Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-01-10

lecture ner 1Of u week. lie nau eFf
IDENTIFY suffered much; he was lyine
there so miserable and helpless; il
seemed that she had never appreciated
the inhumanity of the whole proceed
Ing until now. But she was a woman
of resolution. She had satisfied her.
self that the arrangement would he
one of mutual advantage. The only
question in her mind was how to be-
gin.
sit was very kind and thoughtful OF
YOU to come" he said. breaking the
somewhat protracted silence.
Thoughtful but not kind, perhaps,
she replied. with nice discrimination.
tom was telling us to day how nncom-
Portable you were here, and how Ill.
understood from him that you did not
have proper attention and-that-you
could not get well, and came with a
purpose"
He. looked up gratefully. and she
could not have felt more guilty or con-
temptible if she had stabbed him with
knife and received in return his dy-
ing bene fiction. But she had the cour-
age o. desperation and she kept on.
She told him her plan, which was,
briefly. to marry him and attend him
carefully for the trilling remnant Of his
existence, in return for which he was to
bestow upon her the inestimable privi-
leres of widowhood.
1t was not SO bluntly stated, OF
course. and was accompanied by many
why's and wherefores intended to mod
lily, to some extent, what she consid-
cred the fiendish conception and the in
delicate execution of the plot.
1t was of no consequence whatever
to Hemingway that she desired his de-
mise; was even figuring upon it a that
moment with pleasurab!e anticipations
of a time when it would have cast
about her a mantle of unimpeachable
dignity and permanent security from
so :ial prosecutions. She was sitting
there, like a section Of paradise, fitted
into that dingy chair, Illuminating the
whole room and filling it with the ex-
quisite odor of heliotrope. To such a
presence man may forgive much.
There was but one thought in his mind
after he was assured that it was not an
Illusion which had come to torture him
with malicious contrast. "Her friends
would certainly object
She assured him with strict veracity
that it was her own affair entirely and
rested with themselves.
When it all came out Annie was
shocked beyond anything. She had
always known that Meg" would do
something disgraceful, but she was not
prepared for this. TO deliberately
propose to a man and then coolly sit
down with the eyes Of the whole COM
munity upon her and wait for him to
Diet was too much.
The doctor was secretly in sympathy
with what he called the Mutual Benefit
Association. and the result of all this
was an immediate and quiet wedding,
at which the groom did not wear the
ere ula,ion black
Any unpleasant gossip that nj CHIT
have followed the event was neatly
averted by story industrously circulat-
ed by Tom Ainslee to the effect that
Hemingway was really an old lover of
'' Meg's," and some mysterious hints
of a romantic story in the background
that he could tell if he felt disposed.
A week later, when Ains]ee came for
his usual afternoon visit to the invalid,
Meg called him aside and hesitatingly
inquired whether he thought it would
hurt the patient to be moved.
''Um -m-m, no, don't think it would
hurt him to be moved; in fact, | am
sure it would not; but would suggest
that you are in danger of defeating your
own purpose. Ii you nurse him too well.
you know, he might recover, and that,
under the circumstances, would fall
little short OF disaster
Don't be brutal, Tom,' she said
"This place is ineffably dismal, and he
may rs well be comfortable for the little
time that is Left
She took a cottage in the suburbs
near the river, with plenty of space
around it and windows that looked out
upon an expanse OF shining water and
far-blue rims of hills. Il was June;
about the verandas and windows hung
a mass of climbing roses that filled the
place with fragrance, and into the airy
front room, with its vide windows and
its distant glimpses of river and green
hills beyond, went the invalid's bed
All day long the fresh breeze from
the river, laden with the odor CT roses,
parted the fleecy drapery of the WIN
dows and blew softly upon his face.
Everywhere reigned the delicious quiet
his tortured nerves had needed above
all things: the grateful absence of the
sound of wheels and other urban noises
that had fretted his soul with their din
the only echo of these that reached
him now was the daily pilgrimage of
Tom Ainslee's buggy. Near him, all
day long, sat "Meg" in her soft white
dress and her flowers with the soft light
ON her brown hair, and softer light in
her great violet eyes; surroundings
which certainly invited an interest IN
things, and, as the weeks
passed by, John Hemingway, man of
honor and sensitive consc ence, began
to be troubled with a misgiving-a mis-
giving that after all he was not going to
lu!fil his part of the contract He felt
that for the first time in his life he was
about tC 90 squarely back on an obi
cation. He had entered into deliber-
ate contract to die within a given time,
and what amends could he make for
his ungeHerous recovery? 1t would be
but a poor return for her assiduous at
Ten ion and tender ministratiOns. She
could not have been more sweetly care
ful OF his comfort if she had .'loved with
4 love that was more than love- IN re-
turn for which he was about 10 infict
upon her permanent and unmitgated
disappointment. In vain he assured
himself that had he ever dreamed of. a
possible recovery he would never have
allowed her to take such a risk This
could not possibly alleviate her dsap-
pointment nor excuse his Eeriidy.
He was thinking of these things one