The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-12-13

determined face.
Perhaps tllat last was trife too
much,s said jacob, hurriedly, as Mrs.
Hazard left the room in pursuit Of the
Captain. by iove! he looked as il he
meant murder.
fmpclled b. SOME nndefinable fear
Mrs. Hazard hurried tu her private
4 ting room. A fo'dea raper 10y on
the table; Tremblinglv she opened it,
Ny DEAR WIRE: when ,on read this, til
hateful Onds that bind is together will be
broken. only hope whit n you Il ok down on
my dead face that You inny feel It least one
pang Of sbripw for ON. that ha. loved yOa,
not very wiscly, perhaps, Tut nj least very
well. You must certainly know that II wasn
the money alone which promp.e ne To Ire
marriage II neither Of ns had gained cent by
SO doing, becau q lo.ed you. HAzAHD.
She flew rather than ran into the
Captains apartments. As shc pushed
open tho door, the smothered report OF
a pistol struck her ear. The room was
in darkness. Turning on the gas she
saw extt nded on the couch before her
the body Of Capt. Hazard, apparently
lifelts;.
She wns nut woman to faint, or to
suddenly loose her presence Of mind in
time of crisis. Quickly directing the
servant, who answered her ring, to
fetch a surgeon and to make haste
about it, she stcopel OVER her husband
and put her hand upon his heart. He
was alive though unconscious.
When he came to Himself again,
which lie did presently, he found light
bandage wound about his head, and the
first person his eyes rested upon was
Jack Li;tlefeld.
Il guess you'll pull through" said
Jack.
"Yon here" gasped Hazard, "Lut /
might know you would be. | shall
look tor you to follow me down to
purgatorv.'
.Oh! But you needn't though, if the
court knows himself, and he thinks he
does, you know, he never intends to
bring up at that stopping place." said
Littlefield cheerfnlly.
"By gad, Iittlefield," painted the
Captain. "if I we're myself just now
I'd pound the round with you, you in
fernal scoundrel.'
And blooming fine time you'd
have Of it, fancy, retorted Jack, with
a laugh. Look here, Hazarl,' lie con-
tinued seriously, IF you suppose that
/ really wished to elope with your wife
then l want to unieceive You now.
That little scene in the conservatory
was planned expressly for your benefit,
as many others have been. Your wife
never cared silver rupee-that's 46
cents worth. you know-for Jack Lit
tleficld nor for any other fellow except
Capt. Hazard. II won hadn't been
blind as q mole and jealous as Turk,
| besides being stuffed full Of conceit in
the bargain. you'd have found This cut
fer yourself long years ago. Before
yon came home from the wars she heard
your praises sounded SO continuously
that she Sc. yol mp on pedestal in her
imagination and worshiped you. But
when You came back and took to fiirt-
ing and to boasting how easy il was to
make the women adore you, she vowed
to herself TINT come what would she
never would admit that she cared a
straw for ytu. Years ago discovered
her secret and have helped her keep il
by carrying on this tremendous flirta-
tion that has nearly killed You, though
/ never had the remotest idea that you'd
get so desperate over it as t. make a
corpse of yourself. But I'm free to
say that you deserve all the bad usage
you've had, for when man marries as
| a dernier resort, he must expect to have
unpleasant things happen. Still, since
I find that you do actually ca more
for your wife than Won .lo for the bellei
and the actresses and the ballet girls
who have claimed so big a share oi
your attention. / promise you that il
future Mrs. Hazard and will gu.etl,
fold up our weapons and flirt no more.
The campaign seems to be over and
! think the enemy is 'your>, gaspe.
Hazard, fainting dead away.
Hazard came partly back to conscious
ness again shortly. Littlefield was
gone, and he could feel some slow, lo
tears dropping on lis uncovered hands
And he heard, rs in dream, the re
membered voice of his wife calling Iii
name in such accents as he had neve
heard her use before. 1t produced il
his mind an exquisite sensation. And
as he tried. though vaguely, to collec
his wandering senses, lie though
vaguely that IF he ever got we'll AM
she should freeze him away, by gad, q
she had done before, why, by gad, he,
shoot himself again just to hear tina
ridiculous but delightful nonsense re
peated." And then he dropped oi
into an insensibil.ty that lasted 70
days. And weeks went by before Capt
Hazard realized anything that was 60
ing on in the world about him. Event
ually he recovered. though . purpl
scar ever after marked his forehead
which he carried to his, grave. Blu
with his return to health there was II
return of that liking for bellies an,
actresses and ballet-girls that Litlefiel
had complained nf Neither did Ms
Hazard go back to her bathrooms an
her tlirtations, and never after did sh
count her conuues.s on the tips Of he
white fingers.
Indeed, even to this day. for all thi
happened long ago, ii yon shoul
chance to ask Jack Littlcticld wins
about that couple who pcrpetrate
matrimony us .business arrange
ment." that worthy will make a suddc
grimace, after the spasmodic fashion {
sea-sick person, and helch forth 1T
clear case Of spoons--sIoons IN bot
sides, bloomed If il IS isn't "-ch'ccg
Ledger.
Heavy Motive.
II want warrant for the eagi Ger
Nc, B." exclaimed an irate farmer I
, the local Justice
, sWhat has he done ?"asked the Judg,
Run over my pig, aud I'm going
send him to jail
"Why don't You see the company
| inquired the Judge. "You can cole,
i, for that pig. You cant send the eng
neer to jail unless you can prove TIL
/ he did il Intentionally.
Il know he did, aud ! want VIA
rant" protested the farmer.
: "Tlle only thing can i-sue warral
, for is fol- a crime. Before you can 90;
I Wet this man of crime, ,yon must sho
D some motive"