The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1937-12-04
1wo' : company
BY MARGARET CuION HERZoC

Jbed; but there was a feeling of
Estrain throughout the whole eve
ming. Nina felt it dreadfully, be-
cause, in spite of heat. or fatigue.
or encouragement, of-anything,
| there had been only comfade liness
| between them, before.
| He had always been an angel of
! thoughtfulness and devotion. Even
in her most depressed moments ii
had never occurred to Nina to
blame him for the plight she was
in !. That had been of her own
Ichoosing. He had always done his
best; but now she did think he was
lbeing bit unreasonable.
Money :. That was funny. Rich
lard didn't seem to count so much
any more, but money -.
/ She thought: Everyone knows
THAT the first year of marriage is
the hardest :. needs concessions
lon both sides. If | can only stand
| the gaff now, everything is bound
to be all right. We are happy to-
| gether there's only this one
thing. David is bound to make
good, and then even that will be
EsWept away. Hold on. Nina !"
| When the lights were out, he
asked her again, gently. please to
tell him how much she figured she
had spent-on melons. He wanted
to pay her back.
| But when she cried a little, and
begged him, please, not to make
her feel badly, he said all right,
let it go.
Perhaps he wasn't so unreason-
able after all y. Perhaps she hadn't
played fair -.
Fear Grips Nina
pUT things have way of going
- ir pairs and the next dis
agreement about money was much
more serious.
Every day, it seemed, the papers
were coming out with headlines:
hottest September such and such,
in ten years; so many deaths; SO
many people Frustrated Nina
began to wonder how long it would
be before her name joined the list.
She looked at the pictures of
naked little boys enjoying their
two weeks at some charity Fresh
Air farm, and envied them
Nina :. the former Nina Stafford
T of East 74th street, Junior Lacquer,
ex-debutante par excellence
tenvying a lot Of little undernour-
ished news boysl She had to laugh.
The S5-a-day business Ono
Efoolin' this time, Nina!" No foolin'
Davidp') was going very badly.
Was it possible that 10 or IS
dollars a week could make such a
difference or had she taken
more? Or what?
Beside the food, there were so
many stupid extras, every day -.
things that didn't show. Razor
blades, soap, the window cleaner
when the glass got so dirty you
could hardly see through. Though
she tried her best to press David's
suits, every other time, there were
frequent 50-ceht pieces that went
TO the valet and, in spite of
washing out her own stockings and
silk undertakings, the laundry bills
were alarmingly high.
1t was on one Of her least CHEEKY
days, a close, muggy Tuesday, that
McDuif called with a pair of
.newlyweds.
As luck would have it, the apart
ment had never looked sweeter.
Everything was in order. David
having been taken to dinner the
night before-had brought her
some white roses, and few sprays
of blue delphiniurn, They looked
too lovely in the blue and white
living-rpofn. To cap the climax,
Nina had just made herself some
lemonade, and ii stood in a frosted
silver pitcher beside tall glass, on
one of the walnut coffee tables -.
It was probably the iced lemon
ede, as much as anything else,
that completely broke down the
bride and groom, when they en-
tered. To them, hot and weary from
apartment hunting, Nina and her
frosted pitcher, and her blue walls
seemed heaven indeed.
1T perfect, THIS all there is
to It, Jim. Perfect"
Nina and McDuff exchanged
forlorn chances.
The faithful superintendent be-
gen getting in sly pokes about the
dirnness, and the noisy alleyway.
The bride and groom loved dim
light. They adored noise.
McDuf then remarked that Of
course the rent was pretty high -.
perhaps, on the first of October, he
would have a cheaper one vacant.
Money meant absolutely nothing
10 the bride but fortunately
Oh so fcrtunately--it did to the
groom.
Ninety a month. you say?
M-m-m-m."
'sThe veree-best-I can do, sir"
said McDuff gravely.
well, wen think it over. Come
on. darling"
They went out. leaving Nina in
q paralysis of fear. Oh. Godl Sup
posing they took itl
II the place had never looked
better, 1t had certainly never
seemed dearer 10 Nina. either. In
her new fright. she realized how
lucky she had been 10 have cool
sweet place like this. 10 come home
70. She grew frantic az the thought
OF having 70 move away.
She conflded her fears to David
that night. who became quite as
alarmed as she. 81 XfAf
fcoaueishs. 1887. Marsarss tfessoel