Middletown transcript., 1877-07-14


7 STATED early retiring.
& It was all different in a little while
Harry was only too welcome among
r his former friends, and his evening;
|, were spent abroad, while Lulu gather
. ed her friends in her own room, and
without realizing it, husband and wife
7 were drifting apart little by little.
Aunt Lucy, with a sinking heart
saw that the result she dreaded was
} coming with footsteps far more rapid
Z than her worst fears had dictated.
Harry was soured by his wife's want
of appreciation fer what. he valued
highly, her. determination to accom-
plish her own desire, even when she
saw how painful the sacrifice was to
him.
It hardened him.
And Lulu was mortified and anger
ell when she found that Harry, instead
Of being her escort to evening plea
sures, as she had fondly anticipated,
preferred to seek his own companions
and pursuits.
Each evening he stayed little later
away from the room that it was mock
cry to call home, and gradually he
found himself drawn into friendly
games of cards, that were more inter-
esting if there was a small stake,
though it was a long time before he
called his amusement by the ugly
name of gambling.
Worse still, in the fevered excite
ment of the game, the glass was too
often lifted to his lips, and Lulu shud-
dered at the thick speech and haggard
eyes that told the story Of deep drink
ing. For her own part, the pleasure
she had anticipated proved far greater
in imagination than in fact.
Itwas not pleasant, when her friends
came to spend an evening, to have
them comment pityingly upon the fact
that they never saw Mr.. Gordon.
It became annoying to depend upon
other escorts than her husband when
she wanted to 60 out, and she was
thrown into companionship with those
that were far from pleasant
Although the housekeeping had been
somewhat extravagant, there were but
three to provide for, and after six
months Harry found his balance at the
bank was smaller than it had been be-
fore since he was married.
Beefsteaks did not cost as much as
cards and his pretty niek-nacks did
not involve so great an outlay as
Lulu's dress was costing, to keep pace
with the others in the house.
A dinner-party to few friends was
given at less expense than the "treat-
ing for one evening in the billiard
rooms, and Lulu could but acknow-
ledge there certainly was no saving.
Her own neat dress, that was 50
suitable for a morning in her little,
quiet home, looked cheap and common
beside the elaborate cambries, frilled
percales of the other ladies, and her
best dresses were soon worn out by the
constant shopping and visiting, under
taken to pass the time.
Too late the young wife realized
that her husband was yielding to temp
tations that had not presented them
selves to him in the first years of their
married life, and regretted the steps
she had taken.
"You are right, aunt" she sobbed,
one morning, when Mrs. Henderson
was in her room; Harry seldom comes
home perfectly sober, and he is unkind
to me, as he never was before. When {
reproach him, he tells me it is all my
fault, that he never was tipsy when he ]
mad home to come to" !
"Can you not go back ?"
mo. Father says he cannot afford t
. furnish house for me again, and !
certainly Harry cannot Indeed, he !
would not, for he is still sore about the !
,ontemptibIe price the goods brought 9
It auction. Oh, aunt, what can do?" {
"You must try to coax Harry to 7
tay more with you. And Lulu, you f
night soon save money for inexpensive i
urniture. If Harry saw you were in e
.arnest, he would soon feel the old in
crest again" S
But the advice was never to be fol- S
owed. +
Harry Gordon was seized with de- t
irious fever, brought on by the sudden /
hange in his habits. h
He had disgust for boarding-house d
ooking, even Of the best, and had St
eglected regular meals to satisfy his h
"a
ppetite with late suppers OF stimulants. fl
The fever finding weakened sys- 81
EN-, was very violent, and Lulu found 81
very hour taxed with nursing duty. W
Aunt Lucy came at once to the as a
istance Of the young people who filed n
he warmest place in her kind heart, Il
haring Lulu's watching and care, her I
ears and hopes. ST
She could not share the agony of ri