The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-08-02


there was a slight stir; she had awaken
ed at last
Hugh !" she breathed, dreamily at
first, then urgently, " Hugh ~
"Yes dear"
She turned her face toward his where
1t lay beside her. She was only partial
ly awake, as yet, her eyes were still
closed; but the hand on the coverlet
crept up softly toward him, fluttered
over his face, rested one moment caress-
ingly on the brown curls, then, with q
long contented sigh, her arm stole round
his neck.
Husband, kiss mel
His presence has saved her,n was
my mental comment. "There is moth
ing now to fear - and, unnoticed, I left
the room.
Chilled and cramped with the long
sitting after the nights journey, I was
not sorry to find the sitting-room bright
with lamp and fire. light, the kettle sing
ing on the hob, breakfast as comfortably
laid out for two as if the hour had been
nine instead of six, and Mrs. Merton as
neat and fresh and trim as If that mid
night tragedy had been all dream.
Let cavilists sneer as they may, there
Is nothing for man like wife, if she
is good one. L myself may have had
doubts on the subject-wives are but
women after all, and, therefore, be try
ing at times, even the best of them.
Inf i.,I,
as stretched out my feet to the blaze
and resigned myself cheerfully to being
petted and waited on.
well 7" questioned Mrs. Merton.
when my creature comforts had all been
duly. attended to, and not before.
1 told her how matters stood; she was
delighted.
" And so they are fond of each other,
after all ; and his being unkind to her
and her poor little baby was only de-
lusion. How dreadful How delight
full, meanl Poor fellow-so young
and handsome and nice felt SO sorry
for him.
g He must have travelled down in the
same train as she did"
Oh, no; he told me all about it. He
had been summoned up to town on bus
mess, and left home yesterday morning.
In the evening the nurse left her, as she
thought, asleep, to fetch something
from the Kitchen"
Have gossip there, you mean.''
john" solemnly, "you don't like
nurses, you know you don't"
My dear, am q married man, and
moreover ar M. ID. A well-balanced
mind must hate somebody or some class
of bodies and, as rule, medical men
hate nurses"
Nonsense, John Well, Mrs. Tre-
mayne got away while the nurse was
down stairs, and, being traced to the
station, where she had taken ticket to
London, Captain Tremayne was teIe-
graphed to, and was stopped as he got
into the train on his way home. Some
one must have seen you leave the sta
ton"
AS he came to look for her here,
somebody must have brought him two
came to the door"
1T will be all right now that he has
found her; she will get quite well, and
he will only have to comfort her for the
loss of her poor little baby.'
wipe my pen, blot the MSS, and
rise. My story is done, and as it is the
first, so will it probably be the last /
shall write.
Mrs. Merton looks up from the gloves
she is mending. ''The story done Why
all you have written is only the begin
ming of the end You could not surely
have heart to break off ia that unsatis-
factory manner. Not a word about
Captain Tremayne's gratitude, or the
hamper they sent up at Christmas, or
the birth of their little son last year,
and the pretty way in which she coaxed
you to be grandfather, though her uncle,
the Duke, was only waiting to be asked;
or how she insisted upon our bringing
baby and Johnny and Freddy, and how
baby"
But seized my hat and gloves. Mary
is, as 1 have said, the best of wives, if
just little trying at times, and her
baby the most wonderful of all created
babies-but 1 have an appointment at
twelve.
EB Ifa man can be happy and con-