Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1899-07-12
THREE AND-AN EXTRA
By RUDYARD KIPLING.

When halter and heel ropes are slipped, do
not give chase with sticks, but with gram
Punjabi Proverb
After marriage arrives a reaction
sometimes big, sometimes little, one,
but it comes sooner or later and must
be tided over by both parties if they de-
sire the rest of their lives to go with the
current.
In the case of the Cusack- Bremmils
this reaction did not set in till the third
year after the wedding. Bremmil was
hard to hold at the best of times but he
was beautiful husband until the baby
died and Mrs. Bremmil wore black and
grew thin and mourned as if the bot
tom of the universe had fallen out. Per-
haps Bremmil ought to have comforted
her. He tried to do so, think, but the
more he comforted the more Mrs Brem-
mil grieved and consequently the more
uncomfortable Bremmil grew. The fact
was that they both needed tonic, and
they got it. Mrs. Bremmil can afford to
laugh now, but it was no laughing mat
ter to her at the time.
You see, Mrs. Hauksbee appeared on
the horizon, and where she existed was
fair chance of trouble. At Simla her by
name was the "Stormy Petrol" She had
won that title five times to my own GER
tain knowledge She was little, brown,
thin, almost skinny woman, with big,
rolling, violet blue eyes and the sweetest
manners in the world. You had only to
mention her name at afternoon teas for
every woman in the room to rise up and
call her-well- blessed. She was
clever, witty, brilliant and sparkling
beyond most of her kind, but possessed
of many devils Of malice and mischie-
vousness. She could be nice, though,
even to her own SEX But that is anoth-
er story.
Bremmil went off at score after the
baby 8 death and the general discomfort
that followed, and Mrs. Hauksbee an
nexed him. She took no pleasure in
hiding her captives. She annexed him
publicly and saw that the public saw it.
He rode with her and walked with her
and talked with her and picnicked with
her and tiffined at Peliti's with her till
people put up their eyebrows and said,
"Shockingp' Mrs. Bremmil staid at
home turning over the dead baby's
frocks and crying into the empty cradle
She did not care to do anything else.
But some eight dear, affectionate lady
friends explained the situation at length
to her in case she should miss the cream
of it. Mrs. Bremmil listened quietly
and thanked them for their good offices.
She was not as clever as Mrs Hauksbee,
but she was no fool. She kept her own
counsel and did not speak to Bremmil
of what she had heard This is worth
remembering. Speaking to or crying
over a husband never did any good yet
When Bremmil was at home, which
was not often, he was more affection
ate than usual, and that showed his
hand The affection was forced partly
to soothe his own conscience and partly
to soothe Mrs. Bremmil 1t failed in
both regards.
Then ''the A. D. G. in waiting was
commanded by their excellencies Lord |
and Lady Lytton to invite Mr.. and |
Mrs. Cusack Bremmil to Peterhoff on |
July 90 at 8 80 p. M Dancing" was
81 cannot CO." said Mrs. Bremmil |
at is too soon after poor little Florrie; |
but it need not stop you, Tom"
She meant what she said then, and |
Bremmil said that he would go just to |
put in an appearance. Here he spoke
the thing which was not, and Mrs |
Bremmil knew it. She guessed-a /
woman's guess is much more accurate |
than a mans certainty-that he had |
meant to go from the first, and with /
Mrs. Hauksbee. She sat down to think, |
and the outcome of her thoughts was
that the memory of a dead child was
worth considerably less than the affec-
tions of a living husband She made
her plan and staked her all upon it. In
that hour she discovered that she knew
Tom Bremmil thoroughly, and this
knowledge she acted on.
tom, said she, 81 shall be dining
out at the Longmores' on the evening
of the Goth. You'd better dine at the