Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-10-30
HER RETURN.

The little clock Oh TIC Mantcl struck
ten silvery s1rc,scs AID III the silence
that followed tic ringing of the street
bell sounded shrilly through the apart
melt. AS ho was yet expecting amy one
he did not stir \ second peal sounded,
and this time he arose, and taking the
lamp went TO open tho door
4 ,;.rl: forn, awaited him in the YES
t;hulc. In the light thrown sharply ont
by tic lamp Saido Jacques recognized
lis wife.
"Y - ho stanmcred.
She did not move. she did not speak,
but sioed silently waiting.
Come inside, he said.
He led the way to the library and
made her sit down i'll IN easy chair, and
then they licked ut ono another 1t was
five years since he had seen her One
evening she had left him. Coming
home, he had found the house empty,
with note Gil the table-two lines of
farewell hprricdly scrawled i'll pencil.
Then, as he did not question her, she
told him III il few words, without pre-
tense of shame, that, abandoned i'll her
turn, she had been alone since tho even
ing before; that she had spent the en-
tire day crying.
She had eaten nothing, had gone out
in the evening, wandered aimlessly
about, found herself ut his door and
had come in.
Still he said nothing and i'll 4 chill
silence five years of their life passed be-
fore their mental vision, his five years
for him and her five years for her
When she had left him, when he had
found the hoese empty, it had been the
destruction of all his joys, the shattcr-
ing of his happy life.
IIo had thought he could never re-
cover from the blow, and he had lived
on like broken thing, feeling his rea-
son totter. That had lasted six months
"a year. ForgetfulncSs had come to
him us it comes after all great sriefs,
as it comes ut the end Of all things, and
jacques had settled down to the even,
satisfied life of an old bachelor.
She who had deserted him TO run
after what is thought to be happiness
had imagined herself happy, queen,
for six months, ycar-just the time
he had spent i'll lamentins and suffer
ing.
But the awakening had been terrible.
In her turn she found herself abandoned.
"You are hungry" he said. And he
went to the kitchen.
There was somo soup still warm aud
the remains of chicken, which he
brought il. He served her on one cor
ner of the table, where he spread nap
kin, and as she ate he made another
trip to the kitchen and brought back Il
bottle of wine, from which he filled
her glass.
He watched her eat now, saw the col
or return to her cheeks and, her hunger
satisfied, sense Of content gradually
pervade her entire being
She went on to tell him that she
lived quite near by in the same quarter,
and he was astonished that, living SC
near her, he had been unaware Of her
existence
Now she settled back cozily in the
chair, feeling relaxed. grown tender.
She found this armchair just rs she had
J known it before; she found all the
things about her in their old places.
Nothing was changed-the hangings
were the same, the furniture, the orna-
ments. All had Il friendly air, an air OF
welcome.
1t WAS good to be i'll this home, OF
which she was taking possession again
after five years absence. For did not
the dinner on the corner of the table
attest their reconciliation? The lamp on
the table was the same that had lighted
them when they kissed each other III
the old days.
It was all at an end now-that equiv.
ocal existence, the misery and disgust
of those five years of slavery She
would resume her place in her home be-
side tho husband who forgave her; she
would make many happy days for her
self after this leaf which was torn from
her life.
Jacques considered her calmly, with.
out anger and without tenderness.
There came to his lips no word of pity.
The woman seated there was stranger
to him. The other woman, she whom
he had loved, the wife, no longer exist
ed. His love was dead, and it seemed to
him he could feel its ashes under his
restless fingers.
Without Il word he went into another
room and returned with piece of pa
per-a bank bill OF 100 francs-which
he handed to her.
"You have need of money" he said.
land if you should be in want again
pray let me know. -
He took up the lamp and waited for
her to rise. is one in Il dream she look
ed at him, followed him. At the door,
as he opened it, sic comprehended that
her dream was ended; thut he was send
ing her away; that she should return t.
the black street, 10 her cold, bare lodg-
ing; that he was implacable.
Her eyes implored him. Jacques
opened the door as if he did not see her.
When she was il the vestibulc, he held
his lamp aloft, flooding her with light
as when she entered, and repeated i'll a
calm voice that seemed to have casual
gentleness in it:
"When you are in need, pray let me
know"
And the door was closed upon her
In the silence he heard her tottering
steps descend the stair.-From the
French.
A Question of Degree.
r, ~ NIL, :.