Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-09-12
Copyright, The Bohhs-Merr!!! Company.

IL hot uueSllOu VI ioNo, wv, wv
of dollars and cents. All life u.s. One
can get along without love, but not
without money. Money is the begin
ming and end of man. Love Is out OF
date, Anticipated. You are behind the
times, Tell me of your bank-account,
not your love-
Molly"
"It's true, Joe. Don't be hurt. |
love you more than ! do any one, but
that does not prevent my seeing that
love will not pay the plumbers bills
81 tell you, Molly, l can more than
pay half dozen plumbers bills
"You can't give me all the clothes
I want, yacht, new motor every
year, servants galore, house like
this, big and warm and beautiful.
When could you and | go to Europe?
In the steerage, perhaps, now, or prob
ably fifty years later, when we have
buried half of the children and mar
ried off the rest, and would be too old
and worn out, too set in our ways,
to appreciate anything or care about
anything except whether Mary's eld-
est had the mumps yet, or Johns
Youngest had cut all his teeth. You
and I would never be more than an
inch or two at the most from the
ragged edge of nothing. Oh, Joe,
don't you see? Can't you understand?
If | married you l should not become
old immediately. l should still be as
young as you. | should want pleasure
and comfort as much as | do now, as
much as you would
"And you would have them
mo. I wouldn't You could 60 out
with the boys, to the theaters and
ball games. You would have your
mans life just the same. l should
have to stay at home and mind the
babies. If we went anywhere to-
gether, you would probably have to
push one go-cart and another. IT
we went to the theater we should have
to take one of these collapsible apollo
gies for baby carriages. | would hold
the baby and you and the usher would
wrestle in the aisle with the old thing,
trying to shut 1t up and set it out OF
the way before the crowd became
mob and resorted to mob law to
obtain their seats
II can make money Other men
have"
Eyes, but when you had made it, we
should be so old and so used to the
habit of saving that We should never
be able to get out of it and have
good time with our money"
But we should be happy all those
years, while was making it, side by
side, dear, you and l. What if Han
cock does love you, the fact remains
that you love me, and as long as that
is so you have no right to sell your
self to him for SO much gold. Is
your soul so sordid that you think of
nothing but gold, gold, gold?"
"Yes, and stocks and bonds and
notes.
Algernon flung away from her, his
hands deep in his pockets. He strobe
to the fireplace and gazed at the
slowly-dying flames The logs had
fallen apart and the center was a
bed of glowing Goals. She stood and
watched him a moment, tender lit
tie smile on her lips, half-wistful,
half-maternal light in her eyes. Then
she walked over to the settee and
rested her arms along the high back
She regarded Algernon thoughtfully
and felt an altogether honest. wholly
unselfish desire to spoil the ideal of
herself which he had set up in his
mind and at whose feet he worshiped.
That the ideal was besmirched made
it no less an ideal. She did not real
ize the full how fascinated he was.
how much he forgave, overlooked and
still adored.
"Joe," she said slowly, 81 can't quite
make you out You don't seem shock
ed at-at what | have done this sum-
mer. been sham, as you say, and
good deal worse, swindler, all kinds
of ugly things. Then. you yourself
care so little for honor that you forge,
and yet seem to think it so awful be-
cause II live up to my lack Of
honor. For me to steal, that is moth
ing to you, but for me to marry man
whom l do not love, just for his
money. why, that is terrible to you
and you act as if you thought I was
descending to the lowest depths of
depravity | can't understand it. You
know what | am, what am willing to
do, yet you set up in your magma
llUH d SUI VI SdhSlIiSu l1lC allo Ih1AtA
it's the real thing. In your heart you
must know that it is not. 1t seems
so inconsistent to me, the whole
thing. That you should love me is
nothing. Why shouldn't you? You
are no better than am. You have
been a party to my swindle, willing
party. You were perfectly willing to
forge that check. We are simply two
thieves, and that one should fall in
love with the other is net funny, but
quite natural. But why give me a
code. of homer to live up TO-"
Some thieves have a code CT honor
to live up to. 1t differs from most
peoples, but it is theirs, and having
it, they are not thoroughly bad,
through and through"
Honor among thieves Is simply a
fairy story. Joe. Believe me. Be-
sides, why is it worse for me to marry
this man for his money than it is for
those rich girls to marry men just for
their titles?'
1T isn't" returned Algernon, not
looking up. Because I am a thief
makes you no less thief. Because
they barter themselves for worthless
name doesn't make you any more ex-