The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1871-08-03
TEE PASSING CLOUD.

Andrew Thurston spoke very calmly and
chance listener might have thought that
he srokever} 7 kindly. He cersainly spike def
erentially but; his lips were compressed,
and there were'lines upon his brow which
were not usual. 0rdinarily he would have
sa.d, as he drew on his gloves, ,":Now, my
love, what can Iget for you in town3o and
he would have spoken ;gayly and frankly,
with sprightliness and sparkle; for they had
been married not year yet, and only the
day before Andrew had declared that they
would never outlive their honeymoon. @<"El-
lis,"I he said withia kiss, ,twhen we ceasen to
love we shall have ceased, tei liye for, life
could be nothing without leye,"'a .dr ,,e,,
But now cloud had come-very small at
6rstll2A!not bigger than q man s hand but
vet cloud Ellie had never complained Of
fatigue or WEAKNESS, and yet she 7Was;far
from being. robust. On this; particular
morning she had arisen with on aching head,
but she did not mention it. She did not
smile as was her wont, andT her husband
asked her what was the matter. His 'ques-
tion seemed to imply that her manner had pss
fretted him-there was almost an accusation
in it-and she replied rather shortly, "No-
thing" -.t'rp.; -, .r i.a.r! .''s. :, .G.ra'
But there must be,something," said he,
"What is it, =, ..gr,f.j,,; .r,,:.;
This to his wife, rendered over susceptible
| by her headache, seemed a disputing Of her
word; and she answered, II tell you-noth-
| ling" - .3's
:" But, Ellie" he said, 'yqu, wouldn't act
so if there was nothing the matter. :.
'.Act howH" demanded his wife, flushing
under this direct charge. "What .have l
done h., -, b.. ,-..- ..s,,.s.. ,a,..
What could her husband reply to- this !?
What, q single act Of hers-what word, even,
could he point out i? Something in her
manner had Jared upon fhe sensitive chords
Of his heart. and cloud had come between
them; but how could he tell it? How
could he give to another. an idea Of, that
which had NO form nor substance, and which
he had only perceived because it dropped a
discord into the exquisite harmony of his
jealous love :? He could make no plausible
answer, and this fretted him still more.
ooh, nothing, nothing" he said, drawing
back. |"If you don't'ehoosc to confde in
me, all right" .. .,-E 3o5
His wife's eyes flashed now, and she spoke
quickly-spoke so quickly and so feelingly
that her husband was in turn offended; and
with hasty word upon his lips, he went
out into the hall and made ready for the
city, which was but a few miles distant from;
his suburban residence. .,5;a
When Andrew Thurston re-entered the
sitting room with his hat in his hand, he.
asked the question we have already heard,
"Do you want me to get anything for youSn
town." - ... :
How cold his voice sounded to his wife,
who sat with bowed and aching head by the
curtained window. It did not sound like
the voice Of her husband, and she did not
look up. She would wait until he came to
kiss her, as he always did before he went
away, and then she might be able to speak.
to speak upon his bosom, where she could
hide her face, but she dared not trust her
voice now. She knew she. should cry if she
spoke, and she would not have her husband see
her do that if he was angry with her. But
he did not come to her. He turned away
without another word, and was gone.
Andrew Thurston knew that his wife must
have heard his question; and as she did not
immediatel ly answer he allowed his anger to
express itself in a slam of the door. as he
went out. He pulled on his gloves very
vigorously, and stepped off with measured
strides, but not very long So. The fresh
morning air famed his brow with cooling
influence, and he began to think. He miss
ed something. For the first time since his
marriage he was going away from home
without his wife's kiss. Surely cloud had
arisen upon the domestic horizon, and some
thing very much like storm had come upon
their peace. He was unhappy; and the
more he meditated the more unhappy he be-
came. f'..' ..'' .'.'T''
>"Eillie was to blame" he said to himself
but this did not heal his wound 81 may
have been hasty," he acknowledged after a
further reflection. But STILL" he assured
himself, ''she irritated me-"
Thus he reached point very far from sat
isfactory or soothing in its influence. He
was forced to acknowledge that he had al
lowed himself, in a moment of irritation, to
speak hastily and unkindly. When he en-
tered the train he took scat in a corner
and pulled his hat down over his eyes. He
did not wish to converse. When he reached
his Office LIE was moody and taciturn-very
unlike the Andrew Thurston whose custom
it was to come with smiles and cheerful sal
utations. ,..... ....
A little thing it was, to be sure, but it
gave him great pain. A mote is tiney
particle, but it becomes thing Of painful
moment when it is lodged in the eye and
the heart that is made tender with de-
voted, living love is as sensitive to notes as
in the eye. Hitherto the current Of An
drew's love had flowed on unbroken and un-
troubled, but this incoming of distractions
had produced turbulance, as destructive Of
peace and happiness for the time as though,
the very fountain of love itself had been
broken up. In short, he was brought to the
self-confession that there could be no more
joy for him until this clond had passed
away. And how should that be. done p
H., ,bo,,1d Tho ennl;obt ha LOT II, ooo;n