Evening star., 1941-01-02

apart.
First there had been her fathers
bankruptcy. Well. she had known
about that before it happened. She
had knowingly got Gale into that.
But she hadn't known her father
would die at a time When oeotS
would be piled on Gale. She had
thought only of the bankruptcy ana
the fact that Gale wouldn't be get
ting the wealth and social position
he'd counted on.
Viola" her father had said to
her one time quite a while before
her marriage, why IN heaven
name do YOU want to marry
social-climbing young upstart ike
Gale Barclay? Can't you see that
he'll never be worth anything as
doctor? Can't you see he's living
way beyond his means just to I'M
press people-just to impress you
mostly. so you'll marry hlm?'
She had smiled at her dad and
gone and sat on the arm OF ms
chair. Sure. dad, know all that,
she'd said. But I have confidence
in him. He's twice as Intelligent
as any of these other boys that call
on me. Hes smarter than Doug
CLAYTON, although you might not ad-
nit that. And have a feeling mat
he'll change some day and realize
that doctors don't have to be rich
to be successful. He has that KIND
of a mind, dad. It's just that 1t
hasn't begun to function that way
yet"
vi Hoped For Change.
~ can't consent to it." her father
had said. i can't stand to think
of YOU married to that kind of a
man. I've seen a lot of them like
him. TuXedos, night clubs, golf,
polo-au the nonsense when they
ought to be working. I've seen them,
Vi. And they're no good. Hardly
any of them any good. And the
ones that are any good are the ones
Vho've come up the hard way and
done such outstanding work that the
big peple with lots of money de-
mand all their time. There's no
easy way TO get to the top and this
young Barclay thinks there is. He's
no good"
7 think I can change him vi
had said.
II had been left that way for a
long while, and then when Mr..
Stevens had seen his fortune be-
ginning to go, and go fast, he'd told
vi. And vi had said, We'll be
broke, dad?"
There's only one way can keep
from going all the way under, Vi
MI. Stevens had said. That would
be to pull out and let the little
stockholders take the blow. The big
ones are already out. They are the
ones who've done the damage. But
I'm going TO stick. It's the way I've
always done business and I'm too
old to change now"
All right. dad" vi had said
putting her arms around his neck.
But let's keep it quiet until after
the wedding"
Mr. Stevens had stared at his
daughter long time, and then he'd
shaken his head and said, You're
taking an aWfully long chance, vi.
While we had money nothing much
could go wrong for you, even if he
didn't turn out as you hope. This
Vav you'll have nothing in the
world to fall back on
I'm betting on sure thing, Dad.
] know Gale"
vi Told Truth.
So when vi had told Gale on their
wedding night that she didn't love
him, she had been telling the truth.
She didn't love him then. She
couldn't love the kind of man he
was at that time. But she loved the
kind of man she knew he would
one day be. She knew that when
the principles of honor and upright
ness and strength deep inside him
finally came to the surface he would
be man to love.
And now all that had happened.
He had taken the blow of blasted
ambitions bravely. and in a few
months he had laid the basis for
real medical practice among poor
people who needed a good doctor.
He had won their confidence be-
cause he was good and because he
had the kind of heart that didn't
want to take cent that they could
not afford.
There was one thing about him
that she couldn't understand. In
everything else he was just as she
had imagined he would be when
she talked of him to her father.
But Mrs. Smith, the pretty young
woman to whom he sent money each
week, was something almost in
credible.
Why didn't he tell her CVD the
truth about the matter if there was
nothing to hide? Why had he blown
I'D when she talked about finding
out something about the girl? Could
there possibly be real ethical rea-
son for that? And if there was, why
hadn't he calmly explained 1t in
stead of getting so upset?
1t was the 10th of January when
vi finally decided to find out for
herself what was back of that affair.
She made the decision as she sat
with Gale in the living room after
dinner. They'd hardly spoken
word all evening; in fact, Gale had
merely remarked about an article in
the paper concerning Doug Clayton
and his bride, who were expected
to return to the city about the end
OF the month.
The Dress, Again.
Gale" she said, what would you
think if I told you I didn't want
divorce?"
Gale kept on reading for mo-
ment, then dropped the paper as the
question registered. He frowned.
I'D say you were crazy. Why would
you possibly want to go on like