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Show Vtk ,, . n Jul FICTION BETTER LATE ilU V- 1 By EDWARD STEVENSON I : - I Cotnev I , lljiJj , her deserved better, and I told her so. A big wedding, a reception at the Waldorf the old Waldorf, you know and a honeymoon at Niagara Niag-ara Falls was little enough to her. But she just laughed. "If I wanted such truck," she says, "I'd've married mar-ried Mr. Astor and not Johnny Bentham." That's the way she is. I didn't mind so much not having a big church affair, or a reception afterwards, but, gosh, what's a wedding without a honeymoon? I mean, it made me feel kind of low, not being able to provide even that. You know, marrying Ellen was the making of me. I was just a shipping ship-ping clerk at the time, but she made me study bookkeeping and when an opening in the company Well, last year our company did pretty well and they gave all the old employes a month's pay for a bonus at Christmas first bonus we'd had in years. So what did I do? Well, I figured with all the kids married and no one to take care of but ourselves, that we didn't have any real need for the money, so I didn't breath a word about it to Ellen. You see, I'd been seeing these cruise ads in the papers and I thought to myself that's just the thing for Ellen and I. Twelve days. Nassau, Jamaica and Cuba. $125 and up. I didn't say anything till about two weeks before we were to sail. Then I broke the news. Well you could've knocked Ellen over with a feather. "First thing I knew she threw her arms around me." A X7ELL, I'm certainly glad you're V not seasick. When I first saw you leaning over the rail I said to myself that you must be seasick, though I couldn't see how anybody could get seasick with the water so calm the way it is. Our room steward stew-ard says that anybody that gets seasick in this kind of weather wouldn't be safe on the lake in Central Cen-tral Park. He's a regular comedian. . . . And that reminds me, how much do you think I ought to tip him the room steward, I mean? I'm not one that don't have to count my pennies, but still I want to do the right thing as to tipping. You see, this is the first time we've been on a boat my wife and me, I mean. Of course we've taken a trip up the Hudson with the kids, but I guess you wouldn't mention the Hudson River Day Line in the game breath with the S. S. Goliath, would you? The kids thought it was grand, though. They're grown up and married now, with kids of their own except Judy, that is, and she hardly had time, not having been married quite a year yet but it don't seem more than yesterday that they were running about like a bunch of wild Indians and getting into all sorts of mischief. Time certainly cer-tainly flies. Whew! It's getting hot, isn't it? We must be coming into the tropics from the way it feels. Ever been down here before, Mr. I don't think you mentioned your name, did you? . . . Arthur? . . . Well, I'm glad to know you, Mr. Arthur. My name's Bentham. I'd like you to meet my wife some time, too. Thaf s her laying in that deck chair down at the end. She's making believe be-lieve she's reading that book, but she's sound asleep. The salt air eems to tucker her out. As I was saying, time certainly flies. Now, you take me. Why, it seems it's only the other day th?t Ellen and me were, getting married; mar-ried; and here we are, grandparents grandpar-ents of six already. We've been married thirty-five years. It don't seem possible, but that's what it is, all right. Why, say, I can remember the wedding just as plain as if it happened last week. It wasn't much of a wedding you know, no fuss and feathers. Besides Ellen and I and the minister there was only the minister's wife and the church janitor, for witness. But I can still see the five of us standing there in the chapel, with the sun coming through a high window and falling all around us and turning everything golden. I remember Ellen El-len specially. She was so pretty and little. When I look back, I think Ellen and 1 must'a been crazy, getting married the way we did. My gosh, I didn't have a cent to my name it was all I could do to scrape up the money for the wedding ring. Engagement ring3 and honeymoons anu all the fixings were out of reach as far as we were concerned. I felt pretty bad, taking her right from church to a $2.50-a-week fur- "Johnny Bentham," she says, "are you out of your mind?" "No," I says. "And I haven't robbed a bank, neither." So I told her all about the bonus. Well, she still thought I was crazy. "Spending all that money on a little trip," she says. "Do you think we're millionaires? Johnny, I'll never put foot on that boat." "Now, that's a fine howdydo!" I says, making out I'm Insulted. "A woman refusing to go on a honeymoon honey-moon with her husband!" Well, she just looked at me and I just looked at her, and first thing you know she threw her arms around me and began kissing me, and what did the two of us do but end up laughing and crying like a couple of kids. "Gosh, Mama," I says. "It's better bet-ter late than never, ain't it?" . . . Say, will you look at them porpoises! came along I stepped right in. I'm head bookkeeper now. Of course that isn't so much there's only one other bookkeeper but being head of anything is pretty good these days, I always say. A couple of years back when I'd been with the company thirty-five years they put on a dinner for me at Jack Demp-sey's Demp-sey's and gave me a watch. Here it is. See what It says. "To John W. Bentham" that's my full name "for thirty-five years of devoted service. Atlas Paper & Supply Co." Mr. Stover, the president, made a speech. I did too but I was too choked up to say much. You can bet I'd never've stuck around to get that watch if it hadn't been for Ellen. And the kids, too, of course. When you get to be a family man you got to tend to business. Kit that's short for Christopher was the first; then Roger, Cynthia, Anthony, and Judy, the baby. Nice names, ain't they? Ellen picked 'em out. They're all grown up now fine young men and women, if I do say so myself but there was times when you just wondered if they ever would. It was just one thing after another. Sick or healthy, they ViqH vnn iin in vmir nprlr In Kills |