St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-04-20
THE WIFE or THE FUTURE.
/ Or Just WhaE Man Fanctes tho New
Ell Woman wiz Gosuo To-

Woman vviIl Gonas no. 1t
He stood IN the dark at the bottom
| Of the stairs. II Is coat was auar his
arm, his shoS were in his hand, hia
COLLAR was unbuttoned, his hair dia-
heveied, and his breath would have put
the strongt til Of Hercules to blush. He
was musing. What waa he to say to
Iher this time9 That he had been with
| q sick fgiend? Bah that chestnut dates
with Noah when he got back from his
first night out of tho ark. Lodge?
Political caucus? Poohl as soon might
| he tell her. that there are June bugs In
January Why not tell her that he
had been dali lying the chips at the oIub
and then pass over q hundred Of his
winnings for herself BY way Of repara-
tion? alright III theory, but where
WASH hundred? He had lost just 3 cool
hundred and fifty TO Col. Ksenwun..
and the Lord knows iss would take b
month Of severest economies 10 make
that up. ssWell,sI might as well 10
and face the fnusic, Y he said, despair
Iingly, at last, AZ he softly mounted
the stair like wraitll Of Bygones. 81
Once In. his. room he disrobed with In
finite caution, drank pitcher oil wa
/ ter, ate handful Of cloves and nerved
himself up 10 the proper pitch Throw
Ing open the door oft his wife boudoir, ne
suddenly stood staring, She was goneI
|A horrible query seized him. Had she
+ fed 80 l1ersmother's9s Had She eIoped
with that that scoundrel Of d French
MARC MS who was so excessively polite
TO her of later Oh, moi that thought
Was madness. ' LIE approached the bed
No, she had not even baen there. The
sweat was ,oozing FROM eyesy pore. He
made his way To, the barcau and drew
forth = revolver. 'Blo0taI he mute
tered, - Blood mine, hia,s aagbody's.
hut bloodl a s.sss .stS lss s 81
ii There Is NO tel ling what he might
have done had not at that instant d
rattle at the keyhole below startled
| him. He struggled to. the bannister
and looked over There was the wits
of his heart taking her shoes or at the
bottom OF the stairs and trying to hang
her hat On several Imaginary pegs.
Slyly he crept back and ieaped into
bed. feigning sleep.
She entered. Her face was little
flushed, her eyes somewhat bleary, but
she had the very air OF her own hns-
band when lie had got his story down
pat. Instantly The outraged sleeper
awoke with D start. MADAM, what
does this nean2a le demanded. /. rubbing
his eyes. Here ii is nearly day1f fght,
and youyou, the wife OF my heart,
the mother oil my chi-hil dren Just
come lii at this disgracefu1 hour from
God only knows where. Give an ac-
connt Of yourself. Where hare you
be-hen oh, whihcre?"
But the calm wife only faced him
cynfcaI1y. III will NOT work of any c4
your own stale old canned goods hbont
lodges. sick friends and .caueusea, 8 .
she began, 4 triae tliIckly. but I'll
come right to the point and the truth.
spent the evening at the Dorcas Ad-
yanced Woman's leagt where We had
D Little quiet gaIne. Here. nay deaf, 4
she followed, tossing roll of bills upon
the bed, Ttake this and buy yourself y
sealslxin oFercoat Or diamond ring.
Suit yourself won two hundred and
fifty dollars from Mrs. Kcenwun, tae
coloneHs vifeIn ssss sss
Then the foxysold fin1fer drew along
sigh. grabbed the roll IS d siaip-wfeclxed
sailor clutches spar and buried his
nose In his pillow. Forgivenlg he \
murmured moment later when he
caught his breath from the sweet shock.
and lay awake whole hour winlsing
at the clean hundred the two 81 them
were ahead Of the Keenwuns.