The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-06-20

"Bart If you're not making any money at the shop why do you keep on getting in deeper and deeper?"
 He stared at her in frustrated annoyance.
 we've been over all this be- fore, Iris; why bother again? I'm making enough to get by, if we economize. We can't seem to. So that's that"
 They'd no right to take all that insurance away from you, Bart! Can't you make them just take out the amount due, and give you back the rest?"
 Iris you know nothing about business or finance, so quit both- ering with this"
 "Quit bothering, Bart Whitaker! The idea. When that was to be our own home, when the policies were paid up."
 He glanced at her curiously. Shrugged finally, as if he gave up.
 Its a little late to think of that now, Iris. They're gone"
 
 Absurdly, she began to feel guilty about the mink coat. But after she had cleared the table, and decided to eat her short-cake after all, the guilt evaporated. Though she did worry, little, over whether she'd manage to keep the coat, now that Bart was in trouble. If she had to use any of her salary to run the house, or pay expenses with, she'd be in bad jam all right. With all the other payments she had to make on the clothes she had been buying right along. Paying on old accounts, buying more, creating fur ther budget appropriations.
 That night, Iris woke up toward morning, and a cold fall rain was blowing in. She got up and closed the window, and turned, arrested, when Bart began muttering in his sleep.
 T tell you it's impossible - I'm sorry I can't help it. I can't do it, I tell you, can't - don't you understand? My wife's salary has nothing to do with this, this is my affair. Seventy-five a week together and we owe everybody All right, so what? Do you want all my creditors to be cheated of their money?"
 Shivering, she lay still listening, but there was no more. Though he tossed and turned lot and groaned. Shivering she wondered | if she couldn't take the mink coat back after all. Before it was never worn. But it was so cold in the morning, a sharp wind, and the driving rain. And remembering her heavy coat was worn, she put the anxiety out of her mind. Bart was always borrowing trouble, This was probably just another false alarm because he hadn't made $50 clear profit this week, or something like that.
 They breakfasted hastily, aind Bart hurried away as soon as he was finished. At noon, when she telephoned, Iris was informed he was out. And Ellen was lunching with her husband, and neither of- fered to invite her to join them. So she ate solitary lunch at the soda bar around the corner. And finishing, heard the news about her husband losing his radio and washing machine agency.
 Sure, didn't you know? Trucks over there now, taking the stuff. I heard he couldn't make a lot of dead-beats pay their weekly in- stalments, so the company took them over. But this will be a bad dent to the shop all right. Hurts 8 business when anything like that hits them"
 Iris didn't answer. She walked out and went back to the office. Past Professor Kitteridge's little bunga- low where the young men and girls of the senior and junior classes gathered to discuss serious things, nightly from 4:30 to 10. Past the Gamma sorority where girls often dashed out in mid-winter to set pan of chocolate peanut butter fudge to cool in the snow; where gay lighted music blared forth dur ing prom week-ends. Where smart roadsters swooped up to tootle mu- sical horns for the fortunate few who were dated.
 It was raining, still, and soph- omore took of his raincoat to hood a juniors freshly waved coiffeur, and across from Chem Lab to Lib Arts, trouped couples, arm in arm, or fingers laced, toting armfuls of books, talking earnestly, laughing College kids.
 Iris felt almost old, hurrying past them. Nodding to one or two she knew. Knowing they thought of her as Mrs. Whitaker, of the deans offlce." Because she'd been there so long. Longer than any of the present crop had been in college. Two college terms longer. Eight years.
 It was funny, too. All through, each one of those eight years, she had had almost teh identical same worries. Worries over some dress she wanted and thought she
 nu - - ~0 Au~ER