The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-05-18
MRS. GREENE'S
SISTER-IN-LAW.

I.
the corner of his compartment with groan.
what between this Internal lawsuit and
one thing and another" he muttered to him.
self. 81 believe I'm half out OF my wits.
For the last three days l have been IN such
a muddled state of mind that l should not
be surprised to find that 1 had forgotten
half the necessary papers, Let me just see
now" And he opened his handbag and
began to examine the documents in 1t.
While he is thus engaged the causes Of
his perturbation of sp rit may be stated. Ia
the first place, as he himself said, he had
lawsuit On hand-cause enough in itself to
make man uncomfortable. This trouble
had been brought upon him, too, by the
misconduct of a relative. That scapegoat
Joe News, his wife's brother, had, by in
ducing him to back some bills, got him into
the clutches of money-lender, out OF which
he was not likely to get without con-
siderable loss. This had not unnatur-
ally led TO a complete breach between
Mr.. Greene and Joe, and a certain
GOODNESS between Mr.. Greene and his wife.
But even this did not constitute the whole
Of Mr.. Greene's troubles, though for the
rest he himself was largely to blame. He
had long been very jealous of Mrs. Greene.
At one time, perhaps, the lady gave him
some cause for this. She had been brought
up at Rottenb0rO-the next station to Snob-
ton on the line between SnobtOn and Lon
dOn-which was a garrison town, and there
she had seen a good deal Of the officers, and,
like most young women, had an inordinate
admiration for them. After her marriage
this admiration continued, and the fire.
quency Of her visits TO ROttenbor0 we're a
constant source of discomfort to Mr.. Greene.
Knowing as she did her husbands suspl-
cious nature, Mrs. Greene was, to say the
least of il, not wise in visiting ROttenbOro
so often. Yet her conduct would never
have led to any actual quarrel but for
the intermeddling of an old maiden
half sister of Mrs. Greene's. Miss
Rose Briar was one of those an
Gent scandal mOngerS who, being
disappointed in life themselves, arc never
so happy as when they are making other
people miserable 1t was her breath that
blew Mr.. Greene's smoldering jealousy into
a flame. 1t was she who retailed to him
fearfully exaggerated reports OF his wfe.S
dningS in ROtTenbOrO, and who put crlml-
nal aspect on what was, AT worst, mere
thoughtlesS folly. However, 50 much we're
Mr.. Greenes feelings worked upon by Miss
BTar that he, at last, peremptorily FORBADE
his wife to 20 to RlttenbOrO again WITHOUT
bis consent. Mrs Greene at first received
this order with a strong show of rebellion,
but, after a time, seeing her husband was IN
earnest, she settled down in sulky obedi-
ence to it.
Such was the condition of things when Mr..
Greene was informed one day by his soil
cltOr that his lawsuit would come on for trial
within the next three days. In view OF the
position of affairs Mr. Greene naturally felt
uneasy at the prospect Of leaving home for
several DAYS, with no one to look after his
wife. He resolved, therefore to meet the
difficulty by taking her 10 London with him.
To his amaZement however, when be pro-
posed this TO her she point blank refused to
60. After trying in vain to persuade her,
ne accordingly had to leave her at home.
But now let Us return to him and his search
over the papers in his handbag.
"Av. ay," he muttered to himself, when
he had finished that operation, IT'S just as
| expected. | have forgotten all Svendeler's
letters to Joe" Syendeleri was the money
lender. aud the plaintiff in Mr.. Greene'S ac-
ton. perhaps l put them in my pocket.
MIR. Greene brought a number Of letters
ont of his pocket and looked at them.
"No. no" lie said 10 himself. They're
not here. but what's this? Why, some let
tiers Maggie gave me to post yesterday, and
l have never thought Of them since. They
are sure not to be of much Importance, but
perhaps I'd better post them at the next
Station ard telegraph to Maggie at the same
time TO forward Syendeleri's letters. Let
me see-yes, they must still be in my writ
ing table at home.
At the next station Mr.. Greene handed a
porter the letters and telegram and a Shill-
ing. and with a mind some what relieved he
settled down in his seat and tried TO divert
his attention from his worries and fears by
a careful perusal of that days paper. When
he reached London he lett his luggage at
the FustOn Hotel, and drove without delay
To his solicitors office. There he was
pleased to learn that though his case was in
the next days list, still, as ii was the last, it
would probably not come on until the day
following. I'm glad of that" said Mr..
Greene to himself; at will give Maggie time
to send on the letters"
The next morning. TO Mr.. Greene's disap-
Dofntment, Mr. SvendelerTS letters did not
arrive. Most vexing, | wonder how it is, :"
grumbled Mr.. Greene. TITS fortunate
thing though that the case is not likely to
come on to-day.
dav, but preceding case tailed out so long
that it became extremely unlikely that It
would come on even the next day. 1t was
still third on the list.
The next morning Mr.. Greene naturally
expected to find Svendeleri's letters awaiting
him. To his surprise and annoyance, how
ever, they had not arrived, nor was there
even note from Mrs. Greene accounting
Tor their absence.
This is ridiculous" said Mr.. Greene to
himself. "She might either forward them
or tell me that she can't find them. I'm
astonshed at her taking so little interest in
the matter, remembering that ali this bother
is her own brothers doing"
As Mr.. Greene ate his breakfast he re-
fiected angTily on the absence Of any COM
municaton from his wife. Suddenly It oc-
Cured to him that perhaps she might not be
to blame after all. He knew the ways OF
railway porters and 1t struck him as being
within the bounds of possibility that the
one to whom he gave the telegram might
never have sent it. So the moment he had
finished his breakfast he walked off to the
nearest telegraph office and wired to his
wife. asking her II she received his first tele-
gram, and If so why she had not forwarded
Svendeleri's letters. He directed her TO
send reply to him at Queens Bench Court.
No. VI. Then he marched off to the law
courts.
Mr.. Greene sat in court all day waiting for
his case to come on, and waiting Tor a reply
to his telegram. Neither event happened.
At 4 o'clock the case Immediately prece ding
his was Just disposed of, so his stood first for
the next morning. At the same time the
usher informed him that no telegram had
that day arrived for Mr.. Greene, or for any
person bearing a name in the slightest de-
gree resembling it. Perturbed in mind, Mr..
Greene hurried to his solicitors Office. In
the hopes that Mrs. Greene might have sent
the reply there. But there he found neither
a reply nor the Svendeleri letters. Mr..
Morcraft, indeed, Informed him that the
absence of the letters was not in the
slightest Importance to his case-indeed,
counsel had expressed his opinion that il
would be very doubtful policy to put
them In. This assurance had, how
ever, very little effect in cOnsoing Mr..
Greene, for just then lie cared very little
where the letters were or what became OF
his action. The only thought which Occu.
pied his mind was why Mrs. Greene did
not reply to his telegram. Was it possible
that she was away from home? III she was
away from home, for what purpose was it
Why should she take advantage of his alb
sence to leave her house? Visions of mill.
tary men came into his mind aud all his pre-
vious worries and annoyances we're as
nothing TO the horrors those visions brought
with them. To make assurance doublS
sure, Mr.. Greene went straight to tele
graph station and sent off another message
to his wife. In it he entreated her to le
him have an answer of some kind without
delay. Then he went home TO his hotel anC