, 1918-03-07

up his mental vigor and good health.
he sometimes wondered whether the
extra hours hat Miss Blair had to
work-for she always stayed at her
post whenever he was at the office
were not telling on her, too. But she
never murmured and she seemed al
ways in the pink of condition.
One day Bolton began wondering
about Alice Blair. He wondered why
she did all this for him-whether it
was just the result of her training plus
a keen mind-was it induced entirely
by the forty dollars a week that she
had demandedl Perhaps 1t was. But
the effect 1t produced was the anne
1t really did seem as If some one cared
now and that, after all, Bolton con-
cluded, was what made the big differ
ence. Still he kept asking himself, did
Miss Blair care? How did she keep
up her strength and courage for the
long hours? There were a hundred
petty home and social duties that
usually distracted his women en-
ployees-had Miss Blair none of
those2
Mr.. Bottoms last question was an
swered one day when he Glanced to
look through the carbons for the out
going mail of the day, when he had
returned unknown to her, after din
ner at night. He came upon the dupli-
cate of a letter of a personal nature,
yet before he had realized what he
was doing he read it. 1t was simply an
order to one Of the morning papers for
the insertion Of a ''help wanted" adj
vertisement. This was the advertise
ment:
WANTED: A young business woman
wants to get In touch with a young
woman whose duties will be similar to
those of a wife to a busy man. That
is, she must be an educated, agree
able young woman with he willing
ness to take seriously the task of maxi
ing a small apartment a real home.
She need not do the actual homework
but she must see hat 1t is done with
out confusion and without complaint.
She must have the instructive knack
of attending to the little things, COM
bined with the ability to be interested
in the really big things. For such a
| young woman a good home and a fair
remuneration will be given"
MI. Bolton read then re-read the
paragraph. What occurred to him
first was that 1t contained a perfect
description of his own ideal Of what
a wife should be-and it was Alice
Blair's ideal. Only it was Alice Blair's
idea of the companion she wanted, not
the companion she wanted to be. Still,
she understood. She at least realized
that with such an ideal woman at
home a man or woman either might
endure the strain of business worries
that would otherwise be uncomfortable.
Apparently the letter advertising for
such a companion had gone out. Boil
ton wondered what results would come
of 1t. He almost wished hat he, too,
might secure the wife he was looking
for in some such q~uick-courtship
ner. Then he decided to speak to Alice
about it-perhaps, perhaps, she cared
enough
Bolton came to the point rather abb
ruptly.
II had thought the most important
thing in the world was to nave a per-
feet secretary" he told her the next
day when he had called her to his
office. "Now I have decided that a
perfect wife is much more important.
Pardon me for reading your adver-
tisement| see you understand part
of my W ideal for such a companion
she must be a real companion,
Alice" he said, changing from his abb
rupt business manner to a boyish.
pleading tone hat Alice had never
observed before.
Alice blushed and the blush seemed
to tell Bolton that she really did care
for something beside the forty dollars
q week.
SIS 1t only because I would be a
congenial companion. and a good house
wife-only because I'd keep the wheels
running smoothly in your home as I
have in your office, is that allT"
Then suddenly Bolton wondered how
1t had ever seemed as though those
things could really have been para
mount. All he could see "a the shad-
ow that lurked beneath Alice's down.
cast eye, the delicious curve of her
lips and the graceful lines Of the
small, determined little chin.
"Alice," he said a little huskily, "Td
want you to marry me If you were the
worst housewife in the world. Some
how / see why so many men do
marry the women they dol suppose
they love them as I love you"
And so in spite of the first develop
ments of the year Bolton filed the
second half of his resolution instead