The advocate., 1895-07-10


While Reuben, Loretta and Gertrude were at the
Hermitage, Mrs Stilwe, alone at home, sat reading
some London newspapers which had just arrived.
For an hour she had gone through one paper after
another, reading of marriages, births and deaths
women read newspapers then as they do noW-snd
pausing now and then to peruse some particular
item of news, when at last her eyes became suddenly
fixed and her hands shook with intense excitement
as one short paragraph CHANGED to catch her stten
tiOn. Two or three times she read it through with
increasing agitation, snd finally, dropping the pa
per, she gave way to sobs and tears such as, in
woman Of her self-control, could come only from
cause capable Of stirring the very depths of the
soul
Hearing step she knew to be StilWells, she
sprang TO her feet, siezed the newspaper conyul-
siVely and fed from the room. When she after
wards handed the paper to her husband, short
paragraph had been cut OUT and she so thoroughly
disgusted him with the explanation that she had
''fancled some verses and wished to save them,
that in leCturing her upon indugng in foolish senti
ment it did not once occur to him to request sight
OF "the ridiculous stuff" To account for the
swollen appearance of her eyes, she explained that
ahe had been troubled with severe headache, aAd
had been lying down; Whereupoh he ectured her
upon the conduct of women in general in taking NO
care Of their health, and made no prOfounder in
quiry. Again l must remark that no man on earth
is more easily deceived than your thoroughly wide
awake practical man. Knowing nothing of Whims
and emotions himself, he makes no allowance for
them in his judgments of the conduct of others,
but accounts for everything as proceeding from a
more or less enlightened selfnterest or from "nOn-
sense pure and simple A less practical man would
have traced some connection between swollen ewes
and recent emotion, and might readily have sus.
pected some relation between that emotion and the
hole In his newspaper Embarrassment for the pos
session Of the inflated optics and of the proper fill
Ing Of the newspaper hole, might have ensued from
inquiries set on foot by reason of this suspected re-
latiOn But Isaac Stilwell was matter Of fact man
Of business and readily believed that his wife "had
no more sense" than to treasure unmportsnt verses
written, very likely, by some daWdling poet mo-
worth dollar and head-oVer- heels in debt, 'tlikt
that triHing fellow Goldsmith" few years before
nor had he the slightest doubt that she ''had M
more sense" than to cultivate the headache of NAL
ce aforethought by reading and other indiacretions
SO she conctured correctly that her confession anC
her explanation would bring upon her only lecture
on ridiculous sentmentality'' and ''the indiscre
tions Of women; and this lecture she endured with
more than her Wonted meekness, and promised Wig
Or0ns efforts toward reformation in both particulars
But Gertrude was not practical" The moment
ahe entered the room she saw her mother had beer
weeping. Picking up the paper, she began reading
an article which interested her, and was chagfineC
to discover that part Of it had been Ont ont. ShI
expressed her annoyaqcei MheEeaton laaHe 4 lWsl