, 1885-01-27
ARomANon or rHE sroREs,

that I absolutely forbid you to hold
any communication whatever with
Captain Cannon, and IL he comes here
again / shall urn him out of the
housei'
..Well you need not be so violent, y
protested pretty Mrs. Browne, as she
subsidized in a becoming attitude on the
drawing-room sofa and prepared for q
flood Of tears. ''Only II you insist or
my never seeing any man but yourself
and bully NE in this absurd fashion, j
shall 20 mad. or run away, or some
thing and Mrs. Browne stined. her
sobs In the folds Of n delicately-em-
broidered handkerchief, while her lord
and master marched nngrily up and
down the room. half ashamed of his
own suspicious, but determined not TO
betray any outward sign of repent
ance.
Mr.. Ramsbury Browne was a rich
city merchant, who had committed the
not mistake Of marrying 0
penniless and exceedingly pretty girl,
some thirty years younger than him
self, who, without giving her husband
any definite cause for jealousy, contriv-
ed to make his life exceedingly uncom-
Portable. The reason was not far to
seek. Before she came to London she
had never seen anything; therefore
balls, race-meetings. polo-matchcs, riv-
or parties and such like frivolities had
for her the charm which novelty alone
could give them.
Like most pretty onc she was
fond Of admiration; men ran after her,
thinking, not without reason, that she
-.~II - ..na4LI- 1o ,AnArkaH In hur
dull and uninteresting husband, and it
must be confessed hat Mrs. Browne
did not altogether discourage their at
tentions. Hence it came TO pass that
Brownies jealousy was aroused, and
that he selected his wife's friendship
with the aforesaid Captain Cannon as
the excuse for an extremely unpleasant
matrimonial dispute. The captain him
self was a good-looking Hpssar, a loaf
ing, ne'er-do-weel man-about-town, OF
q gallant, chivalrous and fascinating
oficer-it all depended upon the point
Of view from which his character was
regarded. Needless TO say that
Brownies opinion Of him was not the
more favorable one. and when his wife
showed a marked preference for the
captains society, exchanged little
notes with him about books. music and
such-like innocent topics, and was gen.
orally followed by him wherever she
went, Browne determined that the in
timacy should come to an end.
You're not to SEQ that man again"
continued he, clustering somewhat I'M
necessarily, in case his determination
should falter. DO you hear me, Mrs.
BrowneP"
"Oh, yes, l hear you" she sobbed.
Il won't see him any more; and per-
haps when you've bullied me into my
grave you win be sorry"
So Mr.. Browne marched off to the
city filled with the proud consciousness
that he had gained a great moral VIC
tory and had made his wife exceedingly
miserable.
During the next week or two the
meekness OF that young lady was adj
mirable and her obedience to her hus-
bands will positively touching. The
demon Of jealousy had, however, taken
entire possession Of the bosom Of Mr..
Ramsbury Browne, and his wife's
somewhat u~nlooked-for submissiveness
only served to increase instead Of al
laying his suspicious. He thought that
she was merely acting u part and he
watched her with redoubled vigilance.
In business matters Browne was a
strictly honorable man, and he had a
very good name In the city for hon
esty and straightforward dealing. New
ertheless he did not think 1t inconsist-
emit with his dignity to descend to all
sorts of subterfuges in order TO catch
his wife tripping. He sometimes came
home at unusually early hours. He
occasionally announced that he would
dine out, and then appeared, with some
lame excuse, at the family meal, and
though he did not 60 SO far as TO open
his wife's letters. he carefully examined
every epistle which came to the house,
In the hope Of recognizing the hand
writing Of the hated captain. This
sort Of thing went on for a week or two
and nothing came Of 1t. Browne was
beginning to think that aftor all he was
mistaken. WHEN he made a discovery
which revived his worst suspicious.
He had come home early; his vito was
out shopping, and in an aimless sort OF
manner he walked into her boudoir and
sat down at her writing table. Browne
had rummaged in all the drawers be-
fore, and knew the position Of evory
paper. Nothing was changed, and as
q last resource he glanced into the
waste-paper basket. There were a few
bills and circulars, a torn-up letter, and
a telegram. He saw that the letter
was in a lady's handwriting, so he de-
voted his attention to the telegram. II,
too, was torn into half a dozen or moro
pieces, and Browne spent several min
utes in putting them together. Two or
three fragments were altogether miss
ing, but he managed to make out quite
enough for his purpose. The telegram
had been sent out and received that
very day, and the following startling
sentence was clearly legible:
"Meet me at the stores tomorrow after
noon. Browne Is a."
1.-THE devilr' calculated the victim of
jealousy; THAT Is what she has boon
doing Of late, is itp Shopping, for
soothl And that internal captain calls
me bad names, I've no sort of doubt.
I'll be aver with you yet. Mrs. BIZ
And after searching in vain for the
missing fragments Of tho fatal paper.
Browne abandoned himself to the tor
ments Of tho green-oyed monster, and
to the p~leasurable anticipation Of de-
tecting his wife's faithlessness on the
morrow.
The mex day be started of to the
city as usual. having first asked his
wife, with n great assumption OF care
l~essness, how she meant to occupy her
self until the evening.
~ am going out this afternoon" she
answered; II may meet mamma, but l
don't know"
"Meet mamma, indeedr' said her
outraged husband to himself. 'sOh,
you deceitful little wretchr' And he
departed filed with schemes Of venge-
anc