The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1893-05-27
ON THE BRIDGE.

When ! tell you. my only friend. to
whom 20 rarely write and whom more
rarely Sc. that my lonely life has not
been without love for woman. you will
perhaps laugh or doubt
: "Whstr you will aay: "that gaunt
old specteF IN his attic. with his books,
his tobacco and his three flower potsl
He would not know that there IL such .
word - love did he not encounter 1t now
and then In his reading
True. l have divided my days between
the books In . rich mans counting room
and those In my attic. True. again.
have never been more than merely pas
able to look At. even in my best days
Yet have loved . woman
During the i've years when my elder
brother lay in tho hospital across the
river. where he died. II was my custom
70 visit him every Sunday enjoyed
tho afternoon walk to the suburbs. where
the air has more Of nature in II. especial
ly that portion Of the walk which lay
upon the bridge More life than was
usual upon the bridge moved there on
Sunday. Then the cars were crowded
with people seeking the parks Many
crossed on foot. stopping TO look idly
down 1t the dark and sluggish water.
One afternoon. a. stood thus leaning
over the parApet. the sound OF womans
gentle langh caused me TO turn and ocu
larry inquire its source The woman
and = man were approaching AT the
side OF the woman walked soberly .
handsome dog--a collie. There was that
In their appearance and manner which
plainly told inc that here Were husband
and wife, Of the middle class. intelligent
but poor. out for . stroll That they
were quite devoted to each other WAS
easily discoyerable
The man looked about thirty years OF
age. wAa tail. slender and with neither
strong nor handsome. but amiable face
lie was doubtless clerk ct 10 be some
thing better
The woman was perhaps twenty -four
She was not quite beautiful. yet she was
more than pretty. she was Of good size
and figure. and the short plush coat tina,
she wore. and the manner in which she
kept her hands thrust in the pockets
thereof. gave 10 her daun;less air
which the quiet and affeciionate expires
sion Of her face soitcned
| She was brunette. her eyes being
large and distinctly dark brown. her
face having tina; peculiar complexion
which is most quickly affected by any
change In health
The color OF her cheeks, the dark rim
under her eyes. aud other indc.inahle
ssgns indicated some radical ailmen, In
the quick glance that had Of tina, pair
while tho woman was smiling. II feelan;
Of pity came over ne, have never de
socieJ the exact cause O. that emotion.
Perhaps in the womAns face ! read the
trace Of pas; bodily and mental suffer
ing. perhaps a subtle mark that death
bad already set there
Neither the woman nor her husband
noticed me AZ they passed The dog re
gArded the cautiously with the corner 81
his eye. probably would never have
thought OF the thr~c again had ! noi
seen them upon the bridge. under ex-
ac;iy the same circumstances on the
nsIt Sunday
So these young and then happy people
walked here every Sunday. thought
This. perhaps. was an event looked for
ward TO throughout the week The nus
band. doubtless. was KEEP, prisoner and
alAve at his desk from Monday morning
until Saturday nigh, with respite only
for eating and sleeping Such cases are
common. even with people who can
think and who have some taste for luxu
~, aud who arc not devoid Of love fol
the beautiful
The sight Of happiness which exist.
despite the cruelty Of fate and man. and
which Ia temporarily unconscious of it,
own liability TO interruption and ex,inc
ton. invariably Oils inc with sadness
And the sadness which arose a, the con
temptation Of these two beings bcga, ir
me . strange sympathy for and interes,
In them
On Sundays thereafter would so ear
ly 10 the bridge and wait until the,
passed. for Il proved that this was ,hei,
habitual Sunday walk Sometimes the,
would pause and Join those who gaze,
down at the black river | would. nov
and again, resume my journey towar'
the hospital while they thus stood. and
would look back from a distance Tn
bridge would then appear to me a,
abrupt ascent, rising 10 the dense city
and their two figures would stand on
clearly against the background
Il became q matter Of care TO me &
observe each Sunday whether the healtl
Of either had varied during the previou
week. The husband, always pale an
slight, showed little change, and that in
frequently. But the fluctuations Of tn
woman, a. indicated by complexion
gait, expression and otherwise, were nu
nsrous and pronounced. Often oh
looked brighter and more robust than o.
the preceding Sunday Her face woul
b then rounded ont. and the dark cres
cents beneath her eyes would I've les
marked. Then found myself elated,
But on the next Sunday the cheek
had receded slightly, the healthy luste
'e Of the eyes had given way TO an ominou
glow; the warning Of death had r,
turned. Then my heart would sink, ant
sighing, l would murmur inaudibiy;
"This is one Of tho Tad sunday"
n, There came u time when every SUI
q day WA q bad one
What made inc love this woma'
}" Simply the unm,stakable completeue
and constancy OF her devotion 10 h
AZ husband--the absorption Of the woms
In the wife, Had the strange ways
a chance ever made known to her n
feeling. and had she swerved from tn
devotion even to render the back lo'