The Portland daily press., 1891-04-24

6ucn q smile as LnaJ. III tney TOOK
after" their mother they surely would
not.
Once after Mr.. Marsh had seen this
transformation take place in the face of
Tom Ryder's daughter when she had re-
ceived kindness he had ventured to
speak about her to his wife, with wild
| hope in the bottom of his.heart that they
might adopt Ryders child, for Ryder
was only a drunken wretch whose wife
had long since died of broken heart
and too much work.
Mrs. Marsh made it very plain indeed
| to her husband that she had no opinion
whatever of that nasty Belle Ryder.
Mr.. Marsh had fallen into his ordinary
home mood of dull, cowed silence. He
sat with his slippered feet on their wood
en- cricket, and hung his head, pulling
his beard slowly and wondering what he
was living for.
He supposed men never hated their
wives. He supposed there was no man
in the world whose wife was such good
cook, who kept her husbands clothes SO
well mended and so clean as D'rindy
| did, but he said plainly to himself that
shed ruther be fiogged than to be where
| she was"
| Often, as he sat there pulling his
beard and watching Drindy as she made
everything painfully clean, he told him
| self that he must have been even more
Of fool than most young men to have
fallen in love with girl who could turn
out to be such woman as that. He
also asked of his own soul how it would
be with him if it were possible for
man to hate his wife.
When he walked slowly through the
mud of the main street he was conscious
that there was more than the ordinary
bitterness in his heart He stamped
| down his heavy feet with an air of bra
vado when he reached the store. He
took in large quantity of mud, and he
talked SO loud and spat SO emphatically
| that the storekeeper winked at the man
next to him, and said in q whisper that
D'rindy must have been carryin' an I'M
common high hand with Reuben that
day.
| But for all this extra swagger Mr..
| Marsh was aware that he was greatly
| depressed. 1t did not seem to exhilarate
him to have his heels on the stove He
| did not understand himself 'oday, and
| he left the store much earlier than was
his custom. One of the men actually
got up from his broken backed chair and
went to the window to watch the re-
treating figure.
Something or others the matter of
Reub Marsh," he said pityingly. 81
/ L. l. L.
fore, m he missed it every time today"
The storekeeper was chopping off
piece of tobacco. He nodded his head.
| He said he was sorry for Reub He
| s'posed he was goin' up to them graves
now. He hoped it want wicked, buthe
did think 'twould be jest as well if there
was sixth grave in that row and
D'rindy was laying in it. For his part
he'd like to help trig up D'rindy Marsh's
grave, whether twas wicked or not.
Then they fell to talking about Tom
Ryder, and of the fact that he had been
gone a week, nobody knew where, on a
worse spree than ever.
81 guess they'll have to take the little
one to the poorhouse this time, and no
mistake. Somebody ought to speak to
the selectmen, n have her seen to-"
Mr.. Marsh walked on mechanically up
the road. He did not know why it was
that he could not throw off his wife's in
fuence when he had left her, as he was
usually able to do.
Some strangely desperate mood was
upon him. He put his hand to his head,
L and said if he didn't know better he
should almost think he had been drink
ing.
Just before he reached the cemetery
he passed by the house where the Ryders
lived, an old place with low caves that
looked as if they would ALWAYS drin
WIN unhealthy moisture. Some OF the
window panes were stuffed with rags, land
cat walked with ostentations misery
among the puddles near the front door.
Mr.. Marsh wished he had brought
some bakers cookies from the store, but
as he had nothing he went on staring
vainly about,in the hope of seeing Belle.
In few minutes more he was stand
ing by the row of graves and looking
sharply down at the sodden turf for the
snowdrops. There were the, green leaves.
He knelt and pushed aside the brown,
wet grass. His heavy face took on q
pathetic look of eagerness. No, it was
too.early; the sun had not been warm
enough. There were no blossoms-not
evenibuds.
"Its too bad-too badr he muttered.
"How she would er liked 'eml"
| Hestood up. He brushed a mistfrom
his eyes that made the headstones look
as.if they were moi. straight.
Something that felt cold and wet, like
ice, touched the hand that hung down
by his side. But heidi not notice the
touch untilit was repeated, this time 40
compsnied by a whine. Mr.. Marsh
aroused himself and patted the lean, un-
happy looking cur thatstood beside him.
"Hullo, Jack" he said, where's your
little. mistressY
Jack wagged his tail and made as If
he would trot back home, but as Mr..
Marsh did not follow him he returned
and licked his hand again. He went
through these movements so many times
that the man at last walked after him,
the dog continually looking behind, un-
til he had led his friend to the back: door
of the Ryder house. This door stood
open.
Mr.. Marsh had not heard that Tom
Ryder was "on spree, and he expected
every moment to be greeted by the own
er of this place, whom he despised and
whom he always wanted to kick every
time he saw him.
Instead of masculine voice, however,
a piping, feeble treble sounded from one
of the front rooms.
| oh, Jack, don't you leave me tool
Dont you go n leave me too!'
Reuben Marsh stood suddenly still
rom Sheer weakness. His great, tender
neart seemed to choke him. He heard
tne oog Winning joyfully and scuttling
about the room he had entered. he
breathed long breath and pushed fine
door further open, apparently taking bnt
one stride from the door to a "trnndle
bed" which was in corner. On the he'd
was child who stared wildly for an in.
slant at this intruder, then flush of
joy overspread her face. She put out
two bony arms to the man bending over
her. She laughed.
"Pve jest ben prasin' for friend"