The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-11-28

And yet ~ shey pared AZ sne gase soere
pathstic glance. Afser 10 va. over both
Of then, were trembling. IL was she birth
which prnvrriy foss~rrrd, makes love. But
they both Thought 10 was shyness:
Esy " va. 80 p,eH.s"' sSss ,ot
Miss Jones. iien he asked her to marry
him.
ing. a wife's hope. and vital Duties was .
abashssi her. IL terrified her. Her ha-
dnre the audacity of the idea. A. first she
felt as IL he had been insulted. Then. with
a bs"va.i9 posislysiy heroic, she s1 on sn,sh
HAD nns been the most impa.-
mating and chivaiorou. Of suitors, he
could not have been In greater haste TO
his wife. IL was only stupidity and
but Miss Jones was not discriminating,
and she was-weil-she was not Ill
%pi.ased. A w"'nan never Object. to .
IL into tenderness. She bought her n
plum cashmere dress, and they were
~ ma ron tai attend shop like "a mere
spinster. 81 she stayed hont.-for there
was - home on the bluff and kept house.
And thus suddenly these intensely unspec-
u~lative, shy, timoro,s. persons became n
part of the great social fabric. They were
citizens, h~o,iseholdcrs. II was wonderful.
nparsmcnt Mrs. Johnson found
a great One Of the rooms
". I" dining room and k,s on a ans
bed room. And Mrs. Johnson went
marketing. with "a fas,-beatinR heart lest
walked T., the edge of the precipice every
night and watched for her husband.
Then. when they were alone, she actually
put up her prim and chaste lips Ia he
kissed. These pleasures were 80 new and
so foreign tai tiEc experience OF these two
people that they seemed actually wicked.
That added a certain delight Ia them.
In short they had made a deviation: II
was the first time they had either of then,
moved out of the rut In which the wheel
of their fortunes Glanced tai liz. placed.
But unfortunately they were. not .arithme-
ticians, They had made one fatal mis-
take. They had not reckoncd on the cost
OF living. Therefore, they found them
selves financially ~trand'a The sense
less things, i'm short; had married Without
ming of this story, this might have been
charming under other circumstances.
People might have cried, 'What inpas-
stoned devotion, that can take 80 little
heed of material thinRs!" But next To no
one knew the ~Johnsons, and so there were
nj all. Those who did know them could
see nothing In % knock-kleed milkman
and u squiut-eyed, middis.aged woman to
scntimentalixe about. They were fools.
that was all, and mt their ages they should
have known better.
So rs Thanksgiving approached IL be-
not Thanksgiving could get up those IS
stairs. The rent was behind. The water
patient-and the little mistress was not
well.
The day dawned duh and chill. The
blue bluffs 10y the Missouri looked like -
f~orbidding wall. The plains, rolling to-
ward the west. were the picture of DESC
lation. The dusty and bitter streets Of
splendor in which hospitality seemed to
have no part-it was possihle, you see, tn
overlook everything from the place where
the. cottage stood.
But there was something more than de-
pr.ssion in the house. There was terror.
The little mistress lay horribly i'll. The
physician summoned by the trembling
husband grew Hraver ana gravcr. The
for her and fears for linn. And hs heard
SSH is to" old to bear children. 1t is
always Dangerous with women Of your
wifc's agc!"
Too old! Viii, that warm aching love
Juggling at her heart. Too old, when she
had dared tn hope that the sad old dis
satisfaction was about tn b. quenched.
Too old" Lies best joys gone through
II" ,a, ,his "i NATURAL nsr aT" hin M@.s MHS m sns si.s
fret lest she want for bread. and die i'm
starving for "a child. Was il not the right
AT her husband with IA spccchless misery
in her eyes. He understood. In these
two narrow. ignorant. souls love had
them. IL was not that their personalities
were c~ongcuial. Perhaps they could not
correctly la said to have. any personalities.
Ii was the mere. idea of love that had
Illuminated their livss-it was the turning
of the stream int , its natural channel that
made il sing along its way.
ave haven't bread enough for two. you
may say" said Mr.. johnson, rubbing one
lank hand through his hay colorsd hair.
"lct We have got to save the little one,
doctor"
The doctor looked at him closely. Then
he looked at the frightened eycs of the lit
tie wife.
Haven't had much fun. the two of you,
have you
NO." said johnson abscntiy.
"Bccn married long"
"Isss ZEN "a year"
"What made you do it,"
ado what"
Get married."
Johnson turned scarlet. He looked
about him with bewil,lcrcd eyes.
"Well," said the doctor.
"Wcll," repeated johnson. ~ guess We
both thought we might sometime have IA
kid. you know. Lifr amt much without
'uIn. We weren't very much acpuaint.
But we wis awful lonesome. l don't know
why We got married. come la think of it,
And in the eye of the woman still shone
that immortal hunger.
And under his breath the woman heard
the doctor niurIIIuring something. She
caught IA part of il.
ssIprl. Let these lives came intn Tlx