Cheyenne record., 1917-08-23
CHAPTER lll.-continued.

-
"Oh," she said, mothers written
two or three books, and lots of maya
zine articles, about women-women's
rights and suffrage, and all that.
She's been-well, sort of a leader ever
since she graduated from college,
back in-just think l-1S7O, when most
girls used to Observation-Disclosures
French, music, and washing extra
you know"
She said it all with a quite adora-
BILE seriousness, and his gravity match
ed hers when he replied: II would
like to meet her very much. Femin-
ism's a subject I'm blankly ignorant
about" .~1
u don't believe she said thought
fully, "that I'd call it feminism In
talking to mother about it, If were
you. Mothers suffragist, but
there came another wave Of faint
color along with her smile-'but-
well, she's awfully respectable, you
know"
} She didn't seem to mind his laugh
ing out at that, though she didn't
Join him.
"What about the other interesting
member of the family" he asked
presently. "your sister? Which is she,
q suffragist or q feminist?"
II suppose" she said, you'd call
Portia a feminist. Anyway, she
hasn't time to talk about it much. You
see; she's a business woman. She's
house decorator. She tells you what
kind Of furniture to buy, and then
sells it to you. Portals terribly clever
and awfully independent"
"All right" he said. '1That brings
us down to you. What are your"
She sighed. "rm sort of a black
sheep, guess. I'm just in the univer-
sity. But I'm to be lawyer"
Whereupon he cried out SO explo-
sively that she fairly jumped. Then he
apologized and said the notion of her
in court trying a case-he was law
yer himself-seemed rather startling.
She sighed again. "And now I
suppose" she said, you'll advise me
not to be-"
mot a Bit" he said. "It's the fin
est profession iu the world"
But he said 1t OF the top of his
mind. Down below, it was still en-
gagged with the picture Of her in a
dismal courtroom, blazing up at a
jury the way she had blazed up at
that conductor.
II suppose" she hazarded, "that it's
awfully dull and tiresome, though.
until you get way up to the top"
That reused him. "It's awfully dull
when you do get to the top, or what's
called the top-being a client care
taker with the routine law business
of a few tg corporations and rich
estates going through your Office like
grlst through a mill. That's supposed
to be the big reward, Of course"
He was out Of his chair now, tramp
ipg up and down the room. "The thing
to bear in mind, If you're going to
travel that road, Is that a ease is
worth while in a precise and unaltera-
BILE ratio to the amount of money in
volved in 1t. If you question that
axiom at all seriously, you're lost.
That's what happened to me-"
He pulled up with a jerk, looked at
her and laughed. IF my sister Fre-
derica were here" he explained. "she
would warn you that now was the time
,or you to ask me If I'd been to see
Maude Adams or something like that"
She smiled in q sort Of contented
amusement. Then tho smile trans
muted itself into a look of thoughtful
gravity, and there was a long silence
which, though 1t ppzzled him. he made
no move to break.
At last she pulled in long breath.
turned straight to him, and said: II
wish you'd tell me what happened
to you"
And, under the compelling sincerity
Of her, for the next two hours and q
half, or thereabouts, he did-told 1t
as he had never told 1t before.
He told her how he had started at
the foot Of the ladder in one Of the
big successful firms Of what he called
.client caretakers.- He told of his
discovery of a real legal problem and
Of the passionate enthusiasm with
which he had attacked 1t, the thrill
ing weeks Of labor he had put upon 1t.
And then he told her how the head
Of the firm, an old friend of bis ia
ther's. had called him in and said the
work he had done was very remark
able, but, unfortunately, not profitable
to the firm, the whole amount involved
in the case having been some twenty
dollars. In other words. he was fred.
He told her how he'd got in with
an altruistic bunch the City Homes