Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1866-05-24


mantle piece, took up the letter, anf
examined the superscrirtion. i
gave her no light. Steadily it KEEP
growing upon her that its content.
<ere ofa nature to trouble her bus
hand o
Mrs. Whitman turned the lettel
over and over again in her hand. ir
thoughtful way, and as she did
the iWage of her husband.--sober
laced and silent as he had become for
most of the time, at fsst, presented
itself with unusu.f riyiduess. Sympa-
thT stole inss1er heart.
I Poor, ,Charles!" she said, as the
feeling INCREASED: I'm afraid some
thing isIgoing wrong with him
Placing the letter on the mantle
piece. where he could see it when he
came in, Mrs. Whitman entered up
on some house hold duties, Dat a
-trazas Impression, as o: weight,
lay upon her hearts sense of i'm
pending evil-a vague feeling that
all w3s not going well with her hus-
band
e.He has been q little mysterious
Of late she said to herself The
hles affected her very unpleasantly
..Ifegrows more silent ami reserved >
she added, as though her mind was
Under kind OF feverish excitement,
heGhme active in q new direction
',Aicre indrawn, as it were, and less
Interested in what goes on around
hin. Ills coldness chills me at
times, and his irritation hurts me y
she drew long deep sigh. Then.
With an almost startled vIvi1ness.
cane before her mind in contrast.
hei tender, loving, cheerful husband
of three years before, and her quiet,
silsnt, sooer faced husband OF to
dat +"
Something is going wrong with
him." she sSij aloud, as the feeling
grew stronger. What can it be!
The letter was in her hand.
I %This may give me light" And,
with careful fingers, she opened the
'nrelope, not breaking the paper; so
thst che could seal it again if she
d. sired to do so. There was 4 bill
ofsixty dollars, and a communiea
lion from the person sending the
bill He was jeweler.
TIstlns is not settled at once" he
wrote, II shall put the account in
sut.h 1t has been standing for over
a year; and am tired Of getting ex-
cIses instead of money"
TIE bill was tor lady's watch,
which Mrs. Whitman had almost
compelled her husband to purcha 3e.
Not paid fot! Is Il possible?" ex
claimed The little woman, in blank
astoBishment, while the blood noun.
ted to her forehead.
| Then she sat down to think. Light
began to come into her mind. As
she sat thus thinking, 4 second let
ter for her husband, came in from
the penny postman. She opened II
without hesitation. Another bill,
and another dunniDg letter!
Not paid! Is il possible2" She
repeated the ejaculation It was a
bill of twenty five dollars for CATERS
and slippers, which had been stand
ing for three months.
.Th will never do" said the
awakening wife-"never--no, never;
snd she thrust the two letters into
her pocket in a resolute way. From
that hour until the Return of her hus-
band at dinner-time, Mrs. Whitman
did an unusual amount of thinking
for her little brain. She saw, the
moment he entered, that the morning
cloud had not passed from his brow.
Here is the money for that new
dress he said, taking a small roll
of bills from his vest pocket, and
handing them TO Ada as he came in.
He did not kiss her, nor smile in the
old bright way. But his voice was
calm, il not cheerful. A kiss and a
smile just then would have been
more precious to the young wife than
n hundr. d silk dresses. She took
the money, saying
Thank you dear II is kind OF
you 10 regard my wishes"
Something in Ada's voice and
manner csused Mr. Whitman to lift
his eyes, with a look of inquiry, to
her face. But she turned aside, so
that he could not read its expression
He was graver and more silent
than usual, and a'e with scarcely an
appearance of appetite.
Come home early, dear" said
Mrs. Whitman, as she walked to the
door with her husband, after dinner.
Are you impatient to have me
admire your silk dress?' he eplied
with faint effort to smile.
Yes it will be something splen-
did," she answered.
He turned Off from her quickly.
and left the house. A few moments
she stood, with q thoughtful face,
her mind indIawn and her whole
manner completely changed. Then
she went to her room and commenced
dressing to go out.
Two hours later sud we find her
in jewelry store on Broadway.
Can say a wort to youf" she
addressed the owner of the store,
who knew her very well.
Certainly" he replied. and they
moved to the lower end of one of the
long SHOW cases.
Mrs. Whitman drew from her
pocket a lady's watch and chain.
and laying them on the show case,
said. at the same time holding out
the bill she had taken from the en-
yelope addressed to her husband
Il cannot afford to wear this watch.
my husbands circumstances are too
limited. / tell you 20 frankly. ii
should never have been purchased,
hut too indhlgent husband yielded
to the opportunities of foolish wife.
I say this to take blame from him.