Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-05-19
TOM MIDDLETON'S WIFE.
BY FLORA HAISEs LoUoHEAD.

I'D.
Kate Mitchell was one of those unfortunate
women whose surplus physical energies distin-
sulsh them from others o. their sex. As a
child, she was known as a "tomboy,- and prim
mothers he'd her up as an awful warning to their
little daughters, while in her own home the aues-
ton OF how 10 subdue her buoyant spirits was
Wrestled over with true maternal sorcitude
When she grew up, society frowned upon her as a
"h"yden,' and her way was beset with thorns
NJ eighteen she could row. and SWIM and ride.
and play lavn-tennis like boy She was a great
walker, and upon one occasion HAD walked to Mt.
DiablO and back In two days, with her brother
ana couple OF friends. feat which alone would
have sGfi'ced 70 place her under ban In san Fran
ciscos best society. That she sang like bird.
danced like a syIph, and was, altogether, a very
arnia0le. pure-minded girl was a small Offset for
the sum OF her tniquities. and although she was
exceedingly popular among a set OF young and IT.
responsible boys conservative circles frowned upon
her, and II was generally understood that she
was young person OF most radical and danger
Gus tendencies.
when the announcement or her coming nuptials
with one OF this same conservative circle was
received Tom Middleton was promising young
lawyer, OF excellent family anu irreprOachable
manners. IL had been generally understood that
TOMS Ideal was OF a different type, and more
after the pattern % the elegant society women
Win whom he had been accustomed 10 associate
his intimate friend and boon companion. Jack
SPENCER. who had always disapproved OF Nate,
undertook 10 pose as the mOuthplece OF society,
and echoed Its sentiments In Toms unwilling ear.
ION stood stanchly by his colors, but his frends
words sank deep into his SOUL nevertheless He
secretly resolved that, for bis sake and her own,
Kate must be "tODed down"
lie succeeded even beyond his hopes. Nine
years after her marriage few would have recog-
DiZed In the quiet, repressed woman. the gay and
spiteu slrl OF former dAy nate vas ionu ~ ,ea
husband, and the alchemy OF love had wrought the
change: but IL Is a dangerous thing TO meddle
with spiritual chemistry as well as the forces OF
the material world, and II Tom had known what
pent-up IOngings and reOelliOus incllnationS
ragged beneath his wife'5 quiet exterior. he might
have repented his success. But he went on cal
lousy ana bIlndly as men Will when dealing with
delicate forces which they cannot understand,
and Kate kept her grievances TO herself Two
children came-the elder girl, a nery. untamed
little creature, who made the mothers heart ache,
she Ia the child reflex OF herself; the
other. boy, sturdy, deliberate, like his father.
When the children grew larger and needed room
Tor exercise and outdoor air which their city home
would not AFFORD, they took up their residence Ia
little cOuDtry home not 50 FAR away but that Tom
could travel back and forth daily and attend 10
his business, and II IS here that our story finds
them.
one gray December day Kate stood at her win
dow, gazing out upon the landscape. IL had been
duh tiresoIne Week. Several days before. Tom
which was 10 be dedicated % a hunt IN the NOUN
tains, IN company with party Of friends. She
and wondering half-bitterly, why amuseinents
that were conceded 10 be proper and beautiful for
men should not be heathful and proper for women
How she would have enjoyed the long trampS
over the hills the excitement OF the hunt the Joy
CO holding good gun on her shoulder, and KNOW
ing that she could sight and shoot with the best
OF them! She felt u wicked solace as she thought
Of the showers that had fallen In the valley and
the clouds that hurg constantly over the noun
tainS she was lonely. dull and cross, and chafed
against her hedged-ln life, with its narrow oOun-
DIARIES, its SenseesS restraints.
There was a rush OF feet through the house. the
door OF her room opened and the children burst in
Mamma, the creek Is up! Take Us down 10
see III
The childish longing for novelty and excitement
found an instant echo ia her heart. They had run
IA from outdoor play, and were bonneted and
clOaked, with rubber Overshoes to protect their
feet from the damp earth. As for her, IL was re-
1reshlng 10 evade BridgeIs vigilant eye, and TO
steal out Of the front door In her OOse house dress
bareheaded, and with wOrsted slippers her feet.
