, 1922-02-16

Alice. What he saw In her face
seemed to please him immensely, for
he smiled delightedly.
There's u friend of mine going to
get married soOn,' went on Ben, who's
got n of the most complete little
bungalows you ever saw. Everything
all arranged so hat the work of taking
care of the house won't amount to
anything ut all. He's bought one of
these new hand vacuum cleaners. He's
bought n lot of other labor-saving de-
vices from u store, too. Would you
like to look at his bungalow
Again Ben looked carefully and
thoughtfully Mt Alice. And again he
smiled as she clapped her hands and
looked pleased.
I'D love to go" Alice exclaimed.
I'll come and get yoG Saturday aft
e%rnoon,' said Ben. Maybe you can
make some suggestions IS TO changes
that ought to be made In the little
bungalow"
Some time later, as Ben chugged
down the street In his last years car,
his face wore a broad grin. Even the
sight of the handsome new, biz house
on one of the most prominent corners
in Lakeside, which was being erected
by Brahm, failed to dampen his en-
thusiasm.
I'll show these folks | do knew a
thing or two about women, after AFT"
said Ben.
Ben still wore n smile on the fol
lowing Monday when he was once more
in Mrs. Ferguson's house.
Ben said Mrs. Ferguson, 81 dom
want to discourage you, but I'm afraid
It's all Off. don't believe you've got
any chance at all for Alice"
Ben puffed slowly at his cigar with
out showing much perturbation.
why notf" he asked, at last.
Brahms house will be finished soon
and he's telling around he'll soon be
taking his bride there. You know what
that means?"
Yes" said Ben, unperturbed. 1T
means nothing at ALL"
"Why?" demanded Mrs. Ferguson.
Because" said Ben, "he doesn't I'M
derstand women. Last Saturday l took
Alice to see a little bungalow l told her
a friend of mine was putting up. It's
a neat little place-just the right size
for a young couple. Plenty of labor
saving devlces-just the sort of a
house that n frail girl like Alice would
love to be in. Dc you think IA great
big house like Brahms has any chance
at all beside a little bungalow like
that? Don't you think any girl would
prefer to marry a man who thought
so much of her hat he wanted to give
her a tiny, easy-to-take-car-of place,
instead of a great big house where
she'd be burdened to death?
Ben smiled at his old nurse as he
said this. He saw her eyes gllsten
with delight.
And the bungalow isn't your
friends at all !" cried Mrs. Ferguson
dellghtedly. . ITS yours. And you
equipped 1t all ready to move in and
then showed 1t to Alice for a sur
prise"
Ben smiled blandly.
mot at ALL" he said. at really does
belong TO n friend Of mInel"
But, L don't get the idea," ex-
claimed Mrs. Ferguson. greatly puz.
zled.
Don't you see" he explained, 81
showed the house to her so | could tell
her It was my idea of the sort of a
house she'd like to live In. But
didn't make the mistake of springlng
the whole completed job on her. Not
at all Why, II of the biggest things
in any woman's life is planning the
sort Of a home she wants to live In,
and actually seeing It go up! Remem-
Der that Brahm has put up his house
to suit hlmself-to please himself and
no one else in the world Do you
think Alice will ever marry linn now?'
mo, l don'ti" exclaimed Mrs. Fer
guson emphatIcally and joyfully.
And Alice didn't marry Brahm.
She's Mrs. Ben Underwood now, and
very happy, indeed, in n little bunga-
low Of her own designing, which is
the envy of all her friends and rela-
lives for It's comfort and %cozlness.
Which goes to prove that Ben really
knew what he was talking about when
he said he understood women-the one
oma at least. I'm whom he was par
ticularly Interested,