Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-07-21

Qul0U. anu dlUGE UudU Il SOU up dlo
paced them rooms like mad.
wasn't much credit to myself for
the rest OF that day, and when twi-
light brought John home unexpected
his usual hours running twenty min
utes this side of twelve-there he
caught me crouched by the stove with
the iunkehop's black cat squeezed up
in my arms, and my heart tull of trou-
BILE heaps blacker!
"John," I said, quiet like, when I
had shut the cat out-he hated cats
and set his tea to sleeping on the hob
-''John, did you ever think [ stole
that ring?"
He might have been cat himself
the way he got his back up
"What's the use o spilin good silence
with foolish gab?' Do we think I'd
a-brought a thief home to rob me out
O. house and home-do YEP"
"Then, if you knew I was speaking
truth when | told 'em how | had
come from the old home in the woods
because money was scarce and mouths
plentiful, and how [ took service and
got mixed up with another girl s crime,
didn't you feel sorry for me when you
saw how lone | was, and how young
and helpless2 Say you felt sorry for
me, John, just once, for Truth sake
say it, John, dear-do!"
"Don't see no kinder use tellin' g.
pack o. lies just to butter woman's
vanity" answered John, between
puffs at the rusty pipe [ had just lit
him. "All / thought on the matter
was, There's a strong young CONAN,
and here's weakish old man. What
[ want is body to turn in and take
care o. the bit I've got, and what she
wants is a home. All right got
what I bargained for, and you got
what you bargained for, and so hon
ors is easy-and l says no morep
Not another word, not one-and
there I sat, till the fire seemed some
way to get into my brain; and that
night, for the first time in my life, /
fell asleep without a-saying my pray
ers.
Inever bothered John with any of
my foolishness after that once. /
kept the house tidy and did my duty
out and out; and { think he liked it
all the better.
Perhaps, If the good God had given
me little child it would have kept
me in the house after work hours; but
as 1t was, took to gadding the gay
streets just to keep my heart from
breaking like; and the more | gadded
the more l hated those four cuddy
rooms over the junk shop; and John
especially John!
My husband didn't believe in fnery
and such, and SO Mrs. Dagger used to
get me enough plain sewing on the sly
to keep myself nice in; and it was one
OF those days | was busy home that
the junkshop took ill-took as i'll as q
junkshop could without a-blowin' the
last breath out of his poor, wien old
body; and there sat helping the poor
soul to the best I could, when along
comes Efie-being his niece, and q gay
sort of laughing young thing that
danced down at the Varieties, and no
fit company for settled woman the
likes of me.
Well, the way that girl and me raced
the streets together, and took to steal
ing off to theaters, unbeknownst, was
enough to make a decent married
woman hang her head for shame-not
that ever did anything worse than
chatter with fo ks Ihad best left alone;
but, somehow, it always felt as if my
proper place was them cuddy rooms
over the junkshop; and what's more,
that black cat thought SO too; could
see it in his eyes.
Fife was one OF them coaxing little
Irish things with blue eyes that had
silver hickers in 'em, and once she had
taken a notion to me, she didn't rest
day nor night till she had persuaded
me into the ballet at dollar night
and found.
| set my facedead against it at first,
but when [ thought of them big silver
dollars and how they would buy warm
frocks for the children and a blanket
shawl for mother, not counting the
good things all around, why, took
and give in to her; and the next thing
| knew, there / was-tricked off in a
cloud of fluffy skirts all over tinsel,
with wax beads round my neck and
red dabs on my cheeks--spinning
around with whole jam of other girls
out on the big, haring stage.
Ii John had been little kind to me
that day-had praised the dinner, or
said something nice about the rooms,
| would attacked out, even then; but
John wasn't kind.
He had missed silver piece out of
his pocket, and he asked me about it
in such a suspicious sort of way that
it set my face to flaming like torch,
as if he wanted to say a jailbird
wasn't to be trusted-only, he had no
proof.
So weut-went with determlna-
ton to take the money and send it
home to mother. John might kill me,
if he'd q mind to. but go into the mid
die of the lights and the music and the
gay crowds and the flash and sparkle,
| would would, and. please God, I'd
do what was right and honest on &C
count of the little ones and mother;
and did,.
This was the beginning of my double
life, and it kept me pretty spry.
There was my housekeeping, and the
plain sewing on the quiet, and the re-
hearsals-one hour day, with fine
if late-not counting the work it cost
me to go on making believe I was hap