The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-12-16
MATS HUSBAND.
No One But Herself Knew Why
Sho Loved Him.

son may not satisfy other people, but
1t is'invariably sufficient for the femi
nine rcasoner
Sam Toms was what is called "wuth
less" by his Texan neighbors. Old Bill
Bum, his father-in-law, himself not 4
very energetic or useful citizen, used
to sit on the steps ut the cross-road
store and publicly bewail his sad lot in
having Sam for n member of his fami.
~. Bill had n dramatic style of de.
livery that was very fetching, and in.
variably impressed strangers as being
very much in earnest.
He would sit on the steps, silently
chewing IN enormous mou.hful of to.
bacco and apparently listening to the
conversation of his co-loafcrs. If Sans
name was mentioned, he would give
vent to four or five little falscttc
squeaks, which found cgress through
his nose; then he would draw in q long
breath, puff out his fat checks, purse
his mouth, and give a heavy whistling
sigh; this would be followed by u lurge
quantity of tobacco juice. carefully
aimed at some object in tho vicinity
These prcliminarics accomplished, Bill
would rise to his feet, thrust one fat,
y
the other in n sweeping gesture as he
lowered his eyes end rolled his head
sadly from side to side, and deliver
himself profoundly, after the following
fashion,:
"Ah-hum! That Sam Toms is tn
LATEST. mos shif''ess, o'nery, triflin'
cuss l ever sedan yere I've done
go, i'm FIR son-'n-lawr. Hm-hm-hm!"
Another whistling sigh would close this
peroration and OLD Bill would resume
his seat, still shaking his head sorrow
fully.
And Dill was more than half right.
Nominally, Sam was cowboy; but
most of the time he would tell you he
was ''jes' layin' off spell, t. rest up
like"
lie had always been just so-distin.
guishcd for laziness in an easy-going
community, and nobody expected him
ever to be otherwise; and it puzzled
people immensely when energetic,
capable Matte Bum accepted him for
regular compny," to say nothing OF
the sensation created by their wedding.
Mat, as has been suggested, probably
had some reason for marrying Sam;
but it is quite certain that she never
told anyone what that reason was.
Sam was tall, and big, and handsome
in his careless, slouchy way; he had
always managed, 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 fathcr-in-law,
and, also, that he got drunk whenever
he could possibly do SO, and was
morally SO weak that anyone could
easily lead him astray.
How Mat and Sam got along no one
but Mat knew. Once in great while,
Sam would do some work and earn q
few dollars. If he got home with it
without stopping at the saloon, well
and good. But, oftcner than not, he
would "drap in jes' t take nip r
two" and that would settle it. At
such times he would stay and buy
drinks for everybody present while his
money lasted. Then he would come
home in maudlin, tearful state of in
toxication, and invent some tale to ac-
count for his condition and the disap-
pearanco of his money, winding up
with the promise never to let it happen
she believed him, and would stroke his
curly head until he fell asleep. Then
she would look at the handsome scamp
for few minutes with love unutter-
able in her cycs-thc tired eyes back
of which we're n world of unshcd tears.
But she never complaincd-not the
first word; the firn-sct mouth and
weary look might indicate ever SO
much, but her lips never expressed it.
And Sam gradually grew more and
more useless and shiftless, trusting to
his wifc's ready wit and fertility of re-
source 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 some
means to pay the debts-only herself
knew how. But the second time she
informed the saloon man that he must
trust Sam no more. And. besides these
things, TO live-how did they do it?
Nobody could guess. Perhaps even
Mat herself could not have told; yet
live they did-or, rather, existed-and
for the most part, kept out of debt.
Sam sometimes worked, but never
for very long. He always found some
excuse for leaving place within few
days. He could almost always find an
other job easily enough, for he was an
excellent hand" when he chose to be
but he did not hasten about finding a
new job when he had given one up; not
until they were reduced to the very
last straits could Mat get him to hunt
ing work again.
Ono Cav Sam loft homo for n ,,po1,
about thirty-five miles distant, where
he had heard they wanted help. Two
days observation-disclosures no