Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-08-07
Professions
an
. By HELEN CLARK

By HELEN CLARK II
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copyright. 1o1s. by the Mcclure Nswspe'
pr syndicats)
ION your way home stop at DobDs'
get some flOwers-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 Pain 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 I amt Your
valet" But he found the task Of Sc
lecting flowers at Dobbs' SO diverting
that the next time similar order came
to select the flowers that Mr.. Clark
wished to have sent to his wife as indi-
cation 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 week to come. At the
end Of the week he again requested
Mr.. Pain to order flowers with q heart
throb in 'em." And Pain outdid him
self by ordering basket of pink roses
and blue larkspur that actually caused
the dry-eyed Mrs. Clark to melt into
tears. 1t was on that night that Bow
den first saw Martha jerks.
He was particularly disarmed, for
following Mr.. Oark's instructions, he
had put himself in the mood of the.
young man in love with someone. He
was exposed in q most vulnerable
point. He was not In love, but he was
in a lovers mood, and when Martha
appeared and he heard that indefnable
little swish and perceived the almost
negligible scent of perfume that in his
mind was associated with women OF
''real class" he promptly succumbed.
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 q member Of the Founders
club one had not only to be q nneal
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 organization.
Bowden Pain had one thing in his
favor at the outset of the pursuit of
his ideal. He was q member of "the"
Pain family, and although had he ia
ken the trouble he might have learned
that the original Hezekiah Pain was
twice pilloried for breaking the Sab
bath, and enjoyed no higher distinc-
ton in the community than that of
road mender, still. he was descended
from 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 ladder
than he pretended to be. But the idea
Of belonging first entered his head
shortly after he heard the charming
Martha mention the name of the club
as the address to which the flowers
could be sent. And after the coinci-
dence of meeting her a second time at
Dobbs' 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:
limitation fee, 5000. (Bowden Be-
lieved this to be the sum. He would
verify it the next day..
annual dues ..................$6 $4,000
Tuxedo suit (for mems night) .. COCO
SwallOwtail renovated ......... 1900
Evening clothes accessories. %. 1000
Black shoes ................... 1000
$s55.0o
This was no sum to be thrown lightly
away. In the veins of Bowden ran the
true Yankee blood of the Pains, and
even a part of his savings were not to
be spent lightly on self-indulgence. He
was saving, as he conveniently could,
for the as yet indefinite home for an
even less definite family" But why
save for q family" Bowden reflected
to himself, when the accomplishment
of his ambitions along that line might
possibly depend on the expenditure Of
part OF the savings?
But even after the second vision of
Martha at Dobbs' he might have let
his dreams of belonging to 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.
Bowden saw no less than i've ten
dollar bills, presumably her pin money,
for week. The thought of financing
L. wife of such habits-for Bowden &C.
tually did think Of her as a not i'm.
possible Mrs. Pain-was not the Inn
mediate problem. The immediate
problem was financing membership in
tho E0un6ors1 0l1lHa Tho