The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-04-11
COLLECTOR CUPID,
The Account That Was Sat.
isfactoriIy Settled.
0y EsrhER

~ e0JV&U II
Peggy Hall sat among her shattered
household Idols and wept.
The particular idol which she had
elected to moisten with bitter tears wal
suall desk Of mission wood. around
which had centered her happy house
hold interests. How she had kept her
accounts, calculating with infinite pains
her steadily reduced living expeusesl
And she had written to the little town
in New England letters which fairly
brimmed with the contentment she
had found in her life In the busting
city which would have terrified 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 smooth.
". but now
No. she would not say that she hated
Kit and Lucy, but she did think they
were playing a very small part Then
she dried her eyes, pulled out her bank
book and a sheet Of blank paper and
began to figure. At the end Of I've
minutes down went her head again,
and this time a sheet Of paper sprin.
kied all over with relentless figures re-
ceived the food Of tears
Perhaps at this time Kit and Lucy.
who worked in the suit department of
Keith & Blanks store, felt q bit IN
happy too. It was a rainy. depressing
day. and customers were few. The
doorwalker went downstairs to consult
With the head Of the advertising depart
ment, 20 Kit and Lucy stood shoulder
to shoulder In the big square window
overlooking the rain swept street.
IL never dreamed she'd take 1t 80
hard" remarked Kit. with slight asper-
ity in her voice.
"Why. she just acted al II we vert
cheating Dr. doing something dishon-
est" assented Lucy In aggrieved &C.
cents. I'm sure we haven't hurt the
furniture, and the company has had
more than rent on It They'll polish it
up and sell 1t for new"
VI don't think 1t 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 homework. l got
90 | just hated to think Of going home
and waiting on myself"
Mrs. Hopkins says we a have
old room back at the same figure.
She knew we'd get sick Of light house
keeping. She says the head bookkeep.
er at Ainsley's has the second story
back and he plays the piano splendid
~. Maybe we can get up some Friday
night dances"
"Well. anyhow. I'm glad we're Civ.
ing up the apartment. Peggy makes
lovely salad dressing and fudge, but l
can't make a bed decently. 30 house
keeping was a mistake so far as l am
concerned"
Talking in this strain. each imagined
that she was convincing herself. If not
her companion. that they had treated
Peggy in a perfectly fair way and
were altogether justified in their posi-.
dou. 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
monday lunch room in the days when
Peggy was working In a fashion syn.
dicate Office for $40 a week. A kindred
spirit OF inconsistencies had brought
them together, and when Peggy had
pushed her way to the point where she
could afford a tiny studio of her own
and command regular orders she had
6ed the Offices Of the fashion syndicate
and had asked the girls to start up q
small establishment with her. They
had selected an apartment with a north.
r exposure for Peggy's work. fur
ntshed it on the installment plan. and
for a time all went well.
Peggy. being most domestic in her
instincts. picked up the burden Of
household management and In time
the other two girls mol only depended
upon her for managing the little estab-
listAnent. but failed to do their share Of
the work. In her first enthusiasm
Peggy bore this meekly. but very soon
she found that the homework inter
fered with her work at 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 were disappointed in the house
keeping scheme. and they would be
only too glad to return to boarding.
where working girls belonged. II she
wanted to pay the rest OF the furni-
ture and keep the dat open for herself.
they would not begrudge 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