They followed a garden pain for a little distance,
and then entered a narrow lane leading 10 place
w1ere they were accustomed 10 ford In the sum-
liner time, but over which now swept a seething,
JempestuOus food
As they looked and listened, Kate realized that
this was No ordinary fresnet, but the product OF
heavy rainfall over the whole vast watershed,
whicS had accumulated its forces In thousands OF
tiny r1vuets. and Joining issue with the mountain
stream, plunged down its narrow channel, a
mighty ami irresistible power.
Even as they looked she saw a wall OF water
suddenly rear up above and come down toward
them Ike miniature tidal wave.
The dam built By the new water company had
Tn-y ran back from the shore to higher ground
and not = moment TOO soon. The stream rose
several feet Ia second IL cut into the solid
banks on either side, and bushes and young trees
rooted up and sucked In by the greedy Current
went spinning by. A giant sycamore wavered,
nung out It's Dare and skeleton limbs as II In
ghOstly protest, and fell far out into the stream
InteriOcking It's branches with a sturdy evergreen
oak which stood on the opposite bank, while its
trunk. loosely anchored by long, snake-like roots
tossed helplessly In mid-sIream-
Mamma; see the big boards comingI" cried
OJt her little daughter.
Kate looked far up stream and saw a great
timber sailing leisurely along. Now II caught on
a projecting snag and swung half about now it
struck on a submerged island, and idly disengaged
Itself and sauntered on Behind 1t was another
and yet anOther-the stream as black with them
.Oh, my God! The railroad bridget"
The railroad bridge. and the afternoon train now
nearly due, soon 10 rush down a steep grade TO a
leap into that yawning chasIn- Her first Impulse
checked herself What folly, when miles OF over
nOw lay between her and the doomed traini Word
must be sent down TO the station, ana from there
telegram 70 the next stopping place above
the bridge. But how? The hired man! jim had
gone al nOur before to the village get the mail
and have MS daily gossip with the lOungers OF the
place Even II he were here. neither horse nor man
was reet enough 10 cover the ciTcuitous road that
lay between. Then she looked at the prOst rafs
sycamore Down the stream, leisurely but nearer
and nearer stu, sailed the great timbers.
marian, take little brother and 20 straight TO
the house and stay there Till mamma comes back
she had already pulled herself up by one OF the
roots and was creeping Stealthily along the SWAY
ing trunk Here her dress caught on a branch;
there she had 70 climb down and crawl IlOng with
her feet under the water 10 avoid an upright limb
once she slipped and lost her hold and was
nearly sucked into the eddying current but she
caught al stout projection and swung herself I'D
again
she could hear the swash of the heavy timbers
upstream as they rocked lazily upon the water
but he did not dare 10 look. Before her the main
trunk OF the tree was lost and she two diyery-
Ing limbs one low In the water the other locked
with the oak In mid-air. Which 70 takee She
dared not hesitate, but began a perilOus climb
along the upper limb, slippery and naked In places
waVering 50 that she grew dizzy and shut her eyes
70 keep from falling And, so, lying prone upon IT.
hand over hand, she crept the entire length and
Tie great stick OF timber struck heavily against
the fallen sycamore, and Just as Kate swung her
self into The branches OF oak she felt her SUD-
port give way, and with q groan and crash and
Wild uptOSsingS OF It's skeleton arms the old rre.,
tJre lOO-e nom It's InOorlngS and was swept down
stream toward the bay.
Her hands torn and bleeiing Kate Middleton
reached solid ground al length, and nrst her ma
and saw her children standing still and looking
after her, She pointed home with a gesture that
they dared Lot diSoOey, and them turn and
run up the lane then sped along her way
She was not light OF foot as In her gfrIhood:
whereas she was once feet a deer and SWIFT mo.
ton WAS a very Joy 10 her, she now realized that
she was growing 20 be a stout and middleaged
bored for breath, and her feet were like clods be-
meath her There was a mile OF rough and rocky
Er0uDd 70 De- covered before she reached the STA
U1n, and the train-Oh, but 10 possess once more
the agility OF her g1rIhOodi
WhicA would be nrst? Would the train ffying
acrJ,s the upper levels Of the Coast Range reach
tie EeAt station before the brave woman mad cent
Ter message OF warning? How many times she
a7Aed herself The question she could have told
he