The Washington times., 1938-09-13

the Stiffness Of the story which she
was watching and the Stiffness Of
Bills proposal under the circum.
stances. And he would take time
like this to propose and to do 1t
with this lack of enthusiasm. So
his proposal made her angry, and
she said:
"On what?"
"Why, on my salary, Of course"
Bill told her. Its good money
and 1 have a couple hundred dol
lars saved up"
Am I supposed to quit work
ing?" Jane asked.
why, sure" Bill told her. I'm
not going to have any wife of
mine working? What would people
think?"
Jane suggested that they get out
of there. Suddenly, she had de-
cided to marry Bill. Not, of
course, on his terms. They were
too impractical. She Steered him
to park bench and when they
were seated, she said:
Bill, I'll marry you. But you
must let me go on working. I'm
getting thirty dollars a week now.
That brings our combined salary
up to the fifty you say a man can
live like a king on"
"How long will we 60 on that
way?" Bill wanted to know.
Things happen when people are
married, you know. Things like
babies. What will we do them"
There will be no babies" Jane
assured him firmly, "and if there
are, I'll get leave Of absence. II
can do that because they think
pretty well of me at the store. If
and when the baby comes, I'll goI
back to work. I never expect to
quit working, Bill.
II believe a woman should have
a career and a means of support
ing herself. I don't believe she
should lie back and quit just be-
cause she's married. It puts too
much of a burden on the husband.
You know I feel this way, Bill,
because we've talked it over
often"
TAKES BACK OFFER
eyes," Bill agreed, IT know.
Well, we won't talk it over any
more. I see your point, Jane. You
see, you're smarter than am. TIL
never be anything else than one
of the thousands that 90 to see a
movie or a ball game or a fight.
I'm the man in the street. And
you're Somebody Excuse me for
asking you to marry me, Jane. Il
won't do it again."
Her heart dropped foot.
Terror grabbed her. She almost
agreed to marry him on his own
terms there on the spot. But then
her common sense came to her
rescue. "PlI coast along with him
a while" she told herself. He's
IN love with me. It's only q cues
tion of time till he finds he can't
live without me. Then We'll marry
on my terms"
When he took leave of her, he
said, "Good-by" instead of GOOD.
night" a detail she thought of
later. She did not hear from him
for three days. When she called
him up on the fourth day, his Of
flee informed her that he had quit
his job to go, they believed. to
South America.
She nearly went crazy. She had
one letter from him from BuenoS
Aires in which he said substantial
ly the same thing he had said on
the park bench. After that, silence
for a year; she almost died.
But hard work and her driving
helped her to get over
him. She never fell in love again
for the simple reason that she had
never fallen out of love with Bill.
And the years went on.
A month ago, he appeared at
the store in which she worked.
Dizziness overcame her for a mo-
ment when they brought in his
card but she braced herself and
went out to see him. At first, she
thought he hadn't changed bit
except that he had bronzed.
Then she saw he had grown q
little heavier and there were tiny
lines around his eyes. All her old
feeling for him swept over her and
she prayed earnestly that he
hadn't married.
He hadn't. He had never been
able to afford to get married, he
told her. He had never made much
He had spent all the time
between this meeting and their
last in South America.
BACK HOME FOR GOOD
But now he had come home to
stay. He was private secretary for
John Ansull of the Pan-American
Fruit Company. He was making
good money. Could she come out
to dinner?
She could and did and she
learned that the good money"
was seventy-five dollars a week. |
He asked if she had ever found a |
man who was willing to allow her
to go on working after he married |
her. It would be pretty easy, he
admitted, because the viewpoint Of |
the world had changed.
She told him she had never
looked for one. Had his viewpoint
changed about the matter? No,
it hadn't. He guessed he was
just one of those dumb bunnieS
who never change.
II wish I could change, Jane"