El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-24
CHAPTER VIII,

She turned round. I saw that her
eyes were cleaning, her cheeks burn
ing.
you heard her, you saw herr" she
cried bitterly. "She was so glad to
get rid of me, she could not bear the
idea of looking upon me again-she,
my mothers mother, with whom
have lived all my life. What is there
in me. 1 wonder, that makes me such
an unbearable burden to every one
When I had the fever years ago. she
she prayed that 1 might die. wish
I had-I wish 1 had. Now, they are
all relieved, overjoyed, that you-you
have been tricked into marrying me
every one Of them, Biddy, Mike, even
Molly. who-who I thought cared a
little for me. Oh, L"
''She does care for you," broke in
soothingly. and so do I, Helen
you know that well. Why else should
I have married you?"
81 don't know-I don't know" she
answered wildly. "You had some good
reason, feel; and, though you fancy
you care a little for me now. it will
wear away, and you will long to get
rid of me like the rest. I wish 1
had never met you. I wish I had
never been born-there's no one cares
for me in the world but little Jim and
he has no sense-my little Jim, whom
II am never to see again, though
you promised, Mr.. Dennys, that he and
1 were never to be parted-you-did-
you know you did,!
'tMy dear, why did you not bring
him with you? You know 1 would
not have objected. Let us turn back
and get him at once"
I leaned out to tell the driver to
turn, when 1 saw the poor little dog,
with his tongue hanging out, covered
with dust, ambling feebly after us.
picked him up and laid him in his
mistress arms, and left them for a
time to whisper their grievances
to one another. Presently Helen
touched me gently, and I saw the
storm had gone out of her face. She
said wistfully-
I'm sorry 1 said what I did, Mr..
Dennys. Will you forgive me, please,
and-and try to be kind to poor little
Jim and me?" When 1 had made the
most suitable answer I could think Of
she added: NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. are
really tired of us you will let US
know, and we'll go away quietly and
never trouble you again"
We remained abroad for five months.
for I was anxious to rub off the sur
face-coat of my wife's rusticity before
bringing her under the critical eyes
of my friends.
1 must say the undertaking was not
a painful or tedious one by any
means. Somehow the lace ruff1es and
bangles fitted her little brown wrists
more naturally than 1 imagined. She
learned quickly and aptly, and, much
to my surprise, showed an innate
of discerning worth and
beauty in the higher branches Of art
which culture had failed to awaken
in me. In a picture gallery she would
instinctfvely go to the best picture,
stand entra1ced before canvases from
which my eye and, indeed, the average
eye Of our fellow-travelers would
turn away in dull WEAKNESS.
She was very observant and intelli-
gent, never required to be told a thing
twice, and in very short time Of
of every light and shade that
crossed my commonplace counte-
nance, the very thoughts of my heart
in a manner that startled me at
first, until I came to accept it as an
ordinary accomplishment, not without
its advantages to one of my torpid
temperament. The thing I had been
longing lazily for 1 would find soma
how at my elbow as soon as she
entered the room, the words I would
wish said would drop naturally from
her lips, the people 1 liked would be
her friends at the end Of the week.
By degrees it began to pleasantly
dawn upon me that was getting some
return for the great sacrifice 1 had
certainly made in marrying her, and
that had at first pursued me wore
away until I forgot its very existence.
Helen made me comfortable. and her
happy smiling face and gradually i'm
proving looks brought me a feeling Of
that thoroughly en-
Joyed and that certainly smoothed my
temper, so sorely tried during my first
love affair. I accepted
her attention, her cheerful devotion as
my due, now and then rewarding her
with a kind word or loving caress.
"Clever childr' I remember murmur-
ing one day, when, erratically putting
forth my hand, it alighted on the
cigar case and the newspaper for
which I had been wishing. How do
you always guess?'
Love teaches me, 1 suppose" she
replied, with a rosy smile. "You
I had a great quantity of
that article in stock when you ap-
peared, and you asked me for all I had
In a lump, Paul"
How muf love she received from
me in retr n I did not try to find out,