The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-12-03

~ &&e%~ 49, -. W~NN N~NK
room, and drawing the portieres
| close behind our backs, waited while
she pinned them upon the sleeping in.
| fants.
She the= called us in, when Will, as
| the older, made his choice.
81 will take, he began, then stopped,
and I'll never forget the expression on
his face as he added in q low, intense
voice, Number nine"
His wife's nurse stepped forward,
and raising the nearest infant, laid it
solemnly in his arms; Cettie's nurse
| placed the other child in mine.
Tracy" said Will, II swear I'll be
good to it, whatsoever it is"
''And | swear the same" | respond
ed, with bowed head. Now, remem-
ber," i added after q pause, this
must be a dead secret between us--the
mothers must never know" and that
strange quartet there took an iron.
clad oath of invincible secrecy.
Life flowed on after that without a
ripple for awhile. The young mothers
fondled their babies, compared notes,
sung their praises and almost
quarreled over their respective merits
day by day. Will and | looked on,
maintaining q reserve that hurt our
respective spouses-something APP
preaching a GOODNESS had arisen be-
tween us; we dreaded being left tete-a-
tete-for tie sudden silence that fell
upon both of us stood like q wall be-
tween us and spoiled friendship
and our fatherhood.
Rut pnora woo yot tO nopna
/ have mentioned Bob's beautiful
girl-wife. We all treated her in an
elder brother-a -sisterlv way;
couldn't help loving and petting her,
and we took her about with us q good
deal, for Bob was an editor who work
ed all night, and he was thankful to
us for using his 'complimentaries"
and .cscorting his wife to evening en-
tertainments. Sam did not care to go
out and this duty devolved upon Will
and myself
How THEN. .pressiong got abroad that
she was unmarried, / don't know, but
/ was shocked to receive a note from
aclub acquaintance, asking permission
to call upon my beautiful sister, frank
ly and ardently avowing that she vas
the only woman he had ever seen that
he desired to wed, etc, etc.
dared not showthis to Jealous and
fiery Bob, but by advice Of my wife |
burned the letter and sought the
writer. He was a man of the world,
Of better family than reputation.
was terribly embarrassed, as / ex-
planned. He raj angry baff1ed and
savage.
"Humph!" he calculated, sneeringly;
"a married woman. And no relative.
Take her to accommodate her hus-
bandl How delightfully."- magnanimous!
Does it accommodate the husband to
haveyouhold ner fan as a screen before
your faces, raise her bouquet to your
lips, button her gloves with lingering
touches, and draw her wrap around
her shoulders with that devoted air?
See here! Upper; if you're not a fool,
you must be q villaini When Thought
you were her brother twas all right,
but by George! if mccarthy can't whip
you / can!" and he strode away, leav-
ing me absolutely dumb ~with-what2
it couldent have been conscience.
OF course Celtic was eager no hear
all about the interview, and natural
ly / prevaricated las / grow older !
recognize that there are times when
the naked truth should be put into
swaddling clothes before exhibition).
But, after that, / took pains to be
more reserved in to Bob's
Jeanette, while / did not seem to
care as much for the club as former
ly.
And yet, after the strange
of things in this life, they were but
trifes after all, which finally caused
the death of our cooperation.
Sans Indignation at being dunned
for my wife's millinery bill, Bob's dis
appointment in finding that the ele-
CANT fur-trimmed overcoat he had re-
ceived in good faith as a present, was
in reality q purchace of Will'sfor him
self, to say nothing of such small nui-
sances as mistakes in the weekly &C.
counts, troubles with the serva nts,
the trying to settle about various ex
tras, the impossibility of accurately
dividing the coal and gass bills, with,
always and especially, the rivalry
over those two fated babies.
We began to avoid the ''squaISso OF
| evenings, we grew less anxious to pro-
cure ourstheater tickets together, we
| fingered less at table and q chill con.
straint made itself felt in the very at.
mosphere.
Celtic said she thought Sallie Nc
Carly really had an unlady-like tenn
per, and if Bob didn't look out his
wife would make him trouble yet
while, actually, the way Bessie Dick
son managed that baby's nap was
enough to ruin it for life!
As spring approached, an air oil
uneasy anticipation took the place
| of mr. fcrnar c.tm wocrst o,,rn-so.