The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1927-01-27
Saying 1t With
Thrift
By H. LOUIS RAYBOLD

l. in general and marriage in par
| ticular, as young men will.
"a man should not marry" said
Giles Harrington, until he is draw
ing at least seventy-fve a week, can
show a bank balance of four figures,
and is prepared to finance his own
home"
"In my opinion" retorted Dick, who
was the son of old Doc. Winters, a
notably loved but thriftless person, che
should marry when he finds the right
girl"
"And I maintain" insisted the
other, "that unless conditions that I
| outlined are met, she will not re-
main the right girl but prove the
truth of that old saying about love
flying out of the window when pow
erty comes in at the door,"
Now it Is possible that, at the time
of this conversation, both young
men had already become interested
in Martha Endicott.
However, 1t was not very long
after the above discussion of life
In general and marriage In particular,
that both young men saw fit to call
upon Martha.
Martha was seen out driving one
day with Giles, the next at the thea
ter with Dick. On Sundays, both Dick
and Giles would drop in at the Endi-
colt home.
But they were rivals, and each man
knew it. In between calls on Martha,
each man was hustling for all he was
worth. If it was going to be a case
of the better man winning, it was
going to be nip and tuck between the
| two. A tremendous boom of business
in town increased Giles law business
and brought more practice to Dick,
who was taking over his fathers med
ical work. Giles bought a piece of
property so far out of town that wise
old ladies winked and said: Hell be
building a house on 1t for himself
and Martha Endicott.' Then a ma
tionally known firm put up a factory
near by and Giles sold out for double
what he had paid. Dick took a run
down two-family house In payment for
a bad debt and before the year was
up 1t was wanted badly by the owners
Of the apartment house on either side,
so Dick turned a penny he had not
expected to turn.
Dick was inclined to be free with
his money, yet no one ever accused
Giles of niggardliness. One merely
spoke of him as "a thrifty man"
with a suspicion of admiration In the
| saying of 1t. While of Dick one said,
smiling and shaking ones head bit
deprecatorily, "easy come, easy 60.
Dicks a good spender."
He would have lavished gifts upon
Martha had she allowed him to. But
she was singularly fastidious in her
treatment of both men, and what she
did not permit Giles she did not per-
nit Dick. Fortunately, perhaps, their
invitations seldom clashed so that she
was not forced to decide between them.
Dick did not invite her to the few
intellectual affairs that came to town,
as did Giles. He was more apt to run
in unexpectedly as he was on the
rounds of his morning calls with
something impromptu.
AS, for instance, I'm taking the
kids in the ward out to the circus
this afternoon. Want to come along
and feed the animals?"
And Martha would go, as lively as
any of the youngsters, coming back
to slip into a low-necked gown and
evening cape to hear the Patio players
in Shakespearean repertoire with
Giles, the highbrow.
AS chance would have it, both chose
to propose the evening of the annual
bazaar given by the entire town for
the hospital, on the lovely grounds of
the hospital itself. 1t was always a
busy day for Martha, and when eve
ming had come and the strain was
bit over, she was glad to slip into one
Of the stone seats backed against
mass of shrubbery and listen to the
! sweet strains from the violin.
/ Giles came first, and plunged into
; his declaration without preamble.
give loved you for years, Martha, but
would not speak until I had what
. seemed to be adequate possessions to
offer you. Some people accuse me
Of being over thrifty, but what have
done I have done for you"
1t was hard for Martha to do what
she did, but 1t had to be done. She
laid a plying hand on his knee, for
she knew what her words would mean
to Giles. "Some time ago, Giles" she
began tenderly, "Dick Winters told me
frankly that he loved me, but was
not In a position to marry me. He
refused to bind me, although I think
I was quite willing to be bound. I
must be free, he said, to marry any
one else, if wished, only he wanted
me to know that he was working
and saving for me. Perhaps he won't
ask me again, but, If he does, I am
ready"
'In other words" said Giles bit
terly, "he set you aside like q savings
account, to be there when he wanted
it."
perhaps" said Martha. "There are
many kinds of thrift, Giles"