Evening star., 1896-11-28
THE wIFE,s STRATEGY.
A Woman Who Reads Newspapers anL
Who is Also Wnoe.

Who is Also -W1oe.
In one of the LEGAL business houses no
matter what kind of q store ef what num-
bef It bears, as this ID no advertisement,
there Is a clerk who had been a husband
for abo,t year and whose home is in
Georgetewn. About week 6so he came
down to work two hours late ana looking
as If he had made a night of II. Indeed,
much to the surprise of the proprietor and
the other clerks who have known him as
very steady young man, as, in fact, he
is. But to the story Of 1t.
Il don't doubt it; I don't doubt IT, he
said In explanation to his employer, land
l dent care how bad look. 1 feel q
dozen times worse
But what happened?" asked the en-
p.oyer, II didn't know you were Of in
temperate habits
Il never have been. I'm sure, though, of
course, when l wanted drink l always
took it,
Then what's the matter now? 1 hope
yoGr marriage hasn't driven you to drink"
The clerk looked helplessly at his en-
ployer, almost appealingly.
fhat's mighty near it, he said, turning
paier at the thought. You see, it was
this way. l have always told my wife.
even before we were married, that 1 never
| touched drop of anything stronger than
coffee and had never done so. l had to do
II because she was so rabid on temperance
| that If l hadn't she wouldn't have mar
ried me. Well. we've never had shade of
trouble on the subject for if l wanted
a drink I took it down town and never
got nome soon enough afterward for her to
suspect anything.
MOT long ago she read something in one
OF the confounded newspapers to the effect
that some woman had found out a way
to catch her husband if he were telling
stories to her about his drinking, and
smiled and kissed her and told her that 1
vas very thankful, and she ought to be,
mat her husband was above suspicion and
didn't need to have detective bounding
him, or something like that"
Then she kissed me and said she hoped
II would always be SO, and l told her
Knew 1t would be. 1 never gave the mat
ter any further thought, and last night
business of her fathers I left her up
stairs talking with her mother, and she
called me as l opened the front door and
told me to stop in the dining room and
got In there noticed on the table bot
tie from the drug store. labeled whisky"
Il supposed 1t belonged to the cook or
somebody In the kitchen department and
nad been left there by mistake, and just
for a flyer thought 1 would take a nip Of
1t to brace me up on my trip down town, as
felt little kind Of clammy inside, any,
way.
"A minute after the nip got down my
gullet thought my everlasting doom was
sealed, and set up yell for the women
loiks. They didn't come very fast but
when they did get down they didn't seem
haif as scared as l was and my wife didn't
do thing but laugh at me. That made
me mad. living or dead, and 1 began to
grow calm out of spite At the same
| time didn't know what the blamed bot
tie contained and was still scared half
| out of my wits. Then my wife took up
the bottle and looked carefully at the label.
Why. Charlie, said she, how did it
ever happen? l thought you never touch
ed drop of anything stronger than cof-
fee. That's why l had that label put on
the bottle. Don't worry; it won't kill
YOU
And it didn't" sighed the clerk, but
on, what time had for two hours, and
how wrestled all hight and till late this
morning with that confounded nip took
Out of that internal trap my wife set for
me-"