The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-05-20
Joe's Amily.

| many admirers no one could imagine, fol
he had not even the advantage OF good
| looks; the sluggishness of his mental
capacity was portrayed in every line OF
! his hard, clean-shaven face. He was a
| man from whom women were won't to
| shrink, with an instructive consciousness
that he looked down upon them. Men
! thought him honest, and, by reason OF
| his physical strength. generally deemed
! X wise 10 be civil TO him, though few
| really liked him.
! No one had seen Amily inside church
since her wedding day; nor did she ever
| tell her friends of her own meek sug-
| gestion, on the first Sunday of her mar
ried life that she and her husband should
go to place OF worship together.
20, 1t be wurship, be it?'' Joe had said,
with his broad Southern drawl. Look
here. you can worship at home. That
be what 1 married ye fur-to wursh-up
| and do my chores!'
Amlly shut her lips, to open them no
more on that subject in his hearing.
This treatment included Joes entire
| creed on the subject of womankind. He
! did not ill-treat his wife; and insomuch
| as he never spoke to her without swearing,
| she grew accustomed to that, and at last
| did not even notice it. Neither was he a
| drunkard; he considered that a man has
| a perfect right to get drunk every night
| of his life if he chooses; but he so hated
! having a headache in the morning that.
for his part, he preferred to keep sober.
! How had 1t all come about?
| It always was, as she had thought, so
much more lonely when the sound of his
cart wheels died away in the distance. es-
| pecially now that he came so often and
staid so long.
But-was it possible he had said to her
that she had let him say it? Could II he
that shea woman In whom passion had
- l1v,1 S,,w lo,f |,
could il be that she had made 1t possible
for John Hovenden to speak as he had
spoken?
She stood as he had left her when he
went out with her face to the fire, and
her hands tightly clasped before her. The
wind roared down the chimney. the rain
beat upon the pane, just as on that eve
ming month ago. Strange, happy, event.
ful month!-and it had ended like this.
81 will take you away" he had said;
mo one will know where you are. / will
make you happy, Amily."
She had not realized ell that moment
how happy he had already made her-how
changed her poor empty life had been
by his daily visits. She had not known,
till he spoke, that she was hungry for
love and kindness; but she had known it
then when 1t had cost her an effort 10 re-
fuse him; she knew 1t now, when the
thought of his words and his look brought
a strange tremor with it, and made her
hide her face in her hands with a little
cry of pain.
She laid the supper listening for Joe'g
footstep and expecting every instant to
hear IL above the noise of wind and rain.
He was late. She went 20 the door, and
tried to peer through the gloom. forget
ting all the excitement and strangeness
of the afternoon in her anxiety lest Ill
had befallen him. At last, as the clock
struck II, she had made up her mind 20
brave the horrors of the lonely road, and
to go and seek him.
She had already put on her hat and
cloak, when the door was thrown open
and Joe entered.
"Ah, Joe, I was Just coming"
Her sentence was never finished, for she
staggered back in horror, pale and breath
less.
Joe had availed himself of the privilege
possessed by the lords of creation he
had braved the prospect of headache,
and, for the first time since his marriage,
he was h0pelessly intoxicated.
Amily stood by the wall; for some min
utes she was too appalled, to move, and
she said not word. Then the color came
slowly back to her lips and cheeks, ard
her dark eyes took a look that was
dangerous. Gathering her skirts about
her as though she feared pollution, she
walked past him, out Of the door, and up
the creaking stairs to the. little led
chamber.
I'VE shall soon be in London" said
John Hovenden. eve only one place to
stop at on the way. Are you warm
enough"
YES, o yes, thank you. Do drive quick
ly-some one will see us" she answered, |
drawing back timidly behind the awning.
At last Hovenden drew uo at the gate
of a great house that lay back in It's
garden.
Il shall be with you again Directly he |
said as he sprang to the ground and hur-
ried up the gravel walk.
The sudden stiffness after the noisy mo- |
ton of the cart seemed 70 recall Anlly |
to herself The haunting bitterness that !
had been with her all through that mis- |
cradle day, the strange wild desire to be |
anywhere but in the lonely little cottage |
outside the village, seemed suddenly to |
give place to a different state of mind. |
The touch of the mans hand was gene |
from hers; it was relief She had not |
wanted II, she never would want Il, Tor |
him, nor his love. What she wanted was |
that Joe should be kind 10 her, that joe |
should love her a little. and be conte1 ed /
with her. If she left him this would never /
be--if she left him he might even love |
someone else. Terrible thought, that sent |
the color flying over the face of Joes /
Amilyi She had loved Joe when she mar |
ried him; he might not be all she had |
thought; he might be-he likely was-a !
hard kind of man. But he was Joe, and |
she loved him.
Amily sprang from the cart, and love, /
the old love of her life. seemed 10 lend /
her wings as she fled down the dark road /
towards her home. She never looked be-
hind; never looked back at what she |
have hean a thA sin EhA n aH EeAu
so near committing. She looked neither
to right nor the left: the darkness had |
no horrors for her that night. Joe would |
be at homel he would be angry with her,
he would swear at her; he might possibly,
for the first time in his life, be rough I
with her. But she deserved it all, and
he was Joe!
The carrier had taken her a long way.
It was nearly II o'clock before shs was
in sight of her home There was Fight
in the kitchen window. and as she came
closer she saw on the blind the shadow
of her husband as he paced 20 and fro
For a moment only she hesitsted, and
then lifted the latch and went In
Joe turned. and the husband and wife
stood face 10 face in silence. Then she
spoke. raising her face TO his with almost
child-like pleading.
"Joa. I'm sorry. I meant to 60 away
for always: but II had TO come back"
Joe looked az her without speaking az
first. Then he drew the back OF his hand
slowly across his eyes.
Take OF them wet cloes. old girl" he
said; you'll be catchin cold And. put |
the stoo on. %, ana les's have a mouthfuL
l be starvin'. Exchange
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PompeTs Theatre Bills
From SchyTeizerische National Zeitung) /
An advertisement pillar" has been
brought 10 light in the excavation OF Pom