, 1920-11-18
1t Pays
to Compromise
By II. LOUIS RAYBoLD

quite as firmly.
And then these two very positive,
very young people sat regarding each
other defantly. each secretly hoping
the other would weakly yield with a
Well. have it your own way" But,
as 1t happened. neither did.
The circumstances, to be brief. were
as follows: Peter and Betty expected
to be married In exactly two weeks.
Their itinerary was planned down to
the very last railroad ticket. But
and his was relevant to the subject
unde discussion-they had as yet no
place TO which to return when the hon
eymOon was over.
Peter boarded, n so did Betty.
And their strongest emotion, except
their love for each other. was a preju-
dice against boarding any longer.
Betty had visions of a softly-llghted
living room not shared with sixteen
other roomers, while Peter had dreams
of pies not made with substitutes and
then divided into innumerable small
pieces.
Out of this feeling had emerged the
desire for a real home-a home with
a capital FL. And gradually had grown
a vision of a home in the country with
vegetable gardens and cows and chick
n and, yes, bees and a pig. AS the
fancy grew. Peter saw himself a full
fiedged farmer. able to look the cost
of living deflantly In the face. That
is he saw himself a farmer in between
times when he was not earning his
salary as a modestly paid employee of
Campbell & Westcott, wholesale gro
GERS.
Therein lay the hitch. Peter"
urged Betty. "ff we get a place with
a little land 1t will be as much as we
can manage. Better go slow and work
a small place thoroughly than have
"a lot of Idle fields on our hands grow
ing sou for lack of crops" Betty
had not been perusing the agricultural
bulletins for nothing.
VERY we'll" said Peter stiffiy. But
tf we are going in for this sort of
thing, we ought TO do Ii on a big
enough scale to make it worth while,
with enough acres to raise the hay to
feed the horses that do the blowing
that prepares the fields that yield the
crops"
1T sounds like the house that Jack
built" giggled Betty. Then. seriously,
well, all 1 car say is hat I won't
he a party to n such foolishness.
Besides. after saying right along that
you would be satisfied with twenty-five
acres. you are lacking It up to fifty
It's absurd"
And that is the point at which the
story begins.
Peter went home very shortly and
tried to forget that he and Betty were
INDUCING In their first quarrel. But
: even Is he attempted to interest him
self in an informing volume for back
to the landers. Betty's piquant little
face as she defied him danced between
,he lines. tive acres. at mosti" she
had insisted.
You see Peter had seen in the pa
per an advertisement of a farm for
sale with considerably more than two
acres of land. and n telephone con-
WINGED him that 1t was a decidedly
worthwhile buy. Hence 1t was up to
him. by fair means or foul, to per-
suade Betty likewise.
Next morning Betty was summoned
from breakfast by a telephone call.
Peter didn't usually call her at such
an early hour. Eight O'Clock 1t was.
He must have just reached the office.
"Hello-yes-this is Betty-yes-tell
me about It,"
The substance OF the call was this:
Peter had come across an advertise
ment (he didn't say when) advertis-
ing a farm for sale. According to Pc
ter there wasn't much else to the item
hut that simple fact. At least It made
no mention OF stocks or tools or i'm
%provenients. OF course. 1t might not
be at all what they wanted, but would
Betty please meet him during his noon
hour and call with him at the agents,
in whose name 1t was listed?
After a moment. Betty agreed. 1t
was true that Peter had departed the
night before without his usual kiss
and she had Intended TO hold him to
account. But. after all. her interest
in securing a home far outweighed any
petty desire for punishment. So she
promised to meet him. and hung up
the receiver.
Peter found her at the time agreed
upon and, ns his eyes fell on the trim
ngure In the smart little suit with the
perky hat with he mercury wings
projecting from either side. he mental
iy registered the statement that he
was n lucky chap.
A few minutes later they gazed en-
rnptured at a photograph of a low
eaved farmhouse with broad veranda
and dormer windows. on either side
the land appeared TO extend indeh-
nitely. but the size Of the picture pre-
vented one telling the amount OF act
ual acreage.
It's a bargain. all right" the agent
was declaring with what really seemed