Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-12-13

MATS HUSBAND.

She doubtless had woman's reaso,
for marrying him. That kind Of reaso.
may nos satisfy other people, bar il Is in
varlaoty sufficient for thu feminine rea
ooner.
sam Toms was what b called sswuth
less by his Texan neighbors. Old BIZ
Bunn, his fsEner-in-law, himself not 4
very energetic or useful citizen, used L
s1s on the sfeps It the crossroads stors
and pablicly bswail his sad lot ia HAVING
Sam for menaheT Of his family. Bill
had . dramatic style Of delivery thai
wa very fefching. and invariably ma
pressed strangers as being very much in
earnest.
He would ut ON the steps, SILENTLY
chewing an enormous mouthful Of To-
bacco and apparently listening to the
conversation Of his coloafcrs. II Sam
name was mentioned he would give vent
10 four or five little falsetro squeaks.
which found egress through his nose;
then he would draw IN q long breath,
pun out his fat cheeks. purse his mouth.
and give heavy. whistling sigh; this
would Do followed by large quantity
OF tobacco juice. carefully aimed at
some object IN the vicinity. These pre-
hminaries accomplished, Bill would rise
To has feet, thrust ono fat, dirty hand
into his shirt front, wave the other in a
sweeping gesture a. he lowered his ewes
and rolled mis- head sadly from side 10
side. and deliver himself profoundly aft
er tho following fashion:
'.Ah-humi That Sam Toms is tn
LATEST, mos shif1ess, emery. trifiin cuss
ever sedan. yere I've done got i'm
fr ason-'n-lawr. Hm-hm-hm!" Another
whastting SIGH would close this perora-
tion. aud old Bill would resume his seat.
still shaking his head sorrowfully.
And Bill was more than half right.
NORMALLY Sam was . cowboy, but
most Of the time he would tell you he
was ''jes' layin OF spell. Z rest MP like"
He bad always been Just so-distin-
Euished for laxiness in an easy going
communicated nobody expected him
ever to Be otherwise, and is puzzled peo-
pie immensely when energetic, capable
Mattie Bum accepted him for '.reglar
comply" 10 say nothing Of the sensa-
ton created by their wedding.
Mat. a. has been suggested, probably
had some reason for marrying Sam, but
It II quite certain that she never told
any one what that reason was. Sam
Was tall and big, and handsome In his
carelsas. slouchy way; he had always
no one knew how, TO wear
good clothes too. These facts and his
perennial good nature and friendly
ways were the only points in his favor.
Against him were the points SO forcibly
taken by his father-in-law, and also that
he goe drunk whenever he could possi-
bly, do 30. aud was morally so weak that
any one could easily lead him astray.
How Mat and Sam got along no one |
but Mat knew. Once In q great while |
sam would do some work aud earn a |
'ew dollars. II he got home with il
Without stopping at the saloon, well and
pod But oftener than not he would
'drap IN jes' { take a nip r two" and
hat would settle 10. At such times he
would stay and buy drinks for every
'ody present while his money lasted.
hen be would come home in a mandolin.
carful state Of intoxication. and invent
ONE tale to account for his condition
nd the disappearance of his money.
Finding up with the promise never to
II 10 happen again.
And Nat would pretend that she be-
eyed him. and would stroke his curly
cad until 10 fell asleep. Then she
rculd look at the handsome scamp for
few minutes with love unutterable in
CT eyes-ths tired eyes back OF which
'ere world OF unshed tears. But she
sver coIaplained-not the first word:
se firm ser mouth and wesry look
light Indicate ever so mich, but her
- never expressed il. And Sam grad
ally grew moro and more useless and
lsftisss. trusting to his wife's ready wit
u fertility OF resource to carry them
,th over the bad places.
There were lots of bad places too. ,
vice sam ran into debt several dollars
the saloon and Mat found some means :
pay the dsbts-only herself knew
w. Bnt the second time she informed ,
e saloon man that he must trust Sam ,
more. And. besides these things. to
'e-how did they DO it2 Nobody could :
Ie<s. Perhaps even Mat herself could Z
Z have told, yet i've they did-or rather
isted--and for the most part kept out =
debt.
Sam sometimes worked. bat never for
y bong. Tie always found some ex-
So for leaving y place within few
-. He could almost always find an
aer job easily enough. for ne was an '
reiient hand when he chose to be. {
{ be did not hasten about finding i
" Job when he had given one up: not e
I'll they were reduced TO the very last r
ats could Mat get him to hunting 2
rk AGAIN q
)ne day Sam left home for 4 ranch 81
sut thirty-fve miles distant. where he I
heard they wanted help. Two DAYS @
I'D three -fsur-iive-and no word
ne from him. Mat was not q little h
rried. although Sam had often been II
AZ for two weeks nj a iirne withou. i
ding word 20 her But this time IL "a
> different: there was no excuse for W
rot sendinz . message. as the stage q
~ By ne ranch ne had gone ~ three h.
- . week. II he had found work c,
r.. - he expected. he could easilv N
- notified her. So. late in the after. b
q % the afth day. she threw her III
wI ever her nesd and went down a, OF
fathers 10 find if they had heard
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