Bridgeton pioneer., 1884-01-24

bay. Tney could scarcely have seemed
very valuable to her since she had left them
so easily. But Lorrimer put the case strong
ly, if grotesquely, and there could be no
doubt of his sincerity.
She was but a simple-rninded creature. in
spite of the talents of which Lorrimer spoke
SO highly, and she had way of speaking
straight out the thing that was in her mind,
My husband" she began, but there she
stopped with a sudden sense of heartache at
the vast emptiness of the world. There is
no pain the human heart can feel which is
heavier to bear than that
"Your husband, madam?n said Lorrimer.
prompting her with tone of respectful
sympathy.
My husband" she began again, chad
profound dislike for the stage, and l must
respect his opinion.
"That is natural and commendable,
madam" returned Lorrimer, with the fam
ily-adviser air more strongly marked than
ever. But when-in the course of a week
or two-the healing hand of time has soft
ened the sense of loss, you may find YOUR
self less inclined to elevate his scrupIes into
absolute commandments.
She shook her head with an expression so
mournful and so resolute that Lorri,ner felt
it necessary to clear his throat before he
spoke again.
"Well, madam WE'LL" he said rather
hastily. "If you should change yonr mind,
you will know where 1 am. Fortune lies
at your feet. You have only to stoop to
pick up wealth and fame. And, as I say,
if you shonl9 change your mind, you will
find nobody so devoted to your interests as
myself. I have made the fortune of a min
compoop before to-day madam, and genius
is the lever Archimedes wanted. With
such genius as you possess I could move the
world. 1 ask nothing but my poor share
of the glory, and half profits. But I will
not further intrude upon you now. Good
day, madam, good-day."
He was gone, but he left seed behind
him, and though it fell on ground unwilling
to receive it, it took root and grew
To have done thing, with ninety-nine
people in hundred, is the best of all nos
sible reasons for continuing to do it. espe-
cially if the thing is to be done passiyely,
We like or dislike our everyday acquaint
ances on this principle, and it guides us in
more matters than we often care to think
of. The runaway wife had never written
to her husband to appraise him of her
whereabouts, and silence, which at first was
this time nothing could have forced her to
break it. She suffered, and she told herself
that she deserved to suffer. She trained
the thorns of remorse with a hand of con-
stant care, and cultivated unhappiness as
only penitent and woman could. And
all the time she waited in a sort of hopeless
hope for her husband to make some effort
to recover her. Had he found her. he could
have taken home not merely wife, but a
lover so full Of love and penitence that she
would have been his lifelong slave for no
more than the privilege of seeing him. But
he also waited with heart that grew Bit
terer and heavier day by day, until at last
the true masculine impatience of the slow
suffering, which women bear until they
learn to cherish it, bade him throw the bur.
den away. He seemed to cast his heart
away with it, but it had to go, and he went
back to his mad-brained books again.
That so fine triviality as that which
separated these two hearts and lives should
breathe days GOODNESS might surprise
lover. But there is no measurement fol
human folly, and the fools, as often as not
are Iovable, pitiable, admirable. If only
the peopa who are Objectionable all round
made fools of themselves, what charming
world we should live in!