Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-20
MY MARRIAGE
Adele Garrison's
New Phase off,.
OF WIFE
The Disconcerting Request Madge's
Father Made of Her

We did not see anything of Allen
Drake for forty-eight hours follow
ing his arrival and our ludicrous ex-
perience with Katie. By we" | mean
all the members of the household saw
ing my father. who beckoned me into
the library in the late forenoon of the
day after our conference, closed the
door after him and said apologetically:
Daughter. dear. ] am afraid | am
going to cause you trouble, but Allen
is having (me difficulty with the
codes Mrs. Underwood gave him, and
he will not leave his room. as you
know, until be has decipbered them. or
exhausted all his skill. Will it incon-
v%enience you to much to have Katie
set a tray of food outside Aliens door
whenever be asks for food until he
gets ready to join US again."
Indeed. no" I returned heartily,
glad to do anything my father asked
me, but there lurked in my conscious
ness a vague little feeling of resent
ment at Allen Drake. That his men
tally as well as his power and re-
sourcefulness are unusual. / admitted,
but l could not help the feeling that
the brilliant agent of the government
secret service was inclined to be what
Dicky would term decidedly up stage"
Don't have her knock" my father
continued. Nothing disturbs Allen so
much as a like that. l know
his ways. and can find out when !
can get him to take some food. But
it means much extra work for Katie,
for Allen is almost never ready to eat
at the regular mealtimes. yet when he
does get hungry he needs hot nourish-
ing food. daintily prepared, for you
know how fastidious he is. And then
at night he, of course, will have to have
a vacuum bottle of hot coffee and some
sort Of light lunch. Really, dear. it is
like asking you to run a short-order
restaurant"
His apologize words and manner
pushed momentarily into the back
ground the dismay I felt at the formid-
able culinary problem he had outlined.
But when l had assured him with al
most too vehement protestations that
there would be no slightest difficulty
in carrying out his orders, and he had
left me in the library. / sank into a
chair considering blankly how / should
manage Katie in these new demands
upon her.
Madge's Dilemma
While ! believe Katie would do any
thing in the woSld to help me if she
thought it necessary to save me from
death or disaster, yet she is as tenn
peramental as any operate or drama
tic star when it comes to extra kitchen
work for people whom she disiikes.
That she loathes Allen Drake, l well
knew, and that / would need every bit
Of my resourcefulness to keep her
from needlessly annoying him about
the meals she would prepare for him, I
was also certain.
Why was it necessary. / asked my
self fiercely-yet with a feeling of dis
loyalty which / could not shake off
to so palnper this particular member
of the service: My father asked for
no such special consideration, neither
did Lillian. Yet l knew by my fathers
manner that :e considered this atten-
non to Afr. Drake to be absolutely
necessary.
The door opened. and Lillian came
into the room, stopping abruptly as she
saw me.
"Oh, pardon" she said. Am / dis
turbing you?"
mo. On the contrary. I need a rom
fidante, or / shall explode in another
minute"
She eyed me keenly and drew a chair
near mine.
Behold the best little safety valve in
the world" she said. Now what's on
your mind. old dear?"
Tho Slight Variation
II ought to be ashamed to LET it
trouble me-" ! said apologetically. but
father just told me that Mr.. Drake
would not come to his meals for an in
definite period. He declared that Mr..
Drake must have a tray Of hot food.
specially prepared ans daintily served
at any unusual hour the fancy strikes
for he is almost never ready to