The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1890-07-26
A GREAT DIVORCE CASE

n NAlIEAl L III OllO1I .OAlDlIt
There was man called Bronckhorst
IA three cornered, middle aged man in
the a1my-gray as a badger, and some
people said with touch of country
blood in him. That, however, cannot be
proved Mrs. Bronckhorst was not ex-
actly young, though fifteen years young
er than her husband. She was large,
pale, quiet woman, with heavy eyelids
over weak eyes, and hair that turned
red or yellow as the lights fell on it.
Bronckhorst was not nice in any way.
He had no respect for the pretty public
and private lies that make life a little
less nasty than it is. His manner tow
ard his wife was coarse There are
many things including actual assault
with the clinched fist, that a wife will
endure; but seldom wife can bear, as
Mrs. Bronckhorst bore, with long
course of brutal, hard chaff, making
light of her weaknesses, her headaches,
her small fits of gayety, her dresses, her
queer little attempts to make herself at
tractive to her husband when she knows
worst of ALL the love that she spends
on her children. That particular sort of
heavy handed jest was specially dear to
Bronckhorst. l suppose that he had first
slipped into it, meaning no harm, in the
honeymoon, when folk find their ordi-
nary stock of endearments run short,
and so go to the other extreme to express
their feelings. A similar impulse makes
man say, "Hutt, you old beastr when
favorite horse nuzzles his coat front
Unluckily, when the reaction of mar
Jiage sets in, the form of speech remains,
and, the tenderness having died out,
hurts the wife more than she cares to
say. But Mrs Bronckhorst was de-
voted to her "Teddy," as she called him.
Perhaps that was why he objected to
her. Perhaps-this is only theory to
account for his infamous behavior later
on-he gave away to the queer, savage
feeling that sometimes takes by the
throat a husband twenty years married
when he sees across the table the same
face of his welded wife, and knows
that, as he has sat facing it, so must he
continue to sit until the day of its death
or his own Most men and all women
know the spasm. 1t only lasts for three
breaths as a rule, must be a "throw
back to times when men and women
were rather worse than they are now, and
is too unpleasant to be discussed.
Dinner at the Bronckhorsts was an
infiction few men cared to undergo.
Bronckhorst took pleasure in saying
things that made his wife vince. When
their little boy came in at dessert
Bronckhorst used to give him half glass
of wine, and naturally enough the poor
| little mite got first riotOus, next miser-
able and was removed screaming,
Bronckhorat asked if that was the way
Teddy usually behaved, and whether
Mrs. Bronckhorst could not spare some
of her time to teach the "little beggar
decency." Mrs, Bronckhorst, who loved
! the boy more than her own life, tried
not to cry-her spirit seemed to have
been broken by her marriage. Lastly,
Bronckhorst used to say: "Therel that'n
do, thatll do For Gods sake try to
behave like a rational woman. Go in
to the drawing ROOM Mrs, Bronck-
horst would go, trying to carry it all off
with smile, and the guest of the even
ing would feel angry and uncomfortable.
After three years of this cheerful life
for Mrs Broncllhorst had no women
friends to talk to-the station was start
tied by the news that Bronckhorst had
instituted proceedings on the criminal
court against a man named Biel, who
certainly had been rather attentive tf
Mrs. Bronckhorst whenever she had ap
peared in public The utter want Of re-
serve with which Bronckhorst treated
his own dishonor helped us 10 know that
the evidence against Biel would be ON
tirely circumstantial and native. There
We're no letters, but Bronckhorst sale
openly that he would rack heaven ant
earth until he saw Biel experimenting
the manufacture of carpets in the Cen
trail Jail MlIs. Bronckhorst kept entire
ly to her house, aIs let charitable folk
say what they pleased. Opinions wer'
divided Some two-thirds of the sta
ton jumped at once to the conclusion
that Biel was guilty but dozen meI
who knew and liked him held by him
Biel was furious and surprised, He de
MED the Nshole thing, and vowed tina
he would thrash Bronckhorst within an
inch Of his life.
No jury, we knew, could convict MAJ
on the criminal count on native evidenc
in a land where you can buy murde
charge, including the corpse, all com
plete for ffty-four rupees; but Biel di'
not care to scrape through by the bened
of doubt. He wanted the whole thin
cleared but as he said one night; II
, can prove anything with servants eyi
. dence and I've only my bare word Thi
e was about a month before the case cam
S ON, and beyond agreeing with Biel W
Il could do little. All that we could b
sire of was that the native evidenc
: would be bad enough to blast Biels char
acter for the rest Of his service; for whe
anatiye begins perjury he perjures him
self thoroughly He does not hoggl
II over details
e Some genius at the end of the tabl
it whereat the affair was being talked oyel
said: "Look here! don't believe law
yers are amy good. Get "a man to wiz
TO Strickland, and beg him 70 come dow
and pun us through.
Strickland was about "a hundred am
eighty miles up the line He had no
long been married TO Miss YoughM, bu
q he scented in the telegram a chance q
d return TO the old detective work that hi
e aoul lusted after, aud next night he cam
p in aud heard ouT at0rg, He hnished L