El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-01-24

Married Lies Troubles
Helen Realizes That Few Women Think of Their Illus
bands Fixed Expenses.
TTpRJTp
By MABEL HERBERT URNER

with impersOnal unconcern nv moot
, women The feminine mind is con-
| cerned only with the difficulties fbat
| directly affect herself or those she
Helen Realizes.
But now the failure of Ellison 3
Briggs meant to Warren the loss Of
$500. This was concrete example of
the hard times" affecting them that
Helen could understand. Had he slIf-
fered other losses Of which she knew
nothing? Warren rarely talked shop
He had taken some papers from his
Docket and was now going over them
broodingly, his face showing unmis-
table lines of worry.
Dear, has it been very bad year
Well it's not been a particularly
good one"
are hard? / could try to economic
more about the house and about my
con. the little you'd save wouldn't
cut any ice. It's the big fixed expenses
that count. Ny office costs me over
$500 month and it's as much more
Helen was far from an adept in
mental arithmetic, but after a few mo-
ments' silence she managed TO figure
out that $500 a month was about $40
Twenty dollars a day! Why Warren
that seems awful"
1T seems light when business is
Helen Wishes TO Help.
ooh. if there was only some way I
could help lOnSingly.
Now you just stick to your knitting
and let me do the worrying-this is
And you bought me that lavalliere
Christmas, and I got that dress last
week! Oh, there're so many things I
could DO without"
Well, you don't have to. An occa-
sional furbelOW or so don't matter
much. o woman can't understand that
it's the regular fixed expenses a mans
up against Steady grind 1 tell you
and in times like this it's no cinch."
FIXED eXpensesl" Helen kept turn
ing the phrase over in her mind. She
had never even thought of his office
expenses, and like so many women she
regarded their household billS-the
rent, maid, ice, milk and grOceries-as
matter Of course necessities, and not in
the light of expenditures.
This is the viewpoint of most women
VINO have been provided for all their
lives. They take the necessities of
the home for granted. 1t is only the
extras, the needless extrava gances and
IuXurleS, that they consider as real ex-
penditures.
In vague way Helen now realized
TINS. She thought of the times when
w arren mad spoke Of receiving an eS-
pecially good fee; always she had men
tally appropriated that money to the
buying of extras. Soemhow she had
never thought Of it as paying the rent.
But now the office rent, their apart
ment rent, and all the fixed expenses" /
doomed ominOusly before her With a
sudden rush Of tenderness she thought |
Of Warren's steady grind" of his al
ways having to meet these monthly
bills which she had taken as such a
matter of course
She Ionged to creep into his arms and
put something Of all this into words
But knowing his intolerance of any
ming verging on emotion, she contented
herself with bringing him an ash trav I
and moving the lamp nearer his ell !
bow.
As she passed back Of his chair she /
brushed his hair with a light kiss. so 1
lght that it was tickIish, and he /
scratched his head fmpatientIy.
His thick hair was easily rumD1ed
IND he went on reading, sereneIv IN
that he looked like a big
5chool boy with a tOusled head Smfi-
ng at him tenderly Helen lovingly