Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1940-03-14
Advised by the
Principal
By JANE OSBORNE
Mcclure Syndicate.)
WNU Service.

to let her precede him.
THANK you," said Mary, and as
she looked at him all she noticed
was that he had red hair.
81 didn't know there were any
men teachers here" she observed
at recess to one of the younger
teachers whom she had met in the
playground. 81 saw one when I
was signing in this morning-young
with red hair-what grade does he
teach?"
That's Dick Mendham-teaches
eighth-grade boys. There are three
of emf you call 'em men-never
seem like real men to me. But
they have to have 'em to teach the
big boys-they're such a rough
crowd in a neighborhood like this"
Later Mary Dawson realized that
this young woman's attitude toward
the men teachers at No. 70 was
characteristic of the attitude of the
other women teachers there, who
passed Mr.. Mendham and the other
two men in the corridors with
amused or diSdainful mien.
After Mary had been teaching for
a month or more Miss Graham, the
principal, asked her to stop in her
Office after school to see about re-
port cards. 1t was a small matter
soon arranged and then Miss Ora
ham asked Mary to sit down and
have little chat. Miss Graham
asked Mary how she liked her work.
Mary said she liked to teach, though
she was doing it to make a living.
"I'll give you a piece of advice"
said Miss Graham, who was so.
''Snap out of it as soon as you can.
Once the system gets you it will be
hard to get out. You'll put off the
idea of marriage because every year
you'll look forward to a little more
money the next. Then you'll begin
to count the years to your retire
ment with nice annuity the rest of
your life. Now my advice to you is
to marry your best young man soon
before you get obsessed with this
idea of yearly increase and eventu-
ally retirement"
but suppose I haven't young
man." said Mary smiling.
Marry the first man that asks
you-providing he's decent. Don't
wait for a man who can guarantee
a yearly increase and an annuity
in your old age
"I'n remember what you have
said" said Mary with a little blush,
and would have said more but Miss
Graham interrupted.
Don't go away" the principal
was calling good naturedly-then in
an aside to Mary-'There's poor Mr..
Mendham - scared off because
you're here. Somehow men teach
ers never seem like real men," Then
raising her voice: "Come right in
Mr.. Mendham, I want to show you
the new report cards"
Mary hurried out of the princi-
pals room, tingling with deep
sort of resentment. 1t wasn't be-
cause of what Miss Graham had
said about marriage. Undoubtedly
she had given good advice. 1t was
because of what she had said about
Mr.. Mendham. Mary herself liked
Mr.. Mendham and respected him.
One day she was leaving the
school at the same time that Mr..
Mendham passed out of the teach
erS' entrance, and because Miss
Graham was standing by, Mary
waited for him and asked him if he
would walk with her-since they
both went in the same direction. A
few days later when he had walked
home with her she asked him to
come into tea at her boarding house.
1t was four o'clock and her boarding.
house keeper, who was an English
woman, always had tea in the little
parlor.
A month later Mary found herself
one evening after dinner eagerly
waiting for Dick Mendham who had
invited her to go to the theater
with him. Mary wondered why she
was SO feverishly eager for the time
of his arrival to come. Then as she
walked beside him and later sat be-
side him in the subway going to
the theater she reflected to herself
that he looked much more attrac-
tive away from school. And coming
back after the theater that night
Richard Mendham asked Mary to
be his wife. Mary accepted him at
once.
81 never dreamed that you would
have meat least not right away"
Dick told her, and Mary was Won
dering how much Miss Graham's
advice had had to do with her quick
decision. He was the first man who
asked her, and she had accepted
him. They planned to be married in
the summer after school was over
and Dick told Mary that he would
never consent to her teaching after
they were married. He himself was
giving up teaching when the sum-
mer came. He had position wait
ing for him in a school-book pub
fishing company and had been teach
ing for two years to fit himself
for this work. His uncle was the
president of the concern.
In June Mary announced her en-
gagement to Miss Graham.
''Not Dick Mendham," said she,
amazed. "What made YOU accent