The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-09-18
MATS HUSBAND.
No ono But Herself Knew Why
Shc Loved Him.

She doubtless had womnn's reason
for marrying him. That kind Of rea-
son may not satisfy other people, but
II Is invariably sufficient for the feIni.
nine rensoner.
Sam Toms was what is called with
less by his Texan neighbors Old Bin
Bum, his father~in-law, himself not .
very energetic or useful citizen, used
TO Sit on the steps ut the cross-road
store and publicly bcwail his sad lot In
having Sam for member OF his fami-
ly. Bill had dramatic style OF de-
livery that was very fetching. and in
variably impressed strangers ~ being
very much In earnest
He would sit on the steps silently
chewing m enormous mouthful 81 to-
bacco and apparently listening to the
conversation of his co-loafers. II Sans
name was mentioned, he would give
vent To four or Eve little falsctto
squcaks. which found cgrcss through
his nose; then he would draw in long
breath. pun out his fat checks, purse
his mouth. and give heavy whistling
sigh; this would be followed by large
quantity q tobacco juice, carefully
aimed at some object in the 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
lowered his eyes and rolled his head
sadly from side TO side, and deliver
himself profoundly, after the following
fashion:
"Ah--humi Tint Sam Toms Is tn
LATEST mos shif'iess, emery. tritiin'
cuss ! ever sedan we're Two done
got i'm fr q son-'n-lawr. Ilm-hm-hml'
Another whistiing sigh would close this
pcroration; and old Bili would resume
his seat, still shaking his head sorrow
fully.
And Bill was more than half right
Nominally, Sam was q cowboy; but
most Of the time he would tellNou he
was ..jcs' layin' off spell. Z rest ur
like"
lie had always been Just so--distin'
ruished Tor laziness in an easy going
community, and nobody expected him
ever TO be otherwise; and it puzzled
people immensely when energetic
capable Matte Dunn accepted him fol
..rcg'lar comply" to say nothing Q
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 neve
told anyone what that reason was
Sam was tall, and big, and handsom
in his careless. slouchy way; he ha'
always managed, no vnu i..~.. tsv,,
to wear good clothes, too. These fact
and his perennial good nature an.
friendly ways were the only points Y
his favor. Against him were the point
SO forcibly taken by his father-in-law
and, also. that he got drunk whenevcl
he could possibly do SO. and wa
morally SO weak that anyone coul'
easily lead him astray.
How Mat and Sam got along no on
but Mat knew. Once in o great while
Sam would do some work and earn
few dollars. II he got home with
| without stopping at the saloon, wei
and good. But, oftencr than not, h
| would '.drap in jes' Z take nip
two" and that would settle II A
such times he would stay and bu.
drinks for everybody present while hi
money lasted. Then he would com
home In maudlin, fearful state OF In
toxication, and invent some tale to &C
| count for his condition and the disar
pearance Of his money, winding a
/ with the promise never to let 1t happei
again. And Mat would pretend tina
she believed him, and would stroke hi
curly head until he fell asleep. The
she would look at the handsome scam
| for few minutes with love unutter
able In her eyes-the tired eyes bacl
81 which were q world ofunshed tears
! But she never complained-not tn
first word; the firm-set mouth an
weary look might indicate ever .
much, but, her lips never expressed Il
And Sam gradually grew more an
more useless and shiftlcss, trusting 7
his wife's ready wit and fertility Of re
source to carry them both over the ba.
1 places
There were lots Of bad places. toe
i Twice Sam ran into debt several do
Il lars at tuc baiOOu, hhu NA ob AOuhN DNNA-
means to pay the debts only hersel
| knew how. But the second time sh
informed the saloon man that he mus
4 trust Sam no more. And. besides thes
4 things; to live-how did they do II
Nobody could guess. Perhaps eve
Mat herself could not have told; ye
live they did--or, rather, existed -ant
for the most part, kept out Of debt
Sam sometimes worked, but neve
Tor very long. He always found som
excuse for leaving place within . fe'
i days. He could almost always find Al
other job easily enough, for he, was q
excellent hand" when he chose to
but he did not hasten about finding
new job when he had given one up; ne
until they were reduced TO the yer
last straits could Mat get him TO hun
ing work again
4 One day Sam left home for ranc
about thirty five miles distant, whel
he had heard they wanted help. TM
DAYS passed three--four fve-and
word came from him. Mat was not
little worried, although Sam had ofte
been away for two weeks at tin
without sending word to her. But tn
time it was different; there was no e:
cnse for his not sending a message,
the stage came by the ranch he Ia
gone to three times a week. II he hs
found work there, as he expected. J
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