Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-30

had first planned. and try it again.
Those must have been awful years for
off cattle rustlers. half starved and
trying to take care Of a baby"
Wilfred paused and blew an alco-
holic sigh. Ethel looked again at h;En
and wondered how much early malnu-
triton might be responsible for his
pinched physique.
But the old man always said he
could swing the gate round his way
again. And he did. When I was seven
years old he came out Of the west
with about half state in his pocket.
He thinks pretty well Of himself. you
know; 1T was only this morning that
he admitted to me that mother was
responsible for most of his resurrec-
ton. She just wouldn't let him fail
She scrubbed her fingers to the bone,
but she held on and never once show
ed the white feather. When the boss
him. 1t broke her health, it killed
her. finally; but she accomplished
what she was put in the world to do
to put her man in the place where he
belonged and to keep him there"
'Tt killed her finally" echoed Ethel
Cray. regarding her weak employer
with a tolerance she had never before
felt for him.
YES" said Wilfred. "And her mem-
ory-the memory OF what she did seems
called me in this morning simply to warn
mo against the girl I wanted to mar
~. She'll be fair-weather wife,
he said. She's the kind who'll always
be asking how much you can give,
never considering her share in the
where. but she's got to keep out of my
family. II you want to stay in the
firm. you've got to choose a mans
wife. You owe that to me. and you
owe 1t more to your mother And
what sort Of wife is a mans wife?
peculiar thing. There's just one
kind he said. and she's the kind who,
when the time comes. Is willing to go
through hell for you"
X 4 +
IMJILFRED stopped to rub his pug
w zled little forehead. Now. what
did the old man mean by that"' he
asked, just as il Ethel might know.
1t was a crowded minute before she
answered that fateful question. What
did old Alky mean by that? She saw
exactly how Bowdin. senior. stood and
boy with both body and will UNDER
developed-undoubte he needed
such another woman as his mother
| had been. to direct him. look out for
him. Even his vices were aimless,
borrowed things from the vicious
own grinding and hopeless condition
in life, a certain ambition, IL you will
possibly an instructive feeling that she
was to be chosen-prompted her to
strike out brutally.
"Wiifred." she said. unintentionally
without kindness. since you've told
me things I didn't ask to know, I'm
going to say something"
Wilfred sat up. attentive and hurt
as small boy being chided by his
governess.
You're a weak, wasteful boy" she
went on, feeling as though a voice
| within were speaking for her. Your
father was right, terribly right. He's
built a big fortune round you: and II
there's anything in money it ought to
be used to make people better instead
of worse. How have you been using
| 1T? You've gone to college to learn
a lot of bad habits. You've come out
thinking you were a lot better than
your father; as a matter Of fact. you
aren't Mt to shine his shoes"
Ethel" He said this gaspingly
| and for the first time she began to
| realize what she had been doing in
this impulsive TRADE OF truth.
"Oh. 1 know" she declared. for the
tempest was still raging. I'm only
firing me, and don't care. I can find
something else, ! guess. But I'm go.
! ing to talk-don't interrupt me. I've
| got a brother in college, working like
a niger to buy books. sneakins
through back alleys to hide his poor
! clothes. He's spending dimes where
| you've been throwing away gold
pieces. but when he comes out, II he
| lives through the struggle"-she stop
| ped just a moment, because the
i he <lS~ - v>osl NNNi
Q serious. useful man to society"
I'm not accustpme6.=sh be began