Evening star., 1932-11-28
CHAPTER SO.
A CLEVER GIRL.
.icaauiy.Iy..

RI 4 ND no more bossing," Santa
n 'ssss ss';.'ss ST. s..,,a.. in. you ,ssr. ,, PROM M
ised that" said Give.
you've been awfully bossy," she re-
pulsed him.
"Oh, beg pardon-you're not referring
to your own shortcomings.
well. haven't you2" Her eyes
twinkled.
"Bossed your I certainly haven't. The
shoes been on the other foot. If ]
can't salute your lips, your nose will do
She forestalled him by pulling the
sheet higher.
You can have my lips when you've
promised"
Promised what?"
mot to boss me-"
IT never have-but promise"
The sheet was lowered.
young devill" He caught her to
him.
He left the apartment grinning. Her
ruse had been the revenge Of little
capricious girl.
The chill November air was bracing.
He was in mood to count his blessings.
A wife who worshipped him. An en-
ployer who at one throw had more than
doubled his salary. Scarcely more than
six months ago he'd been that most
desolate of creatures, bachelor.
Marriage to him had been vision on
the road to Damascus, revealing life in
its fullness. He'd lacked faith in his
ability till Santa had inspired him.
Merely to be her husband had boosted
his stock He was sitting on top of the
world. Peaks Of triumph!
In the subway bristling downtown.
he asked himself what had been the
reason for his soreness. It boiled down
to this; that Santa had forced him to
reach up to a standard which had been
prophecy. She'd presumed his sue
cess Anyhow, misunderstanding were
things of the past. His straight talking,
even If it wasn't quite merited, had
cleared the atmosphere.
Seated in his office, occupied with
facts, doubt cast a shadow. Cleared
the atmospheric Had it? Not till lunch
did he permit himself the leisure to ex-
anime. Gen. Foch had achieved victory
by a logic wholly feminine: "A battle
won is a battle which we' will not
acknowledge to be lost" Santa had
made the same discovery. In the mo-
ment of defeat, she had snatched back
all her trenches by making him promise
never again to be what he never had
been-bossy
With aroused suspicion that amounted
to alarm, he ran over the progress Of
their quarrel. Santa had retreated, con-
ceding everything till she had brought
him to halt. Shed employed the same
tactics at Stratford. She'd been willing
to agree with him till his arguments had
grown stale through repetition; then
she went her own way, dragging him
at her chariot.
1t became certain that she contem-
plated no reforms. She still intended
that he should roost in the home Of her
choosing, sit on her chairs, watched by
all the gods who had witnessed her first
marriage. A woman who never asknowl-
edged defeat, never acknowledged that
she had erred. Were husbands always
in the wrong, he wondered.
And yet she seemed to be unaware OF
her obstinacy. Her subtlety was in
sinctive. Last night he'd missed his
great chance. He should have framed a
program before accepting her submission,
II he were to reopen the debate in the
face Of reconciliation, 1t would be diff
cult to keep conversation on a friendly
basis. On the other hand, II he didn't,
he might as well not have spoken; af-
fairs would drift placidly into their old
channels.
With the half-formed idea Of i'm
pressing her with his Importance, he
stuffed a stack Of papers into his
satchel.
What on earth have you there?" she
challenged.
Work, darling" "
what shamep