The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-11-18

III thlS cOngenlal atmosphere Mrs.
Rogers forgot all the decencies of life, as
well as the higher obligation of LOYALTY
from wife to her husband. She told of
past dlsagreements, and dwelt with real
pleasure on the occasions when she had
her own way in spite of her husband.
The gentle, generous, dignifed and
Woodworking Mr.. Rogers became an ogre
with plethoric money-bags, a tyrant, a
Bluebeard, a miser who begrudged his
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, it
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 think of
luncheon, received the following note by
a messenger:
"DEAR WILLIAM: Ihsve decided it is abso
lutely necessary for me and the children to
| have a change l shall borrow the amount for
our trip from brother Harry, who know will
be willing TO oblge me. | think | can get
ready to start tomorrow. II you can let me
have the money, SHALL of course, be better
pleased than to get it in the way have men
toned. 81 any case shall go. MARY"
On the desk in front of Mr.. Rogers lay
"brother Harry's'' check for five hun
dred 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
go 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.
|
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 doit. am already in Harry's
debt, and cannot stand any more. Ii
seems to me that a 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 q 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, rcposed 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 a 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 man petrilied
1t was very hard work to explain what
had happened, but the man with 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 a car
riage 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 brothers
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-
tons, 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 oyerburdened 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 a
very different expression from that of a |
few weeks ago. And so the dreadful |
days wore on, until there came a day |
when everything was explained and |
Mrs. Rogers could humbly beg her hus-
bands forgiveness. Brother Harry
kept the business straight, and now Mr.. |
Rogers has hand in his both tender
and strong, made so by keen suffering
and honest repentance.
n,,a,,v frn,,, o,,a ~ Tho