The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-01-13
MATS HUSBAND.
No One But Herself Knew Why
She Loved Him

She doubtless had woman's reason
for marrying him. That kind OF rea-
son NAV not satisfy other people, but
it is invariably sufficient for the femi-
nine rcaSoncr.
Sam Toms was what is called ''wuth-
less" by his Texan neighbors. Old Bill
Bum. his father-in-law, himself not
very energetic or useful citizen, used
TO sit on the STEPS at the cross-road
store and publicly bcwail his sad lot IN
having Sam for Il member OF his tanl-
" Bill had a dramatic style of de-
livery that was very fetching, and IN
variably impressed strangers as being
very much in earnest.
lie would sit on the steps, silently
chewing an enormous mOuthfuI of To-
hacco md apparently listening to the
conversation of his co-loafers If Sans
.,..ue was mentioned, lac would give
vent to four or five little falsetto
,aucalzs, which found cgress through
lis nose; then he would draw in long
breath. puff ont his lat checks. purse
ais mouth, and give a heavy whlstling
sigh: this would be followed by large
1uantitv Of tobacco juice, carefully
tiracd at some object in the vicinity.
These ureliIuinaries accomplished, Bill
would rise to his feet, thrust one fat,
iirtv hand into his shirt front wave
The other in a sweeping gesture as he
lowered his eyes and rolled his head
sadly from side to side, and deliver
himself profoundly, after the following
fashion:
Album. That Sam Toms is tn
LATEST mos sl.ificss, o'nery- trlilin'
cuss / ever sedan yere I've done
go; i'm f'r son-'n-lawr. Hm-hm-hIn"'
Auo;Aer whistiinC sigh would close this
.scror=:ion, and old Bill would resume
his seat, still shaking his head sorrow
fully.
And Bill was more than half right.
Norninallv. Sam was 4 cowboy; but
mos. OF the time he would tel you he
was les layin' off a spell, [ rest up
Ike"
He had always been Just so-distin-
rruishcd for laziness in an casy-going
community. and nobody expected him
over to be otherwise; and II puzzled
Dcoalc immensely when energetic,
capable Matte Bum accepted him for
-.rcg'lar comp'Dy," 70 say nothing Of
the sensation created hy their wedding.
Mat, rs has been suggested, probably
u; d some reason for marrying Sam;
.sl.t It i quite certain that she never
'9IE anyone what that reason was.
sam was tail, and big, and handsome
IN his careless, slouchy way; he had
always managed, no one knew how,
TO wear good clothes, too. These facts
md his perennial good nature and
friendly ways were the only points III
his favor. AyaiI.st him were the points
so forciblv taken by his fatncr-in-law,
and. also that he got drunk whenever
he could possibly do 81, and was
-,Ir-11r- v,-aalr anyone could
easily lead him a-tray-
How Mat and sam got along no one
bat Mat knew. Once in Il great while,
Sam would do some work and earn n
dollars. II he got home with 1t
without stopping 1T the saloon, well
and good. But, oftcner than not, he
would ''drap in jcs' [ 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 q maudlin, fearful state of in
toxication, and invent some tale TO ac-
count for his condition and the disap-
pc;.rance OF his money, winding up
with the promise never TO let II happen
again. And Mat would pretend that
she believed him, and would stroke his
curly head until he fell asleep Then
she krtlttA AOelA AAlN 4A1lNAsb-AAN SNeAAAAl y
for few minutes with love unutter-
able in her cyes-the tired eyes back
of which were i world OF unshed tears.
But she never compiained-not the
Grst word; the firm-Set mouth and
weary look might indicate ever so
much, but her lips never expressed IL.
And Sam gradually grew more and
| more useless and shiftless. trusting TO
his wife'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 il?
Nobody could guess. Perhaps even
Mat herself could not have told; yet
live they did-or, rather, cXisted-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
new job when ne had given one up; not
until they were reduced to the very
last straits could Mat get him To hunt
| ing work again.
One day Sam left home for a ranch
about thirty-five miles distant. where
he had heard they wanted help. Two
days passed-thrce-four- ur-fve-and no
word came from him. Mat was not
little worried, although sam had often
been away for two weeks at time
| without sending word To her. But this
time it was different; there was no eX-
cuse for his not sending a message, as
| the stage came by the ranch lac had
gone TO three times a week II he had
found work there, as he expected, he
could easily have notified her. So, late
IL the afternoon of the fifth day, she
| threw her shawl over her head and
| went down TO her fathers, to find if
| they had heard anything of sam.
The old fellow was standing in the
doorway, talking to a couple of
| strangers
NO" he was saying. 'they hain't
| ben no person long yere, las few days,
but what b'longs yere- Mebbe, though,
he mout a ben seed over yere I Ba-
cons. Ben thar? No? Wa-al, my
boys comm in f'm thar purity soon, an
he en- tell ye- Come in an feed; Jacl1'll
be yere right soon"
Mat stayed TO help her mother WIN
the supper, and during the course oi
the meal learned that the two strah gers
| were officers trailing horse thlei' VINO
had stolen a valuable horse at a rahcii
fortv miles east and sold it at Pickett
Staf;on. and who was believed 10 have
come this way.
As she listened to the conversation