Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-05-30
MRS. BOB.
nv IouN sTRANcE WINTER.

lutu buHpOoluk thab you W uuu Roiu,
said Julia, "then I suppose we shall be
swfply ricb."
I'VE shaii be very rich then" he q.
swered.
And where is H."
"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. / mean
the place" she said, "the gold is In the
earth, Of course"
"Ohl the property. Well, the exact spot
tx called BlindmaD's Drift" he replied,
''the estate Is called 'Ballydowne.'"
Aud whyt"
Stephen Howard burst out laughing.
"Why-well, you might as well ask me
why I was called Stephen Howard" he
cried. ut wns called 30 when Bob and ]
went in for II as a speculation and we
nave never troubled TO alter IT,"
"Then does Mamie know about it''
"Maimier' looking puzzled. why my
dear child, Mamie Knows every inch Of
the place"
II should like 70 know every inch OF
the place, too" said Julia, 81 don't like
Maimie to know more about you han !
do"
SACPhNh hSAbN 9bh N3hAbit uNI hbub
In his. my dear little sweetheart, I be
lieve you are a little jealous OF Mamie"
he cried.
Every Jealous" corrected Julia, "of
every one who knows more about your af.
fairs than do"
lie began 10 look grave. "My darling,
my own love" he said. you must know
that there is nothing ia all the world that
] would willingly keep from you. But
there is a difference between keeping back
anything of importance and boring you
aud wasting our precious time by explain.
ing exactly what shares ! have got IN this
what patch OF land ! possess here or hold
together with Bob or Mamie. You see
when my father died. Mamie and ! shared
alike in everything and az we neither Of
us wanted 10 throw a lot OF money away
by a strict division there and then. W.
agreed to hold over until the proper tim,
came. In order TO help matters Bob in
sisted upon my being Maimie's trustee, g.
you see, I am always having TO arrange
odd bits OF Business with Bob for her anc
with her"
~ see," returned Julia, thoughtfully.
1t was go simple aud clear an explala
ton that she felt she copld not say abs
thing more about il. She felt that II sh'
was not satisfied, she ought TO be so, thai
she would be an unreasonable woman
who did not deserve TO have a devoteC
husband and the income from tweut,
thopsand pounds for her WI expenditur
without having to repder at account Of
single penny TO anyone In all the world.
Aud yet Julia was not altogether salts
fed. She felt that Stephen carried hi
business affairs to his sister "a NATURAL,
as ne had always done. she felt that sh
was being kept in the dark, that in a cer
tain sense. she was the toy, the amuse
meut, the doll, whom he loved and wa
proud OF, and she pinned TO be what Maimi
was. the confdaut OF his business affairs
Still she did not like to say anything
she was so sure Of his love for her, hi
pride IN her OF his desire 10 keep nothinI
from her-only she had that uncomforts
bic feeling that in spite Of his love an,
his pride, that Mamie came first In hi
calculations and she came the second
Now no woman in the wide world likes &c
be second when she feels she ought to be
the first, and Julia Howard was NJ excep
ton 10 the rule. IL would have done NJ
good IL she had explained rs much e
Stephen-he would have said, and natu'
rally enough, that Mamie understood
business. particularly Australian bust
ness, while she did not, that he no: only
did not want 10 talk over his sisters az
fairs, finding them quite trouble enough
as IL was and even IL he did II would
Scarcely be quite honorable to Mamie.
However, Julia did not say anything 70
her husband about this. so he did not
TIL ri SIX TO ffeir maTffed hsppi6sss passsI
over without coming near enough to en-
danger Il.
How odd IL is that most husbands ant
wives generally begin their life tOgethe
In much the same way. The wife's pas
is TO be not only al open book but n shee
of blank paper, too. Her husband is Il
share her most secret thoughts, he is 4
guide as well as protect her, she is hi
darling. his angel. his little wife, hi:
everything. But on the other hand how
different IL all Isl The man takes a posi-
tive pride in not having been a sheet o.
blank paper. and II he opens the book o.
his past life it IL generally found not fl
for publication! The wife who must share
her Utmost thoughts with him must not
pry too closely into his past, aud he will
just at first, IN the very early days of theil
marriage, even 60 so far as TO say that
he caupot tell her so and so. because II
would De a breach OF confidence. 1T Is
nothing to do with you" he will say, iii
is only a little business matter between my
mother and me" or, my sister and me-
as the case may be.
1t Is this phase which Is so hard for q
new-made wife to bear-but happily II
does not last long. In spite OF the open
book, blank sheet of paper. the guided
and protected idea, with which a man
starts as n husband, IL the wife be ordi-
narily wise and judicious, In the course
OF a year there is nothing. l repeat it EN-
phatically nothing, that the ordinary man
will voluntarily keep from her. They say
that a mi cannot keep a secret! Well,
there may be something In that but ]
know that I would rather trust any wo-
map l ever knew sooner than I would
trust myself to keep anything from the
dear and charming lady whom | call the
wife OF my Bosom. I might try might
start with n valiant theory that wild
horses should not drag II from me. True,
wild horses would be as powerless against
my stern resolve as unfiedged nestlings OF
an hohr old, but I should have TO tell Nell
all the same. She might be wholly I'M
suspicious. she might even go SO far as
not 10 wish to know-but should have
to tell her all the same.
What do you say. gentle reader' Very
weak of me! Perhapsl But | can tell
you this. il you are a man who honors
this page with your attention. you are not
a married man. II you are OF the gentler
sex and you are also a married lady, you
must have been si~ngularly intudicious in
your treatment OF 'him' or you would
recognize the fidelity and truth of the re-
marks I have just set down.
Oh. you ask why Is II SO! Faith, that !,
a difficult question TO answer I do no
know-not because l have ever had q
quarrel with my spouse. perhaps because
| nave never had one. Well, well, be tha'
Is IL may, i have told you how the little
cloud no bigger than a mans hand arose
on the matrimonial horizon OF two lives
for the rest, l must ask you to read on.
CHAPTER xvI.-"sUPPosrNG-"
The following day the Markhams quite