New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-07-04

land, and ! am going to get married.
but later, much 'ater."
81 hate cOnundrums," said Mrs. Kip.
Better tell me the answer, for | won't
guess. What are you going to dol"
I'm going to lend IA hand" said
Daphne. "Do my share. Get a job
and earn my board and keep"
Heaven help us! You've gone
crazy !" Mrs. Kip exclaimed. you get
to bed and you'll feel better in the
morning. I'll finish my letter"
She added, "unbeknownst to Daphne,
a postscript as long as the letter. con-
tradicting all she had just written and
urging her husband to come East at
once and take charge of his unruly
daughter. She dropped it in the mail
chute, and it fell into a bottomless pit,
along with her other hopes.
Daphne and her mother were Uneasy
at the prospect of the breakfast en-
counter with the bridal couple. There
had been a sense Of strain the first
morning. But now a bitter quarrel had
intervened-that first ugly quarrel
when the wedge Of finance Is driven
between united hearts.
.Bayard and Leila, however, arrived
Mt the table all smiles. more amorous
than ever. Leila wore Il triumphant
smile, such as Delilah must have worn
the second time she went out walking
with her big beau.
II WAT p1ain IN tha anytnnS aVpS nf
Mrs. Kip and Daphne that Leila had
emerged from the quarrel with all the
loot and aggravated power.
She had taken advantage Of her hus-
bands trust and abused his generosity
recklessly, with no more evil motive,
indeed. than the wish to beautify her
self in his honor, and yet with reck-
l~essness.
1t was not altogether Leila's fault
If the lesson she learned. perhaps I'M
consciously, from the combat was
something like this:
Il ran my husband into debt with
out consulting him. His ~listless love
woke from its torpOr and enchanted
me with a first-class demonstration of
its energy. He stormed. l wept thrill
ingly. He apologized, begged to be
permitted To bring me some more nice
things. Ergo, when home life grows
dull, | can always stir up the fire by
buying something we can't afford.
When ! want anything | must get 1t.
| shall be scolded, then kissed and
treated with awe. II | hadn't bought
it | wouldn't have had it, nor the
bonus that goes with it. If we had no
quarreled we should have missed the
rapture of making up"
This Is one of the first lessons thai
certain sorts of husbands teach to GER
tain sorts of wives.
When the man Of the house had de-
parted for his Office, and the waiter
had carried Off the breakfast relies,
the three women were left alOne In n
completely feminine %conclave. They
faced life like three Norns: the old
mother. the new wife, and the deferred
wife, each from her coign Of disadvan-
tage.
The two married women turned on
the maid, with COMMON resentment.
They were married and dependent and
she had her independence. They were
Tories and she a Wing. 1t was their
privilege to rail at things as they We're,
but II was their religion to frOwn OF
changing them. Mrs. Kip senior spoke
for Mrs. Kip junior.
"Now. Daphne. tell us what is this
new fOolishness all abOut?"
Daphne answered, stoutly: ITS not
f~oollshness. It's the first glimmer of
sense I've ever had. I'm sick of the
idea of always living on the mercy Of
some man, taking his charity or his
extravaganza. I've always been a drag
on poor daddy. and | was getting ready
to shift my weight over to poor Clay's
back. But I don't think a woman
ought to be dependent on a man. |
think she ought to bear her share of
the burden"
AS if she didn't" Mrs. Kip broke
out. "As If the home weren't just as
much labor as the office"
Leila attacked her from another d.
rection. For goodness sake, Daphne,
don't lose you head. Don't you i'm
agine for a moment that a husband
will be happier and love his wife bet
ter because she earns wages. The
harder you work for men. the better
they like somebody else. The harder
"A man works for you the better he
likes you Best Of all, he loves the
woman that tries to break him"
Daphne's answer was a snappy: II
don't believe it, I'd despise a man
that felt that way"
The three women wrangled with
wise saws and modern instances, and
they were in a perilous state. of dis
when the telephone rang. Leila
answered II and her outcries of indig-
nation alarmed Mrs. Kip and Daphne
till they learned the cause.
Bayard had called up to say that
the luncheon party must be postponed.
er insidious attack on love.
Leila came from the telephone in a
of desperation mitigated by the
fact that Bayard had asked her to
take his mother and Daphne shopping
and buy them and herself something
worth while as an atonement for his
abandonment.
So they set forth again on another |
onset against the ramparts of beauty.
To the silent horror Of Daphne and
her mother. Leila was persuaded to
buy a new coat and a new hat and to
pay for them by the convenience of
opening two new accounts at the sug-
of two soapy statesmen Raw