The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-06-25

Il ChFlStmaS Junketlng, and was abol
/ shutting up the Office for the night
le had banged the heavy door of my SAT,
st and snapped the locks of my drawer
+ and scuttIed away the dry old document
. that had kept me from Sophy and th
:, little ones, in the pigeon-holes of m
q desk, and was about locking the QUITE
e door, when a ring at the office bell clos
t, in my ear somewhat startled me. / wa
) still more shocked when my old frien,
j Jack Henderson strobe in and fingint
e himself in a chair, buried his face in hi
e hands.
All the cold, blank years that haC
: rolled between us since that dreary day
long ago when he came to me as a de
/. liverer were forgotten in moment
, He was my friend of friends, my best
: beloved Jack. We were getting on nov
] in wears. Jacks raven locks were
sprinkled with gray, and my own had
disappeared altogether from the top OF
i my Uranium; but / flung my arms about
] him with the old boyish fervor, and
lifted his head to my shoulder. "My
| dear boy" | said, what can | do for
you? All that / have in the world is
yours"
He raised his face to mine snd smiled
la smile fit to break the heart, so sad
it was, and sere, and bitter. tMy dear
Bob" he said, "your affections warm my
heart; but / did not come here to bOr-
row money of you. The trouble has
been, / believe, that we have had too
much money of late-tOo much money
and too little of some other things"
How haggard he wasl The lines about
his mouth quiyered as he spoke.
'eWhat want of you, Bob," he con-
tinued, ''is very simple thing. 1t is in
your line of business, and won't take
YOU ten minutes to do. 1t is bill of
separation between my wife and me.
Don't plead with me, Bob; it is useless.
1t is too late now-nothing can avert the
disaster that has fallen upon me and
mine. / even think it is better now to
go through with it, and have done with
it forever. am prepared for anything.
It is all my fault. Put it so in the bill.
Give her two.thirds of my income =
give her all, everything have in the
world"
His head fell again upon his hands.
A sob broke from his parched throat
put glass of water to his lips. Then
kicked together the smouldering en-
bers in the CRATE, turned up the lamps,
and seating myself by Jack took his
cold hand in mine and remained silent.
Presently he turned to me with some
thing of the old warmth and tender.
ness in his smile. you'll be surprised,
Bob," he said, "when tell you that the
innocent cause of this misery is the
feather-bed of my poor dear old grand
mother. You know how l have always
felt about that bed. My wife also knew
how sacred it was to me. | leave you to
imagine my emotion when | discovered
that she was actually endeavoring to
barter it away for trihe. 1t aroused
such a storm of indignation within me
that perhaps | went too far. But |
made amends for whatever did or said
in the heat of passion. | refused to
part with what | considered sacred in
heritance, but consented that it should
be put aside in one of the upper rooms,
and bade my wife get what she pleased
for its successor 1t was then that she
caused to be brought into the house one
of those new-fangled denominations
called folding-bed. After sleeping up,
on the magnificent combination devised
by Gertrude just before our marriage, |
the contrast was a terrible one. When |
women are ruled by devouring ambi-
ton for what they call style and novelty
they will sacrifice the best instincts of
their nature. My wife would have
thought nothing of bartering away the
last sacred relic of her mother and my
grandmother, and stretching herself up
ON a rack, if fashion required the
martyrdom. 1t was little less, Bob. |
Think of it for momenti Imagine the
incompatible quality of the treasure we
we were putting away from us! For a |
foundation there was the majestic and
spacious framework of solid mahogany. |
Upon this was placed the excellent old |
fashioned springs which nothing nova
days can excel. Upon this was fitted
the superior hair mattress givea to Ger
trude by her mother at our marriage.
Thereupon was lifted the superb |
bed composed of the downy plumes
plucked by my grandmother's own low
ing hands from her magnificent BIRDS |
and to avoid the heat of the feathers, |
had caused to be placed above them a
light, soft, delicate mattress, made ex-
pressly to order thus crowning all with |
a perfection not easily to be attained.
| have no hesitation in saying that no
crowned prince slept upon a better or as
good a bed as l did for fifteen years
You have noticed, perhaps, that never
passed night away from home. The
fact was that was spoiled for any ordi-
nary sleeping arrangements. Ny own
sumptuous combination so soothed and |
comforted me that Of late years ! had |
longed to reach my haven OF rest, and
sink away to pleasant dreams.
"You can fancy the nature of the |
article my wife bought to replace all this
luxury of ease when | tell you that the
abomfnable box would admit of only
single mattress purposely contrived OF
so thin and sleazy material that 1t
could easily be compressed into the very |
vacuity of space when the machine was
closed. Think of it, Bobl When was
getting old, and business and domestic |
cares we're multiplying about me, at the |
close of the weary day l was invited to
repose upon this article of tortured A
network of wire pressed upon my whole
anatomy; my neck was almost disloca- |
ted; I was in constant agony lest the |
thing would double up, and reduce our
bodies to shapeless pulp. Not only
these. but the internal mechanism was
contriyed in such way that the swing
ing glass and the shelf filed with gim-
cracks of hideous variety remained sus-
pended over me during the night to
haunt my unhappy dreams. will not
detain you longer; ! will not endeavor
to palliate my own delinquencies. Driv-
en- to desperation by business and do
nestle troubles, have of late been the
victim of great nervous debility, and
the uninviting nature of the bed have
| slept upon has not induced me tn seek
II very early. Last night, or rather in
the early morning, / reached home in
an exceedingly shaken condition of mind
and BODY. The light buEhed low in our
bed-chamber, but as | took off my right
boot distinctly saw the porcelain drag
on on the left-hand corner of the ebony
shelf wink at me with his demoniacal
eve. ] looked again, and to my horror
discovered that the Indian snake-charmer
| in terra-cotta on the right-hand corner Of
the ebony shelf, suddenly endowed with
life, was dangling his reptiles within an
inch Of my wife's unconscious nose.
stroYe in vain to persuade myself that
1 was suffering under delusion; ! even
/ crept into the aecursed box; but the
moment my head touched the pillow
saw in the mirror above me not only
dozens of dragons winking with count
tess ewes. a hundred snake charmers daI-
\ living with thousands of serpents, but
/ nv own face transformed into that of
monster, so wild and swollen and dis
Etraupht with agony that sprang from
the bed in terror. Driven to madness,
/ dashed my fist in the mirror; flung
the porcelain gimcracks one after the
other upon the marble hearth, and not
until every one of the demons had been
Il demolished, and my wife sat up in the
he'd. paraIyzed with fear and dumb with
4 disnaay. did / realize the horror Of the
situation. | broke out in cold sweat,
ny teeth chattered in my head, and |