The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1892-12-14
MATS HUSBAND.
BN ". |. kIirCIirM.


son may not satisfy other people, but
IL Is Invariably sufficient FOR the fcmi-
ninc rcnsoner.
Sam Toms was what is called
'vutllcss" by his Texan ncighbors
O.d Bill Bum, his faihcr.iu-law, him-
self not IA very energetic or useful
ci,izcn, used 10 sit on the steps at the
cross-road, store and publicly bcwnil
his cad lot in having Sam for mcm-
Der of his family.
Nominally, sam was cowboy; but
most of the time hc would tell YOU Lc
was 'jcs' layin' of spell, [ rest up
like"
lie had always been Just so-disin-
guished for lnz.ncss in an eaSy-going
communicated nobody expected him
ever to be otherwise; and IL puzzled
people Immensely when energetic,
capable Matte Bum accepted him for
'cS i"' '""'p ny, w say holHlhN W
the sensation created by their we'd
dug.
Mat, as has been suggested, proba-
bly, had some reason for marrying
Sam; but it is quite certain that she
never told any one what that reason
was. Sam was tall, and big, and
handsome In his careless, slouchy way:
nc had always managed, no one knew
how, TO wear good clothes. too. These
facts, and his perennial good-naturc
and friendly ways, were the only
points in his favor. Against him
were the poinis so forcibly taken by
his fathcr-in-law, and, also, that hc
got drunk whenever lie could POSSIBLY
do so, and was, morally, SO weak that
my ono conld easily lead him astray.
How Mat aud Sam got along, no
one but Mat knew. Oacc in great
while, Sam would do some work and
earn few dollars. It he got home
with it without stopping at the saloon,
well and good. But of,encr than not,
he would "drap in jes' Z take nip r
two." aud that would settle il. A
such times, he would stay and buy
drinks for everybody present while
his money lasted. Then he would
come home in q inaudlin, fearful state
OF intoxication, aud Invent some tale
to account for his condition and the
disappearance of ms money, winding
up with the promise never to let it
happen again. And Mat would pre-
tend that she believed him, and would
stroke his curly head uu,il lie fell
asleep. Then she would look at the
handsome scamp for a few minutes
with love unutterable in her cycs-the
,ired eyes back Of which were II world
of uushcd tears. But she never COM
plaincd--not the first word; the firm-
tot nouth and weary look might indi-
cate ever so much, but her lips never
expressed it. Aud Sam gradually
grew more aud more useless aud shift
less, trusting to his wife's ready wit
and fertility of resource TO carry them
both over the bad places,
There were lots of bad places, too.
Twice Sam ran into debt several dol
lars at the saloon, and Mat found
somc mcans to pay the debts--only
herself knew how. But the second
time she informed the saloon man that
he must trust Sam no more. Aud,
besides these things, to livc-how did
they do il? Nobody could guess.
Perhaps even Mat herself could no,
havo told; yet live they did-or,
rather, eXistcd-and, for the most
part, Kept out of debt.
Sam sometimes worked, brt never
for very long. lie always found some
excuse for leaving a place within II
few days lie could almost always
find another job easily enough, for he
was an excellent ''hand' when he
chose to bo--Dut he did not hasten
about finding rev job when he had
given ono up; not until they were
reduced to the very last straits could
Mat get him 10 hunting work again.
One LAY, Sam left home fora rancl
about thirty-iive miles distant, where
hc heard they wanted help. Two days
passed. three four--hvc-and no
word came from him. Mat was not a
a little worried, although Sam has!
often been away for two weeks at d
time without sending word 10 her.
But This time 1t was different; thers