American citizen., 1875-03-20
VOL. XIV.

Il
too gay; ought to have made allowanc
for the morbid nervousness and broodin
| fancies of woman left alone cor tn
whole day; but was younger then thai
l am now, and the thing ended by GU
having our first grave quarrel, whereii
we were both silly, both unjust, ant
neither of us would give way.
The bad blood made between US to
night grew worse as time went on; anS
the circle we were in was a vicious one
l kept away more and more from hom,
because my wife made it too miserable
for me by her coldness, her tears, he
complaints, her ill-humor; and the more
Except away the more she resented it.
She took an almost insane hatred ant
suspicion of my friends and my actions
and did not scruple to accuse me anC
them of vices and crimes because wa:
often late, from no worse cause thar
playing pool and billiards. Her re
proaches first wearied and then hardened
me; and by degrees a kind of fierce feeling
took possession of me-a kind of revenge
fGl determination that would be what She
imagined me to be, and give her cause tt
denOunce me as she did.
Harmless amusement became amuse.
ment not SO harmless, petty little stakes
of half-a crown and shilling grew to
gold; the glass of beer became the glass
of brandy-and more than one; and the
facslss descensus had one more self-direct.
ed victim on its slippery way. Work
was intolerable to me. What did l did
badly, and 1 shirked all l could. was
often late, as often left too early; and
my employers were really good and len
lent. As it was, however, I wearied out
with me firmly but kindly.
This sObered me for a moment. but
had gone too far to retreat-until came
out at the other side must go on.
The fortune which had SO long be-
friended Jack Langhorne deserted him
now, and with his fortune his nerve.
Where Re had staked with judgment he
now bac'ied wildly, recklessly, and the
more he lost the more recklessly he
staked- His fortune seemed to influence
mine. Hitherto had been immensely
successful; now the luck ran dead against
me, and l lost more than could afford,
and soon more than could pay, and SO
came face to face with ruin.
During all this time the estrangement
between Edith and myself grew daily
wider. She took the wrong method with
me, and being woman she kept to it.
She thought to dragOOn me back to the
quiet OF my former life, and made my
private actions personal to herself; seek
ing to force me into rendering an account
OF all my doings, and of every item of eX-
penditure, then taking it as an affront
when refused to answer questions. But
now there was no hore for it. l must
perforce confess. With that writ out
against me it was useless to attempt con-
cealment, and if marriage is not feminine
yet it is partnership.
You may be sure it was bitter mo-
ment for me when l had to tell my wife
that all her worst anticipations were
realized; that she had been right
and l wrong, and that the
she had prophesied had over
taken us. In her temper of SO many
months now it was doubly hard But it
seems that 1 knew as little of women as
she of men, and had miscalculated the
depth of her goodness underneath all
her rwrong-headedness, just as she had
truth of love when fairly pulled up.
She heard me out to the end without
making a sign. There was no interrupt
tion, no angry expression, no scornful
look. l saw the hand with which she
held the child tighten roun1 his body,
The one playing with his curls tremble.
But that was all.
When 1 had finished she looked up
and said quietly: "It is better to know
the worst, George, for then we can meet
it. Now that-I know the worst know
"nat 10 do.
ana you 90 not reproach me, Edlth?'
asked sF1 = =
She rose from her seat and came over
TO me. Her eyes were full of tears, her
lips were quivering, and yet there was
more love, more softless in her face
through its. .sorrow than there had been
FOR all these long bad. drearv months
passing now into wears.
She slid the boy from her arms and
pressed them round nv neck.
,-'s{VhR spNeldsE e. repreach ,you?n she
that? While 1 thought l could
lelp to keen YOU straight l. tried-if
12Qey4 st0-ner good, yet loyalty
~ ktbet a is over l have only
o iry-eA both by my work and
py iovqs a - =
sSomQh QhfhGen 1med 10 choke me viii g
ne sQ1ke .&HSoufd have been hard
nouah If 6k6 mad been angry Init -tbis
Add8n retof1 to the old loye-tbis nm
70 Scted sg{ianimitV--was too much
k6me StSzl, I am sthaul lkfui to saw did
II breaEHdOHn LWas man enOnph f,r
Dht. f
ssWill you trust me, Edith?n said I. in
tone so rough and husky | scarcely
.ecoQnized it as nv own Hove mo as
you used. be to me what Won were and I
wear YOU shall never have canse tn re-
roach me again. am yo,1n@, 7 can
york. 1 can be resolute. / have bouebt
nv experience of life and find the taste
90 bitter in nv mouth. A man NAV be
man and vet not be ashamed to think
# his wife as well as of his pleasures
md l will think of you now"
She sighed and then she smiled.
You come back to what Won loft ~