Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1882-11-16

family the necessaries of life At least
this was the impression which could not
but prevail, when Mrs Rogers had
emptied her budget of complaints. Not
| that she meant to so entirely misrepre-
/ sent her husband, but, carried away by
her desire to do as her neighbors did,
and believing that the pleasure could be
hers if her husband only thought so, 1t
came to pass that it was not Mr.. Rogers
whom she had held up to her sympa-
thizing friends, but an entirely different
man.
Before twelve o. clock Mrs. Rogers had
firmly decided to carry her point IN spite
of any such slight obstacle as her hus-
bands inability to supply her with
money.
About two o'clock, Mr.. Rogers, who
had been too busy to even thint %
luncheon, received the following noteby
a messenger:
'sDEAR WILLIAM: IhaTe decided it is abso'
lutely necessary for me and the children to
| have a change. I shall borrow the amount Tor
our trip from brother Harry, who know will
be willing to oblige me. think can get
ready to Start to morrow. If you can let me
have the money, shall, of course, be better
pleased than to get it in the way have men
| toned. any case, shall CO. MARY"
On the desk in front of Mr.. Rogers lay
"brother Harry's'' check for five hun
bred dollars. Fearing he could not de-
pend upon collecting enough money to
meet a note due that day, Mr.. Rogers
had borrowed the amount from his
brother-in-laW. Now his wife informed
him that she was about to solicit loan
from the same source. All day Mr..
Rogers had planned, and counted, and
taken in every bit of sail that the endan-
gered business craft would stand and still
90 on, and now his wife, who should be
his best friend and real helpmeet, had
proved not only Indifferent to the situa-
ton, but absolutely without feeling for,
or faith in, her husband.
The messenger waited for an answer,
as Mr.. Rogers, with flushed face and
trembling hands, fumbled over his pen
and paper. The man seemed to have
become suddenly numb and powerless.
At last he wrote as follows:
''Do not do it. am already in Harry
debt, and cannot stand any more. 1t
seems to me that wife who will ask her
husband to raise money for pleasure,
when she knows it is with the greatest
difficulty that he can pay his honest
debts, is fatal hindrance instead of the
help that every honest man has right
to expect"
This Mr.. Rogers sealed and dispatched,
and then, with a shudder of shame,
glanced over his wife's communication.
In his nervousness and abstraction he
had torn:it up-had previously tucked
the check in the envelope, and now let
ter, envelope and check, torn into inch
bits, reposed in the waste basket. Then
Mr.. Rogers put on his hat to 90 to the
bank, and at last discovered that the
check was missing, Twenty minutes
past two now! Forty minutes in which
to raise five hundred dollars. This was
the first time that Mr.. Rogers had ever
lost his head, but it was gone now COM
pletely. Three o'clock and his note
would be protested and his business
credit ruined. After searching every
nook and corner of the desk, and the
floor under the desk, and peering into
the most impossible places, Mr.. Rogers
started for his brother-in-law's Office. 1t
was barely possible that he might
be there. But no, and not single
friend who would be likely to oblige him
could be found. Twenty minutes of
three, fifteen minutes of three, and Mr..
Rogers in despair, hurried back to his
office to have another hunt for the miss
ing check. Seven minutes of three and
brother Harry entered the Office. Mr..
Rogers seemed now like a man petrifed.
1t was very hard work to explain what
had happened, but the man with Il clear
head looked into the waste-basket and
found what he looked for. Then the
two men rushed to the bank, and had
just one minute and twenty seconds to
spare after the money was deposited
Eighty seconds only between safety and
ruin.
Mr.. Rogers reeled like a drunken man
after the excitement was over, and his
brother-in-law was obliged to call car
ria@e and take him home. Mrs. Rogers,
with the stains of tears upon her face
again, was packing her trunk, when her
husband, leaning heavily on her brother S
arm, entered the house.
Congestion of the brain, - the doctors
: said, and for long, long weeks Mr..
: Rogers struggled YEARLY for life and
reason. His wife had plenty of time to
think. Between her husbands insane
revelations and her brothers explana-
tions, she found out the true state of the
case, and knew it was her heartless let
ter that had added the last weight to the
already overburdened brain. Mrs. RoG-
ers had cause now for the deepest sor-
row, and her face, during the long trial
and suspense, was tear-Stained most of
the time, though the face itself wore q
very different expression from that Of q
few weeks ago. And so the dreadful
days wore on, until there came day
when everything was explained and
Mrs. Rogers could humbly beg her nus
bands forgiveness. Brother Harry
, kept the business straight, and now Mr..
: Rogers has a hand in his both tender
and strong, made so by keen suffering
and honest repentance.
Query from one of the sympathizing
, friends:
t ''Have you observed how spooaey Mr..
and Mrs. Rogers have grown lately?'-
Eleanor RtrEe, TN Methodist.
Our Foreign and Domestic Trade.
The total export trade of the United
States has never yet reached one thOus-
I and millions of dollars. In 1881 it was
only Soma Cavra, hnnsf,.aH o,,1 Gff,r