Evening star., 1914-08-18
THE EVENING STORY.
HIS MISTAKE.
Copyright. 1914. by ". werner)

Five minutes after he asked Katharine
Kelly to marry him and she promptly ac'
cepted Marvin. Hayes was conscious thai
he had made a mistake. Not that she
wasn't worth marrying. She was. She
was as near perfect as girl of twenty
nine can be. That was the trouble. He
had an idea that in time either her per
lection would dominate him or he would
refuse to be dominated And either case
spelled trouble.
Katharine was tall and well proper
toned She had lovely. clever. blue eyes
Marvin admitted the loveliness. And he
somehow quailed at the cleverness. If it
hadn't been silvery moonlit night and
IL she hadn't carried that cluster of tube
roses, a flower that always affected him
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS seowled the morn
ing after! And threw two small withered
bits OF whiteness into the waste basket.
The morning after. in the prosaic trim
ness of his real estate office, there was
no moon.
The door of his Office was open. From
down the hall came the click of kath-
arine's typewriter. Katharine. too. had a
real estate office. And she had two ste
nographers whom she paid just as much
rs Marvin Hayes paid his. And her real
estate business was every bit as large
and as cleverly conducted as his own.
No one In town ever tried to pass sec
ond mortgage to Miss Kelly unless that
second mortgage was all 1t should be.
Her blue eyes sometimes were more
clever than lovely.
Life" said Marvin. gloomily, to him
self, will be just one blamed business
deal after another 1 suppose she'll want
to Join the businesses. And she has that
con1oundedly cool way of letting you
know that she thinks her Judgment Is as
good as yours
He stared resentfully at the waste bas-
ket. And a hint of red burned In his
clean-shaven. white cheeks. Not very
long back there had been a deal wherein
Miss Kelly's jurgment had been better
than his own. She had declined bunch
of securities that he had soon after dab
bled into his loss And she had laughed
teeth. You liked to see Katharine laugh
at musical comedy, But you didn t
admire those teeth when they were gayly
exhibited at your expense.
Then, at noon, he repented. Katharine
came in. The night before they had
planned lunch together to celebrate their
engagement. And now she found that
she would be busy till after o'clock.
She was very attractive. She wore a
white ratine gown. trim and neatly cut,
but with the air of having cost a great
deal Katharine had the clear skin that
glows above dead white. Her hair was
like scintillant bronze.
Marvin pleaded for her to break the
business appointment. Her blue eyes
grew wide. why. certainly not. dis
approvingly. II never do things like
that"
There was the dreaded touch of domi-
nance in the reproachful never!
Marvin acquiesced.
During the afternoon he broke an ap-
pointment-an Important one-to medl-
tate seriously on whether he and she
or break it off. Katharine was the kind
Of woman. even II she did have perfect
complexion. to marry man because
their business careers would be oettered
by a union. And he wasn't LOOKING 1or
that sort of married life.
As the days went on his desires played
seesaw. There were times-mostly even
- ings, when Katharine wore V-necked
gowns-when she was SO desirable that
he didn't care if she took his latchkey
away from him and doled him out car
fare. At least, he thought he didn't. But
there were other times-these were the
days when Katharine was all business
and curtly disincfined for small talk
when he realized that a year. a few
months Of their wills clashing and he
would hate her.
He wondered speculatively if she in
tended to board or get an apartment
the subject once or twice. But she didn't I
seem to understand, or didn't want TO
understand. He wondered II she would
keep her business distinct from his or
wish to merge them. If she came plainly
out and wished to unite them, he wouldn't t
refuse, yet he hoped that she would pre-
fer their being kept apart. He felt that
in the latter case he would be happier,
and the dreaded dominance or, what was
as bad as dominance, the friction that
-,yo,.lA Apa.,o II he ha liked would be avert
ed longer.
Sometimes he almost decided to tell
her plainly that marriage between them
would be a mistake. And one afternoon
had Just sold a stretch of land.
And you're going to be stung? proph-
esied Katharine. That fellow won t
pay and it'll cost you more than. the
Marvin coldly interrupted that the
loss would be his. And while they were
on the subject
Katharine was obtuse. She thought
that he meant the subject .,e 81 iano. -. -
that strip Of sand got hold of. Some
other time. Not this evening. though.
Let's 60 to a show and forget real estate" "
Then she got briskly out. buttoning her
economical with time. and never loitered
to do what she could be doing while on
her way. I've got to buy some clothes.
she called back IN excuse lOF Her ndStS
"Pesky task. Wish could press but
ton for what need
Marvin leaned back in his swivel chair
and thought hard. Katharine was a
charming woman and he loved her.
But he was now quite sure that that
love might be crushed out Of existence by
Katharines own excellences. And he
would tell her SO! Press a button for
clothes. indeed, Well, that indifference
might do for a business woman, but he
wanted something different.
And he spent one hour and fifty min
utes planning the words that would in
form Katharine Of his attitude toward
her. And 1 guess needn't be careful" "
: he grumbled. .'She isn't sensitive. Didn't
she lose $4,000 last week without batting
an eyelash?'
Then he remembered the show tickets
and sprang up. He remembered some
thing else. There was play on now-of
q woman who 'bossed' her husband
who was cleverer and stronger willed.
Afterward he would gently bring the
conversation to the play then to them
selves. Oh, that would be clever!
He got the tickets and then recalled
that he needed new scarfs. He cut into
q department store where a friend Of his
had charge OF the haberdashery and al
ways found good effects. The store was
crowded with women 1t made him i'll
tempered. At the moment he felt resent
full toward all women because of the
supsrbrains Of one. Doggone it all. why
match her soft round cheeks? He
squeezed past counter jammed by Gus
TONERS. His lips curled. Look at 'em!
And then he saw familiar profile, soft
checked, with bronze hair slipping over
one ear. Katharine was one of the JAM