The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-04-24

m allegoncal figure OF q young LADY
In Cubist negligee. It had the tradt
tional charm of a tavern board. In
fact, their shop was to be a tavern for
women In search Of s~artorial refresh
ment.
Troubles mustered about them as
shove up in a garden faster
than they can be plucked out. Elk
penses undreamed Of materialized in
swarms. Everything was delayed ex-
cept the demands for their money.
The petty-cash box, like a sort Of per-
verified fairy purse, emptied itself az
fast as 1t was filled.
The petty cash was the least OF
their dismay. The grand cash was the
main problem. They had stitched
their fingers full Of holes and piled up
reams Of fabrics, but the total wa
pathetically tiny.
One thing was instantly demon.
strated. They must give up their plan
or 60 into debt. Indeed, they already
were in debt.
We've got to take the plunge" said
Daphne. I'D rather die than 60 on
paying a years rent fer an empty
shop" +.
II know" Mrs. Chivvis fretted,
gnawing her thin lips, ''but it's a risk.
You'd better ask your brother"
"No!" Daphne stormed. "Tm going
to win out on my own. Poor Bayard
is too busy to be bothered with my
troubles. He doesn't know I have any.
And Leila is so busy with her social
business that she never asks me what
I'm up to.
"But what are we to dot" Mrs.
Chivvis walled. 1--WE can't'go on with
u stock, and you have no money
left, and I hadn't any to start with"
There's only one thing to do"
Daphne answered, with a sphinxic
solemnity. "Buy on credit. It's a
case Of nothing venture, nothing gain;
nothing purchase, nothing sell! moth
ing borrow, nothing pay. The only
way to get out of debt is to go in
deeper-4ike getting a fish hook out of
your thumb"
Mrs. Chivvis suffered herself to be
persuaded. They visited the whole
salers and the jobbers and were well
received, having paid cash before
and, thanks to MI. Chivvis' suggestion,
having been astute enough to demand
discount for cash. q
And now the motortrucks and the
delivery wagons and the ~cyclecars and
the messenger boys began to pour
stock into the little shop. 1t was pleas
ant not to have to pay for things,
though the tips were reaching alarm
Ing proportions, and the bundle Of bills
for future settlement grew and grew.
Mrs. Chivvis made a list Of their
debts and tried to show it to Daphne,
but she stopped her eyes and ears and
forbade any discussion that would
quench her spirit.
In the swirl Of her tasks Daphne
almost forgot Clay Wimburn. She
was too busy to car much. She had
no time to mourn. Clay was only one
among a myriad regrets, and his af.
fairs could wait. Her business needs
could not.
Clay did not come near her. He
spent a lot Of money trying to get her
off his mind. He got a good deal on
his conscience, but not Daphne off his
mind. He longed for her especially,
too, because there came a sudden dis
Sster TO his schemes. He gas not %
rich as he had been. Indeed, he could
not be sure that he was rich at all.
Any day might smother him with
bankruptcy. This fear kept him from
Daphne, too.
a- The bouncing munition stocks that
were known as "war babies" had alb
ruptly fallen into a decline. The sub
marine that torpedoed the Lusitania
shattered Wall streets Joy, threw the
dread Of war into the United States,
and set every n to questioning the
problem Of revenge and its cost.
The slump in the market came at
the most unfortunate moment for Bay
ard and Clay. Any moment Of slump,
indeed, would have come most untime.
" for their ventures.
H "Kip and Chivvis" were making a
picnic ground of the shop. Behind the
soap-veiled windows they laughed and
debated on arrangements and price
tags and show cards.
MI. Chivvis, still out Of a Job, acted
as maid Of all work and stevedore,
and grew so useful that they had to
put him out. And at last the moment
arrived when they declared the shop
open, raised the curtain" as Daphne
said.
She waited with a stage-fright she
had not felt in Reben's theater. There
was no lack Of temperament in her
mi now But there was, no audi
ence, either
At night Kip and Chivvis locked
their doors and went home, discour-
aged beyond words and dismally
weary In the legs, also in the smile
muscles which had been kept at an ex-
pectant tension all day long.
Occasional purchases were made,
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