The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-11-29
A COMPLICATED CASE.

She was a little dressmaker who
everybody respected. She had ambi-
lions and ideas, after which n vas
oerpetually striving IN the tread-mill
methods OF a struggle for daily cXiS-
ience. She had possibly some dreams
If love, but there was always a dis
nal awakening until she had cOmc to
pok upon her circumscribed area of
life as the only camping-ground fate
Was willing she should have. So she
made herself comfortable with the
n~aterial at hand. and tried to think
herself happy when her four walls
we're the boundries Of her world.
contentment came, if not happiness,
Ind then the disturbing element Of
Ovc entered into her domain and
ook possession. She was continually
Meeting a man upon the stairs Of the
Boarding house. He was a lonely
'ingle nan of gentlemanly appear
lnce. but to the eye Of the initiated
le bore the unmisra able signs Of dis
iipation. Miss LOnSdale, the little
iresSnaker, was not initiated. She
Aelieved him to be suffering from ill
ieaith, the result of dependency,
Ind, wonan-like, first pitied, then
owed him. His name was Maurice
Dunbar, and he told her that his
'amily had disowned him because he
Was poor. This seemed perfectly nat
Iral to Miss Lonsdale. for she herself
Ooked on poverty as a disease or
/: inc, and s., unped contact with the
more fortunate of her fellOw.beingS.
They were married, aud she soon
Ound that with Il cOnjugal compile
nent she was a complete failure. She
lad used her burial fund as a mar
,iage dowry, mi while it lasted they
lived on the fat of the land She
Olnd her husband had ~eXtravagant
tastes, and she gratited him with all
he had, and when it was gone, went
Jack to her dresSmaking. She no
onger chatted and begulled the time
VI her fashionable people with quaint
eminjerS of other customers. They
rev tired of her and took their GUS
ON elsewhere. When she could no
onger maintain him, her husband
lbused her.
II made you a lady when 1 married
'ou." be SAID; 'my family is far above
ours" and he would pose dramati-
ally like an injured lord.
II have no family" she would an
.wer in a tear-chOked voice, lex ept
,ou. BE good to me, Maurice, and l
will do anything for you. You ne d
iot lift u finger; only be good to me. "
The disposition OF a man to whom
UGH an appeal is neces sary s already
6rutali ed beyond redemption. He
vent from bad to worse, ganbled,
frank and ended by beating his wife
ind turning her out of doors. Mis-.
dunbar went to the house of one
rhum she had befriended to ask
shelter for the night. 1t was de-
.lined on the ground that there was
40 vacant room. She would have
aiken her friend in and sat up all
llgEU that she might rest well.
There was one other family, but on
he steps Of their house her heart
allied her, and she turned away
md went back to her own
:OOmS, where she could not
make any impression on the man in
I drunken sleep within. Then she
walked the streets until daylight,
when she fell senseleSs and was car
led OIL in an ambulance to n Of
he hospitals where she remained
unknown and unclaimed.
She was ill a long time. After
hat there was a tedious season OF
.onvale cence. She sent a note to
ler husband by a messenger, who
brought back word that the house
was empty. she never intend d to
20 back to him, but wanted the few
possessions she owned to make her
comfortable. One day she was read
ng Il newspaper, when she saw her
husbands name among the killed in
marine disaster. There could lie
40 mistaking it, for it was peculiar
and the description justified her
'ears-or shall l say hopes? For she
lad suffered so much that she could
,hed no tears for him, nor canOnL
Them as some WIDOWS do Their de.
oarted tyrants. She was sorry for his
wasted life, his desperate death, but
would have felt herself %inSincere and
aypo critical to mourn for his taking
d.. She went out into the world the
next day and began life over again,
queen of two hands.
= K x
Richard Lester, lawyer and poll
tician, and a rising young man, al
though no longer young, sat alone II
his private office one afternoon, wher
the door opened to his confidential
clevk. who said: