San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-01-25

a novel; Since her second marriage
life had gone pleasantly with her and
she was content. Cecil never worried
her about things beyond her comprehen-
sion, or required other ailments for his
spiritual srlstenance than that which she
was able and willing to furnish; he
was a commonplace man and his de-
sires were commonplace-easily under
stood and satisfied.
He liked pretty wife, a handsome
house, good dinner with fine wine and
jolly company; he liked high stepping
horses, natty turnout and the smile of
Vanity Fair. Ethel's tastes were similar,
and their lives so far had fitted into each
other without single crevice. The
Cumberlands were grim and unbending,
it is true, and after that one concession
to fraternal feeling, made no more; they
held themselves rigidly aloof from the
pair, and invested all intercourse with
paralyzing formality. Ethel did not care
a pin for them o. their opinion; if they
chose to be old fogyish and disagreeable
they were quite welcome to indulge their
fancy. As long as society smiled upon
her, Madame Ethel was superbly indif-
ferent to the Cumberland frown.
Cecil worried over it, as men will
worry, who have been accustomed to
the adulation of their womankind, when
that adulation is withdrawn. He
grumbled and fumed over their damned
nonsense" as he called it, and bored his
wife no little with conjectures as to
their reasons for being stiff and unpleas-
ant when nobody else was.
Since her return from her wedding
trip, which had heightened to four
months amid the delights of Paris, Mrs.
Cumberland had found time for only
one short visit to her little son. There
had been such an accumulation of social
duties and engagements that pilgrimages
over to Brooklyn were out of the ques-
ton; and besides she disliked Mrs.
Creswell, Thornes aunt, who had charge
of the boy, and who had the bad taste:
Ethel felt sure, to disapprove of her. It
was too bad of Nesbit to put the child so
far away and with person whom she
did not like; it amounted to total sepa-
ration, for of course it would be impossi-
BILE for her to make such a journey often.
When her time should be less occu-
pied, she would write to Nesbit about it;
meanwhile her maternal solicitude found
ample pacifcation in sending servant
across at intervals to carry toys and con-
fectionery to the little fellow, and to in
quire after his welfare.
The portieres were drawn aside to ad-
NIT Mr.. Cumberland, in smoking jacket
| and slippers, yawning and very much
bored. He was a large, heavy looking
| man, very dependent on outside things
for his entertainment. Failing to at
tract his wife's attention, he lounged
over to the window and drew aside the
velvet curtain The atmosphere was
heavy, and the light in front of the
house appeared to hold itself aloof from
the environment in a sulky, self con-
| tanned way All down the street the
other lamps looked like the ghosts of
lights that had burned and died in past
| ages.
A little girl with a bag of apples in her
| frostbitten hands came hastily around
the corner and, going with her head
down against the sleet, butted into an
elderly gentleman, with big umbrella,
who was driving along in an opposite
direction. The gentleman gave the child
an indignant shove, which caused her to
seat herself violently upon the pave
ment; the bag banged hard against the
bricks and delivered up its trust, and the
apples scudded away into the gutter.
Cecil laughed amusedly as the little
creature picked herself up crying, and
proceeded to institute search for the
missing treasure. A kindly policeman,
who doubtless had children of his own,
stopped on his beat and helped her,
wiping the mud from the rescued fruit
with his handkerchief, and securing
all again with a newspaper and stout
Irvine string which he took from his
pocket; then they went away together,
the officer carrying the bundle and the
| child trotting contentedly in the lee of
| him. They seemed to be old acquaint-
ances.
Nothing else happened along to amuse
him, so Mr.. Cumberland let the velvet
folds fall back in their place and came
over to the fire. He had been suffering
with heavy cold, and found confine-
ment to the house in the last degree irk-
some. His wife was too much engrossed
with her book to be willing to lay it
aside for his entertainment, and he
spurned her suggestion of the evening
paper, so there was nothing for it but to
sulk over cigar and audibly curse the
weather.
A sharn ring at the donrbell tardilY