Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1892-10-28
THE AUDITORS WIFE.

honorable custom OF candidates Tor
political preferment.
That Sile Burton, auditor Of Apache
County, was in the hands Of his
friends was literally true, on this par
ticular occasion, for Sile was Il very
sick man. 1t was his own fault, that
is, he had on business to go, as he
did, with Sheriff Tom Owens, to sup
press that riot over in the Bloomer
District, last month. 1t was not in
the line of his duties. But, then, the
call had been hasty and imperative
one, and poor Tom was short on dep
uties as Well as being pressed for
time, and SiIe could hardly have re-
fused to go even if he had wanted to,
which he did not He enjoyed little
row as well as the Sheriff himself did,
and, besides, he was one OF the most
obliging men in the world. So he
went, and not only got bit with a
club or something, but received a Al
bullet in his interior department,
while Tom and the rest of the posse
escaped without scratch. Sile was
better now, and could think with
considerable facility which was un-
fortunate, perhaps, because his
thoughts were mostly Of his expiring
term of Office and his helpless con-
dition.
1t was pretty tough, everybody
agreed, because it was going to be a
"close" year, and Sile was a great
worker. His friends, too, unfor-
tunately were kept pretty busy look
out for their own scalps, and could
not give his affairs the attention they
needed.
There was the last payment still due
on the house; there was paper" in
tile bank to be taken up Sile Burton
was in bad financial way, because,
in addition to being what is known
as good fellow" he had made
| SOlue ulllOI luudlS lhNSotihCh'C i0N'S''
and now, to complete his misery and
overflow the cup, Brad Boutwell,, OF
Chloride District, had come out, in
his sneaking but effective way for
Jere Hobart for county auditor, and
was working night and day for his
man. who had been Sile's strongest
opponent in the last convention. Oh,
it was rough, and here was Sile, ly-
ing helpless, with the nominating
convention only two weeks away!
All this, and much more, Sile
poured into the ears of his pretty lit
tie wife, as she hovered over him at
tending to his many wants, in the
way that nobody but a woman, and
womanly woman, ever will learn.
She did not say so, but she had a talk
with Tom Owens that day, and he
had agreed with her that the out
look was pretty blue for Brad Bout
well, boss Of the Mountain Girl and
two lesser mines, employer OF three
hundred men and an entirely un-
scrupulous politician, was about the
worst man in the county to have on
the other side, and he had assured
Owens that he certainly intended to
defeat Burton's denomination, and
that's all there is in it. | goes, too,
what Brad Boutwell, says; and you
know it, Tom Owens"
Yes, Tom did know it, and he knew
that without Boutwell, his own name
was Dennis" for he had not the
strength in the precincts near town
that Burton had. So his hands were
tied, and he could do nothing for Sile
in the Chloride District.
Mrs. Burton said nothing TO Sile OF
Toms visit to the boss Of Chloride.
She closed his complaining lips with
a kiss every now and then, and chirp-
ed away as cheerfully as though mort
cages, and unpaid notes, and big
surgeons bills, and conventions had
never a part in her life. And all this
time she kept up a blame sight o
thinkin'," as Tom Owens used to say
| to his wife, who was also an ardent
admirer of the little 'tenderfoot
bride Sile Burton had brought from
the State q few months ago.
Sile Burton was sleeping soundly
next morning, when his wife, the
usual smile gone from her face, stole
up to his bedside, kissed him softly
two or three times, and ran over tc
/ the Owens's. 1t was not until ten
o'clock that he awoke and noticed
that the woman by the window wa:
not Mary. but Mrs. Owens. And he
did not know that this kindly, big
hearted woman fibbed when she told
him that Mary had lust gone dowr
to the Springs to get a prescription
filled that they couldn't put up here
and would be back on the two-thirty
train
Tom Owens, with the blackboard
and fdgeting Bay Nell, was waiting
Just off the trail, short distance
from Chloride Camp. A pretty little
woman, stared at respectfully by the
numerous men loafng about-fol
women were scarce in Chloride, trip
ped down the street, trying to looh
unconscious, and entered the door o.
Brad Boutwelrs Office. 1t was the
noon hour, and he was alone, engaged
in the pleasurable occupation Of dis
posing of an excellent lunch. H'
heard the hesitating step in the outel
office. and stepped to the door OF hi
sanctum, where he stood, somewha