The Press., 1922-05-25
He Said He Under
 stood Women
By FRANK H. WILLIAMS


 side section of BramptOn, where Alice resided, were wondering whether he would win Alice's hand or whether she would bestow it on his rival. Howard Brahm.
 And Ben, realizing all this, tilted his chair still farther back and smiled at his good friend, old Mrs. Ferguson through the smoke from his cigarette
 Mrs. Ferguson had been Ben's nurse when he was a baby. Now that her husband had become wealthy, she. t01 resided in the Lakeside section Ot Brampton, but she had not outgrnwn her affection for Ben, and still mnlh- cred him, having no children q. her own.
 You ought to be up and doing" de clared Mrs. Ferguson. with asperity evidently irritated hy BPn'S cUEIp"Sure 'Brahm will be running away with the girl you ought IO marry, before you know it, If you don't look out.
 "She'n never marry .ifm!" declared Ben positively.
 Again he puffed cOntentedly on his cigarette. He could see. too, that In spite of Mrs. FerguSon's irritation his calm assertion had made quite an i'm pressiOn on her.
 Now. why do you say that?" she demanded.
 Because I understand women" de clared Ben easily.
 Because you understand women !' Mrs. Ferguson exploded. "A lot you know about women. You'll see. yOull see!"
 Well, I understand this one woman Alice, in particular" asserted Ben, bringing his chair down on all f"urs. And I tell you she'll never marry Brahm. I'm as sure of il as-as-us anything at all ]"
 But look at what he's doing for her" Ben's old nurse cried.
 Hes always taking her out in thpt big automobile of his. And then look al that big house he's putting up. My, hut It's a big one! And all the folks are saying he's putting it up for her. You ought to be putting up an even better one. You can afford it.
 "l know I can afford it. said Ben, but I'm not going to do il. tell you l understand women and I know what they want. Now, don't you wOrry"
 He stood up and patted Mrs. Fer guSOn reassuringly on her ample ShOul- der
 Mrs. Ferguson smiled a hit at this and caught his big, brown hand in hers.
 "I hope you're right, do hope you're right. Ben," she said. "I want you to have everything you want. And know you want Alice"
 Yes" said Ben. as a wistful look came into his eyes. "l want Alice bad"
 For a moment he said nothing, his glance abstracted. Then he patted Mrs. Ferguson's shoulder once again.
 "Rut I've got to work things out in my own way" he said. ''Fm sure Pm right. I'm not going to sit by quietly and let Brahm walk right over me. I'm going to do something. all right Rut I'm afraid you'd not approve of It."
 What is it?" demanded Mrs. Fer guson.
 That's a secret" Ben smiled. "rn tell you later"
 That night Ben went to see Alice and he knew that all the neighbOrs were watching closely as he drove up before her home in his last years car and sauntered casually up the steps to the front door, Ben didn't care what the neIghbors thought or said or did. If it afforded them entertain ment to know he was calling on Alice, and If they enjoyed speculatlng about the outcome of the Contest between Brahm and himself, let them keep on Speculatfng. He didn't mind In the least.
 Alice herself came to the door and greeted Ben with a cherry smile that made his heart pound loudly against his ribs and that brought home to him more fOrcefully than ever the fact that he wanted her very much. indeed.
 Alice was a mighty pretty girl, though somewhat frail looking. She was the private secretary to the head of a big manufacturing company and worked hard all day. So Ben never stayed very late at night when he called on her. He knew she needed the rest and he felt It would be more cOnsiderate to her to go at reason able hour than to keep her up to all times of the night. And. surely, in this particular at least Ben demon strated that he understood women.
 ''I'm going to big party tomorrow night" said Alice. with Howard. suppose 1t will be fearfufly late and there will be lots of people there"
 ''Yes?" said Ben, without much in- terest. We've just taken the agency for a new vacuum cleaner down at our store," he went on. taking a seat beside Alice on the davenport. It's little affair, only weighs .athree pounds. People will use 1t to clean upholstery and get into corners and all that sort of thing. See here, here's how you could use 1t on this daven- port"
 Ben demonstrated the use of the ar tiele as best he could. As he did so he looked quickly and thoughtfullv at Alice. What he saw in her face seemed to please him immensely, for he smiled delightedly.
 There's a friend of mine going to get married soon," went on Ben, "whO's got one of the most complete little bungalows you ever saw. Everything all arranged so that the work of taking care of the house won't amount to anything at all. He's bought one of these new hand vacuum cleaners. He's bought a lot of other labOr-saving de vices from our store, too. Would you like to look at his bungalOw"
 Again Ben looked carefully and thoughtfully at Alice. And again he smiled as she clapped her hands and looked pleased.
 "Pd love to Rol" Alice exclaimed.