The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-05-30
NJ RS. BOB.
BY JoHN sTRANGD wINTER

-
BY JOHN STRANGE WINTER.
''Then supposing that you do find gold"
said Julia, "then I suppose we shall be
awfnlly rich"
I'VE shall be very rich them" he an.
swered.
'And where is IT."
''Well, that is Just what we don't know,
what we have got to find out" he said.
mo, no. I don't mean the gold. l mean
the place" she said. "the gold Is in the
earth, of course"
ooh! the property. Well, the exact spot
is called Blindman's Drift" he replied,
'the estate is called 'Ballydowne.'r
"An6 whyg'
Stephen Howard burst out laughing.
"Why--well, you might rs we'll ask me
why l was called Stephen Howard" he
cried. 'It WINS called so when Bob and ]
went In for 1t as a speculation and we
have never troubled to alter it,"
"Then does Mamie know about IT."
"Maimie!" looking puzzled. why my
dear child, Mamie Knows every inch Of
the place"
II should like to know every inch Of
the place, too" said Julia, II don't like
Matmte to know more about you than ]
do"
Stephen laughed, and caught her hand
IN his. MY dear little sweetheart, I be
lieye you IRE a little jealous of Maimie,"
he cried.
Every Jealous" corrected Julia, "oi
every one who knows more about your af.
fairs than l do"
He began TO look grave. "My darling,
MY own love-" he said, you must know
that there is nothing in all the world that
/ would willingly keep from you. But
there Is a difference between keeping back
anything Of importance and boring you
and wasting our precious time by explain.
ing exactly what shares I have got In this,
what patch Of land l possess here or hold
together with Bob or Mamie. You see
when my father died, Mamie and I shared
alike in everything and as we neither OF
us wanted to throw a lot of money away
by a strict division there and then, we
agreed to hold over until the proper time
came. In order to help matters Bob in.
sisted upon my being Maimle's trustee, SC
you see, 1 am always having to arrange
odd bits OF business with Bob for her and
with her"
! cSSl ~
1t was SO simple and clear an explana,
ton that she felt she could not say any
thing more about it. She felt that il she
was not satisfied, she ought to be so, TINT
she would be an unreasonable woman,
who did not deserve to have q devoted
husband and the income from twenty
thousand pounds for her W expenditure
without having to repdcr an account of q
| , o1o rarur tc anynpo In oil tha u-o,l1
And yet Julia was not altogether salts
fed. She felt that Stephen carried hi.
business affairs to his sister as naturally
as he had always done. she felt that sh.
WAS being kept in the dark. that in a Ger
tain sense. she wa the toy, the amuse
ment, the doll, whom he loved and wa!
proud of, and she pinned to be what Muimi,
was. the conildant OF his business affairs
Still she did not like to say anything
she was so sure of his owe for her, hi!
pride in her Of his desire to keep nothing
from h%er-only she had that uucomforta
bic feeling that in spite OF his love nnt
his pride, that Mamie came first IN hi!
calculations and she came the second
Now no woman In the wide world likes to
be second when she feels she ought TO be
the first, and Julia Howard was no excep-
ton to the rule. 1t would have done no
good il she had explained rs much to
Stephen-he would have said, and natu-
rally enough, that Mamie understood
business, particularly Australian bust
ness, while she did not, that he not only
did not want to Talk over his sisters at
fairs, finding them quite trouble enough
as it was and even il he did it would
Scarcely be quite honorable to Mamie.
However, Julia did not say anything to
her husband about this. SO he did not
make the remarks which he would in
eyitably have made had she done SO. Sc
this risk to their married happiness passed
over without coming near enough to en-
danger it.
How odd 1t Is that most husbands and
wives generally begin their life together
in much the same way. The wife's pas,
is to be not only M open book but n sheet
of blank paper, too. Her husband is tt
share her most secret thoughts, he is tt
guide us well as protect her, she is his
darling. his angel. his little wife, his
everything. But on the other hand how
different it all is! Tho man takes q posi-
tive pride in not having been n sheet O
blank paper. and if he opens the book O
his past life it is generally found not fl
for publication! The wife who must share
her inmost thoughts with him must no
pry too closely into his past, aud he viii
Just Mt first. In the very early days of theil
marriage. even go 50 far as to say thu
he cannot tell her so and SO, because
would be a breach of confidence. at !
nothing to do with you" he will say, "i
Is only u little business matter between m.
mother and me" OF, my sister and me,
as the case may be.
Il is this phase which Is SO hard for
ncw-made wife to bear-but happily j
does not last long. In spite of the opel
book, blank sheet Of paper, the guidet
and protected idea, with which n maj
starts as n husband. If the wife be ord
narily wise and judicious, in the cours
of a year there Is nothing, l repeat 1t EN-
phatically nothing, that the ordinary ma
will voluntarily keep from her. They So
that a woman cannot keep q secret! Wei
there may be something in that but
know that I would rather trust any We
maj I ever knew sooner than l woul
trust myself to keep anything from tn
dear and charming lady whom | call tn
wife Of my bosom. might try-I Nigh
start with a valiant theory that will
horses should not drag 1t from me. True
wild horses would be rs powerless aRains
my stern resolve MS u%nflcdged ncstlings
an hour old, but l should have to tell Ne
all the same. She might be wholly ur
suspicious, she might even go SO far 9
not to wish to know-but I should hav
to tell her all the same.
What do you say. gentle readert Yer
weak of mel Perhnpsl But l can tel
you this, IL you are a man who honol
this page with your attention, you are nj
a married man. II you are of the gentle