The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1889-01-11

L bHC Hah .hNCus sQ Oulr l~IllcICOuIS6 SIuu-
ually assumed u very ceremonious char
acter.
About four months after her marriage,
went early one morning to Mrs. Ira
vecn's to ask Maud to go shopping with
me. Maud was at her sisters and as l
wished to sec Alice before | left the city
for the summer, / drove.there for her.
! interrupted q sistcrly quarrel, and
Maud, with flashing eyes and burning
checks, said: '.She was gladI had leone.
and that she would be ready to go with
me in half an hour" Alice offered no
explanation, but sat with a moody face,
folding and unfolding a newspaper she
held in her hand.
Her manner was so peculiar that l
said, a little haughtily:
Il hope shall not be in the way for
half al hour, Alice"
NO" she answered. pettishlv. "You
can stay, and scold, too, if you like; that
seems to be %everyone's mission to me-"
l say that she was in one OF those sui
len reckless moods of seliishncss that
occur only where Il supreme sense of
some fancied or real wrong has obliter-
atcd for the time all conventional re-
CARDS. But before | could reply Mr..
Van Solgen came in.
1T amazed me TO see how tlmld and
nervous this man had become. Alice
ruled him absolutely. No slave ever
trembled before a tyrant as did this
proud man before the cold scornful
beauty he called his wife.
Punishment is lame, but it comes.
The measure he had melted out to his
first wife was melted back to HIM by his
second. As he had Sighted her love,
and received with cold indifference all
her efforts to win and please him. SO
now Alice Sighted him, and took with
polite apathy his most tender attentions
and magnificent presents.
He wanted to know her plans for the
day. She did not have any" Could
he get her anything she desired in town.
mo; she had more than she wanted.n
What arrangements should he make for
their summer-trip? "All places were
alike to her" He wandered from Win
dow to window, made little jokes which
sho suffered to fall to the ground with
out any pretcncc of responding to them.
Finally under cover of my presence, he
assumed a bravery he was very far from
feeling, and said:
''You are not well, darling, this morn
ing; take good care Of yourself, for /
must leave you for n few hours; so kiss
me goodbye"
She looked at him with contemptuous
indifference and simply answered:
II am quite well, and you know it."
Then she offered him a kiss with an
air that would have daunteG any man
but II who knew that he had a right
TO take it.
My visit was n very unpleasant one.
although Alice rclented and apologized
somewhat before | left.
A great pity filed my heart for this
wife SO loved and petted; and, inexplic-
able rs it may seem, ! could not think
nor speak of her but rs Poor Alicer'
l found out from Maud the cause of
the special %ill-tempcr | had just witness
ed. jack Eldridgc had made himself
famous by some act of daring courage
and gallantry, and the papers We're full
of his praises.
Alice, quite unused TO %sclf-control,
had spoken words regarding him which
Maud considered Mrs. Van Solgen ought
not TO have spoken, and, while they
were upon the subject OF conjugal duties,
Maud had also demonstrated with her
sister on hcr unnecessary scorn of Il
husband SO kind 10 her.
did not call on Alice for some time
again. and then circumstances took me
out OF England. AT first l~corresponded
regularly with Mrs. Travccn; but, in the
voyage OF life, friendships drift apart,
and us my absence heightened, my cor
rcspondencc died out.
.Iulpa Ihpunfor. nf NV curnriso n
my return tise Years after .Mlice's mar
riage, TO find her ii widow with one
child.
She was now eNquisitely beautiful, and
her great pcnsivc eyes seemed wonder
fully in keeping witt, the trailing sombre
garments of her early widowhood.
The disagrecablc events of our last in
terview We're all forgotten, and | was
quite restored to my old place in her
favor.
There was at this time a great calm
and gravity in all Der ways. but I soon
found out that one name and one pres
ence had q wonderful power over her,
for General Eldridge was now living in
London, and they very often met in So
ciety.
The first OF these meetings which |
witnessed l narrowly watched, but in il
saw no hope for Alice.
A studied politeness was all she re-
ceived. Yet she continued 10 do what
ever a woman may do to atone for n
great wrong, and win back an alienatcd
love; but the OLD warm-hearted Jack
Eldridge had disappeared as completely
as the old merry impulsiyc Alice Ira
veen, and the two new characters did
not comprehend each other.
Yet she had this hope left. The gen
eral, though now both rich and iniluen-
tial, sought no other woman's favor as
far rs could be discovered. and Alice
hoped that her memory was still pow
erful enough to prevent her having II
rival.
This dream was suddenly and cruelty
broken. 1t was reported that General
Eldridge had gone North to attend to
some large landed interests he had pur.
chased there, and when he returned at
the end of the month. he brought with
him the lovelicst OF brides.
The shock to Alice was terrible. No
worse, perhaps. Than her marriage had
been to Jack. but he had Il great con.
slant outlet for his grief in military
duties and hard work. Alice had no
such medicine for her heart, and her
fits OF dcspondcncy were scarcely more
distressing than the reckla>sncss with
which she now entered into every
species Of dissipation.
Tho summer festivities II. several diff
fcrent waicring-places told fcarfully on
q constitution encrvated by indulgence
and excitement, and without the tone
which healthy exercise imparts. The
winter season saw her still more rcck-
less. and her physician prophesicd an
early and rapid decay. if some rest were
not given both TO her heart and body. |
Late in the season she took IL violent
cold, which terminated in pneumonia,
and left her exceedingly near death.
Then, when it was too late to recall
the glorious years of her youth. with all
the mighty blessings which had crown
ed them, she estimated her gifts ut their
real value. Then she remembered the
claims of her child, the love OF her pa
rents, the good she might have done.
Within the cold shadow of death sl,e