The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-07-19
The BronkhOrSt Divorce Case.

In the daytime, when she moved about me,
In the night, when she WAS sleeping at my
side,-
| was wearied, I was wearied Of her presence.
Day by day and night by night ! grew TO hate
her
Would God that she or I had died.
Confessions.
There was a man called Bronckhorst-
a three-cornered, middle-aged man In the
army-Rray as a badger, and, some people
said, with q touch of country-blood in
him. That, however, cannot be proved.
Mrs. Bronckhorst was not exactly young,
though Is ear younger than her hus-
band. Sine was a large, pale, quiet wo-
man, with heavy eyelids. over weak eyes,,
and hair hat turned red or yellow as the
lights fell on il.
Bronckhorst was not nice in any way.
He had NJ respect for the pretty public
and private lies that make life a little less
nasty than tits. His manner towards his
wife was coarse. There are many
things including actual assault with
the clenched flst-that n wife will
endure; but seldom n wife a
bear-as Mrs. Bronckhorst bore-with
a long course OF brutal, hard chaff, maxi
ing light OF her weaknesses, her head
aches, her small fits of gayety, her
dresses, her queer little attempts to make
herself attractive to her husband when
she knows that she Is not what she has
been, and-worst of all-the love that she
spends on her children. That particular
sort of heavy-handed Jest was especially
dear to ~Bronckhorst. i suppose that he
had first slipped into il, meaning no
harm, In the honeymoon, when folk find
their ordinary stock of endearments run
short, and so go to the other extreme to
express their feelings. A similar impulse
makes a man say: "Hutt, you old beast!"
front. Unluckily, when the reaction Of
marriage sets in, the form OF speech re-
mains, n the tenderness having died
out, hurts the wife more than she cares to
say. But Mrs. Brohckhorst was devoted
to her TEDDY" as she called him. Perhaps
that was why he objected to her. Perhaps
this is only n theory to account for his
infamous behavior later on-he gave away
TO the queer savage feeling that pine
times takes by the throat a husband
20 years married., when he sees, across
the table, the same face Of his welded
wife, and knows that, as he sat facing il,
SO must he continue to sit until the day of
its death or his own. Most men and all
women know the spasm. Ii only lasts for
three breaths as q rule, must be a "throw-
back" TO times when men n women
were rather worse than they are now, and
il is to unpleasant to he discussed.
Dinner at the B~ronckhorst's was an in
Fiction few men cared to undergo.
Bronckhorst took a pleasure In saying
things that made his wife vince. When
their little boy came In at dessert Bronck-
horst used to give him half n glass of
wine, and. naturally enough, the poor lit
tie mite got first r%iotous, next miserable,
and vas removed screaming. Bronckhorst
asked IL that was the way Teddy usually
hahnval and whafhar Mrs Rrnu.lhnret
could not spare some of her time
to teach the 'little beggar de-
cency." 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: "There
That'll do, that'll do. For Gods sake try
TO behave like a rational oma Go in
to the drawing-room." Mrs. Bronkhorst
would go, trying to carry IL all off with a
smile; and the guest of the evening would
feel angry and uncomfortable.
After three years of this cheerful life
for Mrs. Bronkhorst had no m
friends to talk to--the Station was startled
by the news that Bronkhorst had insti-
tuted proceedings on the criminal count,
against a man called Biel, who certainly
had been rather attentive to Mrs. Bronx
horst whenever h had appeared in pub
lie. The utter want of reserve with which
pToihuoTst uthttu HE oWh ulhiiDflOT
helped us to know that the evidence
against Bel would be entirely circum-
stantial and native. There were no let
tiers; but Bronkhorst said openly that he
would rack Heaven and earth until he
saw Bel experimenting the manufacture
of carpets in the Central jail. Mrs. Bronx.
horst kept entirely to her house, and
let charitable folks say what they
pleased. Opinions were divided. Some
two-thirds of the Station jumped at once
to the conclusion that Biel was guilty but
a dozen men who knew and liked him
held by him.. Bel was furious and sur.
prised. He denied the whole thing, and
vowed hat he would thrash Bronckhorst
within an inch Of his life. No jury. we
knew, could convict n man on the Grim.
inal count on native evidence In n and
where you can buy n murder-charge, in
GLIDING the corpse, all complete for fifty
four rupees; hut Biel did not care e
scrape through by the benefit Of n doubt
He wanted the whole thing cleared: bu'
as he said one nieht:-"He can prove any
thing with servants evidence, and Nv,
only my bare worsl.n This was about d
month before the case came on: and be
yond agreeing with Biei. we could do
little. All that we could be sure of wa,
that the native evidence would he bat
enough to blast Biels character for tn,
rest of his service; for when a native be
gins perjury he perjures himself thor
ouehly. He does not boggle over details
Some genius at the end Of the tabl,
whereat the affair was being talked over
said: look here! / don't believe law
yers are any good. Get a man To wire I,
Strickland and beg him To come down an,
pull us through"
Strickland was about 1sO miles up III,
line. tie had not long beer married I,
Miss Iougeai. but he scented in the tele
gram a chance TO return TO the old de
tective work hat his soul lusted after an,
next night he zane in and heard our story
He finished his pipe and said ~oracularly
1--WE must get at the evidence. Ooryi
bearer. Mussalman knit and mcntrani
ayah. i suppose. are the pillars of tn
charge. am on IN this piece: but Tn
afraid I'm getting rusty i'm my talk,
He rose and went into Bells bedroom
where his trunk had been put, and shu