Page:Women Wanted.djvu/228

 pauperism, insurance, and charities; the state and its rôle in the economic order, taxes, socialism; economic geography and world markets; law, including public law, civil law and laws relating to women; foreign languages. This is the curriculum now being approached by the young girl who up to yesterday had nothing more serious in the world to occupy her leisure than to sit at the window with an embroidery frame in her lap watching and waiting for a husband.

But you see three years ago, four years ago, Pierre marched by the window in a poilu's blue uniform and he may never come back. Marriage has hitherto been the fixed fact of every French girl's life. Now numbers of women must inevitably, inexorably find another career. These girls here are many of them the daughters of professional men, doctors and lawyers. The girl in the third row back with the blue feather in her hat is the niece of President Poincare. That one with the pretty soft brown eyes in the front row is married. The wife of a manufacturer who is serving his country as a lieutenant in the army, she is trying as best she may to take his place at the head of the great industrial enterprise he had to leave at a day's notice when his call to the colours came. She found herself confronted with all sorts of difficult situations. Somehow she's managed so far by sheer force of will and somewhat perhaps by intuition to come through some pretty narrow situations. For the future she's not willing to take any more such chances. She has come to