The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-05-11
EVENING STORY
PretenSiOns.
BY HELEN CLARK

Pretensions.
BY HELEN CLARK.
ION your way home stop at Dobbs'
get some nowers-orchids-
thing with a heart throb in 'em-ten
dollars or so-the kind of thing you'd
pick yourself for the girl you were in
love with
The first time Bowden Paine received
instructions from old Mr.. Clark. presi-
dent of the large concern for which he
was cashier, he felt little like say
ing: Who do you think 1 am? Your
valet?" But he found the task of Sc
lecting flowers at Dobbs' SO diverting
that the next time a similar order
came to select the flowers that Mr..
Clark wished to have sent to his wife
as indication of his own personal
thought and affection, he greeted the
task with keen interest, and put so
much heart into the selection that old
Mr. Clark felt the beneficial results in
his good wife's disposition for a week
to come. At the end of the week, he
again requested Mr.. Paine to order
| flowers with a heart throb in en-.
| And PaiEa. outdid himself by ordering
a basket of pink roses and blue lark
spur that actually caused the dry-eyed
Mrs. Clark to melt into tears. 1t was
on that night that Bowden first saw
| Martha jerks.
| He was particularly disarmed, for
following Mr.. Clarke's instructions, he
had put himself in the mood of the
young man in love with some one
He was exposed in a most vulnerable
point. He was not in love. but he was
in a lovers mood, and when Martha
appeared and he heard that indefin-
able little swish and perceived the al
most negligible scent of perfume that
in his mind was associated with wo-
men of real class he promptly sue
cumbed.
He heard her order six small bou-
quets of lilies of the valley suitable for
favors at luncheon the next day. and
took particular pains to attend to her
instructions as to where they should
be sent.
The Founders Club he heard her
say. and besides being filled with ad-
miration for the particular way in
which she uttered these words, he was
also aware of the fact that she was a
member of an exclusive city society
for to be a member of the Founders
club one had not only to be a lineal
descendant of one of the Colonial
founders of the city, but one had to
have considerable money to spend on
club dues and otherwise to keep up
with that rganiZation.
Bowden Paine had one thing in his
favor at the outset of the pursuit of
his ideal. He was member of the"
Paine family, and altho had he
taken the trouble he might have
learned that the original Hezekiah
| Paine was twice pilloried for breaking
the Sabbath, and enjoyed no higher
distinction in the community than that
of road mender, still he was descended
from a founder, and was eligible to
the club. Never in his widest dreams,
however, had he thought of seeking
| membership. First, because of the ex-
pense that would entail; and second,
because the young men and women
who belonged to the organization were
many rungs higher on the social lad
der than he pretended to be. But the
idea of belonging first entered his
head shortly after he heard the
charming Martha mentioq the name
of the club as the address to which
the flowers could be sent. And after
| the coincidence of meeting her a Sec
ond time at Dobb's florist shop, he
went home to figure out on paper
about what the necessary expense of
membership would be.
The itemizing ran something as fol-
lows:
Initiation fee. 5000. (Bowden be-
lieved this to be the sum. He would
verify it the next day).
: Annual dues Observation-Disclosures $4,000
Tuxedo suit (for mems MIGHTY. 5000
| Swallowtail renovated 1900
Evening clothes accessories. 1000
Black shoes ................... 1000
-I $500
This was no sum to be thrown light
ly away. In the veins of Bowden ran
the true Yankee blood of the Paines,
and even a part of his savings were
not to be spent lightly on self-indul-
gence. He was saving, as he con-
veniently COULD for the as yet indefi-
mite home for an even less definite
family But why save for a
family" Bowden reflected to him
self, when the accomplishment of his
ambitions along that line might pos
sibly depend the expenditure of
part of the savings?
But even after the second vision of
Martha at Dobb's he might have let
his dreams of belonging 20 the Found
ers' club subside had he not met the
charmer at the bank. He was deposit
ing his small weekly savings, and she
fair spender that she was-was
rather nonchalantly Withdrawing a
neat little roll of bills.
: Rowden saw no less than five ten
dollar bills, presumably her pin money
for a week. The thought of finan-
cling a wife of such habits-for Bow
den actually did think of her as a
not impossible Mrs Paine-was not
the immediate problem. The imme-
date problem was financing mem
bership N the Founders club. The
idea of marrying a woman who could
thus casually draw a large bank roll
from the tellerS window had no spe-
cial attraction for Bowden- His Yam
kee inheritance included the ambition
to support his own wife on his own
earnings. Still, he did not let that
trifle disturb his peace of mind, but
went about it in quite calculating
manner the next day to have his
name proposed at the Founders club
by a friend who belonged. Needless
| to say, no one opposed his admission.
J He was perfectly eligible. and unat-
tached, good-looking bachelors were
: at premium. Then began the really
hard part of the membership-that
J of securing an Introduction to Martha.
Bowden attended every evening func-
ton at the club, and as many after
moons as he could manage to, without
: | a otuaIIv giving I'D his business career