The Ely miner., 1924-02-08

and she noted, even then, something
forced in his tone of reinsurance, as
If he were managing a small child.
you've been sitting around by your
self all day. with nothing to do and
nobody TO talk to. Well have to tackle
that problem somehow"
She told him. without raising her
head, that this was bad guess. Ii
hadn't been an unoccupied day at all.
She'd gone to party.
Margaret Craven's luneh," he said.
Il know" (She was sure, though,
that he'd forgotten all about it, But
l guess you can feel lonesomer at a
party than anywhere else, if things
don't go just right. What went wrong
this time?'
''Oh, nothing much" she said. over
a catch that had come back into her
breathing She wished he wouldn't
ask her questions; just go on, holding
her still. She felt, from the move
ment of his beard, that he was smiling.
did you wear the wrong sort OF
hat?" he asked
II guess so,' she agreed. DULY.
'She as good as told me So"
| "Oh, d-ni" she heard Joe murmur.
Then. with an edge in his voice, You
don't mean she was really-impolite
to you, unfriendly?"
"Oh, no; she was all right" Beatrice
/ told him. "She offered to take me
shopping with her. Show me where l
could get the right sort of things as
If she could see plain enough mine
weren't. I suppose that's what you
think, too / wish you would go
shopping with me"
what makes you think know any
/ thing about women,s clothesg" he de-
manded, but in tone she recognized
as not serious. 1t had joke in 1t for
his private enjoyment. OF course,
he'd probably bought clothes for all
sorts of women. but that wasn't the
sort Of thing he'd expect her TO guess.
you want to take up that offer Of
hers" he said, after silence. "She's
mighty well-dressed woman herself,
and she hasn't had much to do IT on,
/ guess. I'm sure she meant ii in a
friendly way. And she could give you
the right dope about lots Of things"
II don't care whether it's the right
dope or not" she persisted. 81 don't
want her telling me what to wear.
want you to-" She slipped her free
arm round his massive shoulder. "WiH
you go shopping with me, Dad?" she
said. You'll know what you like any
how, and that's all care about"
He Rugged her up tighter at that.
"All right" he said, its a bargain.
Well go some day, the first chance
we get" There was silence for a
while after that, but he hadn't, as she
hoped, done with the luncheon. did
she have anything else to say?" he
asked, and the girl perversely asked.
"WhoY
why, Margaret Craven
She thought he'd hesitated little
over the use of the name. "Oh, moth
| ing much" she told him.
He waited for more; then he asked
who else was at the party.
/ 1t wasn't a real party, she said
There were only two other girls be-
sides herself. One of them was named
Stannard-Sylvia Stannard; she pre-
tended to be crazy about farming. And
the other was Dorothy Williamson.
whats she like?" The question
was asked on so different note. with
such an appearance of personal con-
Germ, that Beatrice sat erect and
looked at him. "Why," he explained,
"she's Williamson's daughter, that's
gone into business with me. He'.; got
picture Of her, chalk, on the wall
OF his Office. Very pretty girl, I'd have
said from that. Anyhow, I'd like you
to make friends with her"
"WeH, I'm not likely to-" she said.
"She's little up-stage snip; that's
what she is. And she isn't pretty
that Is. not very. got enough of her
today to last me long time" She
rose from his knees at that, and
walked away. noting that he had made
no effort to detain her.
Look here, Trix." he said. at last,
4
want TO make any mistakes right at
the start think it's safe bet that
that girl will treat you all right when
she knows who you are-after her
mother has had a talk with her, any
how. And she probably Is all right,
mighty. They're all that, one way and
another. But, with them, the point is,
1t isn't bluff. They really are like
that, not putting 1t on. They know
they're solid, and they don't-give a
d-n for anybody.
take those Williamsons. I didn't
understand 'em till saw where they
lived They've got one Of the most
beautiful places ever saw, up at Lake
Forest. Acres and acres of it-I don't
know how big it is. And a house as
big as hotel. But 1t might be five
room cottage for anything they care.
They have things as they like; do and
dress as they please. There's no one
to tell 'em what they shall do or what
they sha'n't.
well, we're going to be like that
ourselves. We are now,-onIy they
haven't found it out, altogether. Some
day Wen have a place like William
sons I'm not as rich as he is now,
but I'm on the way to be. expect
there's some OF them well find pretty
duh and stuffy, but there're others
that aren't. I've found that out al
ready. On the whole. once they see
we're inside the fence. they're a per-
fectly friendly lot. And as good a lot