sacrifice and courage. Not only has she faced the loss of those most
dear with uncomplaining lips, but she has taken her man's place
everywhere. You can see her standing Amazon-like in leather apron
pouring molten metal in the shell factory; she drives you in a cab or a
taxi; she runs the train and takes the tickets in the Underground: in
short, she has become a whole new asset in the human wealth of the
nation and as such she will help to make up for the inevitable shortage
of men.

Her sister of the upper class, at once the most practical and most
feminine of her sex, is also doing her bit. She is the lovely thorn in
the path of the American business promoter in France.

Before the war, it was rare to find this type of woman competing with
men in outside business affairs, although her influence has always
counted immensely in official life where she pulls the strings to get
husband or lover Government preferment or concession.

Since the war, however, necessity has sharply developed her latent
business qualities. Now it is not unusual to find her in direct
competition, using all those delightful charms with which Nature has
endowed her. This is especially true of widows and women whose husbands
are at the front. They often rely more upon persuasion than upon any
technical or practical knowledge. One reason why they succeed is their
almost uncanny knowledge of men. And this often enables them to grasp
swiftly the clue that business opportunity offers.

One night at dinner a Colonel's widow, a gracious and beguiling lady,
heard that the French Government was in the market for 50,000 head of
cattle. The next morning she sent half a dozen cables to South America,