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Show for the expected announcement of Helen's engagement to Elson. And after a while it came. Or rather an announcement came. But it wasn't the announcement of Helen's engagement to Elson, it was the announcement an-nouncement of her marriage to George. "Yes, sir, without saying a word to nobody, they had slipped off and got married by a justice of the peace up in Danesville. I tell you The Man Must Be Smart By BARBARA A N.N BENEDICT Associated Newspapers WNU Service this here town fair rocked with gossip gos-sip when the news got out." Nate paused and whacked his pipe against the veranda railing. "So George proved himself smarter smart-er than all the others, eh?" I asked, looking, I presume quite skeptical. "Just how did he succeed in doing that?" Nate snorted in disgust and shoved the black stub of a pipe into his vest pocket. "Why, you ninny, because he got her to marry him without any engagement or flurry or fuss. You see, George was smart enough to size up the situation. He analyzed the methods and characters charac-ters of all Helen's previous suitors and found out their trouble. It was in the courting. It must be, because that's as far as any of 'em got. Then he analyzed Helen's character and decided she wanted to be courted differently. So he set out to achieve that end. He didn't put the thing on a commercial basis, nor he didn't speak a word of love unless he had the proper setting. Daytimes when they were together, he'd talk about his ambition and the future. And night times he'd take her out in his boat or for a walk in the moonlight always some place where there was a romantic setting. That's what turned the trick a proper setting. George was smart enough to let nature na-ture help him in his courting. And one night, when the moon was full and there was a soft breeze and the smell of flowers in the air, he proposed and Helen accepted. It would have seemed almost sacrilegious sacri-legious to refuse and spoil that beautiful beau-tiful moment. And before she could change her mind, George bundled her off to Danesville and eot a ius- A REMARKABLY pretty girl drove up to the curb across the street. Before she could get out of the car a group of admiring men appeared from nowhere no-where and clustered about. "That's Shirley Tucker, isn't it?" I asked Nate Randall. We were sitting sit-ting on the veranda of Mercer's hotel ho-tel where we had a good view of everything that went on along Main street of Mercersburg. "Daughter of Old Man Tucker, president of the Farmer's National?" "That's her," Nate grinned. He looked at me sidewise. "And don't ask me what everyone else is asking, ask-ing, When is she going to get married? mar-ried? Let the girl alone, I say. She'll get married in good time. Soon's the right man comes along, or one smarter than she is." "Smarter?" Nate nodded. "Shirley's got sense enough not to marry someone who ain't any smarter than she is. That's bad, that is, marrying someone who's got less brains than yourself. For a girl it is. Usually means un-happiness un-happiness and sometimes divorce." Nate reached for his black stub of a pipe. "Reminds me of Helen Young," he went on. "Now there was a girl for you who had chances a-plenty to get married, and to the best that Mercersburg and all the other towns hereabouts had to offer, too. But she turned 'em all down. Even Marvin Baker, the banker's son, and John Merrill, heir to old Gran Merrill's millions. Helen's friends told her she was a fool. She was getting old, they said. When a girl reached twenty-four in those 1 I tice to tie the knot. "Yes, sir, George outsmarted Helen in good shape. But she didn't realize it until later. When she got back home she told her mother she hadn't intended to marry George at all, but Elson Dearborn, as everyone ev-eryone thought But George had changed her plans almost before she knew what was happening, but, by jingo, she was glad of it glad she'd married a man who'd proved himself him-self smarter than she. "Incidentally, it all worked out fine, because you never saw a happier hap-pier couple than her and George. And I guess that accounts for Shirley Shir-ley Tucker's attitude today. She's just waiting for some man to outsmart out-smart her, just as her mother did. Oh, yes, Shirley is George's and Helen's daughter. George's full name, you see, is George Dow Tucker." And one night, when the moon was full and there was a soft breeze and the smell of flowers in the air, he proposed and Helen accepted. days without hitching herself to a man she was considered out of the running. "But Helen only laughed at all the warnings and admonitions. If, she declared, she couldn't find a man smarter than she, she'd rather die an old maid. Which was darn good figuring, though folks couldn't understand it. "Helen wasn't conceited about it, but she knew she was pretty and she knew she was smart. And so she turned down John Merrill's offer of-fer and Marvin Baker's and began to keep company with young Elson Dearborn. Now Elson was a good-looking good-looking youth and was expected to take over his dad's box mill some time in the future. In short, he was considered quite a catch, and everyone every-one nodded their heads sagely and said Helen had been wise to wait after all. 'Then, just when everyone figured it was time to announce the engagement engage-ment George Dow appeared on the scene. George was a farmer's son, and he moved over here from Oxford Ox-ford with his family. He'd had some schooling at the State agricultural college and he was a hard worker and liked farming and planned to make it his life's job. But he was a homely cuss and he had the look about him that comes from working out-of-doors. No one even considered consid-ered him as competition for the hand of lovely Helen Young. "And that's where George proved how smart he was. He knew how folks felt about him and he knew how Helen must feel and he- knew that being the son of a not too prosperous pros-perous farmer wasn't much of a qualification, but he fell in love with Helen Young the first time he saw her, and so, despite all his handicaps, handi-caps, he decided to make a play for her hand. "He asked her to dance one night at a Grange sociable and surprised everyone because of his audacity and because he danced so well. And he surprised Helen' because he seemed self-possessed, (though inwardly in-wardly he was trembling with excitement) ex-citement) and carried on an intelligent intelli-gent conversation and his voice didn't have a countryman's twang to it. "The next time he saw her was after church on the following Sunday. Sun-day. He asked if he could walk home with her. and Helen agreed to let him. Yet even though she appeared ap-peared to enjoy his company, folks couldn't believe he was serious. Her interest in George was beyond their comprehension, with Elson Dearborn so eager for her company. "And so they gave no thought to George Dow, but continued to wait |