Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-25
THE GIRL WHO
SMILED THROUGH
BY Marion Rubineam.
~,r--.-n, George Matthew Adams.
STUDY.
CHAPTER MI.


an, through n metamorphosis which
All women who have the capacity for
fo.,;pc go through Mt some time in their
II,os Ifsuallv 1T is sorrow that brings
tb;s about. but not always. In the case
of AIc;e Fairbanks it was the unhappy
termination of a love affair.
Cf David she heard nothing After
that one letter Lois never wrote. and of
course. the two women had not answered
that hvpocritically sweet note telling
al her marriage. Alice hoped they were
h.npv-she cared enough for David, and
she was generous enough in her love,
10 wish him happiness, And that alone
proved that she was different from
many girls.
There is one thing that makes me
very happy" she told her mother one
dav about three months after David
had gone away. "And that is the fact
that YOU are feeling so much better.
We never even hoped you would grow
so well You look-just fine.
And l feel ine," Mrs. Fairbanks
Indeed the little lady had grown
so we'll that nowadays she could walk
quite bit around the house. She could
even dress her own hair, by resting
her arms occasionally, and that necessl-
tating AS it does, holding the hands high
over the head, was considered fair test.
One evening in February Alice and
her mother were sitting IN their tiny
living room 4 stove of nickel and
black with little isinglas. windows that
reflected a CHEEKY red light, was over at
one side An extra pipe went through
the ceiling. sending up enough heat to
keep warm Alice's room above. II was
really very coZy and comfortabie IN
the little house The furniture WAS value
less and shabby, the rug was worn almost
to its warp but the room was made
place of beauty by the number of growing
plants and flowers. Alice herself had
made shelves for them. and had brought
into the house as much OF her beloved
outdoors as she could.
Alice. on a hassock by the stove,
broke the silence.
II think I'll try growing things under
ssshes next spring, she said. Here 5 n
whole volume about it. The first chapters
tell how to make them"
She read few pages aloud-how
how the sides of the frame were
sawed and embedded in the earth,
how the glass-paned top was slore
TO catch the sun.
Il can handle saw, ! made the shelves
over there" Alice said.
Mrs Fairbanks nodded and agreed.
Alice could do anything. L by means
of a glass sash on frame Alice could
gain n few weeks on Nature in her beloved
garden. and start things growing before
the frost was out of the ground, why that
was no more wonderful than anything
else the girl had accomplished.
Mother" Alice spoke suddenly. u M
going to ask MIR Joyce how much the
classes at the Model Farm are. It's
silly of me not to go when their instruc-
lion is what / want. just because-well
because l expected 10 be there with
David
you can't study so well alone?'
Mrs. Fairbanks asked gently.
'IOh, I'm doing fine Alice answered.
-It was hard enough at FIRST, my
brain was stiff from inaction-I hadn' I
ra,died for wears! But after q few
months | could almost feel my brain
.sis unlimber. And now, there's only
she frame work to do, and you do most
af that, SO I've plenty of time TO study.
She went back to her book, and for
IN hour pored over diagrams OF small
not houses and -'cold sashes. Mrs.
Fairbanks, busy with some mendlng, was
thinking that most daughters would
be spending the time reading novels. Some
shins like this she said presently, and
little red windows of the stove.
Il can't read novels, she said. They
make me heartsick. II the girl Is un-
happy, want to cry because | was so
unhappy, and If she is happy and they
get married In the end, I'm positively
Jealous of them Isn't that silly"
1t was like Alice to be perfectly frank
about herself-at least to her mother
and TO Clara.
~ used TO think all woman should do
was grow up and get marT1ed and raIse
family and keep home. > she said after a
little. And | still think that's the
incest thing. ] always vaguely envled
the women | read about who did other
things actresses who had big reputa-
tions, women who made speeches for
suffrage. or who dared to stand up
and talk politics TO an audience, women
artists, women writer's, women lecturers
they seemed like another race OF beings
from myself.
Now | know shall never be married
thought for a few months that all
NV life was ruined because of that,
that there was nothing left But now
| know better. | thought | d 60 down to
Tuppers and find a position, so We
could have more money. When | asked
about il, they offered so a week And
all I'd be, ever would be a saleslady
/ don't know what | m going TO do now,
but I'm going to do something better
than that. / don't know what yet"
She stopped and looked over at the
clock The she laughed
Meantime, she said, .I'm going
to study. ] wish | had some one to
help me study chemistry.
Tommorrow New Acquaintance