Idaho semi-weekly world., 1893-06-02
ON THE BRIDGE.

80 saot my lonely life has not
been without love for woman, YOU win
perhaps laugh or doubt.
"Whatr you will say; "that gaunt
OLD specter In his attic, with his books.
n1s tobacco and his three flower potsi
10 would not know that there Is such a
WORD e love did he not encounter it now
and then in his reading
True, have divided my DAYS between
the books in rich mans counting room
and those in my attic. True, again.
have never been moro than merely pass-
able to look at. even In my best days
Yet ! have loved woman.
During tho five years when my elder
brother lay in tho hospital across the
river, where he died, it was my custom
70 visit him every Sunday. enjoyed
the afternoon walk to the suburbs, where
the air has moro Of nature in it, especial
ly that portion Of the walk which Law
upon the bridge. More life than was
usual upon the bridge moved there on
Sunday. Then the cars were crowded
with people seeking tho parks. Many
crossed on foot, stopping to look idly
down at the dark and sluggish water.
One afternoon, as stood thus leaning
over the parapet, the sound Of woman's
gentle laugh caused me to turn and ocu-
larly inquire its source The woman
and a man were approaching. At the
side Of the woman walked soberly q
handsome dog-a collie. There was that
In their appearance and manner which
plainly told me that here were husband
and wife, Of the middle class, intelligent
but poor, out for q stroll. That they
were quite devoted to each other was
easily discoverable.
The man looked about thirty years of
age, was tall, slender and with neither
strong nor handsome, but amiable face.
he was doubtless clerk fit to 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 that
she wore, and the manner in which she
kept her hands thrust in the pockets
thereof, gave to her dauntless air
which the quiet and affectionate express
sion Of her face softened.
She was a brunette, her eyes being
large and distinctly dark brown, her
face having that peculiar complexion
which is most quickly affected by any
change in health.
The color Of her cheeks, the dark rim
under her eyes, and other indefinable
signs indicated some radical ailment. In
the quick glance that had of that pair,
while the woman was smiling, feeling
Of pity came over me. have never de-
tected the exact cause of that emotion.
Perhaps in the woman's face | read the
trace of past bodily and mental suffer
ing; perhaps subtle mark that death
had already set there.
Neither the woman nor her husband
noticed me as they passed. The dog re-
garded me cautiously with the corner of
his eye. probably would never have
thought of the three again had not
seen them upon the bridge, under ex-
actly tho same circumstances. on the
next 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 hus-
band, doubtless, was kept prisoner and
slave at his desk from Monday morning
until Saturday night, with respite only
for eating and sleeping Such cases are
common, even with people who can
think and who have some taste for luxu-
ry, and who are not devoid of love for
the beautiful.
The sight of happiness which exists
despite the cruelty of fate and man, and
which is temporarily unconscious of its
own liability to interruption and extinc-
ton, invariably fills me with sadness.
And the sadness which arose at the con-
temptation of these two beings begat in
me strange sympathy for and interest
in them.
On Sundays thereafter | would go ear
ly to tho bridge and wait until they
passed, for it proved that this was theii
habitual Sunday walk Sometimes they
would pause and join those who gazed
down at the black river. ! would. now
and again, resume my journey toward
the hospital while they thus stood, and
would look back from distance. The
bridge would then appear to me an
abrupt ascent, rising to the dense city
and their two figures would stand ou'
clearly against the background.
II became a matter Of care to me tt
observe each Sunday whether the healtt
of either had varied during the previous
week. The husband, always pale ant
slight, showed little change, and that in
frequently. But the fluctuations OF th'
woman, as indicated by complexion
gait. expression and otherwise, were nu
merous and pronounced Often sh'
looked brighter and more robust than OF
the preceding Sunday. Her face wouit
he then rounded out, and the dark cres
cents beneath her eyes would be les
marked. Then found myself elated.
But on the next Sunday the cheek'
had recedee slightly, the healthy iuste
of the eyes had given way to an ominou
glow; the warning OF death had re
turned. Then my heart would sink, and
siahing, would murmur inaudibly:
s.This is one of the lad Sundays
There came time when every Sun
day was bad one
What made me love this woman
Simply the unmistakable completeness
and constancy of her devotion to he
husband-the absorption OF the woma
in the wife. Had the strange ways G
chance ever made known to her IN
feeling, and had she swerved nom Una
| aaxotinn even to render me BACK lov