, 1916-03-23

dear. TN 50 glad you're
backr'
Her words were sincere. and her out
ward ann was that Of a loving
wife. glad TO welcome back her hus.
band after an unavoidable separation.
To the latter. happy In the reunion
with his wife and child. there was
nothing strange IN the greetings.
But a close observer might have
noted that the of May strfck-i
land at this time was strained and un-
natural, almost hysterical. She was
keyed to too high a point Her mo
tons were strained and terked. as
though her limbs moved in response to
nerves that were stretched taut. The
face she showed to Robert was aglow
with welcome, but when he turned
aside for a ome to speak with
Doris the eyes o On a staring, strain
ed expression In which one might read
horror, almost.
Was 1t the loss of the purse that per.
turbed her SO? Whatever It was, while
her husbands attention was distracted
by the child, she made a great and
successful effort to calm herself.
Strickland stflled the ciamors of Doris
long enough TO turn to his wife and
say:
IFS good to be back. BY Jove. I
was homesickr'
Those few days seemed like ages"
said May. Didn't It seem a long
time. DorisT'
oh. an awfully long timer said
Doris. Whenever the clock struck
today I wished 1t was time for you to
be here. Didn't |, mamma"
Well" said Strickland. next time
we will all go together"
"Everything's all right, thenY asked
May.
YES; just as l wrote you"
Have you had your dinner. Rob
ertT'
NO; 1 was so anxious to get home
that l didn't stop"
You u be famlShej. I'll have
Bertha get some dinner ready for you.
1t won't take long"
Thanks. dear And to Doris. who
had gone to her beloved dolls again.
Strickland said. Come here"
I'm leaving you in good hands"
said May as she left the room to super
intend the preparation Of her husbands
dinner.
"oh. yes" said Strickland; Doris
and l have lots Of things to tell each
other" He seated himself and took
Doris on one knee. Now. young lady.
tell your daddy. who hasn't seen you
for four whole days. exactly what
you've been doing with every minute
Of your time"
"Oh. daddy, l was promoted?' said
Doris. with face agiow.
"Of our you were promoted
didn't expect anything else. You're in
the grammar school nowf"
-Yes," said Doris proudly.
With mock sorrow Strickland went
N
"Oh, dear: oh. dear; at this rate
you'll soo be through college!"
Il don't want TO 30 30 college" said
Doris. Il want to be a cook. with q
big white apron and lots of shiny
pans, 50 that | can make cookies and
pies and bread and give them to the
heathens."
ITO the heathensr'
Yes; I'm learning to cook, daddy. 1
helped Aunt Helen yesterday"
Were you at AUNT Heien's yester-
dayf"
Yes, all day. because mamma was
downtown shopping"
And what did you do todayr
To-day I stayed home and played
house. We were going TO the park.
but mamma wanted to lie down, 30 we
didn't GO"
Isn't mamma wellr'
-she has a headache.-
HAS she had It longT'
no, only today. Did you get q
house. daddyT
Eyes, a nice white house, with a large
garden"
The description pleased Doris. and
she clapped her hands.
And cows, daddyf' she asked.
mo, no cows, but lots OF flowers and
Q dog"
"Oh a big dogr'
Yea. and now let me show you
what daddy brought you"
Doris jumped OF his knee with the
exclamation. Something for meT
Eyes, something nice" said Strick-
land. and the two walked to the table
-