Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-05-01
TWO

romantic figure. No wonder his friends
wife ran away with him. Any woman
would have found it impossible to resist
him. He was SO unlike Jack. Poor Jack
was SO ~dreadfully prosaio. He never even
quarreled. He was too phlegmatic for an
ger.
Such reflections were not new to her.
But her last library book, containing the
portrait of the heroic Adolphus, had fired
her imagination afresh. 1t was unlucky
for Jack that he should return from his
office at the precise moment when the I'M
favorable comparison had reached its
climax.
Mrs. Blenkins' reverie was so deep that
she did not hear the sound of the latchkcy.
The first intimation she received of her
husbands presence was when he stood be-
fore hsr. He was not, certainly, a TO-
mantle object. The pockets of his over
coat bulged out unsymmetrically from
under each arm an ungainly brown paper
parcel protruded.
II wish you wouldn't make such an ex-
hibition Of YOURSELF" exclaimed Sophia,
with a look of intense disgust. "lt's so
d%readfully bourgeois. Why didn't you
have the things sent?"
Nobody saw me, I'm sure" said Jack,
putting the parcels triumphantly Down
on the table, land I wanted to give you a
Surprise"
He took out a penknife and cut the
string. The first package contained a pair
of warm sleeping socks; from the second
he produced a beetle trap. II know you
suffer from cold feet, :" he said, land
heard the cook complain of the cockroaches
this morning" The rest of his purchases
consisted of various household require
ments, a mousetrap, a set of blacking
brushes, some digestive candy, and SO
forth.
AS Jack displayed these %trif1es, n by
one, he looked anxiously at his wife in
the hope Of detecting a gratifed smile.
ly to Adolphus de Montmorency. Adolphus
would not have presented himself before
the woman he loved with muddy boots
and turned up trousers; he would not
have brought her sleeping socks or digest
i've candy. 1t was almost more than she
could bear. To be tied to a man who
could not soar above mousetraps!
"Take them awayl How could you buy
such trash!" she cried, exasperated. The
panied look on jacks face nearly drove
her mad. His meekness irritated her be.
yond endurance. Why didn't he swear al
her? A blow even would be preferable to
silence. Adolphus would have fired up
instantly and probably bundled her out
of the room with physical violence. II
was terrible to have this provoking saints
sorrowful humility.
Sophia refused to wear the sleeping
socks. She declined to mollycoddle, she
said, and next day she laughed at Jack fol
putting a comforter round his neck. Jack
had a bad throat, but to please his wife he
left the wrap at home and went out with
out it. When he came back in the even
ing, his cold was much worse. He wanted
to go to bed, but Sophia ridiouled the idea.
Adolphus would not have gone to bed II
he had had rheumatic fever.
Jack would have committed suicide to
please his wife, and he did. Day after day
he carried that cold about with him. So.
phia thought it more manly and romantic
not to give way to such trifles. Conse
quently Jack caught n chill on the tor
of another. He became feverish, ever de
lirious. Then the doctor was sent for, but
1t was too late. Jack had a severe attack
Of Inflammation Of the lungs, from which
he never recovered, and even at the last
Sophia could not help rejecting thai
Adolphus would never have given in tt
such a disease. His will owe woulG
have saved him.
Sophia became a widow. She wept ovel
Jack, Of course, but behind her grief there
was a kind Of exultant feeling that thu
ideal man had become, after all, q posi-
bility.
OF course Sophia met him. The ordi
nary conventional method Of making his
acquaintance was too commonplace for hel
emanoipated soul. 1t was a case Of love
at first sight, and the latter occurred or
the Brighton grand parade. Love ripened
into acquaintance. His name was Eu'
genio Fitz Jones. The Jones she forgave
because his mother had been ar Italian.
They were married q year after Jacks
death. 1t made no difference to the dead
man. The flowers on his grave had ceased
within six weeks of the funeral. For a
whole fortnight Sophia lived in the de.
lirious atmosphere of two people who dc
not know each other. Then her ideals be.
gan to be realized.
Jack had always been deeply interested
in her thoughts and condolences. His &C.
quiescence in her opinions and slavish ad.
miration Of her mental gifts had been
positively siokening. Eugenio would not
listen to her at all. Women's views were
of no consequence whatever In his estima'
ton. If she spoke on social questions, he
shut her up in the rudest fashion.
He never brought her in a present when
he came home from business. Jack never
failed to have something in his pocket, at
least twice a week. But Eugenio had
more important matters to consider. He
had his club, and his Wagner society, and
his golf, and his bicycle. Frequently he
dined out with bachelor friends. When
Sophia demonstrated with him, he told
her to mind her own business. He ever
went SO far as to strike her. The blow was
not 30 sweet as Sophia had anticipated, In
spite Of Adolphus.
Later on Eugenio began to pay marked
attentions to other women; he neglected
his wife shamefully and flirted openly be-
fore her face. There were even rumors
Of q second establishment In the suburbs.
On n occasion he disappeared for q whole
six months. People said very unpleasant
things. A married woman with whom
Eugenio had been ON terms of friendship
disappeared about the Iame time. At the
end Of the half year he came back and
treated his wife more badly than ever.
In q years time he had drunk himself