The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-12-30
On New YEARS EN.


The fire was burning low in the CRATE
throwing out occasionally little flicker
ing thread of blue gray light The unshad
ed lamp on the table, too, burned fitfully,
and the man writing by 1t spluttered and
fumed with wrath.
On the sofa, half in the light, half lost
in the shadow, a woman lay In an uneasy
attitude watching the writer with steady
eyes Her face was haggard and pale and
scared round lip and nostril with hues OF
discomfort, her hair in disorder
On little table by her side were LOT
Of medicine bottles and novel, half cut,
the paper knife sticking in 1t, foregathered
with bottle of cheap smelling salts On
her fingers quantity of false jewelry play
cd hide and seek with the freight, CLEAN
ing from the folds of her crumpled gown
There was nothing of tenderness or OF
solicitude In the gaze which she bent upon
the man by the table, and she persisted In
It, although she saw it irritated him. AT
every nervous ejaculation her eyes CLEAN.
ed brighter than her jewels and with no
flicker In their intensity At every pause
Of the pen she moved restlessly, as if to
hurry its pace. but she never turned her
head away
But presently the lamplight with one
last fitful leap gasped and went glimmer-
ingly out. and the man threw down his
pen with quick exclamation Hang
the lampsl Are they never seen to in this
houseY'' he stumbled tentatively to the
mantelpiece, feeling his way with out
stretched hands, and searched carefully
across it's surface
The woman on the sofa raised herself
-lt A@l~ Ill Ii
him, her eyes shining with malice
Really, is it worth while lighting it
AGAIN. she asked Such q pity you
should have 80 much trouble and you
have knocked over half dozen things al
ready should leave it alone The fire.
light will last our time / suppose you
are going to bed within an appreciable
periodp'
She sank back among her cushions.
II cannot write In the dark, he said in
q sullen tone
Her laugh echoed through the room
but she made no other reply.
But of course that is of no oonse
quence. -
II did not say so, but-well, it costs
money nowadays to keep ones light burn
ing, and now that you have mentioned it
u dIn uOb bur6-Wudb T6dbOu nave i
thinking 1t worth whilef'
God knows; you have little. He
struck a match with shaking fingers and
lit a couple of Candles then crossed quick
ly to her couch and, bending, laid his two
hands upon hers "Maude, do not let us
quarrel We have only each other, and
and it is the last night of the old year
Perhaps a better one Is dawning for u.s..
~ "a; nd txyio faI har
hands away from his Maybe"
Shall read it to your" He had turn
ed to the table.
She nodded
He carried his work to the hearth and
read, standing, with bowed shoulders and
excited lips, by the meager light. 1t was
evident that this man s work was much
to him And when it was finished
"WellY" he said turning to her eagerly
She was playing absently with her rings
To think that should have come to
wear false stones. she said, the tears al
most in her eyes
Il wish they were all behind the fire
every one of them r. he said excitedly
II dare say you do.
Then presently Il dare say it Is very
good; but, then, don't know much about
UIdb kluu VI uulHB ~ 10 bOo SOoh pIOD'
ably Like the bread cast upon the wa
tiers, it will come back to you after many
days.
There was a time when you cared
enough about that kind of thing. " bit
terly
"Ah, dare say-in the old days when
you posed as u Genius and were to set the
Thames on fire.
L.,,., N,tt L. thot
told you-you know that did not de
ceive you told you
oh, they all say that but they don t
mean it to DO taken for gospel
Il told you that | was no burning or
shining light
Did you mean me to expect thisp' She
thrust her hand toward the bare room
with "a contemptuous gesture that stung
him to the quick
'Thisy God forbid Oh, know have
not done my part | nave not done 1.-THE
of what | meant to do But it was too
much to do alone | have not had the
heart One must have sympathy-just a
little sympathy
Just q little sympathy. She min
licked his tragic tones, her lips twisted in
a sheer Bah am sick-sick to death
of you fine, artistic people with all your
whining for sympathy Other men can
dispense with such fine feelings and yet
earn enough money to keep their wives
'Maudei
AS for your work she leaned toward
him, and with her thin hands pushed the
hair back from her facet hate It'll What
are they to me-your artistic idealsY
want to have plenty to eat and plenty to
wear and plenty to spend, like other wo
men.
"Oh. it has all been failurei know it
has been failureI But | swear to you
Maude, that with another woman
.YesY Oh. go on Do, please l want
to hear about the other woman She had
sympathy no doubt You would have set
the Thames on fire with the other WON
an AS for me. was young and happy
and handsome when you married me
Look at me now Look
He walked unsteadily toward the door
With another mana man sufficiently
coarse minded to work to keep his wifer
with muttered word he lifted his hat
and went out
In a roam OF hotel In the same city