The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-10-21
CONE BACK. Z

won't you change your mind, Maud9v
sit is too late to change. The dogcart Is
at the door,"
ssWhat does that matter? 1t can go back
to the stables. I wish You would.
"My dear Jack, do not add inconsistency
to my other faults. Goodness knows the
list Of them is long enough in FOUR esti-
nation
The speakers were q man n q Woman
both young, and both good to look upon.
The scene was a shady English garden on
a bright summers evening, the mellow
ing light Of fading day fltering through
the lark cedar trees and playing upon the
white gown of the lady as she lay back
lazily in a luxurious wicker chair. She
was very pretty and very young, but her
mouth was set in a hard line and there
was defiance in her eyes. The man stood
in front of her, looking at her ~anxiously,
and mingled with the cawing Of the rocks
overhead came the sound 7&f q horses
hoofs, impatientIy paving the gravel in
front of the hall door. Truly the dogcart
was waiting.
Jack Rodney gave a sigh which was al
most a groan, then drew himself up and
squared his shoulders with the inyolun-
tary action of a man who has to say some
thing unpleasant and who hates the task.
Every well, Maud, l can say no more.
It is evident we annot go on like this.
Our lives are burdens to US. and soon peo-
pie will begin to notice that we are not
on friendly terms. Perhaps when ! am
away you will think better Of me- I may
not irritate you so much. You know, /
only speak to you for your good.
"You preach-you don't speak.
"Maudi"
"Oh, don't let us argue. I am sick Of
IT.
"And of inc, too, / snppose3 Well, then,
goodby, If you will lave it so. I have
left a note for you on the boudoir table.
Will you kiss mef"
"No. 1t is stupid to be hypocritical,
and there are nc onlookers.
With another sigh, the man turned
away. and without one backward glance
walked to where the dogcart stood in
readiness, took the reins and in a minute
down the gravel drive.
Maud Rodney sat quite still where her
husband had left her until the faintest
sounds had died away. Then she rose and
began to hum the refrain of q popular
song from a comic opera:
"Clowns, clowns, clowns,
Mischievous nlankey clowns.
But somehow there was no merriment
In the lifting tune, and that, too, died
away into silence. She pulled a rose from
a tree as she passed, but it fell to pieces
as she gathered it, and a thorn scratched
her finger. After all, it was as well that
Jack had gone to Norway. They were al
ways quarreling, and he never let her do
as she liked. She had been SO spoiled at
home that she could not brook the slight
est contradiction; besides, she wanted to
show him how independent she was and
how well she could do without him.
1t was getting cold, and she shivered.
Where was her warm cloak, which Jack
always wrapped around her when the dew
was falling? The maid would bring it.
She went to the house to summon her.
AS she passed through the open French
window into the boudoir she thought OF
the note left for her by her husband.
Another lecture, l suppose, " she mutt
tered, as she broke the seal. 1t contained
q blank check and a short note which
said:
MY DARLING WIFE-You can fill up the In
closed for any amount you like. Do not deny
yOuFSSlI duyInlug GlL11S my BaI1l5llutlt, LII
try to recall me as soon as you can. You know
how much I love you. Yours ever. JACK.
She twisted the letter about in her fin
gers, and the corners Of her mouth drooped
as those of a child about to cry, but she
forced back her tears and tried to tell
herself she was a woman of spirit. She
would go for a brisk walk in the garden
to brush away the cobwebs from her brain
and then she would look at the new books
from Nudes, and then-well, perhaps it
would be bedtine-but surely this even
ing was very longl
Wrapping a shawl round her, she went
again into the dusky garden and wan
dered down a long green alley, with tall
white ~foxgloyes bordering it on either
side. They looked uncanny in the dim
light, and the groups Of pale blossoms in
the distance seemed to take queer shapes
and to bend and wave like fantastic spirit
forms made misty by the darkness. It was
SO horribly still, and yet the throb Of the
night bea like a silent pulse in tho air.
Two white owls few over her head and
startled her with their mournful cry. and
~surely-yes, surely-there in the distance,
under the shadow of the trees, was the
crouching form of a man. Mrs. Rotney's
heart sank into her boots, and with a cry
of "Jack, JackI" she turned and fed.
Footsteps followed fast behind her The
man was evidently pursuing her. and like
a fash the thought went through her
mind that she was left defenseless.
.sJack, come backi Oh, come hackl'
was her voiceless cry as she felt her
strength going and feet Tagging, but as
she turned the corner she saw q maid
servant running toward her. She paused
to gain breath, and then went OH. A hap
py thought flashed through her mind.
Her husband had returned. She would
meyer be wilIful again.
ssYour master-has he come back?" she
gasped.
The woman nodded, hut said nothing.
At the hall door a group Of people were
standing, and their faces looked pale and
terrified. She heard murmurs of 1.-THE
horse fell, = pitched on his head. ""all
over in a moment, = and with an icy fear
ia her heart she rushed into the hall. A
man held up his hand for silence.
On a low couch lay a still form, with a
handkerchief over the face. With trem-
bling hands she lifted it and saw her hus-
band, quite white, quite still. He had
come back, yet not he, bat a llfeless form,
an outward semblanee only oil the man
she had loved, yet banished. And then she
knew that she was indeed alone. And yet
the world would go j1st the same, the
flowers bloom, the birds sing and morning
and night dawn and darken, making up a
rolnd of weary wears. while only God and