Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-06-29

nc. indeed; on, no, said Mr.. Cadwaliader,
willing to reass1re her by any means.
You are not really married to her, are you,
Hiram?'
Certainly not" he replied, still drawing her
along
''She only thinks sou
Yes, she only thinks sc" said the unhappy
Suppose she should appear here now"
said his companion, shrinking back"
Come along, dear, shanf let any one harm
But what would you do7' abe persisted.
"rd drive her away"
"You would, would YOUR and with a back
ward fling of the veil Mrs. Cadwallader dis
played her face, pale with righteous indigna-
ton. and drew herself up to her full height
Henrietta, what does this mean2" gasped
her husband.
1T means, SIR" she cried. shat an injured
wife has discovered your villainy; that she has
tracked you here and heard your reputation
OF her from your own lips. Now drive her
away or strike her to the earth-you are quite
capable of it!''
Henrietta, are you really mad or are you
acting?" he asked, angrily.
'Oh, no doubt you will say am mad; posi-
bly, you might escape justice through such a
heinous charge did not hold the proof of your
perfdy in the paper written by the woman who
calls herself your wife. BigamistT'
'BigamisH Henrietta. will you stop your
| as possible just what you are talking about"
She held up slip of paper TO him. do you
recognize this? Don't try to take it from me
| or shall cry for help"
"How can tell what it is in this light, when
| You shake it under my nose and then snatch il
away? 1t looks like the note you wrote your
| self which brought me down here on this FOOLS
| Grand"
Mrs. Cadwallader smiled with fine sarcasm.
"Oh, l wrote il myself, did /? 1t is SO very
ho- n 4. Al Il. a.
| ceiyer contrived to hide his true self from me
during all these years.
Il confess the handwriting is better than
yours" coolly replied her husband. who was
now thoroughly angry, ''but 1 am not aware of
any one else WHO'S privileged to sign herself in
| that manner"
Monster! can you taunt me with my hand
writing at such time? Oh, what a heart of
| stone you must have!'
Mrs. Cadwallader, noting the change in her
husbands mood, was about to weep.
Henrietta, if, as you gently intimate, you
did not write me to meet you here, some one
| has been playing practical joke on us. 1t
will not help matters for us to stand at bay at
one another on the highway of this respectable
village. am going to catch the next train
back to Philadelphia. I advise You to come
| with me-"
Mrs. Cadwallader felt that il she did not
comply he would walk off and leave her stand
ing there, which would be a most undgnifed
| situation for her.
Il will accompany YOU sir for the sake of
appearances" she said, but forbid you to
| speak to me-"
Mr. Cadwallader obeyed her to the letter.
He lit cigar, and Henrietta walked by his
side in dignifed silence. Arrived at the sta
ton he inquired when the next train left for
| Philadelphia.
I'm three quarters of an hour. SIR" replied
his friend of the lantern. did you find the
| wilder, sir, or ma amp"
Al
and wife entered the waiting-room. 1t was
empty. How could Mr.. Cadwallader stand
| three-quarters of an hour alone in the room
with that sphinx-like figure, who, he felt, was
| regarding him with reproachful eyes from
behind her veil? If he only had a newspaper.
Stay, there was Cynthias letter, which he had
| put in his pocket, thinking he might read it on
| the train. He could consume fifteen minutes
| over that He moved over to the other side of
the room under a lamp and took out the letter.
| Henrietta sat motionless as before. Then for a
while there was no sound but the ticking of the
| clock and the rustling of the paper as Mr.. Cad
| wallader turned the pages.
A whistle from her husband caused Henrietta
| to start. He stood up and came toward her.
| No, she would not speak to him.
"My DEAR" he said in a dry tone, 81 think
that never before during the eight years of our
| marriage have had occasion to remind you
that you had a predecessor. Though there is
| nothing to regret in this fact il is think
4
wife still survives. Will you kindly glance over
this page of a letter received from Cynthia
this afternoon which have read for the first
| time this moment?'
Henrietta thought to herself: II shall pay no
attention to him." Then she took the letter.
| Mr.. Cadwallader had opened it SO that the pas
sage about the little sole leather trunk was up
permost. Henrietta read:
| ''While looking over some sacred mementoes
| which had long been cherished there found
this note from dear Helen TO you, which
| thought you ought to have 1 well remember
the day when she and Annie Brown went down
| to Short Hills. 1t was the very day old Mr.
| Widgeon had his stroke of apoplexy, coming SC
sadly sudden as it did. The two girls were
there at the time, and Helen returned alone
shortly after, and / remember hearing her tell
how Mrs. Widgeon carried on"
"Why, Hiram, then this note was from"
! eyes, this is the note Helen wrote me at the
| time, though l don't remember a word about
it. 1t must have dropped out of Cynthia's
| letter."
"And to think Of the base suspicious har-
bored. Hiram, can never forgive Cynthia
| Olds for this. believe she did it on purpose.
| I can't tell you how / suffered since found
that letter on your table,"
Don't wrong poor Cynthia, my dear. Tn
sure you must have been very much upset to
apply such epithets to your husband az
| bigam-"
"Hush. hushy" she said, soothingly, laying
her hand on his lips. ''Oh, Hiram, forgive
mel If were sure that nobody was looking,
rd-"-Frdncis M. Lioiagston, in The Epoch.