Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-05-20

sugar? Whatisthe matter with you to-
day."
Mrs. Partington muttered something
about bad headache"
but have you always a bad headache
nowadays ?'' continued Mrs. Brandon,
more seriously. II should not have al
luded to the subject if this were the
first time that / have seen you thus.
But for weeks / have observed you
growing more and more moody and de-
pressed. You are getting quite unlike
your old self, and | cannot help feeling
seriously uneasy about you. What does
it mean ?"
To Mrs. Brandon's surprise, her
friend, instead of answering, only
burst into tears and buried her face in
her handkerchief Evidently, thought
Mrs. Brandon, the once gay and spright-
ly Ada Isaacs was very changed indeed.
"Come Ada" she said, drawing her
chair closer, and taking one of her
friends hands, "you have something
on your mind | thought SO before !;
now | am sure of it. Tell me about it,
1t will do you good to confide in some
one, and you and / have never had a
secret from one another during the last
twenty years. Is it anything to do with
Tom ?''
"No no-indeed it isn't. Pray don't
think that p sobbed Mrs. Darlington.
"Well, that's mercy" observed
Mrs. Brandon. ''Then it must be some
There was short pause, during which
Mrs. Parkington's sobs slightly sub
sided.
NELL she said presently, cit is all
your fault
"My fault, dearr' exclaimed Mrs.
Brandon.
"Your fault" repeated Mrs. Parting
ton. at has all come of your introduce
ing me to that hateful Pompadour Club.
Oh, how | wish had never entered that
place %
''You don't mean to say" Mrs.
Brandon paused and looked at her
friend.
81 mean to say that, unknown to Tom,
[ have been playing there every after
noon, and losing constantly, until-Oh,
Nell, promise swear that you will not
tell Tom this !"
trayed one another's confidence, dear?
But you must promise me something,
too. Promise that you will tell Tom"
81? Oh, Nell, you don't know what
you are asking. You have not heard all
yet | would not have Tom know it for
all the world ! Rather than that [
would"
Mrs. Partington's sobs had burst forth
again with renewed force. Suddenly
she sank back on the sofa with a cry of
pain which alarmed her friend. Per-
ceiving that she was really i'll, Mrs.
Brandon summoned assistance. Many
did not elapse before one of the
was hurrying of for a doctor.
Very shortly after the arrival of that
functionary, Mrs. Brandon herself left.
She drove direct to the club where Tom
Darlington occasionally called of an aft
By good luck he was there now, and
the message which Mrs. Brandon sent
in quickly brought him to her carriage
door A very few words passed be-
tween them, but enough to make Toms
face grow to twice its normal length
81 will be off at once" he said.
do" replied Mrs. Brandon, stBut
mind, not word yet Not until she is
quite well again
Crust me ~ cried Tom. He was al
ready hailing a passing hanson, and
with hurried bow to Mrs. Brandon,
he jumped into it.
When he reached home he sprang up
the steps and rang the door-bell sharp
ly. 1t was opened in about half a sec
ond by the cook, who with look of
out: please, sir, will you be as quiet as
possible? And-and-it's boy !"
Before her bewildered master had
time to make any inquiries relative to
this information, the doctor, who had
been descending the stairs when he en-
tered, came UP to him and shook BIN
by the hand.
~ must congratulate you, my dear
sir" he said, ''on the birth of a remark
ably fine son. / am glad to tell you,
too, that Mrs. Darlington is going on as
well as can be expected. But she is
very weak. So you 60 in to
see her do not stop more than a
minute to allow her to talk. Anything
calculated to excite her must be care
fully avoided. [ will call in again later
and see how she is progressing"
Under these circumstances Mr.. Part
ington was compelled to abandon for
the present the hope which he had
entertained of inducing his wife to con-
fide to him the trouble which seemed to
him to have recently oppressed her.
He according restrained his patience as
best he could and waited until her
should return. At the end of
a week, however, it was evident that
Mrs. Darlington was only mending very
slowly, and the doctor was by no
means satisfied with her progress. In
deed, he expressed bis conviction to the
husband that something was weighing
on his patients mind, the removal Of
which was essential to her complete re-
covery. After this Tom resolved to en-
deavor at the earliest opportunity to
come to an understanding with his wife.
So, on the same afternoon, as he sat
by his wife's bedside, with one of her
hands in his, he said kindly, ''Ada, my
dear, you have something on your
mind"
A quick flush overspread her pale
face and she averted her gaze, murmur-
ing in a confused tone, "What makes
you fancy that, Tom ?"
"The eyes Of love are quick to see
such things" replied her husband ten
derby, as he stroked her hair with his
disengaged hand. "Do you think I
failed to remark it just now, when, as
your glance fell on the little one there,
groan escaped your lips? And you
have shown by many other signs that