River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-12-17

public, by his fiery eloquence-then,
ah! then she would reap her reward.
The only thing that troubled her was
| her ewes, which seemed at times TO be
| full of sand, and caused her no end of
ANNOYANCE. She spoke to Halstead
about them, but he told her cheerfully
| to hold them open in cold water, and
they would be alright. She tried it,
! but it had no effect. 1t seemed to her,
/ too, after awhile. as if her mind was
beginning to run dry. She had, in the
stress for matter, written articles in
which she had given advice about a
| hundred things which she knew moth
/ ing about She had written about
! babies and maternal duties until that
subject. too, seemed fairly exhausted.
Her Hygiene in the Nursery" and
/ advice to young Mothers had been
I quite successful, though she had scarce
/ " tired or practiced single rule that
she.reeommended. Her Accommodations
j We're too poor and her life too busy.
/ In fact. she was too tired to see even
/ the humor of her own situation as the
/ experienced adviser of hundreds who
probably knew more than herself
/ No doabt Halstead, who had more of a
stnse for humor. would have seen it if
/ he had ever had the time to read her
| articles. But he was at the law school
/ all dav long, and when he came home
/ at night he liked to talk of pleasant
/ things, particularly to eXpatiate upon
| the brilliancy of his prospects. 1t was,
indeed, delightful to listen to him, and
she could never forgive herself for once
fallen asleep during his discourse.
But then she had been SO very tired
He had been mortally offended, and no
wonder. He had not spoken to her for
three days afterward. and she had cried
and upbraided herself until he finally
took pity upon her, and gave her his
views upon the complication in
European politics.
Tn day when Halstead came home
with his diploma as Bachelor of Laws
was great day in the annals of the
family. Rose sat at the window and
cried for very joy. She had grown So
pale and haggard and redeyed of late
that it was not to be expected that he
should come up and kiss her, as he
would have done in days of old. He
was so absorbed in the weighty affairs
of life now that it would be absurd to
expect of him that he should think of
such tritles as kissing his wife. And
yet if he had happened to think of it,
it seemed to Rose that her cup of hap
piness would have been full. Now
1 Halstead was at last in his right niche
and their trials would soon be over
/ He hired an office downtown and
I had his name inscribed upon his window
t pane in neat gilt letters. Rose and
/ baby took a trip across in the ferry to
see how it looked from the street. She
was a little surprised when she found
! her husband alone in the office. She
! had expected to walk proudly through
a throng of clamerous clients. He eX-
/ planned to Ter. however, that until he
/ had his first chance to appear in court
| he could scarcely expect any rush of
clients che blushed at her own folly
and thought that Halstead was right,
as always. When she had got home,
/ she had to sit down and cry though she
could not for the world have told what
/ she cried for. She had, to be sure,
/ only twenty cents in her purse, and
/ that would be scarcely enough to get
dinner for HaIstead when he should
get home. She had given him the
! last dollar she had to pay his Office
rent in advance. Iu sheer desperation
! she sat down and scrubbed off
story, which she mailed to a we'll
! known story paper in the city. When
Halstead came home Mt six
o'clock and found only bread and
cheese for dinner, he scolded like a
Turk. Poor fellow, he did need some
thing Strengthening, if she had only
! had it to give him. The next day she
/ pawned her shawl for three dollars,
and he ate his beefsteak with relish,
and rewarded her with discourse on
civil-service reform. 1t was wonder
sfully fine discourse, she thought and
she only wished all the world could
have heard it. 1t was, indeed. a pity
that man like Halstead should be
/ staying here and wasting his genius on
an ignorant creature like herself Of
course she was happy to listen to him.
but others, no doubt would have given
much for this privilege which she was
daily enjoying. She ventured to sug-
gest this idea to him, and he took it
up eagerly.
The fact is, Rose, said he, pacing
up and down the floor with cigar in
! his mouth, sthat | have often thought
that very thing myself. But, to be
frank with you. there Is great deal
of jealousy in our profession, and when
man Of exceptional talent makes his
appearance, the others combine to keep
/ him down. | should have had dozen
eases before now, and securely founded
my fame, if a miserable clique of envi-
Gus intriguers had not conspired to
keep me out of court. Their only
chance of success, you see. depends
upon their making me invisible.
Rose could so perfectly well under
stand that! Human nature, she had
heard her pastor say was envious and
desperately wicked. She learned pres
entity that it was Mr.. c., one Of the
acknowledged leaders of the New
/ York bar, who trembling for his own
| laurels, had organized the clique
against Halstead. She had always adj
mired this man 5 wit and eloquence, and
was heartily sorry to hear anything so
bad about him. Yet she doubted not
+ that Halstead, with his indomitable
energy and power of speech, would in
/ the end prevail
1t was week of miserable suspense
until she heard from her story. When
the manuscript was returned to her she
came near fainting. The editor wrote
! her kind letter in which he told her
she had unquestionable talent if she
would only turn it to right account
He could not use such quiet stories;
! but if she would write something SEN
sational with murders and other
crimes, be thodght she could be of use
to him She went to work at once.
She wrote out one narrowing scene af-
ter another, half frightened at her own
terrible fancies She wrote about pol
ished ana villainous deceivers and bril-
liant murderers. But through all the
desperate wickedness which she con-
iured up her own innocent voice
sounded like that of canary that was
irving to initiate thunder. 1t was she
who was in the wrong niche, being
compelled to sacrifice her conscience
for bread. But there was no help for
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