The Washington herald., 1914-03-15


week. which Man. Who Wanted-to-
Marry earned. over rent. light. heat. gro
ceries. clothes, and even sickness. should
Il come to them. and The Man was equal
ly arrogant concerning their ability to
make q home on his very modest salary.
You see. Jean Is such practical sort.
he told the boys in the Office In which
he was n clerk. adding something about
her own business life having made her a
perfect brick" when It came TO the mat
ter OF appreciation and understanding.
and management.
And the perfect brick" answered the
questions OF her girl friends in much the
same manner.
II know we shall be poor" she told
them. but then I was never used to a
fortune. and IL will not he for
long. for Dick Is very sure Of raise.
Perhaps he'll get IL for q wedding pres
ent. But, even IL he don't We love each
other. and that will make up for many
things we can't have right in the begin
ming
And so. with her pretty young head
chucked full OF romance. The-Girl-Who-
was-in-Iove went happily to the very
quiet little wedding at which there were
few guests and fewer presents.
Their BeginninR.
- There are some young folk who are
fortunate enough TO have relatives who
are willing TO give them a little financial
shove as they begin their married life.
hut II was not SO with The-Man-Who-
wanted-to-M Marry and The-Girl-Who-
was-in-Love. The Girl had no near
kin, and the parents OF The Man were
as poor as church mice. besides
which ,they had spent months trying to
a. fhair into tho sensible
plan OF building his nest before he in
vited a mate to share II. and would not
have helped him il they could.
So. The -Msn-WhO Wanted TO Marry
held his head high. defied those who
knew what they were talking about.
called them ''old fogies who had forgot
ten what IL meant to love, and went
his fColhardy way.
The young couple hunted and hunted
for a fiat. and eventually rented three
room apartment-not much bigger than a
they made their dining
room serve also as a living-room: had a
wee kitchen. and a sort of hole in the
side of the wall which they called a bed
room And into this home" they moved
their trunks and the Tickety. tawdry fur
niture which they bought on the INSTALL
ment plan.
When they were all rettIed The Girl
felt very much as though she had been
drawn through a key ring. so very tired
and worried was she. for the few we'd
ding presents were not sufficiently sub
stantial 10 MI many actual needs. and
the debt incurred for furniture. silver
sils. and all the other things necessary
TO make the hird-Cage even habitable. lay
across their honeymoon sky like great
storm cloud which was likely to annihi-
late them at any moment.
But The-Girl- Who Was-in-I.oVe was q
perfect brick. even AS The Man had
told his chums. and she made up her
mind that she would lie in the bed she
had made no matter how hard il was.
and just for the sake OF giving her little
world to understand that things were all
party and invited i'm "the bunch for
'house-warming." after which hospitality
died a very miserable death. while The
Was-in-LOve and The-aian-
Who Wanted-to Marry lived on tea and
bread for months. with an occasional
stew made from soupbOne meat which
had already supplied them in that Capac-
ity for a couple q dinners already.
became Grubbrrs-
Because they were proud they would
have the money to entertain in return.
and IL was hut a month after their
marriage that they enlisted in the vast
army OF miserly grubbers. sCrimping and
pinchinE at every possible turn to meet
the payments on their furniture which
was but shabby little heap long before
the last payment was made.
At the end of the first year The Man
Who Wanted Marry had not had the
Girl Who Was-in-Love contemplated with
a feeling akin to horror. the impending
visit of the stork. The Girls strength
was at low ehh and she dragged
around in such spiritlegs fashion that Tho
Man said he would he ''darned glad when
il was all over" adding that il was bad
enough to hC head over heels in debt with
no chance of getting out. but sick wife
was the last straw. whereupon the rose
tinted dreams of love which had con-
troiled the pre-nuptial thoughts OF The
Girl faded and were lost forever.
And when the baby came the Young
mother went down into the very Jaws of
death. and the little soul for which she
had given her half-nourished strength
and almost her life-to bring into the
world. went back to his Maker after just
Dne days existence in the tiny little fat.
and, as The-Girl- Who Was-in-Love lay
through weeks of neglect she prayed
only that she might follow her baby into
a less troubled life.
But. somehow or other. she dragged
back TO something like her former self
and lived through another year of cheap.
tasteless food, i'm the depressing environ
ment Of the cage she called home. Her
wedding clothes were so shabby that The
Man was ashamed TO be seen out with
her, refusing even so much as to walk
IN the park on Sundays. Long since their
few friends had dropped them. The Mans
raise in salary did not come. and The Girl
spent her days in a round Of drudGery
which was all the more sordid because
Wanted-to-Be Married had
become a veritable battery Of irritable
nerves.
Came Too Late.
Before the third year ended The man
got a raise. The girl received the news
with indifference. After little his salary
was again enlarged. with a higher posi-
ion which promised a worthwhile fu-
lure. When he carried the news home
again The Man said he wished il had
'ome when they needed it," and The Girl
received the comment with an under
smile.
All this was five years ago.
The Man Who Wanted-to Be Married
when he was making but $50 month is
low getting $500.
The-GirI- -who-Was-In-I.ove isn't much
in his good fortune. for she is
thousands of miles away. in another
own earning a comfortable living for
ierself her splendid vision of love having
zone so far from her in the poverty