New Britain herald., 1922-04-13
The Disconcerting Request With

The fear that the man smith would try to revenge himself upon Dicky, now that he knew he was living within mile of us, became almost q mania with mc in the hours fol- lowing my encounter with the mar upon the woodland roan,
 Perhaps my ohsessinE wish that my husband should get away from the vicinity affected Dicky telepathica lly, At any rate much to my relief, upon the evening of the same day which had brought smith back upon my mental horizon, Dicky casually an- nounced that he thought he would run up to New York for two or three days
 T ought to have gone before" he said. and I knew the statement was but a mild truth. Eve got a mil lion things to give the once over But was too lazy when I first came home and then Mothers accident and yours-hut you can get along all right now, can't you with Katie back on the job"
 Madge's Resolve
 
 too promptly, for l did not want Dicky to guess that I wished him out of the way. That he did fathom my desire-hut. of course, not the fear behind the wish-I knew when he gave a short little laugh.
 Tt will give you a clear field for your diplomatic researches" he said with the suspicion of sheer but the little taunt drew no irritated response from me. Instead, my mental ther- mometer indicated sudden rise. For between the lines l could read Dickv's surrender in the issue between us that of my helping Lillian in her secret work for the government.
 Neither of us had until now re- ferred to that tense moment when Dicky had laid down the law so en1- phatically to me with such stenuous, almost tragic results. l knew that my husband never would refer to it again. and that this was his way of telling me that he had rescinded his prohibit tion. But on my part I made a little resolve to keep as much out of the thing as l possibly could without nlnderlnS Lillian.
 I knew-though I had in times past tried to gloss over the knowled ge- that l welcomed the thrill of helping in the great game, of being tiny part of it. far more than did my childish nelodrama loving mother inlaw. I suppose it is because wom- en for so many centuries have been fettered with the humdrum, that they welcome so ioyously any chance to do the things which custom and the will of their men folk. have kept from them.
 Look It Up-'
 Can 1 help you get readyo" asked the customary perfunctory question to cover my silence a Dicky's gibe. and received his sterotyped answer:
 Yes, you can leave me alone and not bother me-
 My knowledge of my husband taught me neither to take offense at this retort nor to pay any attention to it. I stationed myself in my room opening from his, and pretended to he busy with some sewing. knowing that before he was ready for his journey he would summon me many times.
 The early train to the city, which is almost imperative if one does not wish to waste most of the day in travel, makes it impossible for ease loving, procratinating Dicky to wait until the morning to make his prepar- ations for the journey. He has missed the train two or three times by at tempting that feat. and has finally submitted to the regime of packing his bag and shaving. leaving nothing for the morning but a dash into his clothes and a snatch at bite of breakfast.
 But the necessity always makes him 1ll-natured, and I had hard work to keep my resentment at his caustic lt tie filings from betraying itself. Never theless,. l managed it, and d last he declared himself ready for the trip.
 Much obliged, old dear" he said with sort of rough ungraciousness You're a good scout, if you are little balmy in the beam, And now. for the love of Mike, turn out that light and let me get to sleep. m only have five or six hours By the way, do you know where that Span ish comb is that Ede left out here last spring? I've been trying to remem-