Evening star., 1922-12-31
HIS DEAR CASSANDRA

hope to God never set eyes on you
again as long as live!"
CTCPIDLY. Picard watched him turn
~ the corner. Stupidly. Picard
went into the apartment house and
climbed two floors and rang a bell.
it behind him and put his back
against 1t; and he made his declara-
tion there In the hallway. for Mrs.
Carpenter was audible In the living
room.
Bertha" he said. unsteadily, I'm
broke. and I'm tired out, and I'm dis
couraged-but won't you please mar
ry me. anyway"
Although Bertha had insisted and
her mother had insisted that In all
common sense they must delay the
wedding until Picard was on his
feet again. he overpowered them both
with his dynamic stubbornness. Ber-
tha had used the word Judgment"
but 1t was the wrong word for any
woman to use to Picard. With his
eloquence and his masculine superb
ority ne crushed her. magnifying the
import Of his bank balance, until she
weakly agreed with him that his few
hundred dollars were In the nature
Of a generous endowment Further
more, now that he had taken respon-
sibilities upon himself. he would ar
range Immediately to finance the re-
sponsibilities. AS matter Of fact,
even though Benham was eliminated
from his list Of prospective angels,
Picard had an alternative OF propo-
sitions. II he chose he could go out
in a vaudeville sketch at $50 week:
but he preferred to go to work in
stead for an old acquaintance, curb
broker, at $50.
Bertha was contemplative. ut
seems to me-" she said. that after
you've invested eight years in one
profession you ought to think pretty
carefully before you throw away ELL
that investment. Os course. I'm not
awfully anxious to have you keep on
being an actor. but when you've
learned 80 much about the stage
and there's SO many different phases
of tt should think you'd want to
find some place where your knowl-
edge would help you get ahead. We
cant very well be much poorer than
we are now. can we? Then why start
ina business that's so absolutely new
to you? You could get just as much
money In something to do with the
necessarily acting-and
have a future. You know a lot about
the mechanics Of plays; why don't
you see II you can't get a position
that's got something to do with man
aging?'
Picard kissed her indulgently. I'm
never convinced by argument" he
said. ."only by experience. I'm quit
ting the stage. I've got my reasons.
Your problem Is to figure out where
we're going to live"
Bertha glanced up at him in amaze
ment why - here. aren't we?
Mother and I have 4 long lease, and
It's a very favorable lease, too, and
we've got all our furniture here, and
AND everything. oonI sec )" Hdl
else there Is to do
Picard shook his head. That isn't good
Judgment. I'm afraid it wouldn't work
Your mothers corker.- and I'm awfully
fondref, her and all that. but I-want us.
Is be by ourselves. And th.s place is
really crowded now. A cat could hard
ly walk around here and keep from
stumbling. I want my own establish
ment"
But If you won't let me keep on
working for a while, Stuart-and that's
the onyy sensible thing to do-why.
how can We afford to live anywhere
else? Now, my plan"
He kissed her again with imperturb-
able confidence. What does a little
business man, Bertha. You're tho rest
of IT,"
Bertha, who In a day had exercised
Jurisdiction over more money than
Picard would earn in all his life, flushed
vividly.
"AIr. Benham used to say was a
girl In a hundred, Stuart"
gave her q compliment.
"Benham was conservative. I say
you're a girl in two billion-if that's
what the population Of tho earth is.
But you're not marrying Benham, are
your No, dear do love you.
but I'm marrying you because I want
to protect sou and take care Of you.
and I'm going to do It. too"
LIE was the apotheoas Of affection.
i i and Of kindness, but 1t wounded
her to realize that he could 50 calmly
discount her greatest ability. This was
her elementary lesson in the arbitrari-
ness Of the man she had promised to
marry. and 1t left her breathless and
bewildered. But she was blindly in
love with Picard. and whatever he said
to her had the weight Of an imperial
mandate.
In matters Of domestic economy, and
terial details Of life he absorbed her
views without protest: but when 1t
came to the vital matters upon which
their present and their future welfare
was based he held firm to his belief
that any woman. even Bertha, and,
perhaps. especially Bertha. because he
knew her better than he had known
any other woman, was essentially in
capable Of any sound decision. Already
she knew him more accurately than he
had ever known himself. and she could
have administered his affairs. and the
affairs Of twenty others like him. with
out Rpparent effort and with excep-