Margaret Cameron and Jessie Leach Rector

“ Betty was all enthusiasm, and said:
"Don't you think Suzanne's a wonder, Uncle Rhodes, to live in the suburbs, and entertain so well, and have such a house to do it in?"
Carleton paused to bite the end off a cigar before answering, rather dryly: "Very nice. But tell me something about Mrs. Adams. Hers seems to be rather a lavish hand."
"She does do things with ease, but she has the habit." Betty's tone was warmly admiring. "All her life she's been in the midst of things, and I think she's wonderful to keep it up! ”

“ So they went to the country, and Suzanne found an old red brick house which she insisted had been waiting for her; but now Geoffrey turned scoffer.
"Looks to me as though it had got tired waiting and decided to sit down," he caviled, but she buoyantly returned:
"Never you mind! Putting what we'll save in rent on the inside of that house will be like feeding the hungry. It will cast off its air of dejection and feel like a home. And think how near it is to the Post-road! Don't forget we have friends with motors, even if we do walk ourselves—and not always by preference!" ”

“ Whereat they both laughed. "Joking aside, Geof, we've got to do the civilized thing. We can't go on honeymooning for ever. We must contribute our share, and that spells dinners. And why not? We have everything but the food."
"Granting that your setting of choice wedding-gifts is perfect," he rejoined, "for dinner-giving food's really a bit important, isn't it?"
"Y-yes, I suppose it is. And Enga certainly does not—" She stopped thoughtfully, and after a moment he said, with a resigned shrug. ”

“ When the fall comes, though, I'd like to hire their cook," he added.
"You'll have to be right on the spot then," said Betty. "Enga's the envy of every friend they have. She's the one cook who never chills those things she should not have chilled, nor leaves unheated those things she should have heated. There's nothing lukewarm in that house, either in food or spirits."
"Then they do this sort of thing often?" Carleton probed. ”

“ Enga's chicken casserole by any other name would taste as good. But don't forget that chicken, plus a salad and a sweet, doesn't constitute a dinner. A dinner, my Suzanne, is a fine flower of civilization. ”

“ When, in the course of a few weeks, he saw the result of her labors, he exclaimed: "My dear, we'll have to frame our lease and hang it on the wall, for nobody, seeing this house, can ever be convinced that we're not living beyond our income! ”

“ Betty began enthusiastically, but her husband, combating a chill in his uncle's tone, interposed:
"They've been entertained a lot, naturally, and Suzanne's strong for reciprocity. She always plays the game and asks few favors."
"The right to play that game's a privilege," succinctly returned the other man, "and one to be earned. And it comes high."
"Look here, Uncle Rhodes, this isn't going to queer Geof's chances with you, is it?" his nephew asked, anxiously, and the manufacturer replied:
"I'm sorry. He does seem in many ways to be the man I want. ”

“ Paul one better," suggested Carleton, with a humorous gleam. "When your enemy hungers, you hand over the cook!"
"Anyway, Suzanne, you can't be as hungry as we are," Betty insisted, "for even if your dinner was impromptu, it was real food. We've dined on profuse apologies."
"Really, Betty, you're incorrigible!" her husband reproached. "You can't eat people's food and then talk about it!"
Drawn by Edward L. Chase Engraved by Frank E. Pettit
"WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO EAT?" BREATHLESSLY DEMANDED SUZANNE
"Now, Phil! ”

“ Geof said sometimes, "Really, Suzanne, this is too good. It tends to dull ambition. " But when he heard that Rhodes Carleton, one of the largest manufacturers in the United States, was looking for an Eastern sales-manager, he knew that for him ambition might hibernate awhile but it was very much alive. ”

“ I was never so hungry in my life."
"Motoring does put an edge on one's appetite," said Geof, trying to throw off a consciousness of constraint; and Suzanne, with the hostess's natural desire to make things move easily, began talking rather at random as she made excursions to and from the kitchen, arranging additions to her feast.
"We're hungry, too," she said. "We had only an impromptu dinner to-night, for we've lost our cook."
Carleton looked up with the first glimmer of real interest he had shown, exclaiming: "You've lost that wonderful cook, Mrs. ”

“ What did I tell you?" triumphed her friend, glancing back over her shoulder at the men of her party divesting themselves of motor-coats in the hall. "Hurry, you people! Next time, perhaps you'll not hesitate to follow my impulse. ”