Evening star., 1922-03-12


player. quite The contrary. OF all model
husbands. Tom stood somewhere in the
lead OF the procession. Weekly and 10
the dot he handed over his unopened
pay envelope.
Such had been his intention on this
epoch marking Saturday night. But
when he presented himself at his own
apartment he found his wife gone. while
hurriedly scribbled note on the dining
room table conveyed the message that
she had been called to her mother.
Thus the deviation Of Tom Winters
from the path of husbandly virtue and
the accumulation Of the aforesaid $"o.
All the way home Tom Winters felt
the burden of those 80 unearned dol
lars. What should he do with them?
He might buy Rose one of those beaded
bags that her heart was so set on and
say he had saved the money out OF his
allowance But then, she might argue
that the money could have been spent
to better advantage. Rose was like
that-always denying herself the little
things that she needed Then again.
he might buy an electric vacuum cleaner.
= = =
AND. so pondering. he once more ap-
preached his fiat and lee himself
In. 1t was dark: she was not yet home.
Tom fiipped out his pay envelope. He
had steamed it open to enter the game.
For a few seconds he speculatively eyed
that manila container Of his weekly
stipend. and then picked it up. counted
a hve-dollar bill from his card earn
ings. placed it with the four tens. care
fully resealed the envelope and sat
down to wait.
A little past midnight Rose came
home.
That you. Tom
YEP
Mothers not feeling well. So I
STAYED
Seen in the light Of the shaded lamp.
she was a rather small slip Of woman
with pale, colorless. blond hair whose
glints of red showed a possibility Of
beauty with proper care. Her round
little face was pale and wore worried.
harssssA look tina. quite obliterated the
charm q pair Of iarge. decidedly blue
eyes.
Coming to his chair. she made a per-
functory little peck at his hair. and then
added a passionless kiss on his cleek
as he tried to draw her near.
Then. sighting the pay envelope on
the nearby table. she reached for it and
wearly opened it. counting the bills as
a matter of course Twice she counted
them, and then with fleeting glance
at Tom, counted taem a third time
Hro off 10
rest,
"Why-why. Tom--there's forty-fve
here
Il know
"You got a raise
Tom nodded.
"Oh. Tom
Whereupon she threw her arms about
his neck, kissed him squarely upon the
lips, and then sank against him. quite
overcome. For four years he had stood
still at $40 week. And now
Maybe now. Tom. can give the
washing out"
You sure can, Roses -.-r-
That pet name came hard to Tom
Winters. 1t was the first time he had
called her that in four years. Once.
it came to his lips naturally. but. that
seemed ages ago, when hope was high.
Theirs had been an ardent and ro-
mantle courtship and they had started
their martial life with fervor and con-
fidence People had said: Tom Win
ters? Oh, he'll make good in no time
He's got pep and ambition! Some
hustler"
THOSE were theada when the dream
Of a house in the suburbs was still
fresh enough to be almost within reach.
Those were the times when he could
still find oceans of pleasure in strolling
down the avenue of q Sunday and
pointing out the car he intended to
buy very. very soon. But, strangely,
the house had materialized into a
Ridgewcod fiat, to and from which he
travelled for two hours each day; and
the Sunday outings in the car had be-
come weekly pilgrimages either to mis-
mother or to her mother. followed by
an evening spent in a stuffy movie
house.
Tom Winters didn't know how it had
all come about. Somewhere along these
four years he had been robbed of his
zeal, Of his push, of his desire to get
ahead He couldn't put his finger upon
the exact spot. but it was so hard just
to keep existing. When one was
through making both ends meet, there
was no room left for additional vim.
And then there had been the transfer
to Mellet's store. Very vaguely Tom
recognized that change as the turning
point for the worse. 1t mad been pre-
ceded by a SO raise. Mellet's store was
the most important Of the whole chain
Of haberdashery shops. and only the
very finest statesmen were detailed to 1t.
And yet this same Mellet had reduced
him to a grind, to q cog in the wheel,
to an obsequious menial who soft-footed
behind the counter and inquired ones
wishes, In subdued. emotionless voice.
And his own subjugation to conditions
had finally engulfed Rose. There was
the piano to prove it. How she had
loved to play it in those earlier days
when their own little circle had con-
sidered her quite a genius. and the de-
sire to study for concert work famed
in her breast! But the drudgery and
the effort to pay for the little upright
had quite killed off that hope. and 1t
now stood untouched, monument OF
four years self-deprivation.
As he sat there putting at his cigar
ette, Tom Winters tried to place the
blame for his failure somewhere. But
he couldn't. He had pust been dragged
under with the tide.