yes and let her hand linger up at his cheek, head still
back against him, so that, inclining his head, he could rest his lips in
the ash-blond fluff of her hair.

"Talk about can't wait! If to-morrow was any farther off they'd have to
sweep out a padded cell for me."

She turned to rumple the smooth light thatch of his hair. "Bad boy! Can't
wait! And here we are getting married all of a sudden, just like that. Up
to the time of this draft business, Jimmie Batch, 'pretty soon' was the
only date I could ever get out of you, and now here you are crying over one
day's wait. Bad honey boy!"

He reached back for the pink newspaper so habitually protruding from
his hip pocket. "You ought to see the way they're neck-breaking for the
marriage-license bureaus since the draft. First thing we know, tine whole
shebang of the boys will be claiming the exemption of sole support of
wife."

"It's a good thing we made up our minds quick, Jimmie. They'll be getting
wise. If too many get exemption from the army by marrying right away, it'll
be a give-away."

"I'd like to know who can lay his hands on the exemption of a little wife
to support."

"Oh, Jimmie, it--it sounds so funny. Being supported! Me that always did
the supporting, not only to me, but to my mother and great-grand-mother up
to the day they died."

"I'm the greatest little supporter you ever seen."

"Me getting up mornings to stay at home in my own darling little flat, and
no basement or time-clock. Nothing but a busy little hubby to eat him nice,
smelly, bacon breakfast and grab him nice morning newspaper, kiss him
wifie, and run downtown to support her. Jimmie, every morning for your
breakfast I'm going to fry--"

"You bet your life he's going to support her, and he's going to pay back
that forty dollars of his girl's that went into his wedding duds, that
hundred and ninety of his girl's savings that went into furniture--"

"We got to meet our instalments every month first, Jimmie. That's what we
want--no debts and every little darling piece of furniture paid up."

"We--I'm going to pay it, too."

"And my Jimmie is going to work to get himself promoted and quit being a
sorehead at his steady hours and all."

"I know more about selling, honey, than the whole bunch of dubs in that
store put together if they'd give me a chance to prove it."

She laid her palm to his lips.

"'Shh-h-h! You don't nothing of the kind. It's not conceit, it's work is
going to get