Middletown transcript., 1892-01-21
A BUNCH OF VIOLETS.

IT was no ordinary sight to see Dal-
berg in q florists shop. His fel-
low.clerks in the house of Brown
Ainslie & Co. would have stared had
they chanced along as he put doWr
two dollars for q bunch Of violets
All of them knew that be was the
poorest-paid employe Of the house
They knew how he must have tc
,crimp to support wife and children
| with his salary.
Dalberg came out Of the shop and
buttoned his shabby overcoat closer
The air was chilly, and heavy with
moisture.
"I suppose it would have been
more sensible to have bought an UNI
brella," he reflected; but his heart
did not support the sentiment. he
was still warm with the impulse
which had sent him into the shop.
He had stood at the window Q long
time before going in. The huge
roses had attracted him at first. Then
he had noticed the mass of violets in
bowl. As he saw them he remember
ed that his wife used to wear them.
The first time that he met her
she had q bunch Of violets in
her dress. Macready had sent them
the commission man who had been
her suitof. All that was long ago,
Fifteen years had passed. She had
married him, the poor clerk, and Dali
berg could not help specializing as to
whether she had ever regretted her
choice. For, as his wife, she was the
victim of poverty. She had come to
know all sorts of privations. She had
learned to cook, to sweep, and even to
scrub; and, besides, she was perpetual
ly sewing for their two children. She
turned their clothes, she patched and
pieced them, and after her day Of in-
cessant toll, she sank into bed, worn
aud weak.
As he stood there looking in at the
window, Dalberg's heart swelled with
q great pity for bis wife. He did moi
consider his own slavery. The long
hours which he served for his pitiful
salary he gave cheerfully. The
austere economy which he must prac.
tice he submitted to without a strug.
gle. 1t was when he reflected on his
careworn, joyless wife that he grew re-
beIlious.
Everything might have been other
wise for her as Macready's wife. ALI
the light and color of life might have
been hers, for the commission man
had grown steadily wealthy. Instead
of that her spirit was cramped and al
most broken. She was obliged to give
her thoughts to the most sordid de-
tails of economy. Her first strength
was devoted to the problem Of ofmaking
their slender means meet the exac-
tions of the landlord and butcher
How changed she was, poor girl
He seemed to see her as she looked
when he first knew her. The con-
tented face, the white dress, the
bunch of flowers, we're all before him
At that moment two women hac
come out Of the shop. Each had vio
let's pinned on her dress. As they
passed him, the flowers gave forth
delicious odor. Breathing it, he fell
himself transported. Fifteen year
we're obliterated. It seemed to hin
then that all Of Of brightness which hi
life had ever held was inseparAbly
connected with the fragrance Of vio'
lets. To possess them was to b
young again, with life full Of promis'
and hope. He longed to take th'
flowers in his hand, to crush then
against his face, and draw full deel
breath.
Before he realized what he wa'
doing, he was in the shop, with tn
precisus blossoms in his hand; ant
then he remembered that he ough
not to buy them. His wife woul
think his reason had departed if h
came home and said that he had pal
two dollars for violets. But the pres
sure Of bis own desire was irresistible
| He finally determined to send thel