Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-06-08
AN UNW0MANLY WOMAN.

n ~ " ~ w VmAN WYNN "A As
Yes, there was no help for 1t; Ella
must 60 with the two little children to
the care Of her father In the lonely old
homestead at Anyway, and Paul must
stick to his work In the city library.
The servants must be discharged, ex-
cept Deborah, who should be caretaker
and prepare her masters breakfast,
and Paul must dine at the club, and,
thank goodness, they had friends who
would try to make the time pass pleas
antly for him. There were the Revells,
the Munsons, the Robinsons- and
the Duponts, too, they were such good
company, and one must not believe all
one hears-and Paul did need busting
after a day among the books.
So Ella communed as she packed,
wiping away a furtive tear the while,
for she was tender little thing, and
had never been separated from her
husband, and SO it was arranged.
SISTER Anne will arrive to relieve me
certainly within a month" she said In
parting. "And then I shall return, and
it will be as If I hadn't been away. So
write every day and try to keep happy,
and wear your rubbers, and do find
some enjoyment outside that stupid
library, and-and-oh, there's the whis-
tie! Do hurry and don't jump. God
bless you, my precious one! Teddy,
look out the window and kiss 90 hand
to 90 papa"
Paul Minturn's throat troubled him
as he fastened from the car, and his
eyeglasses grew so opaque as the train
rolled away that he couldn't distinguish
his heirs salutation. What a dear,
sweet little woman-the dearest, the
sweetest in the world! Well, perhaps
it was beneficial to once climb the
heights of Absence and thus obtain a
full view of the Valley Of Felicity. Be-
sides, in a few weeks she would re-
turn, and their old life would be their
new.
Paul Minturn looked the scholar that
he was. He was tall and slender, with
q pale face and a close-cropped brown
beard and glasses which scintillated
until he removed them, and then one
perceived that it was his blue eyes that
did the sparkling. One also perceived
at the same instant that he was a much
younger man than he had seemed. In
deed, Paul possessed two personalities.
The more youthful one he put on after
sunset. At the library he was a de.
mure, stiff, earnest man. At home
with the children he was a romp, with
Ella an ardent young husband, with
their friends-and these were as nu-
merous as they pleased-"the life Of the
party"
wait until Paul A1inturn comes"
his admirers would say, land then the
curtain will rise. And so it was. Form
ality, his auxiliary by day, was his
beaten foe by night. He was no sooner
intrenched before a fortress of stupid
ity than he occupied it. What store
Of gayety he would concentrate, to be
sure! Did ever one laugh so con-
tales so entertainingly? He toll d in
lAC ~ ooA VI outJ ult Ody 0Au SNL
that it was q prison; but when the
gates were open he remembered and
rejoiced that both he and the night
were young. He was popular with the
women for these qualities, and with
the men because he seemed uncon-
scious Of their liking. And there was
no deceit in this appearing. He had
married the one he loved, and he loved
her the more after marriage. This love
gave him a caste, which he scrupulously
respected and to which no one save
Ella could belong. He had, however.
from this very sanctity, an Indifference
which, joined to Z somewhat caressing
manner, gave him an enticing charm
for those to whom charm can be en-
tcing.
For one recognized thing, Robert Du-
pont, the husband, successful mer-
chant of acute, inquiring mind, was a
man after Paul's heart; for another,
yet unknown, Edith, the wife, was a
woman, who appealed to the weak
nesses Of his nature. Ella lad hest
tated slightly in their suggestion be-
cause, in fact, there was certain dash
ing Col. Ashford with whose name Mrs.
DupOnt's was some times whispered.
All, what constantly increasing circles
the tiniest pebble of whisper win gen
crate! She had hesitated, therefore,
because she was woman, and. slightly,
because she was herself
Now Paul, in the careless intimacy
which he gradually formed, considered
the husband far more than the wife,
Had he analysed their influence he
would have said that the former was
actively attractive and the latter pass
lively repellant. The one, at least, could
talk and smoke. AS for the other,
what was there in her to like? She
seldom spoke, and when she did she
didn't say anything except complaints
Of Robert. She never did anything en-
cept loll and fan and toy with her ear
rings, unless. indeed, there were sweets
or wine, and then she was greedy. She
was 80 large, SO colorless, so languor-
GUS. Her eyes were so black and SO d.
lated. She was such a contrast with
his little Ella-as provoking as the
shade Of tulip on lily of the valley,
"Confound the woman!' Paul used to
soliloquise as he walked home, 'Tf I
were bound to such an inert lump I
think would shoot myself" And vet.