Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-02-17

session, one Gay, Oh tnelI uzclc 4oh
handsome property.
For good while Tom enjoyed life, and
went on his quiet way sereuely. He was
anxious at first, for he thought that Mary
was going TO make ducks and brakes OF his
money and her own. And then he did not
exactly like the looks of the thing either
he feared that his wife was growing sue.
cessful as business person at the risk OF
losing her womanliness. Bat as time went
on, and he found there was no fear Of that,
he accepted the situation phiiosophicaily.
He gave up his collection of eHgravings,
having become more interested In one OF
coins and medals. which took up most OF
his leisure time. He often went TO the city
in pursuit. of such treasures, and gained
much renown in certain quarters as nu-
mismatolocist Of great skill and experience.
But az last his house (which had almost
kept itself, and had given him little to do
beside ordering the. dinners, while faithful
old Catherine and her niece Susan were
his aids) suddenly became great care to
him. Catherine, who had been the main
stav of the family for many years, died
after a short illness, and Susan must needs
choose that time, of all others, for being
married to one of the second hands in the
mill. There followed long and dismal
season of experimenting, and for time
there was procession of incapable Great
ures going in at one kitchen door and out
of the other. His wife would not have
liked to say 20, but it seemed to her that
Tom was growing fussy about the house az
fairs, and took more notice of those minor
details than he used. She wished more
than once, when che was tired, that he
would not talk so much about the house
keeping he seemed sometimes to have no
other thought.
In the first of Mrs. Wilson's connection
with manufacturing, she had made it a rale
to consult Tom on every subject of import
ance but it had speedily proved to be a
formality. He tried msnfully to show
deep interest which he did not feel, and his
wife gave up, little by little, telling him
much about her affairs. She said that she
liked to drop business when she came home
in the evening and at last she fell into the
habit of taking a nap on the library sofa,
while Tom, who could not use his eyes
much by lamp-light, sat smoking or in
utter idleness before the fire. When they
were first married his wife had made it a
rule that che should always read him the
evening papers, and afterward they had al
ways gone on with some book of history or
philosophy, in which they were both inter.
este6. Those evenings of their early mar
ried life had been charming to both of
them, and from time to time one would say
to the other that they ought to take up
again the habit of reading together. Mary
was so unaffectedly tired in the evening
that Tom never liked to propose walk !;
for, though he was not man of pecu-
liarly social nature, he had always been
accustomed to pay an occasional evening
visit to his neighbors in the village. And
though he had little interest in the business
world, and still less knowledge of it, after
a while he wished that his wife would have
more TO say about what she was planning
and doing, or how things were getting on.
He thought that her chief aid, old Mr.
jackson, was far more in her thoughts than
he. She was forever quoting Jackson
opinions. He did not like to find that she
took it for granted that he was not inter-
es5ed in the welfare of his own property +;
it made him feel like sort of pensioner
and dependent, though, when they had
guests at the house, which was by no means
seldom, there was nothing in her manner
that would imply that she thought herself
in any way the head of the family. 1t was
hard work to find fault with his wife in
any way, though, to give him. his due, he
rarely tried.
But, this being wholly unnatural state
of things, the reader must expect to hear
of its change at last, and the frat blow
from the enemy was dealt by an old wom-
an, who lived near by, and who called to
Tom one morning, as he was driving to the
village in great hurry Ito post letter,
which ordered his agent to secure long
wished for ancient copper coin, at any
price, to ask him if they had made yeast
last week, and if she could borrow cup
full, as her own had met with some misfor-
tune. Tom was instantly in rage, and
he mentally condemned her to some unde.
served fate, but told her aloud to go and
see the cook. This slight delay. besides
being killing to his dignity, caused him to
lose the mail, and in the end his much-de.
sired copper coin. It was hard day for
him altogether it was Wednesday, and
the first days OF the week having been
stormy the washing was very late. And
Mary came home to dinner provekingly
good-natured. She had met an old school
mate and her husband driving home from
themountains, ard had first taken them over
her factory, to their great amusement and
delight, and then had brought them home
to dinner. Tom greeted them cordially,
and manifested his usual graceful hospital
ity but the minute he saw his wife alone
he said in plaintive tone of rebuke, d"
should think you might have remembered
that the girls are unusually busy to-day. |
do wish you would take little interest in
things at home. The girls have been wash
ing, and I'm sure don't know what sort
of dinner we can give your friends. l
wish you had thought to bring home some
steak. l have been busy myself, and
couldn't go down to the village. 1 thought
we would only have lunch.
Mary was hungry, but she said nothing,
except that it would be ali right-she
didn't mind; and perhaps they could have
some canned soup.
she often went to town to buy or look
at cotton, or TO see some improvement in
machinery, and she brought nome beauti-
full bits of furniture and new pictures for
the house, and showed touching thought
fulness IN remembering Toms fancies but
somehow he had an uneasy suspicion that
she could get along pretty we'll without
and hopes of her life, and that her most
important concerns were all matters in
which he had no share. He seemed to
himself to have merged his life in his
wifes he lost his interest in things out
side the house and grounds; he felt him
self fast growing rusty and behind the
times, and to have somehow missed good
deal in life; ne felt that he was a failure.
0ae day the thought rushed over him that
MS had been almost exactly the experience
OF most women, and he wondered if il
really was any more Disappointing and ig.
nominions to him than it was to women
themselves. "Some of them may be con-
tented with it, " he said to himself, soberly
People think women are designed for
such careers by nature, but l don't know
why I ever made such fool of myself
Having once ssen his situation in life
from such standpoint, he felt it day by
day to be more degrading and he wonder
ed what he should do about 1t ; and once,