The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-06-14
THE PASSING CLOUD.

:" DO you Waub uc W gov all euAnS AoA
you in town2'
Andrew Thurston spoke ve,y calmly,
and a chance visitor might have thought
that he spoke kindly. He certainly
spoke deferentially but his lips were
compressed, anil there we're lines upon
his brow which we're not usual. Ordi-
narily he would have said, as he drew on
his gloves "Now, my love, what can l
get for you in town ?" and he would
have spoken gayly and frankly, with
sprightliness and sparkle.
For they had been married not year
vet, and only the day before Andrew had
declared that they would never outlive
their honeymoon. "Dollie," he had
said, with kiss, "when we cease to
love We shall have ceased to live; for
life could be nothing without love-"
But now cloud had come-very
small at first-not bigger than a mans
hand-buty yet cloud. Dollie hadnever
complained of fatigue and WEAKNESS !;
and vet she was far from robust. On
this particular morning she had risen
with an aching head but she did not
tell OF it. She did not smile as was her
wont, and her husband asked her what
was the matter. His question seemed
to imply that her manner had fretted
him-there was almost an accusation in
it-and she replied, rather shortly ::
"Nothing."
"But there must be something. What
is it"
This, to the wife, rendered over-sus
ceptible by her headache, seemed dis
putting of her word, and she answered !:
"I tell you-nething."
"But, Dollie, You wouldn't act SO if
there was nothing the matter"
'ssAct how ?" demanded the wife,
flushing under this direct charge.
"What have I done2"
What could = the husband reply to
this2 What single act of hers-what
word, even-could be point out Some
thing in her manner had Jared upon
the sensitive cords OF his heart, aid q
cloud had come between them; but how
could he tell it2 How could he give an
other an idea OF that which had no form
nor substance, and which he had only
perceived because it dropped discord
into the exquisite harmony of his jeal-
Gus lovea He could make. no plausible
answer, and this fretted him still more.
"Oh, nothing, nothing" he said,
drawing back. eff you don't wish TO
confide in me, all right"
The wife's eyes flashed now. and she
spoke quickly-spoke so quickly and so
feelirgly that the husband was in turn
offended; and, with hasty word upon
his lips, he went away to his chamber
and made ready for the city, which was
distant but few miles from his subur-
ban residence.
When Andrew Thurston returned to
the sitting room, with his hat in his
hand, he asked the question we have al
ready heard: t"Do you want me to get
anything for youin town."
How cold his voice sounded to the
wife who sat, with bowed and aching
head, by the curtained window. 1t did
not sound like, the, voice of her hus-
band, and she did not look up. She
would wait until be 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 would
cry if she spoke, and she would not
have her husband see her do that if he
were 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 di1 not Immediately answer, he al
lowed 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 and majestic
strid's. But not long 80. The fresh
morning air famed his brow with cool
ing influence, and be begun to. think.
He missed something. For the first
time since he had been married he was
going away from home without his
q wife kiss. Surely cloud had arisen
upon the domestic horizon, and some
thing very much like storm had come
upon their peace. BE was unhappy; and
the more he meditated the more un-
happy he became.
"Dollie was to. blame," he said to
himself. But this did not heal his
wound.
81 may have been hasty," he &C
knowledged, after further reflection.
"But st,ll," he assured himself, "she
irritated me-"
Thus he reached a point very far
from soothing or satisfactory in its in
fuence. He was forced to acknowledge
TINT he had allowed himself, in mo-
ment Of irritation, to speak hastily and
unkindiy. When he entered the train
he took his seat alone, in far corner,
and pulled his hat down over his eyes.
He did not wish to converse. When he
reached his Office he was moody and
taciturn very unlike the Andrew
Thurston whose wont it was to come in
with smiles and cheerful salutation..
Alittle thing it was, to be sure, but it
gave him great pain. "A mote is tiny
particle, but it becomes thing of pain
fM mnment when it is lodged in the eye;
and tie heart that is made tender with q
devoted, living love is as sensible to
motes as is the eye. Hitherto, the cur