River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-04-13
THE HOLIDAY GIFT.

AHce sKeQ mdTK oDclLOU, lnL6ITO
gatively of his wife.
"Yes"
The uneasy light left Alice's loving
eyes, for since he was not angry with hel
she did rot care to pry into his secrets
And yet, he would only confide in her
she would feel so relieved.
evil you 90, Mark?"
~ think not" A curious smile part.
ed his lips.
"Why?" in a tone of surprise.
al shall be otherwise engaged"
Nonsense, Mark. You must not be
such slave to business. Few men are
as prosperous in the world"
81 have been prosperous, dreamily,
but"
He never finished the sentence.
"And the panic never affected you in
the least" innocently remarked Alice,
who knew as much about the subtle
workings of the financial world as she
did about the mythical inhabitants CT
the moon.
Mr.. Shelton jumped up, slightly
flushed in the face, and was cut in the
cold, sunlit street before the little wO-
man had recovered from her astonish-
ment-his white even teeth clinched
tightly together, as he hurried down to
the dim, dusty office, where so many
ardunus duties demanded his attention.
Mark was good man, humane, char
liable and generous in all things, and
until year back the world had gone
we'll with him. But the panic swamped
dozens of his debtors, his business was
dead in financial sense; and his cred
itors were clamorons for bills he could
not meet. He had never been careless,
unwise or extravagant in filling or dis
charging contracts, and his business
difficulties had come upon him so swift
ly and imperceptibly that the blow fell
heavier than if he had been expecting
some catastrophe.
But Alice Shelton knew nothing of
tins. The mental turmoil going on i'll
her husbands breast never found vent
in the dissatisfied word or look, and I'M
til the previous day he had kept his
face and manner free from all traces of
care and anxiety. But the constant
worry and excitemant had been too
hard for him, and the dunning of a
creditor, who demanded the puuctual
payment of note of four thousand
that fell due on the first, together with
unforeseen debts had so upset him that
he could not cover his mental distress
with the mark of carelessness he had
worn for weeks past.
His greatest trouble was for Alice.
Never very streng-and he had often
moderated her strength-he had en-
deavored to surround her with every
comfort, and had carefully kept all har
assing business details or cares from
her ears. He had given her money
without stint, and he supposed she
spent it like other women, for she was
always we'll dressed, and his home was
Il model of order and good taste. Be
that as it may, he never thought OF
tracing the cause of his failure to home
extravaganza. For no woman was more
thoroughly economical than his wife.
Her party toilets were always In unex-
ceptional taste, and her dress for Mrs,
Austin's party was not designed for IN
usual display or elegance, although the
gathering was to be one of unusual bril-
lianoy.
The night of the twenty ninth came
"a dark, stormy December night, the
air filled with snow-hakes, and the sky
overcast with heavy clouds.
''It is going to be a terrible night,
Mark" said Mrs. Shelton, as her hus-
band set before the library fire, evident
ly absorbed i'll the contents of the even
ing paper. 81 have thought once or
twice since | commenced dressing that
| would not go to the party to-
night"
eco by all means, Alice; the carriage
is close" he replied, glancing up at the
little trim figure arrayed in Oar silk,
trimmed with pale blush roses In her
purplish black hair, and at the white
throat half yelled with filmy lace. He
smiled bitterly as he saw her going cut
in her happy, childlike innocence, as
she might never go again among peo-
PIE who had no sympathy for failing
merchants, and who would not give his
wife thought if she were not rich in
this worlds goods.
81 wish you could go" she said, be-
seechingly, lingering at the door to adj
lust her cloak. "Mr. Austin will ex-
pect you"
Mr.. Shelton smiled, thinking, per-
haps, of the forbidding face of man
of whom he had begged loan that at
ternoon, whose curt cannot spare a
dollar, sir" rang in his ears yet. He
rose from his seat near the fire, and 60
ing over to his wife's side fastened the
wraps closer about her throat.
"Be careful of yourself, little woman"
he said. with a forced attempt at gale
ty; "and enjoy yourself, for it is impos-
sible for me to go.
He accompanied her to the carriage,
and, as he closed the door on the placid
little face, he inwardly mathematical
the weakness that prompted him to
withhold the story of his difficulties
from her, when she daily ran the risk
of hearing it from lips less liable to
soften the details. Vet he still hoped
that that the morrow would bring some
chance of redeeming his lost credit ;
although his efforts to raise the four
thousand dollars due on the LIST were
vet unsuccessful. He was almost worn
out with physical and mental labor,
vet he put on his hat and overcoat and
dragged himself YEARLY down town
through the fast falling snow and murky
darkness, to spend the dreary hours OF
Ills WIG > aAoCAANC IA bQAtAAAiS WV ANNS
ers in his counting-room.
Meanwhile Mrs. Shelton, not salts
fed with Marks strange freak, as she
called her husbands refusal to attend
the party, was zealcusly trying to feel
at ease among the stylish guests. For
somehow she felt depressed and ill al
ease among the fashionablcs who had
hitherto welcomed her as the wife of s
prominent young merchant who was
steadily rising to eminence in the COM
mercial world There was an under
current of GOODNESS in their greetings
that her sensitive nature detected in
stautly, and an angry flush rose to hel
cheeks when she overheard a remark
relating to Mrs. Shelton's old silk"
She slipped out of the gay, oyer
crowded parlors into the library, where
she found refuge in the hsngings of the
bay window. She dropped into low