart in return, and, though Rutr
ACCOMPLISHED this by careful buying anc
ali sorts nf clever devices. the item be-
came a big one in the years expenses
Continuation Of This story VIII d