d be the
mother of great men, tall and angular in build and walking with an
athletic stride offset by a feminine cry-baby chin and the usual
mediocre allotment of freckles on the usual mediocre nose! Mary
Faithful was not pretty; she was a "good-looking thing," Trudy would
usually conclude, glancing in a near-by mirror to approve of the way
her fluff of pink tulle harmonized with her pink camisole under the
tissue-paper bodice.

Indulging in one of these reveries Trudy suddenly realized that she
had not added the checks on her desk. She went to work disdainfully,
first feeling of her skirt and waist at the back, slipping a caramel
in her mouth, and making eyes at a clerk who passed her desk.

Mary came out of her office and stopped before Trudy accusingly. "I've
been waiting for these," she said.

"It's so grand out to-day--look at that sunshine! May's the hardest
month of the year to work; you just can't help planning your summer
clothes."

"Miss Constantine is coming to call for Mr. O'Valley and I want his O.
K. on those before he gets away."

"Listen, don't you think the diamonds he is buying her are vulgar? A
bunch of electric bulbs is what I call it, I certainly would not
permit----"

Mary's pencil tapped authoritatively on the desk, then she signed an
order someone brought her.

"Are they going to be married at high noon in church?"

"Yes--June the first."

"Lucky girl! She's older than me; everyone says so. It's only her
money and clothes that has built her up. I don't think she's so much.
Her nose is as flat as a pancake and she rouges something fierce. I
saw them at the theatre and I certainly was----"

Mary took the checks out of Trudy's hand and walked away. Undecided as
to her course of action Trudy hummed a few bars of "Moving Man, Don't
Take My Baby Grand" and then followed Mary into her office.

Mary added up the checks without glancing at her caller. Then she said
sharply: "I cannot pay out someone else's money for work that is not
done."

"Don't get a grouch on; it will spread through the whole plant. When
you're cross everybody's cross."

"Then do your work--for it isn't much." She could not help adding:
"You think I can smooth over everything just because you board with
me."

Trudy giggled. "It's the wedding in the air, and spring, and those
diamonds! She never works, she never does anything but spend the money
we make for her. All she has is a good time, and what's the use of
liv