Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23

II ever girl was nedQ6U SIIdlSuC Az
being an old maid it was Madg'
Edwards
"The trouble with Madge," Dulcit
had said. SIS that she's too smart
without being quite smart enough
She's Just smart enough to help the
boys with solid geometry and not smart
enough not to do it,"
And Dulcie had hit the nail on the
head. All through high school, so faI
as I remember, Madge had never had
a single beau She was the only girl on
the debating team and everybody knows
what that will do to girl. You can't
prove in front of 200 people that
boy is a lame brain about the League
of Nations and then expect to have him
holding your hand and whispering sweet
nothings in your ear the next evening.
There's no use pretending that boys
knows more than they do-unleSS she
knows enough to keep it dark
Madge went away to college and
made the four-year course in three
years. Her father died and her mother
moved down to Peoria to be nearer her
sister. That was four years ago, and
Madge hadn't been back to Montrose in
the meantime. Her fathers. money had
been tied up in the Van Ness block,
and when Will finally sold that in
March Madge wrote me that she
thought she'd come back as soon as she
graduated and close up things for her
mother.
Graduated" Rosemary Merton re-
peated. II thought she graduated from
college about the time the rest OF us
did from nigh school,"
"She did" 1 said, land what do you
suppose she's graduating from now?"
What on earth?" Dulcie demanded.
I paused to get all the dramatic ef-
feet I could. Then medical college"
I said simply.
Rosie looked at Dulcie, and Dulcie
whether she was going to be trained
nurse.
"You don't go through a medical
college to be a trained nurse" said.
"She's going to be a doctor"
"a doctor!" Rosie and Dulcie looked
at each other again.
wouldn't you have known i'll" they
both said.
"Of course" I said, there are lots
Of woman doctors"
Nobody paid any attention to this
We all sighed.
'Well she'll never get married now. "
said Rosie.
whoever heard of a woman doctor
marrying anybody?" said Dulcie.
Mrs. DR.. Powers in Verblen is mar
ried!" suddenly recalled.
I'll bet she married DR.. Powers be-
fore she was one herself, Dulcie haz-
arded None of us denied this. Mrs.
DR.. Powers getting married was way
before our time.
That's what Madge had better do"
said Rosie. eff she doesn't get married
before, it's sure she never will after
ward. Just imagine asking man who
he's going to marry and have him say
DIR. EdwardS'!'
We all giggled at that. But suddenly
We turned serious.
Maybe we could help Madge to do
that very thing" said. When she's
in MontroSe this June. She says she's
going to take the Summer for vacation
and begin practicing in the Fall. This
Summer is absolutely her last chance"
Il think we ought to do the best we
can" said Dulcie.
so do l." said Rosemary.
said I would invite Madge to stay
with us while she was in MontroSe.
We'll all entertain and throw her
with the right young man." said Dulcle.
X X x
THERE was little pause. Then
= But where are we going to find
the right young mani" I asked.
That was the Sticker. There are
precious few bachelors in Montrose, any,
way. Most of the young fellows either go
to Chicago or get married just as soon
as they're making enough. There were
the Dover boys, of course, but we
doubted that either of them was max
ing enough to support a wife; they'd
seemed to be kind of slow in taking hold.
Then there was Sydney Hinckle, who
travels for the Butterfly Silk House, but
wouldn't feel right in marrying any
friend of mine off to hinn-he is said to
drink and Heaven knows what, when
he's on the road. There was John
Duer but he was so homely.
In fact, by the time we had the pos
sible young men talked over, we agreed
that it would have to be Wells Prentice.
That was unfortunate. because Wells
Prentice would be a hard man to get
He was the catch of MontroSe and he
didn't what to get married. He often
said so. He lived in the new hotel and
kept a nifty little roadster and would
run over to Chicago for week ends when
ever he felt like it. He'd said plenty Of
little things to intimate that he was
glad he wasn't in the shoes of some OF
the men of our crowd, with rent anc
babies 10 worry about.
He was nearly 80 and each new cror
of girls had tried their hand at him
He had become, as Will said, gun-shy
He was wonderful catch. He had {
position in the bank and an independent
income that his Uncle Harvey Clay hac
left him, besides. He was very gooc
looking, too.
Madge alone, of course, wouldn't have
had ghost of chance with Wells. Blu
Madge, with ali our young married
crowd to help her! 1t was a challengI
to all of US believe that is why W.
all got SO interested. When you havt
been married anywhere from two to fiv,
years, as we all have, you have reached
the point where you realize that you
understand men. And you watch tn
single girls laundering along, making tn
most ridiculous. unnecessary mistakes
succeeding, when they do succeed, b.
mere f1ukeS. You feel sure that, if Vol
wanted to put your mind to it, you .coult
marry any man..
Marrying off Madge would not b
easy. In fact, I don't think any on
of us would have dared tackle the jo
alone. But the difficulty only mad
the proposition more stimulating. Il
4dCO, Willie IL WdS largely Necessity INA
made us pick Wells Prenticc-ther
really didn't seem to be anybody else
guess there was a certain element O
pride in it, too. In Wells We had
foeman worthy of our steel.
Rosemary and Dulcie and hap
pened to meet in Mats Grocery III
Monday morning before Madge wa
due to arrive, and we planned Gu
campaign.
THE thing to do, Of course" sal
Rosie practically, sis to make sure tina
they meet casually. If Wells once &C
the idea Madge was setting her ca
for him, he'd be off like frightene
doe"
Her train gets in about nooI
doesn't it?" Dulcie asked. 'Wel
Roger is in the bank nearly every Ga
on his way home to dinner, and he an
Wells usually walk up together. 1
Tell Roger to CrOp around by the sta