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Show , Dinner Is Late By WALLIS WALLACE (Associated Newspapers.) WNU Service. TT WAS when Sandra learned that Marvin Miles was to be transferred trans-ferred to another city that she hit upon the big idea. They had been such good pals, she and Marvin! Sunday hikes in the forest preserves, long talks sitting on the roadside, golf in the park-on, park-on, if they had been cut out of paper patterns they couldn't have been made more for each other! But Marvin said nothing about marriage. mar-riage. Sandra had hoped against hope that he would. She had spent less on her lunches each day to have more for a finger wave on Saturday. Sat-urday. She had laundered her own clothes to be able to afford perfume per-fume that he had once said he liked. She cared nothing for golf and less for hiking, but she wanted Marvin to think she was self-reliant and sturdy (quite frequently he used these words admiringly for girls he liked). She even went so far as to. ask Nellie just how Ray had proposed to her. Nellie had laughed and dodged the question. "Ask me when we've been married mar-ried ten years and I'll tell you, Sandra," San-dra," she said laughingly. Bitterly Sandra told herself that in ten years she wouldn't give a hang! "But Ray and I are going to his sister's wedding in Cleveland, Sandra, San-dra, and we were wondering if you wouldn't like to use the flat while we're gone. It's much cosier and I wouldn't have to put Boots in the I kennels." ' So it was arranged that Sandra ' should take care of the Airedale and enjoy the flat with its electric icebox, ice-box, electric range and down davenport. daven-port. And into her mind sprang full-fledged the big idea; she would give a farewell dinner for Marvin at which he would be the only guest. Now if there was one thing that Sandra could do better than any other one thing in the whole wide world it was to cook a good meal. She decided on a regular man's meal. There would be a thick, juicy steak with curls of onions resting lightly among dabs of melting butter, but-ter, crisp French fried potatoes, following fol-lowing iced consomme. After that she would have orange ice that could be frozen in the ice-box while she was at work. Then a good cup of coffee and hot biscuits that she could toss together the instant she got in at night. That would make a good meal he would enjoy and yet one which had no elements of extravagance extrava-gance in it Marvin had extolled to her time and time again the virtues of an economical wife. In the morning she set the table with four tall candles and the crystal crys-tal flowers that someone had given Nellie. It had every appearance of the four-color page illustrations of how the well-bred hostess serves, and Sandra was delighted. She asked to be excused from the office an hour early in order to prepare everything properly. It seemed too bad that it had to rain this evening above all others, but anyhow it would make a comfortable home' seem all the cosier by contrast and a good dinner always tasted better on a disagreeable night! In the lobby of the building which was generally very quiet, a veritable verita-ble babble met her ears. "I don't know what John will say. He likes his dinner instantly." "I was just washing my hair and now the hairdryer hair-dryer won't dry." The poles and wire leading into the apartment building had blown down in the storm and until the men came from the power-house there would be no electricity. Sick with disappointment, Sandra went to the second floor and let herself in with Nellie's key. Her quivering lips managed by herculean efforts to keep back the sound of sobs that burst out the moment the door was closed. Marvin's very last night! The only man she had ever cared two pins for and now he wouldn't see what a fine little housekeeper she was. It just didn't seem fair it didn't! She tore off her blue tricotine and put on her blue silk house coat, crying cry-ing bitterly. He wouldn't be here for more than an hour, but even so it would be too late. One glance in the electric refrigerator at the liquid liq-uid orange mixture that should by this lime have turned into orange ice brought fresh sobs. Then of a sudden sud-den she felt arms about her and whirled to find Marvin standing behind be-hind her. "I rang and rang but you didn't seem to hear what is it? Electricity Electrici-ty off? Weil, what of it? They'll have it on again in a few minutes, you know. That's oe thing about the electric light company, they give instant service . . . Dinner late? Well, well, well, what of that?" He paused a moment and then kissed her suddenly. "We we'll probably have several late dinners during the course of our our married life, Sandy," he said a little unsteadily. "Wh-what a k;d you are! And there I was pretty nearly afraid of you because you seemed so self-reliant! You're just a little girl after all, aren't you? Here, let me wipe your eyes wKh this blue-striped towel that one matches your eyes, Sandy, darling." After all, Sandra thought, men didn't know exactly what they wanted. want-ed. But she knew, and now she had him! |