Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-04-21
not an hour ago he turned him away.
"Who is this Thomas Bailessr

ie WIS waiter AT the LOCKOUT mousse
where the happy couple were made one
The paper fluttered 10 the floor, the walls
OF the room seemed rushing in upon him,
while the grlnning face Of the lawyer danced
IN hldecus measure before his eyes. Was
God, IN his mercy, sending him deathl When
his brain cleared again the lawyer was talk
ing still.
''You win wonder how happen TO possess
this paper, but you will recollect my adver-
tiscment at the top of my letter head. Well
it seemed Mrs. Curran, excuse me, grew tired
of her uncongenial husband, quite outside
her sphere of course A fine fellow that Cur
ran was TOO BUt the young lady naturally
sighed for her old, more refined associations.
Her husband does nothing but shock her.
She becomes wretched, her craze is over, the
reality is not 90 her delicate taste at all.
What nextf She leaves him. Fortune throws
my advertisement in her way and / receive a
letter from Der address, then at vineboro.
Here was short way out Of it all, a divorce
without trouble or publicity, for any cause
desired Sic would be free as air again, free
to end her life, as she no doubt intended, in
conveatuel retirement
Gidiings throw his feet upon the table and
smiled very slyly. II undertook her suit
compatibility. Oh, no; she need not come TO
Lockout so there was no trouble; and as TO
publicity, why, win You believe it, and
the lawyer winked horribly at his visitor:
"Curran himself was within twenty miles OF
Lockout during the pendency of the suit, and
he never guessed his wife was being divorced
from him; and don't believe he knows it to
this day Ha, hal" And he laid his head
hnp On pbo md boI
ran down his face.
"But you procured her a divorced" Il is
almost worth pain to have the exquisite de
light that comes with relief.
Philip felt ashamed that he had distrusted
God SO much. How much more ioyfully he
could cherish his wife than before There
was no blot of shame ON her sweet name
There was no page in her life the whole world
might not look at then. And this man wanted
a reward for what he had done, aye, and he
should have it. There was no gift too great
for him who had turned this young husbands
bitterest memories sweet, who had made his
life and his love like that of other men He
reached forward and grasped the lawyers
oily hand in hearty good will
Gidding's stared at him in silence a mo-
ment Then he moved uneasily in his chair
and released his hand
II guess you don't understand,n he had
enough of his manhood left to hesitate. 1t
was actually a more disagreeable business
than he had counted on. "Such secret con-
venient divorces as / get don't stand in our
courts. The whole thing is bogus, my dear
sirp Philips face had become like dead
mans ISSUED by the supreme judicial court
of Utah, it says on them; but there is no such
court, and as for the seal, keep it in this little
drawer. Besides, if there were such a court
and its genuine seal were stamped ON a decree
of divorce, it would amount TO nothing when
both parties live in this state Our state
makes its own DEGREES. Utah DEGREES or the
DEGREES of any foreign state or territory are
void here. Your wife is Curran's wife yet.
She is as much married to him today as she
ever was"
''How am to know but that you are lying
to meg'
r The attorney handed him over a file of
letters with shrug of his shoulders. "You
need not wade through them all, the last is
conclusive, | think you will agree with me-"
Mr.. GIDpnNGs-Dear Sir--I received this morn
ing the divorce from the supreme judicial court
OF Utah, and you will find inclosed draft for
the second half of the $500 agreed upon. OF
course have to rely wholly on your assurance
1 u
right to resume my maiden name. thank you
for the quiet way in which you have have man
aged IT, did not suppose it could be done go
easily only wonder Mr. Curran has taken il
so calmly, he seemed almost wild when first
left him. Yours gratefully,
BERTHA ELI1NGswoRrH.
Yes, there was no doubt about it. IL was
Bertha's handwriting; no forgery could have
deceived her lovers eyes. How little she
fanced he would ever be reading it over, and
cursing the first hour he ever looked ON her
dear face He watched the attorney put it
back on file again. 1t seemed dissertation
to lay one of her notes in the stained, tin
box, with the ignoble company of lying and
suppliant letters.
s'She seems to have relied completely on
some assurance of yours that her divorce
would be good. Philip tried TO speak calmly
10 this man, who held his darling's fate in
the hollow of his hand, but his voice trem
bled and almost broke.
s'You are not well, !" exclaimed the lawyer
and he opened another drawer in his dssh
and drew out square shaped, yellow colored
bottle "Take a swallow of this"
Philip clutched it eagerly. He thought
now he could understand how man might
want to drown all pride and sense in drunk
enness. He poured the crude stuff down his
parched throat as if it were water One
swallow was not enough, nor were two, but
when he set the bottle upon the table at last,
the lawyer resumed:
~ "And 50 it would have been good, nine
times out of ten, good enough to make ak
parties concerned comfortable document
is a document TO most people, seal Is seal
As a man thinketh, 50 is he. Parties divorced
by my fiat alone, remarry and raise children,
and are as happy and clear OF conscience as
if they were not committing a sin every
hour Of their lives, unless it happens TO come
OUT
''This has come out, / suppose, and Lockout
is all agog with it.n Philips heart stopped
beating while he waited for his answer.
"No, my dear sir, another mistake; no ons
under heaven knows of it but me, and yol
now.n Breton must have taken him for