Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-10

law, who had been telephoned for in great
haste, with Flo, showing symptoms of hys-
terlcs on a eofa at hand, and my poor bride
doubtless weeping her pretty eyes out in a
chamber above us-whither she had fled
without one word or backward glance for me-
Thus standing, suspected by all, ptied by
none, poured out my strange tale for per-
haps the hundredth time.
l can see my brother -in-law now as he
sat there, large loose-limbed and prosperous,
filled with uneasy embarrassment at the ir-
regularity of being in his own house during
| business hours, his eyes roaming in con-
jugal anxiety to where his wife lay, yet ever
returning to me with friendly light in their
sharp, gray depths. Not a figure to encour-
age romantic yarns, and yet l poured mine
out upon him and saw him shift and vince,
and heard his muttered by Georges" and
his ooh, come now. old fellows" without
flinching; and then when I had finished they
both sat and gaZed at me with pale faces and
frightened eyes, much as they might have
looked had l been brought home to them
spread out on a shutter.
Never mind, Flo," were the first words
gasped out by poor William when l had
ended. George, my dear boy I'll see you
through this" and then steps came hurry
luS dlOuS lue udll anu lue uOUT ltll open 10
admit a servants 1ustered face. But before
it had fairly dawned upon us it was showed
aside, and in bounded a small stopped fig
ure which l recognized as the lawyer 1 had
consulted that morning. Something exciting
he had to tell; his face showed that and
before l could speak to him, he and my
brother in-law ran at each other and fairly
exploded with a lot of legal jargon in which
l seemed to figure as both John Doe" and
Richard Roe" so involved had my affairs
become. Then all three of them-for my sis
ter had mixed herself up in the confusion
turned and looked at me. My sister-for she
loved me-with happy tears chasing the
shadows from her eyes; my brother-in- law
for he loved my sister-with a face of pro-
found relief and my lawyer-for he loved
his gold-with a countenance uplifted by the
vision of a heavy fee.
Sir" he said Sir allow me to congrat-
ulate you; you have married an heiress,"
and he grasped me with fingers purple from
the arteries of his fountain pen and shook
me as though rattling sOvereigns from a
sack.
"By George, old fellow, you lit on your
feet this time!" burst forth William with an
explosive laugh, and he gave me blow upon
the back which would have driven home a
railroad spike.
"Oh, George, and she's so pretty" whs-
pered my sister, with her arms about my
neck. Couldn't you-don't you think you
might learn to like her just a little?"
1t must have been patent to every woman
in the house, from my sister down to the
meanest scrubwoman, that l was the vic
tim of an engrossing and despairing pas
sion; and so my sister ignored petty filings,
the cook did violence to her own past
record, the housemaid filled my vases with
flowers, and through all this womanly kind
ness l stalked untamed, disheveled as to
ties, solitary as to habit; a lean spectre Of
a bridegroom without a bride.
1t was apparent to every one that my
bride had no desire for my society, and l
was made to feel, even by Flo, that 1t
would be considered a graceful act for me
to take by meals down town whenever the
pretty recluse had been prevailed upon to
promise she would leave her room
"You see she feels SO queer, you know"
my sister would say with an inscrutable
smile. And l have promised that we will
be alone tonight" and so | would rush OFF
savagely, take a few wretched morsels OF
food somewhere, then sneak home again
with the unacknowledged hope of surpris-
ing them at the table only TO behold van
ishing skirts melting away behind some
closing door. After that | would fling away
to my room and commence my daily task
of packing the satche which / invariably
unpacked before the night was over,
fell TO absentng myself from the COM
mon haunts Of man, taking long and dis
NAL walks in the suburbs of the place, !
moody and suicidal. During one Of these
rambles, 1t was at a moment when my self |
pity was at the keenest, that ! came upon |
group Of men, one of whom was in |
policemans garb. He was directing the
others with voice and gesture regarding a
manned and haltng beast that hobbled in |
their rear. Take him to the outskirts ]