The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1882-08-17

borne the private indifference bettei i
the public devotion had not been ofer
done. She never rallied at matrimdny
She did say once, half bitterly-she had
been digging IN the garden at the time O,
year when those great white worms Iurr
into beetles, and was crawling little a
the loathsome half developed things
Just like marriage, for ali the world
they don't live any kind of life down in
the ground, not a quarter of a life, but
once out OF it they run the risk OF
humping their brains out against wall,
OF being eaten by the fowls, or of getting
a needle through their hearts" That
was the worst she was ever known to saw,
She was not blind. She knew Just as
well as if she had been told that all those
evenings when her husband said he had
pressing business with Mr.. Darwin.
had to wait four hours to see him and
then attend to the business afterwards. -
he had been quietly playing chess with
pretty Miss Darwin all the time, while
the unconscious papa dreamed of bonds
and per cent. When the same thing
took him away half tine evenings in til ,
month, she despised him that he could
look her in the face and say, business.
She did not care about the chess. She
had never imagined that when he prom
ised leaving all others to cleave to her
alone" it meant VOW to forego all social
privileges; but cit was sneaking make
believe" she said to herself. And then
to come home and, if his mother was
there, say he was $50 sorry that pesky.
tormenting business kept him away and
left her at home to prose over the mend
ing and never Rave good time!" The
soft lying was what she did wish he
could be broken Of It exasperated
her So
But as l said she never blasphemed
marriage because her own had found as
many thorns az roses. She knew il was
not the state but the people.
If Mr.. and Mrs. Grey, over at the cor
ner. believed, as they seemed to, that
wedlock on earth was inferno enough to
preclude the need of any hereafter. that |
was only one side of it, There was sweet |
Mrs. Marshall who made her home |
paradise, and whose husband grew
deeper in love with her every day of his |
life with an intense unspeakable LOYALTY:
there were Mr.. and Mrs. Hall, who had |
been married fifteen years and whose
honeymoon was still in the first quarter.
Mrs. Russell was too sensible to blame
the condition, if it did prove uncomfort-
able for her. And the discomfort went
on.
He came home one noon and found
her roasting on every gridiron in her
kitchen, in sitting atmosphere, tired
and flushed, with an odor of SOUPS and
desserts about her. Miss Della was
gracefully swimming in hammock in a
non fno 1901 a ta o Lot
with his habitual company -gallantry and
. few extra grains thrown in for spice,
he said:
"My darling. it's a shame to have
you sweltering in this Nebucadnezzar's
furnace on such a tiendish day, getting
dinner for US brutes By Jovel I'd
rather come home every day and find
you sitting in the big rocking chair with
= palm-leaf fan, aud eat cold crust of
bread, on my soul had" And he lifted
\ kettle for her by way of emphasis, and
left huge black mark on his clean white
vest. After which mishap he betook
himself to Della, still protesting about
the cold crust
And Mrs. Benjamin said a pleasant
word, flushed little redder, and kept up
\ prodigious thinking. Their guest went
away on the evening train. She came
DOWN radiant in ultramarine ash ribbons
and cheeks that glowed as natural pink
rs If it all came from fresh emotions, and
not from ten minutes application of
fresh mullin leaves. Mr.. Russell went
with her, of course. to see that she had
> seat, and to get her some oranges and
with which to shorten the ride.
Mrs. Russell stayed at home to wash the
dishes, as any dutiful wife would, but
still kept up the prodigious thinking.
The next noon he came home to dinner
hungry as a bear, opened the dining
room door, saw the chairs set up, the
dishes as usual, and two crusts of cold
bread the only edible thing in sight. He
stared in the greatest establishment; not
. hint of anything else. He opened the
kitchen door; perfect order reigned
there; not kettle in sight, NO odor of
fresh meat, no sign of dinnerl He was
getting angry. what is all this
blasted business about? Jennie! Jen-
MEL! he called, but no answer came.
"Jen-n-n-ic-el" in prolonged Indignation
as he neared the parlor. Janet" He
was very angry, or he would never have
used that name.
There in the GOODNESS of the bay win
dow she sat in the easiest chair, wasting
her time. No knitting or mendinR in
her hands, hot even a novel. ONLY an
"a. Ia Il - 1