Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-07-06

OuJ she was 50 SLll<th anu 1IdS1c anu
tender-lool1ing, that his wrath melted
away into patient. bewildered sort of
pity.
'sNora, my little wife: My dear little
wife!'
He leaned over the back of her chair.
His breath famed her temples. By the
uplifting of one small white finger she
might have brought the big fellow to
his knees before her.
'sWell?'' She did not look at him
She lifted no finger towards him. It
was an icy acknowledgment that she
had heard him; that was all.
"You did not mean it, just now,
| when you told me that you wanted me
to go away from you and stay until you
sent for me of your own free will. Did
you, Nora?'
eyes, I meant If. -
''And when will you send for me? Is
| it'-he gave her no time to answer, but
| touched her soft brown l1aIr with his
] ips-sbecause we can't look our pref
| test with undressed hair and in our
loose wrapper?''
Soft as her answering tones were, there
! was ring of concentrated bitterness in
| them.
| sit is becauSe-I-believe hate
you. Yes, hate you, John. I can't
help it; there is no other word for it,"
He came around in front of her to
| see if she was not indulging her child
| ish petulance to rude excess. There
was no childish petulance imprinted
| upon the small white face before him;
| instead, a hard passionless gravity
| which puzzled and alarmed him. He
| had heard of these nervous complaints
disordering woman's intellect. Per-
haps the climate did not agree with his
| wife. If Chalmers, after examination,
said SO, he would take her away. He
| spoke to her soothingly:
Celeste was a wiser nurse than
! took her for. had no business coming
in here to talk to my little sick wife. 1
am going, Norrie, and | shan't come
back until you send for re, darling.
Only don't keep me away too long. I
miss you SO, dear. So Go I'll the boys.
/ wish
sStop! stop! stopv' It was a cry of
pain.
He did stop, and stood wonder
ingly silent while she went on impetu-
ously:
You are talking to me as if 1 were a
1unatic or child. A child you know I
am not. A lunatic possibly might be-
come, if falseness, deceit, cowardice,
duplicity in man were all that was
necessary to make lunatic of a wom-
an. When 1 said that I hated you I
meant it! When I said that I wanted
you never to touch me again meant it!
When recoiled from your touch as I
would from that of reptile, meant it,
You are reptile, John Lorimer!"
- I,
alton of him, and, turning his face from
her, he stood with folded arms looking
down into the fire. It was ON record in
the medical journals, he reminded him
self, that people frequently turned upon
their very dearest friends when demen-
tia seized upon them. Chalmers must
be summoned at once. He would not
add to her excitement by a single word.
She stopped speaking. He could hear
the tumultuous breathing that lifted
the folds of her white wrapper in bill
lows of passion. After a little while
her breath came more placidly.
SIS that all, Nora?" he turned and
asked her, quietly To soothe her ex-
cited nerves was his one object Just
then.
''That is all. Is it not enough?''
s'Quite enough in the way of con-
demnation.'
He had turned towards the door.
'sYou are going?" she asked, drearily.
sis not that what you want me to
do?"
eyes. And you have not one word in
self-defense?'
''Not one. You know my theory
always has been that the very worst a
good woman can think of man falls
far short of his deserving. hope you
will feel better tomorrow, Nora. Try
to sleep now, DEAR
He was gone! She looked stupidity at
the wooden panels of the door through
which he had disappeared.
s'Not one word in se1f-defense! He
could not look me in the face and defend
himself! That much to his credit And
now let me finish my work.
She resumed her writing. Her pen
fairly flew over the paper. Sheet after
sheet she filed, folded, enveloped and
directed, until four closed envelopes lay
before her, upon one only of which she
put government stamp. When Celeste
brought her luncheon to the door, she
found herself locked out. When she
knocked two or three hours later, and
IuIOrIu0O EldQdII1S GQdC she was UQer6
with the dinner tray, she was still
locked out. When she came again at
lamp light, craving permission to put
the child to bed, the door was opened
sufficiently wide for Ninette to creep in,
and through the crevice Celeste was in
formed that Mrs. Lorimer would attend
to the child herself that night. She
was at liberty to dispose of her evening
in her own way.
The way Celeste did dispose of it was
not at all in ''her own way"
She was entrapped on her way down
the stairs by the mistress of White Cliffs
and drawn into the sitting-room, where
the family physician, assisted by John
Lorimer and his mother. cross ques-
toned her rigidly and exhaustively as
to Mrs. Lorimer's mental condition dur
ing previous neuralgia attacks.
She slipped away from them, when
they had extracted from her vast deal
of information she had never suspected
herself possessed of, and crept into a
cot in the hall, just outside Nora's door.
John himself had located it. She had
/ h hot