The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-05-02
ont ATOM or rsat FOR fear OF rntef,ins

E44AaE. is HHHA4 III as - ~
house. be said, the front door -
never unlocked before SIX o'clock
VII they be unable to unlock the door,
anyway A piece Of ny key stlehs m
lie lock. the women arc imprisaned
and cannot get out. But now / can
stand It no longer I must nave so1ne-
thing bot to drink and sit down some
where. There is a train At four o'cioek,
and forthwith he once more wendell ma
way TO fhe railroad depot.
4 snug corner aud 4 cup Of hot coffee
somewhat restored him. But be was
very tirefi, and pretty soon ne was AZ
sound asleep in his corner as his wills
had been the night before on her
lounge.
And hosy did his wife fare She
awoke n the middle Of the night with
start. almost frightened out of her wits
bv a harrid dream. n which her hus-
band had appeared before her wounded,
bleeding. and torn by huge blood
hounds. Pretty soon, however. she
canprehended the situation. Her face
bafhed m tears, she paced restlessly w
and down the room wringing her hahds.
"0h, the wretch To stay outall night!
Just to think of it, Such a man has the
eifroutery to talk to me Of love. Not
content TO act like n Villain, he even had
to make fun Of me last night BY pretend-
ing he would heneeforth be home at IL
clock Who would ever have the'lght
him 50 base They close the beer
house after midnight, hence he eaanot
pretend to be playing cards there all
night. Heaven only knows where he
is spending the night while +! But
he'll find that I an not his dupe, /
shall leave linn at once. There is
train AZ seven o'clael0 n the morning,
which / am going TO iake and 60 home
to my parents and sc forth and 50 on.
More wringing Of her haads more tears,
more self-pity and accusations, until IN
her eyes her husband appeared gerit.
able Blnebearl.
Ut five O'Clock she called the serving
maid, whom she sent to the garrett for
vaIise, and commenced 10 pack. This
maid snid nothing. our she was SUR
prised that her master had not risen and
aid not help his wife. However, she
made the coffee and then went after a
cab.
The front door was wide open and 4
locksmith busy with the big lock when
Annie appeared in the hail. The and.
lady ran to meet her. eXelaiming in
a 1urrv Of excitement Did you hear
about It. madam? A thief vas here
Inst night and made an attempt to.enter
the house. Some one must have fright
eaed him of. He left broken RsY
stack fast in the lock, and I vas nnabIe
to unlock the door had 10 call from
the window until aroused a neighbour
whe ran for a Ioeksmith. Now / am
going to have a patent lock put on and
spoil their little game. But you look
very pale, M dear madam. lam sorry
to have frightened You with my burglar
story. Are you going TO take ride 40
early ia the morning.
Annie nodded and passed on. She
was glad that the woman had not seen
her yalise, which her maid had already
put into the cab.
hat a narrow escape I had last
night How near I came being robbed
perhaps worse.' She was now
thoroughly angry. $50 much more
i reason for leaving the fellow, no matter
the consequences! For the present I
shall remain with my parents" Thus
musing she arrived at the depot.
/ Before purchasing her ticket she in
tended TO leave her vaIise in the wait
y iug-room. Annie entered and made
for an empty table. when suddenly =
she dropped the valise and almost
/ screamed aloud-Nasn't that her hus-
band, her Gus sitting there in cor
Her and snoring loud enough to make
everybody in the room smile at his
nasal powers? He looked tired and
worn and his garments appeared damp.
How did he get here and why was he in
such dilapidatcd condition. She
stood for a moment undecided and un-
able to take her eyes off his drawn,
worn ont features
/ Suddenly the sleeper opened his eyes.
Whatever the outcome she must avoid
a scene in a public room. Anything
/ but that! The walters had more than
once looked wonderingly at the man
who had drunk three cups Of coffee and
then fallen sound asleep hours ago.
Annie tried to appear quite uncon-
cerned, and took seat beside her hus-
band. Somehow her anger had sud-
denly vanished.
"Oh, darling. what Brought mel
mean rather what brought you
hereT' he asked, astonished at the I'M
expected appearance of his wife,
dressed for a journey.
~Never mind, dear. Don't bother
about that now she whispered.
Come, let us ride home, where I will
explain all"
Gus acquiesced in silence. His feet
felt heavy and hardly able to carry his
weight. He was sick. M he could
do was TO drag himself to a cab.
And then explanations were in order.
Annie had no reason to doubt her hus-
/ bands narration of his adventures dur
ing the night, and what the landiady
/ had told her about the broken key
tended to eorroborate and exonerate
| him. Bat he could not make out from
| her explanations what had taken her TO
\ The railway station. lie was, however,
100 III 10 ask many questions
| Arrived at home she simply told the
I ast0nished servants that they had
changed their mind and would not go
/ away because her husband, who had