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Show i Every Reason to Want to Be Married By JANE OSBORN . . .! (CopjrlL'lit.) OF C'OURSK Ted Furnswurth cur-riej cur-riej a watch a very tliiu, extremely ex-tremely expensive watch that his mother had given him when he was graduated from college and It usually came within five minutes one way or the other of telling the riht time. After leaving it with the Jeweler for regulation on several occasions to .find that at the end of each visit it was as temperamental as ever Ted gave up the idea of carrying the exact time ahout with liim. And In Melville where lie now lived with his mother there was Miss Day. Miss Hay lived n Mock further from the station than he did, and it had come to he Ted's unfailing habit to take the passing of this young woman in tlie morning as a signal to put on his hat and coat. "I suppose," said his mother one day at breakfast, "that if Miss Day ever stopped commuting I should have to get a really up-to-date clock or that you'd Irave to have your watch regulated. Here she comes now. And she's got on her raincoat. You'd better bet-ter wear yours and take an umbrella." So Ted sauntered toward the hall, slipped his feet Into his rubbers, donned hat and coat and took an umbrella and did not notice until he was outside that the sun was shining. He bowed in a perfunctory man tier at the station to the girl in a red raincoat and then hurried along the platform to Join one or two of ; the men with whom he customarily I rode to town. Some one observed J his wet-weather paraphernalia, but 1 Ted was too gallant to place the blame where it belonged. Then one morning he loitered long-! long-! er than usual at breakfast or at least so it seemed to him. lie left his house as usual a few minutes after aft-er Miss Day had passed. Two blocks from the station he saw his train draw in and while he was still running run-ning up the station stairs the train drew swiftly out. He turned to go Into the waiting-room, waiting-room, not quite sure what he would do nex'. when he saw Miss Day punting punt-ing for breath coming up the stairs. Ted had never been introduced to her. though he did lift his hat when he passeil her because she in her turn always bowed to him. Miss Day spoke first. "My. hut I'm out of breath," she gasped. "I ran two blocks to catch the train and then missed it. I don't know what 1 am going to do after this. Von know I never can keep a watch going right and there's been a girl on our street who always started out just a shade before I had to start. She went the other direction toward the trolley. I'm she's going to be married next week and so she's Mopped working." That explained one part of the onundrum. but Dick wanted to know -vli.v she could no longer be trusted as a barometer. "I'm why dicf you wear a raincoat the other day when the sun was shining?" Miss Day pouted a little. "It was foolish, wasn't it?" she asked. "I'.ut von see it a my new red raincoat and I like It so much that I Just wore It anyway. Don't you like raincoats?" I ark. becoming more and more convinced con-vinced of the prelliness of Miss Day, Mammctvd something to the effect that It was the prettiest raincoat he had ever seen. Then as his companion compan-ion sighed and said that It was very Important for her to be In her ollice i before half-past nine, a way out of i the tlillieulty oft nnvd to him. j "I can go back and get my car," he said, "and If you don't mind fast drlv-i drlv-i log. we can get In town In about Ihroe-' Ihroe-' quarters of an hour. We'll have to ; wail an hour for the next train." I In spile oT fast driving along crowded crowd-ed roads Jim and Miss Day talked gaily all the way in that morning and ' ne did not leave her until he had , gained permission to call for her at I livv and drive her home. He'd have ! to take the car home, anyway. And J that day he took his watch to a lirst-f lirst-f rate Jeweler's and secured the use of ! a guaranteed timepiece for the period required to put his own In condition. On the way back that evening his I'oirpanlon complained again about I her ilillii tilty In catching her train I now that her reliable neighbor was I to hi' married. "1 don't see what a girl nowadays wauls to be married lor, anyway," ugesled .1 i "Kvery ivason in the world," was Miss Day's emphatic rejoinder. "That Is, If she really cares for (he man." Jim had a solution to offer for her tlillieulty. lie told lier that he bad a thoroughly reliable waleh and that every day live minutes hefoiv It was lime for him to start he would tele-phono tele-phono to her. And so nial lets rested for a few months. Meantime Jim called frequently fre-quently al the house of the Days In the evening. Then one day without preamble he iOinliidod her of what she had said about gellin;t married. "You said a girl had every reason In the world to want to be married If she really cared for the man. The Importun thlna Iheii Is this do you really care for mo- or could you possibly bring yourself your-self to do in':" And Miss Day. looking very seldom and pii'it.v al the same lime, said thai she really believed slie eared a great deal for .1 hu already. |
