Evening star., 1936-02-02
THIS WEEk
"Section 2l3"
Continued from page fen

desk not far from the elegant, lady
Staying Ben Brackett She was an
easy prey for his dark and we'll
managed eyes. Their trysting place
for time was at the big carboy hold
ing the drinking water for the
office.
Ada developed an amazing thirst.
1t conceded with Ben's. Also, Ben
rarely passed Ada's desk without
leaving little folded note. Soon she
would be seen passing his desk and
leaving an answer there.
One day there were no notes. Ada
and Ben seemed to be cured of the
inordinate thirst that took them to
the water carboy. They did not lunch
together. They did not speak The
lovers had plainly Quarreled, but they
told nobody why. and nobody dared
to ask. Ada seemed to wither. but
Ben flourished.
Ben did not earn much and never
would. His wages barely sufficed to
keep him in the foppish ready-made
elegance he required for his self
respect. He liked women and he pre-
ferred to &C Dutch Treat with them
when he took them out. One girls
expenses at luncheon would cost him
the price of a new tie; a dinner was
worth shirt.
Before he let himself in too deep
with Ada Stowe, he learned that she
earned more than he did She agreed
with him in the belief that wives
should pay their own way. She was
one of the few girls he knew who had
no dependents, no family to meddle
with her affairs or eat into her wages.
She saved her money and lived alone
in boarding house. She had big
double room and he could move right
in! 1t would save him ever so much
money that could be spent profitably
at the haberdasher' and the ready
made clothing emporia. They agreed
on wedding date just as Section 2l3
was clamped down, and offered them
the alternative of living on Ben's
money or on hers. Ada was willing but
Ben was not.
While they were bewailing their lot.
Ben's smart dressing and elegant
manners caught the eye of a young
widow who had inherited the ready
made emporium where Ben had spent
more than he ought to have spent on
his personal adornment. She needed
consolation for her long husbandless
evenings, and Ben loved to talk about
mems apparel just as the departed did.
The widow had very nice fat over
the shop and she more or less fatty
invited Ben to marry into the store
below and the heaven above.
Instantly Ben's love for Ada caught
severe cold and died of the chill. His
exquisite tact in neckties and sliitings
did not carry over into an equally
delicate choice of words when he told
Ada that he was no longer hers. He
went on about his work in the Office.
but he left no more notes on Ada's
desk. He went no more for a drink
when she was at the carboy. He taught
her to hate all men and all women,
loved by men, and to regard the
happiness of anybody else as a per-
sonal Insult.
Ada had known Neal Douglas when
she worked in the same bureau with
him. She had seen him meeting Valerie
at lunch and sitting with her on their
park bench. Ada had supposed that
they were engaged and it comforted
her little to think that Section 2l3
prevented their marriage also. But
she could not forgive Valerie for con-
tinuing to have beau after Ben had
flung her back to solitary spinster-
hood.
1t was her habit to take long walks
before she retired to her dismal board
ing house. On this afternoon as she