The herald., 1917-11-01
Margaret Stands by
THE Cause"
By JANE OSBORNE
Copyright, 1917, by the Mcclure SewsU.-
per Syndicats)

NNOpJilbAl, 4J4i, ny inc mCNAUiS -NtN $50
per Syndicate)
4 man who has any Imagination re-
garding feminine psychology must al
! ways look with something like concern
| toward the first meeting of his mother
| and his wife-Or the woman whom he
! intends 10 make his wife. So when
| Blackstone LOOMS mother wrote 10
her son that she was coming to New
| York from her home in n middle West
ern metropolis for short stay at no.
Eel OF nationwide fame. he was not al
together sanguine in his anticipation
OF the meeting Of these two women
so Important in his life.
How would the houscwifely and
| farm-bred mother regard the city and
| ofhce-bred tiancee?
Would the elder woman be shocked
! ut the younger? Would the young
! er woman be amused by the elder?
| Had he been too lavish in his praises
| OF these women to each other?
Whatever else happens" he told
! the girl OH the eve of his mothers
expected arrival, don't let the mother
know that you are a feminist"
| blackstone had planned TO make
this request ut the outset of his call
! on Margaret in her little uptown apart
ment, where she kept quarters with
two other young women who were EN-
| plOyed in downtown offices. But II
hadn't been SO easy as he had ex-
! pected, and the quick flash that came
from Marguret's eyes made him realize
that his misgivings had not been III
founded.
Margaret was OutspOken and she did
not mince matters at all now. Con-
ceal from his mother that she was
suffragist. feminist" Us he calls 1t
why, he was asking her To he traitor.
And what good would 1t do? Wouldn't
the truth come out sometime?
Then came the masculine appeal for
nationality. Don't be silly, Margaret"
lie said. mo one has asked you to
act lie. You don't have TO say that
you are an anti, or anything like that
but you just needn't say anything about
it at ALL"
But doesn't your mother know that
you are Il suffragist?" Queried Mar
garet.
Il can't say that l have ever told
her-nO." Blackstone had TO 80 eau.
tiOusly here, for he was we'll aware of
the fact that his conversion to 1.-THE
! cause" had been one of the prereQuis-
ties Of their engagement. At first
Margaret stormed and sputtered good
deal over the request, but finally she
acquiesced and gave him to under
stand that, unless the subject were
brought up by his mother. she would
not volunteer any information concern
ing her own convictions.
The next morning early, when Black
stone went to meet his mother. their
first connected words were directed to
the subject Of Margaret, whom the
mother was to meet that evening at
dinner IN Margaret's little apartment.
The other girls had agreed to go out
for the evening so as TO leave her sole
hostess for this little family party.
Blackstone WINGED little when one
Of the first questions the mother asked
was this: Il don't suppose your Mar
garet is a suffragist?"
What makes you think she could
be-" he evaded in Il way not altogether
worthy Of one who claimed to be u
convert. Just because she works in
an office and hasn't had the advantages
of having been brought up in the seclu-
sion of her own home is no reason why
she shouldn't be just as honey as
as you are"
Then he continued: "But of course
you won't discuss that sort of thing
with Margaret, just for my sake" He
wanted at least to make Ii easy for
Margaret TO maintain her noncOmmittal
point of view. for Margaret had agreed
on silence on the subject only SO long
as the mother did not introduce It
Although Margaret had protested
against agreeing to silence Of this sort
she was really not especially eager to
impart to the lady who was to be her
mother-in-law the fact that she was
leader and president Of the stenogra-
piers suffrage organization In large
downtown district. or that she had
firmly made up her mind that after
her marriage she should call herself
MRS. Margaret LOomis." and by no
means Mrs. Blackstone Loomis. She
realized as well as did Blackstone that
the circumstances In which she and
his mother had been reared had very
much altered cases, and she was no
more anxious to hurt or shock the eld-
er woman than vas he to have her do
so.
That night at dinner first impress
siOnS were as favorable as first impress
s1ons auspiciously may be, and in or
der to prevent the conversation from
taking personal turn blackstone
monOpOlized il to an unusual extent.
He had made up his mind not to leave
the two women alone and not let them
guide the conversation. So he went
into needless details regarding his lat
est law case, explained the meaning
Modern Ideas Of Greatness.