The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-07-05


friends that be was not the equal Of his
wife. II you were to listen attentively
to the conversation Of women gathered
In little coteries In drawing rooms and
on verandas. you would discover that
there are several wives In Littlefeld
who are superior to their lords and mas
ters intellectually and doubtlessly NOR
ally, though on the latter point the crit
ical voice is mainly dumb.
This state of things is due TO the fact
that male society in the town is mainly
made up Of active business men who ex-
haust themselves in their labors during
the day, are fond Of nap ON the sofa
after dinner, and when with difficulty
they are forced OFT into evening compa-
ny by their wives and daughters find
themselves painfully mute until they
have an opportunity Of getting of in
enc corner with other men and talking
over business and politics.
Mr.. Montrose White was not much
above the average Littlefeld man. He
was not striking intellectual force, nor
were his ideals supposed to be very ex-
alted, but the ideals Of Mrs Montrose
White were high enough for two She
was q pretty woman, slender and will
.owy Of form, with a fine complexion
and large, expressive eyes. Nor was she
too advanced to be at all Indifferent
to the adornment of her person, espe-
cially the choice Of oolors becoming to
her style Of beauty. When not engrossed
In the mysteries Of the toilet, lofty
taI GhA
supposed to have dipped rather deeply
into occult things, from the Eleusinian
mysteries and the key Of Pythagoras to
the latest phases Of theosophy, with its
doctrine of adopts and astral bodies.
Christian science, too, had received q
share Of attention, and she claimed to
have performed few striking cures sub
rosa among her friends
But she never descended to tho vul-
gar, sordid aspect of these things. She
touched them only with her delicate
finger tips and wore her mystic lore
like becoming veil which adds charm
TO the natural face. This, together with
the fact that she disliked housekeeping,
had no taste Cor picking or preserving
or for the concoction Of pies and pud-
dings, made up the vague general con-
ception Of what was called her superior
ity over her husband-poor Monte, a.
his friends called him.
But Monte White was not the man TO
willingly take back seat in his wife's
chariot and to be known as Mrs. Mon
trose Whites husband. He was stout and
red faced, with hearty laugh and a
loud voice. Monte could not understand
Mrs. Monte, nor did he make any great
effort'to understand her. He believed
solemnly that all women have their
crochets and quavers and must be in
dulged up 20 certain point That point
defined rather limited area for Mrs.
Whites free action, and hence had come
heartburning, domestic friction and
discomfort. He was too big and strong
not to be willing to humor his wife in
her little whimwhams SO long IA she
Kept them under cover and tucked away
out Of sight. If it wasn't theosophy or
Christian science, it might perhaps be
something worse. But Mrs White was
too brilliant and intellectual q frau to
be willing to hide her light under a
evitable.
But in spite Of all differences Monte
loyalty gave to his wife all the room in
his heart unoccupied by his horses. His
horses did certainly come first in the in
ventory of his affections, and next to
his horses perhaps his daughter Mabel,
a good, substantial, solid child OF o,
with her feet we'll planted on the ground
and her little round eyes seeing nothing
but what was plainly in view. Mrs
White sighed profoundly rs she confld.
ed to her friend, Louise Lancaster, the
fact that Mabel was not her mental off.
spring, but belonged wholly to the
White side of the house What the
baby boy would turn into was still un-
certain, he being too young to have de-
veioped much more than an appetite,
but by this token there were indications
that he, too, belonged wholly to the Ia
ther.
There was not the slightest hope that
Monte White would ever develop an
astral body. He had comprehensively
solid hold ON the substantial things of
this world and was totally devoid of
anything that could be called converse.
tion unless You touched OH tho points
of horse, when he warmed TO the sub
ject and could give you the history Of
all the famous trotters and racers in the
country and an accurate account Of their
pedigree. Monte eschewcd all ''circles"
and clubs and conversazioncs and could
never be induced TO don his evening
coat except for dinner or stag party.
He knew all the houses in Littlefield
where good cooks were kept, and where
tho table service came up to a high
standard of perfection. But Mrs. Monte
White on the other hand, delighted in
clubs and circles and cared nothing for
heavy feeds and scientific whist. When
her husband heard her discoursing to
her favorite coterie, he generally with
drew to remote corner, where no glow
cred in solitude, like an owl in an ivy
bush