The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1877-05-17
HIS POCKETS,

and she had begun to think he didn't
care for her as in days gone by.
His many endearing pet names had
dwindled to ~my dear" an occasional
darling" and a very occasional "toot-
sey love" lie read the morning pa
pers at breakfast, and the evening pa.
pers at dinner. He had gone, several
times Of late, TO business without kiss
ing her. lie had ceased bringing
home walnut candy and he had even
slapped the baby.
..'And when \ gOOd-natured, even
tempered man like John Margerum,' -
thought Mrs. Margerum. "slaps his
own innocent offspring for nothing
more than throwing the pudding and
butter on the floor and upsetting the
salt-cellars in the teapot, there must
be something decidedly wrong"
Could he be enthralled by the arts
and wiles of another woman? He had
said that the highest type of beauty
was the blonde, and she had brown
skin, brown hair, brown eyes-no one
could have been more brunettey.
lie had joined club lately-so he
ayowed-and stayed out until II
O'Clock every Tuesday and Friday eve
ming. lie had taken to whistling love
songs and reading poetry, and when
she asked him for Il simple ostrich
feather Zone ofthOse that go all around
the hat and enough left to hang grace
fully over the CROWN, he had growled
that he had no money.
Circumstances looked awfully suspi-
cious, and, as circumstances generally
do, the more they were looked at the
more suspicious they grew.
But how to find him out in his in
iquity-how to gather conclusive evil
dence with which TO confront him and
cover him with confusion as with q
garment?
His pockets! In the days when she
trusted him implicitly, and when he
used TO remain up long alter she re-
tired, reading and writing Che had
taken to going to bed early for several
months past, giving as al excuse that
he wanted to get little sleep before
the baby awoke him by sitting upon
his head at midnight, W hereas the dear
Child never sat upon his head before
two in the mOrning)-she had never
thought of them. But now she was
each night to investigate
them.
These inconstant husbands, in spite
of all their precautions, were alw ays
sure to leave something in their pock-
cts to betray them at last.
She had read of hundred cases, and
heard of hundred more, where a
lock of hair, photograph, woman's
glove, and worst of all, note, had
led to divorce, or at least separate
So night after night, when John
Margerum's musical snore proclaimed
that he slumbered, his wife stole qui-
city from his side, and in fear and
troubling, with many fur:ive glances
at the sleeper, it must be confessed
(for John, like most good natured
men, was the maddest of the mad
when he was mad), she carefully
and conscientiously examined the
pockets of his trousers. vest, under
coat and overcoat.
A month went by and she had found
nothing but flask with something
more or less in it's handkerchief: smell
ing strongly of beer, pair Of gloves
ditto, some coftec-beans and a few
cloves, a piece of flag root, meer-
chaum, half a dozen cigars, paper OF
cigarettes, two or three cards pertain
ing to hotels and restaurants, u night
key, and sundry silver and nickel
coins.
AT last, just five weeks after she had
commenced her search, she felt that
her patience was about 10 be reward
cd.
In a corner of the vest between the
cloth aud the lining it had slipped
through hole in the pocket, made
there OH purpose, no doubt-these
men are artful--she discovered the re-
ceipt oi u registered letter, which let
ter had been addressed to Miss Mary
Miss Mary (why do these post Office
people write SO illegibly E-for the
lite of her she could not make out the
surname, but Miss Mary somebody, at
the very time he had denied her, his
lawful wife. the simple ostrich feather.
Deceitful wretch !" she said. be-
tween her teeth, glancing Indignantly
at the bed where the "wretch" slum-
bered unsonsciously, but now have
one proof of his perfidy," ard she hid
the pOstmaster's receipt in her work
basket, "and I'll have more, if it takes
all the rest of the winter to get them. y
But she didn't have to wait all the
rest of the winter, for the very next
night John Margerum was snoring
louder than ever, after the cloves, and
the flask, and the meerchaum, aud the
handk erchief smelling of beer, and the
gloves ditto, and few other articles
had tumbled out, away down at the
bottom of the breast pocket of the hus-
bands overcoat, Mrs. Margerum found
sealed envelope directed to nobody