wife will care, from this time on."

"Don't you like these things?"

"I think they're beautiful, only I can't see myself in them, somehow."

But Jerry persevered. He bought stuffs, he took them with the designs,
to a skilled woman, to be carried out.

Jane went to fittings uncomplainingly, with Jerry in command, and in due
time the gowns came home. He had, in the meantime, bought her hats,
furs, and all the niceties of a woman's wardrobe. She protested at his
lavishness, and submitted to his excellent taste. But when the final
purchase was delivered, Jane said to him:

"Jerry, I thoroughly appreciate these lovely things you have given me,
and I promise you to give my appearance the most careful attention. But
I wish, please, that you would agree to give me a monthly allowance for
my needs and desires."

"Oh, you needn't worry about money, Jane. You'll always get it when I
have any. When I'm broke, we'll neither of us have any," he laughed.

"But I want to know just what I can depend on. Of course, that would be
contingent upon what we have."

"What's the difference whether I give it to you every month or not?"

"It is the difference between my being a self-respecting partner, or a
dependant."

"Rubbish! Sounds like woman's rights. For heaven's sake, don't be a
woman's righter, Jane."

"You agree to an allowance, then?"

"I don't see why I should. I must say, I think I have been pretty
liberal so far----"

"You miss my point. I admit your liberality, and appreciate it, but
slaves and servants are dependent upon liberality. It does something to
your mind, you must see that."

"I'm hanged if I do."

"You must take my word for it, then, that no marriage can be built on
such a basis."

"But I don't agree with you."

"Very well, then, I must take up my work in the studios again."

"What?"

"I must be independent, I must know where I stand."

"You mean to say that you would go about cleaning up studios? My wife
cleaning up studios, to pander to this whim?" angrily.

"It isn't a whim, it's a principle. No kind of work can hurt my
self-respect, but I want to be regarded as a partner, Jerry. If it is
what you used to pay me, by the week, for keeping the studio clean, and
your clothes mended, that is enough. But I must know how much it is, and
when I get it."

"This is degrading, that's what it is! You don't trust me, that's the
long and short of it."

"Oh, yes, I trust you more than you do me, appar