The Washington times., 1911-04-30
THE TIMES DAILY SERIAL STORY
ONE WAY OUT
BY WILLIAM CARLETON
Copyrighted 1911, by Small, Maynard Company.

| d
a week for me to live. / wasn't ex,
travagant and 1 wasn't dissipated, but
every raise found a new demand. 1t
seemed to work automatically.
the wearing of better clothes, room
ing at better houses, eating at better
restaurants, smoking better tobacco
and more frequent amusements. Even
If a man had been forehanded and OF
saving nature he couldn't have done
much without sacrificing the only
friends most of us had-his office as
sociates. For instance-to save IS a
to drop back into the Sl5-a-week crowd.
and I'd have been as much out of place
there as a boy dropped into a lower
grade at school. / remember that when
was finally advanced another S. l
half-heartedly resolved to put that
amount in the bank weekly. But at
this point the crowd all Joined a small
country club and had either to follow
or drop out of their lives.
OF course, in looking back I can see
where I might have done differently,
but I wasn't looking back then-nor
very far ahead, either. II 1t would
have prevented my joining the country
club I'm glad l didn't.
1t was out there that I met the girl
who became my wife. My best reason
for remaining anonymous is the oppor-
tunity 1t will give me to tell about Ruth.
| / was twenty-siX when / met Ruth
the club one Saturday afternoon to
| watch some tennis. 1t happened that L
had worked into the finals of the
tournament, but that day I wasn't play
ing very well. l was beaten in the first
! set, 6-2
What was worse l didn't care a hang
II l was. I had found myself feeling
like this about lot OF things during
| those last few months. Then as / made
ready to serve the second set / hap
pened TO see in the front row of the
crowd to the right of the court a slight
girl with blue eyes.
She was leaning forward looking at
me with her mouth tense, and her fists
tight closed. Somehow l had an idea
that she wanted me to win. don't
know why, because / was sure I d never
seen her before; but thought that per-
haps she had bet pair OF gloves or
box of candy on me.
II she had made up my mind that
she'd get them. l started In and they
said, afterward, / never played better
tennis in my life. At any rate, l beat
After the game found some one to
introduce me to her, and from that mo-
ment on there was nothing else OF SO
great consequence in my life.
l learned all about her In the course
of the next few weeks. Her family. too,
was distinctly middle-class. in the sense
that none Of them had ever done any
thing to distinguish themselves either
for good or bad.
Her parents lived on a small New
Hampshire farm and she had just been
graduated from the village academy ana
had come to town to visit her aunt.
| The latter was a tall, lean woman
who after the death of her husband had
been forced to keep dodgers to exc out
a living.
Ruth was such a woman as my moth,
er would have taken to; clear and
laughing on the surface, but with great
depths hidden among the golden shall
lows. Her experience had all been
among the meadows and mountains. so
that she was simple and direct and
fearless in her thoughts and acts.
| | began to do some figuring when L
was alone. but there wasn't much sat
isfaction in it. had the clothes in my
room, a good collection of pipes and SO
of NV last weeks salary.
| a man couldn't get married on that
even 10 a girl like Ruth who wouldn't
want much. I cut down here and there,
but I naturally wanted to appear wen
into new ties and shoes. IN this way
fretted along for a few months until l
screwed my courage up to ask for an
other raise.
Those were prosperous days for the
United Wooden, and every one from the
president to the office boy was in gooG
humor I went to Morse, head OF the
department. and told him trankiy that l
wished to get married and needed more
money. That wasn't business
reason for an increase, but those of us
who had worked there some years had
come to feel like one Of the family, and
It wasn't unusual for the company to
raise a man at such a time. He said
he'd see what he could do about it, and
when I opened my paw envelope the
next week found an extra five In II; !,
| | went direct from the office to Ruth
and asked her to marry me. She dldn
hang her head nor stammer, but she
looked me straight in the eyes mo-
ment longer than usual and answered:
: Then let's go out this afternoon and
see about getting a house." I said.
: l don't think a Carleton ever board
ed when first married. To me 1t
, wouldn't have seemed like getting mar
I knew a suburb where some OF the
men I had met at the country club,
lived ard we went out there. 1t was
: beautiful June day, and everything
looked clean and fresh. We found a
little house of eight rooms that we
: knew we wanted as soon as we saw 1t.
} It was one of a group of ten or fifteen
} that were all very much alike.
There was a piazza on the front and
: little bit of lawn that looked as
} though 1t had been squeezed In after
ward. In the rear there was another
: strip of land where we thought We
, might raise some garden stuff If We put
/ il in boxes The house itself had d
front hall out of which stairs led to the
next floor.
To the right there was a large room
separated by folding doors, with anoth-
er good-sized room next to 1t which
would naturally be used as a dining
: room In the rear of this was a slide
: through which to pass the food. Up
| stairs there were four big rooms
! stretching the whole width of the
[ house Above these there was a maid s
room.
The whole house was prettily finish
, Cd in dO%nSt3
there were fireplaces which took my
t eye, although they weren't bigger than
coai hods 1t was heated by a furnace
were stained glass panels either side
{ of the front door.
Continuation of This Story VIII Be
Found in TOmOrrow's Issue