Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1892-12-29
MATS HUSBAND.


She doubtless had 4 woman's reason
for marrying him. That kind Of reason
may not satisfy other people. butt is in
variably sufficient for the feminine rea-
soner.
Sam Toms was what is called .wuth-
less by bis Texan neighbors. Old Bill
Bum, his father-in-law, himself not a.
4 very energetic on useful citizen, used to
sit on the steps at the crossroads store
and publicly bewail his sad lot in having
Y Sam for q member of his family. BIZ
had dramatic style Of delivery that
was very fetching, and Invariably inn
pressed strangers as being very much ia
earnest.
4 He would lit On the steps, silently
chewing all enormous m0uthfuI of to-
bacco and apparently listening to the
4 conversation Of his coloafers. If Sans
name was mentioned lie would give vent
/ to four or five little falsetto squeaks.
which found egress through his nose;
. then be would draw in long breath.
/ puff out his fat cheeks, purse his mouth.
= and give heavy, Whistling sigh: this
! would be followed by a large quantity
+ Of tobacco juice, carefully aimed at
some object ia the vicinity These prc-
I liminaries accomplished, Bill would rise
to lis feet, thrust one fat, dirty hand
into his shirt front, wave the other It'll
I sweeping gesture as he lowered his eyes
and rolled his head sadly from side to
side, and deliver himself profoundly aft
er the following fashion:
tAh-huml That Sam Toms i TIL
LATEST, mos shifless, o'nery, triflin cuss
n / ever sedan yere I've done got i'm
N fir ason-n-lawr. Hm-hm-hmr' Another
Yhistling sigh would close this perora-
h ton, and old Bill would resume his seat,
still shaking Lis head sorrowfully.
And Bill was more than half right.
Nominally Sam was cowboy. but
Y most Of the time lie would tell YOU he
was 'jes' layin off spell, t rest up like.
He had always been just so-distin-
I guished for laziness in an easy going
community-and nobody expected him
ever to be otherwise, ana it puzzled peo-
( pie immensely when energetic, capable
Mattie Bum accepted him for "reg'lar
comp'ny. tO say nothing Of the sensa-
+ ton created by their wedding.
Mat, as has been suggested, probably
v had some reason for marrying sam, but
it is quite certain that she never told
anF one whist that reason was. Sam
was tan and big, ana handsome I'll lis
careless, slcnehy WAY; he had always
managed. n0 one knew how, to wear
good clothes too. These facts and his
f perennial good nature and friendly
ways were The only points il his favor.
Against him were the points so forcibly
taken by his father-in-law. and also that
he got drunk whenever he could posi-
bly, do so, 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
VI sam would 10 some work ana earn
few dollars If he got home with IT
without stopping at the saloon, well and
good. But cftener than not he would
+ ..drap IN jos t take nip + two, and
that would settle it, At such times he
would stay and buy drinks for every
body present while his money lasted.
Then he would come home in q maudlin.
fearful state of intoxication, ana invent
some tale to account for his condition
and the disappearance of lii money,
Y winding up with the promise never to
let it happen again.
And Mat would pretend that she Ne
heyed him, and would stroke his curly
head until he fell asleep. Then she
would hook lit the handsome scamp for
a few minutes with love unutterable IL
her eyes-the tired eyes back Of which
were Il world VI unshed tears. But she
never cOmplained.-not the FIRST word
I the Erm Yet ln0ath and weary look
might indicate ever ~ much, but her
H Inns never expressed it. And Sam grad
ually grew more and more useless anl
shiftless. trusting to his wife's ready Wit
and fertility Of resource to carry them
both over tile bad places.
There We're lots Of bad places too.
\ Twice Sam ram into debt several dollars
at The saloon ana Mat found some means
4 to pay the debts-only herself knew
how. But The second Time She informed
the saloon man Chat he must trust sam
no more. And, besides these things. to
N live-h0w ala they do its Nobody could
guess. Perhaps even Mat herself could
not have told, vet live they did-or rather
existed-an1 for the most part kept out
Of debt
sam sometimes worked, but never for
i.Tery long. He always found some ex-
cuse for leaving q place within a few
days lie could almost always find an
other job easily enough. for lie was all
excellent hand when he cnose to be,
but he did hot hasten about finding y
uew JOB when be had given one up: not
until they were reduced to the very last
straits could Mat ger him to hunting
work again.
One day sam left home for ranch
about thirty-iive mikes distant. where le
had heard they wanted help. Two DAYS
passed-three-f four -tive-and no word
came from liIn. Mat was not little
Worried, although Sam had often been
sway fcr two weeks III d time without
sending word 70 her. But this time IL
was different; there was no excuse for
his not sending " message, ns the stage
came By tie ranch lie had gone 10 three
times week. lf he had fonnd work
there, ~ he expected, he could easily
have notified her. So, late IN the after
coon cf the ifth day. she threw her
shawl over her head and went down to
her fathers to find if they had heard
K anything Of Sam.
The old fellow was standing in the
doorway talking toa coaplcof strangers.
Ne lie was saying, they hain't
ben no person long yer las few days
hnt what b'longs yere. Mebbe. though
lie inout III ben seed over we're II Bacons.
Ben thars Nos Waal, my boys comm
iii fin thar purity soon, ain he e'n tell ye.
+ Come Ill III feed; Jackll be yero right
soon
Mab staid 10 help her mother with
tho supper, and during the course az tlie
meal learned that the two strangers
were officers trailing u horse thief. who
had stolen valuable horse al 4 ranch
forty miles cast and sold it at Pickett
station. niid who was believed 10 have
come this way.
a. She listened to the conversation ~
sudden naneIess fear came upun Ter,
making her feel Ill and faint AS soon