The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-24

pened? Have you altered the curtains
or r~earranged the furniture, or where is
the indefinable difference of it? Are
You wearing your hair in a new way
without warning me? / clearly per-
ceive a change in my environment and
L cannot for the life of me say what
it is"
Then my wife answered in her most
tragic voice: George she said. that
That William has not come near the
place to-day. And Jane is crying her
heart out upstairs"
There followed a period of silence.
Jane, as / have said, stopped singing
about the house and began to care for
our brittle possessions, which struck my
VIE as being a very sad sign indeed.
The next Sunday and the next Jane
asked to go out ito walk with William
and my wife, who never attempts to
extort condolences, gave her permission
and asked no questions. On each occa-
sion lane came back looking flushed and
very determined. AT last one day she
became communicative.
William is being led away" she re-
marked abruptly, with a catching of
breath, apropos of tablecloths.
Yes, MN. She is a milliner, and she
can play on the piano."
II thought" said my wife, that you
went out with him on Sunday"
Not out with him, m'm; after him.
/ walked along by the sid of them and
told her he was engaged to me-"
Dear me, Jane, did you? What did
they do?"
Took no more notice of me than if 1
was dirt. So I told her she should
suffer for it,"
TT could not have been a very agree
able walk, Jane"
Not for no parties, ma'am."
II wish" said Jane, Il could play the
piano, ma'am. But, anyhow, L don't
mean to let her get him away from me.
She's older than him, and her hair amt
gold to the roots, ma'am."
IT was on the August hank holiday
that the crisis came. We do not clearly
know the details of the fray, blu only
such fragments as poor Jane let fall.
h came home dusty, excited, and with
her heart hot within her.
The milliner'S mother, the miliiner and
William had made a party to the Art
Museum at South Kensington, / think.
Anyhow. Jane had calmly but firmly ac-
costed them somewhere in the streets
and asserted her right to what, in spite
of the consensus of literature, she held
to be her inalienable property. She did,
l think, go so far as to lay hands on
him. They dealt with her in a crush
ingly superior way They called a
cab" There was a scene" William be-
ing pulled away into the
by his future wife and mother-in-law
from the reluctant hands of our dis
carded Jane. There were threats of CIV
ing her lin charge"
My poor Jane" said my wife, mine
ing veal as though she was mincing
u q oiioiiiC u tiiCAii l.
/! would think no more of him. He is not
worthy of you"
mo, m'm,'' said Jane. "He is weak
But it's that woman has done it,"
said Jane. She was never known to
bring herself to pronounce that
woman's" mann or to admit her girlish-
ness. II can't think what minds some
women must haye-to try and get a
| girls young man away from her. But
there, it only hurts to ak about it,
| said Jane.
Thereafter our house rested from Will
liam. But there was something in the
manner of James ~scrubbing the front
doorstep or sweeping out the rooms, a
certain viciousness that persuaded me
that the story had not yet ended.
please, MN, may 1 go and see a
My wife knew by instinct whose we'd
ding. do you him it is wise, Jane"
she said.
Il would like to see the last of him.
| said Jane.
MY dear" said my wife, fIuttering
into my room about twenty minutes
after Jane had started Jane has been
to the boot hole and taken all he left
off boots and shoes and gone off to the
wedding with them in a bag. Surely
| she cannot mean
Jane" 1 said, sis developing charac-
ter. Let us hope for the best"
Jane came back with a pale, hard
| face. All the boots seemed to be still
in her bag, at which my wire heaved a
premature sigh of relief. We heard her
go upstairs and replace the boots with
considerable emphasis.
quite a crowd at the wedding,
ma'am,'' she said presently, in a pure
ly conversational style, sitting in our
| little kitchen and scrubbing the potatoes.
and such a lovely day for them" She
proceeded to numerous other details,
clearly avoiding some cardinal incident.
TT was all extremely respectable and
nice, ma'am, but her father didn't wear
1 n IIoa1x ooof onI 1nnlxnd anita ont of
place, ma'am Mr.. Piddingquisk-'
"WhO?"
.'Mr. Observation-Disclosures, that was.
ma'am-had white gloves, and a coat
like a clergyman, and a lovely chrysan-
hemum He looked so nice, ma'am.
And there was red carpet down, just
like for gentlefoiks. And they say he
gave the clerk our shillings, ma'am.
1t was a real kerridge they ad-no a
fly. When they came out of church
there was rice row and her two
little sisters dropping dead flowers. And
some one threw a slipper, and then I
threw a boot
Threw a boot, Jane"
YES, ma'am. Aimed at her, but it
hit him. Yes, ma'am, hard. Gev him
a black eye, I should think. l only
threw that one. l hadn't the heart to
try again. All the little boys cheered
when it hit him."
After an interval, Il am sorry the
boot hit him."
<AIlOIIIGI pdASC. pototoCo Y
ing scrubbed violently. HE always
was a bit above me, you know, ma'am.
And he was led away"
The potatoes were more than finished.
Jane rose sharply with a sigh and
| raped the basin down on the table.
II don't care" she said. Il Tor care
a rap. He will find out his mistake yet.
1t serves me right. 1 was stuck up
about him. / ought not to have looked
so high. And I am glad things are as
things are"
Ny wife was in the kitchen seeing to
the higher cookery. After the confess
sion Of the boot throwing she must have
watched poor Jane Tuning with a GER
tain dismay in those brown eyes of
hers. But | imagine they softened again
very quickly, and then James must have
met them.
.Oh. ma'am.'' said Jane, with an as
! tonishing change of note. Think of all
that might have been. Oh, ma'am, L
could have been so happy. / ought to
have known, but / didn't know.
| You're very kind to let me talk to YOU,
ma,am ? 9 9 for it's hard on me,
ma,am $ : $ it's har-r-r-r-r2'
And / gather that Mariana so far for
got herself as to let JAM sob out some