The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1893-02-17
MATS HUSBAND.

I She doubtless had q woman's reason
for marrying him. That kind of rea-
son may not satisfy other people, but
it is invariably sufficient for the femi-
nine reasoner.
Sam Toms was what is called 'wuth-
less by his Texan neighbors. Old Bill
Bum, his father-in law, himself not a
very energetic OF useful citizen, used to
sit on the steps at the crossroads store
and publicly bewail his sad lot in hav-
ing Sam for q member of his family.
Bill had dramatic style of delivery
That was very fetching, and invariably
impressed strangers as being very much
Ii earnest.
He would sit on the steps, silently
! chewing an enormous mouthful of to-
bacco and apparently listening to the
| conversation of his oloafers. If Sam s
iame was mentioned he would give vent
20 four OF five little falsetto squeaks,
which found egress through his nose ;
then he would draw in q long breath,
puff out his fat cheeks, purse his mouth,
and give heavy, whistling sigh !; this
would be followed by a large quantity
OF tobacco juice, carefully aimed at
some object in tine vicinity. These
preliminaries accomplished, Bill would
rise to his feet, thrust one fat, dirty
hand into his shirt front, wave the
/ other in sweeping gesture as he low
cred his eyes and rolled his head sadly
from side to side, and deliver himself
profoundly after the following fashion ::
"Ah-hum That Sam Toms is TIL
LATEST, mos shif'less, onery, trifin'
cuss [ ever sedan yere I've done
got i'm Fl a son'n-lawr. HIM -hm-hm p
Another whistling sigh would close this
peroration, and old Bill would resume
his seat, still shaking his head SORROW
fully.
And Bill was more than half right
Nominally Sam was cowboy, but most
of the time he would tell you he was
"jest layin' off a spell, t'rest up like. "
He had always been just so-distin-
guished for laziness in an easy going
community nobody expected him
ever to be otherwise, and it puzzled
people immensely when energetic Mat.
tie Bum accepted him for ''reg'lar COM
p'ny,' to say nothing of the sensation
created by their wedding.
Mat, as has been suggested, proba-
bly, had some reason for marrying Sam,
but it is quite certain that she never
told any one what that reason was.
Sam was tall and big and handsome in
his careless, slouchy way; he had al
ways 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
50 torcibly taken by his father in law,
and also that he got drunk whenever he
could possibly do so, and was morally
so weak that any one could easily lead
aim astray.
How Mat and Sam got along no one
but Mat knew. Once in great while
Sam would do some work and earn a
few dollars. If he got home with it
without stopping at the saloon, we'll
and good. But oftener 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
Il maudlin, fearful state of intoxication,
and invent some tale to account for his
condition and the disappearance of his
money, winding up with the promise
never to let it happen again.
And Mat would pretend that she be.
| IiavoJ him, op1 1uo11lJ cfrolya ljc
head until he fell asleep. Then she
would look at the handsome scamp for
4 few minutes with love unutterable in
her eyes-the tired eyes back of which
were world of unshed tears. But she
never complained--not the first word I;
the firm set mouth and weary look
might indicate ever so much, but her
lips never expressed it. And Sam
gradually grew more useless and shift
less, trusting to his wife's ready wit and
fertility Of resource 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 MAJ found some
means to pay the debts-only herself
AutH hoN' Luz mo SpCOA(l ilul6 SIG
informed the saloon man that he must
trust Sam no more And, he ,ides these
things, to liye-how did they do it
Nobody could gue s. Perhaps even
Mat herself could not have told, vet
live they dld--or rather existad-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.
One day Sam left home for a ranch
about thirty-fi miles distant, where
he had heard they wanted help. Two
days -three-four-fi -fiye-and
no word came from him. Mat was not
little worried, although Sam had Of.
ten been away for two weeks at a 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 10y the ranch he had
gone to three times a week. If he had
found work there, as he expected, he
could easily have notified her. So,
late in the afternoon Of the fifth day,
she threw her shawl over her head and