The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-14
When A Girl Marries
By ANNE LISLE.
CHAPTER, 7O6.

1 Ortiz, I hurried back to the office and l by dint of severe concentration man l aged to do a days work in the few remaining hours. It was almost 6 when I came out of my private office l to find Miss May still at her desk and l plugging away. We discussed a few 1 business details and then made our 1 preparations to close the office for i the day.
 l Lingering after Miss May had gone 1 I te1ephoned Tom Mason and was 1 lucky enough to reach him at his 1 studio.
 Hello, Donna Anna!" he greeted 1 me with his usual large suavity. "Y You l are just the girl I was looking for.' 'And here I am!' I replied with none of the resentment I would once upon a time have taken at Toms ] tone. I knew now that he had no l consciousness of any girl in the l world but Irma Warren. And my re- | apect for my own poss Enae attractive ness was down below zero. Manueio 1 Ortiz had convinced me that there l are pltnty of men folks in the world
 who don't know there's more than l one woman in all the world. Of 1 course, theoretically that's nne ana l just as it should be. But what real
 wonan-even if she's dear little old 1 grandmother in dainty white cap 1 likes to be treated little more Inn l personally than a pet canary? Here you are!" repeated Tom. And here is o'clock And soon Is l will be dinner time. What do you say l to our celebrating this unusual run of 1 events toegether?"
 ''I say yes I want to see you, l and the sooner the better" I replied. Dinner it is, then. Where do I call for you. fair lady compan1on?" ! ha antered Tom.
 "Right here at the office. I'll wore l till seven or whenever Mrs. Hill likes l to have her dinner l we won't dine at home. don't l feel like being under the dear old lady's supervision tonight. Does it 1 matter?" asked Tom.
 l of course not" I assured him. 1 You're Jim's friend-a friend of long standing. Under the circunstances,
 to dine with you is all that counts" 1 "Righto, donna Anna! The thing | is as you say. Be round at seven,'' l said Tom. "Good-by.'' 1 Whereupon I plunged back into the 1 heart of my work, giving my whole l mind to it, serene in the belief that IETom would soon help me unravel the 1 problems which concerned Jim and 1 Dick West.
 l Promptly at Seven, Tom looned
 up in the doorway. I was still at work, and a note of irritation in his | voice he asked why I wasn't ready l caught my attention.
 "Fll be less than five nainutes.' I 1 said. E'But I thought perhaps we l could chat a bit before starting.'' l "Alone in your office at dusk, said ] Tom with what I thought was bur- l Iesque self-consciousness. But a mo- 1 nent later I knew it for something very different. For he went on:
 We've no time to waste I < It want | to keep Mir. Haldane wait v I've
 arranged to meet him and Miss War ren at my club. We're all dining there to gether.''
 "Oh, that's nice!" I said, choking back an hysterical impulse divided , 1 equally between desire for laughter
 and need of tears. I'll get ready at | once"
 But as went into the inner office I to adjust my hat and wash up a bit
 I faced a fact that left me far from | nirthful. Manuelo Ortiz might have 1 been of real service in tightening l out Jim's aairs, but he was intent I on serving Rosa that nothing which 1 didn't relate directly to her could get his attention. And now Tom. In- 1 stead of seeking me out for a. discus ! sion of his interests or mine he was 1 dragging me into the heart of the ! l thing on which he wa@ bent. I'm to speed his wooing of Irnla Warren" I figured "He has time l Or energy to give to Jim and me just i now. None surely if his dreams fail to come true. And none, just as sure ly, if they are realized" With a wry little smile at the way things are arranged in a world where I had no one to count on in the hour when, for Jin's sake, I most needed someone, I went out to join Tom ) Amusingly, from one point of view, the erstwhi1e dilatory Tom was pac-
 ir~ up and down the office as if he
 could hardly bear a seconds delay. ! He hurried me down the stairs and
 into a waiting taxi and so to the club It was all in such a. breathless wf1iri } there was time for little more than
 Toms declaration that he hoped I
 was as well satisfied with the chape-
 rones he'd provided us with the one I'd ' suggested.
 'tChaperones!' I said b1ankIy. "Oh
 yes; of course!''
 Tt really won't do for me to be-
 taking even my best friends wife out to dinner" said Tom smugly. You were right in your attitude when you wouldn't even lunch with me un- chaperoned.' But I didn't know you then" I said, for bearing to add nor trust you"
 "Of course you didn't. I didn't even know myself But now that you uni derstand how much I care for old Jimmie you might easily enough waive fornality and dine with me. Only now 1 have to see things through Irma's eyes and also from the view point of old Loren Haldane. He ap- proves of you. His approval of me ig 1 due to go up notch when he observes our friendship and sees just how free 1 1t is from any modern philMndering elem ment."
 ~Oh, Tomi'' I cried. 'Tf you ex- l pect to win Loren HaIdane's regard l it must be on an honest basis He's l fine and high minded. And he knows ] the difference between what's called l proper and what is really right" Here we are!" said Tom with no ]