The Red Cloud chief., 1875-10-07

now, 1t was doubly hard. But il seems
that I knew - little Of womsn q Of
man, and had miscalculsted the dep.h
Of her goodness underneath sill her
wrong h~esdedness, just IS she had mis-
calculated mJ power of will and truth
Of love when fairly pulled up.
She heard me out to the end without
making . sign. There Was no Interrupt
ton, no angry expression, no scornful
look. saw the hand with which she
held the child tighten round his body;
the one playing with his curls tremble.
But that Wa all.
When l had finished she looked up
and said quietly: ut is better TO know
the worst, George; for then we a meet
it. Now that I know the worst I know
what IL do"
"And you do not Teproxch me, Eii,hi"
I asked.
She rose from her seat and came over
to me. Her eyes were full Of tears, her
lips were qnivering; and yet there was
more love, more softness in her face
through its sorrow than there had been
for all these long, bad, dreary months,
passing now into years.
She slid the boy from her arms and
pressed them round my neck.
"Why should I reprosch your" she
said. "Is not your burden heavy enough
without thati" While I thought I could
help TO keep you straight, l tried; if
clumsily and to no good, yet loyalty.
Now / know that all is over; I have only
to try and teip you, both by my work
and my love-"
Something seemed to choke me while
she spoke. I csu.d have been hard
enough if she had been angry, but this
sudden return to the old love-thS un-
expected msgnanimity-was too much
for me. Still, l am thankful to say 1
did not break down. l was man enough
for that!
Twill you trust me Edith" said !, in
a tone SO rough and husky I scarcely
recognized it as my own. "Love me as
you used, be to mi what you were, and
l swear you shall never have cause to
reprosch me again. l AM young, l a
work, l can be resoluta. l have bought
my experience of life, and I find the
taste too bitter in my mouth. A man
may he a man, and yet not he ashamed
to think of his wife IS we'll as of his
pleasures, and l will think of you now"
She sighed and then she smiled.
"You come back to what you LETT"
she said in a tender, caIessIng kind of
way that SET med as if it buried now
forever all that had gone wrong between
us.
Of course the struggle was a tremen-
dous one. I lost my clerkship and every
sixpcnse 1 possessed, both in goods and
money. NY wife had to give lessons,
and l had to accept anything that would
keep us from starvation; but We pulled
through in time, and the sufferlngs we
had encountered were, perhaps, a good
thing In the end. 1t taught US to value
each other in a deeper and truer manner
than ever before; and it gave US q friend.
For dear, old Jacks luck turned with
his uncle's death, and he used his inf1u-
ence to get me a situation that began at
five hundred q year, and has steps up
ward in the future. Things have gone
we'll with me since then. Edith's health
has come back, and my boy is at the
head of his class. I have travelled agOod
deal and lately I have taken up chemis-
try as a study. Edith declares I will
blow the house up some day, but I have
not done SO yet, and I think I am on the
track of q discovery that will do q great
deal of good-make me a name, and
bring me in q lot of money. l find that
as one grows older work is q more salts
flying thing than pleasure, and knowl-
edge goes further than excitement; and
Edith finds that q wife's influence is
greatest when least visibly exerted, and
that when a woman abandOns the per-
~suasiOn of love for authoritative COM
mand, and tenderness for ill temper, she
loses her power and only deepens the
unhappiness she aims at preventing.