Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1899-12-30


tongue and leave my affairs alone III
turn you out of the house. As for you
Bess, ] can only say I'm sorry; sorry
that a wife of mine should think II
necessary to lie so deliberately. I've
given the store an order to trust you
no longer, and l shall never trust you
with the gold again either" Late in
May boy was born to them, and
Clancy, feeling all a fathers fond
pride in his first offspring, allowed
the child to invest the mother with a
DEAFNESS not her DUE" and fondly de-
luded himself with the belief that the
wife would, for the baby's sake, win
back something of her self-respect and
love for him. But habits of shiftless
Incidence are not easily broken, and
after the wife got around" again the
meals began to be served with the old
time irregularity, and the triangular
quarrels became more frequent and
were waged with ever increasing bit
terness. Time passed on; the child
was three years old, a deep-eyed, Sc
rious little lad. thoughtful beyond his
years. with that peculiar expression of
meditative sadness on his face that is
nearly always herald of race soon
run when seen on the countenance of
children. Something of this the ia
Their felt dimly. and attached himself
more and more to the child as the gulf
widened between himself and wife.
Mrs. Burton had become greater
topper than ever. She had been afflict-
ed with small pox in her youth and the
disease had left her face scanned and
SCARED, and the continued indulgence
q al VI L.
features still more repulsive, and her
bleary eyes and scottish manner grew
daily more disgusting to Clancy, who
feared that the pure nature of the
child would become contaminated from
the vile habits and profane language
of the drunken grandame. II was
therefore with feelings akin to pleas
urable relief that he heard one day that
the dragon of his domestic life had
fallen into prospect hole and broken
her neck, while intoxicated. With re-
newed faith in his ability to win back
his wife to resemblance of her for
mer self with the aid of the infantile
endearments of the little one, now that
the polluting influence of the wretched
mother was gone. he sought, by using
,ne utmost tenderness toward her in
her affliction to awaken whatever la
tent regard forhimself and child might
still be slumbering in her frivolous ma
ture. But after the first transports
of her grief had passed, Bess. who was
the embodiment of selfishness, soon
ceased to mourn her mother and
sought to vary the monotony of her
life by taking long walks about the
town and adjacent mining claims
dressed In her gaudy finery and openly
counting the admiring glances that
were directed toward her wherever
she appeared. The boy. left at home
during her rambles, amused himself
by watching the mining bees digging
out their little tunnels in the sand, or
in observing the busy mason wasps
building their chambered dwellings. |
and the yellow hornets fashioning |
their paper nests of wood pulp. Soon |
he grew to know the habits and habi- |
tat OF every insect, bird and animal !
within n radius Of mile from home. |
And with each passing day the child |
grew more quiet and gentle In dis
position, more thoughtful and studi- |
GUS, and the transparent complexion
more waxlike. and the deep, earnest
eyes larger and more spirituelle in ex-
preston: and the father, troubled with
a fond parents fatal prescience, saw
anu sorrowed In secret. Exasperated
at his wife's neglect OF the child he one
evening said to her: IL should think
you might take the boy out with you
occasionally; l don't see how you can
have the heart to leave him to prowl |
around here all day alone" I'm not |
going to be bothered with a brat of a |
young one tagging at my heels every |
where / go. she answered Then in |
the name of God Bess. why did you
ever marry me?" IL have asked my
self that question more than once and |
have wished thousand times | had |
Tito" And God knows, Bess. |
l should wish the same II II was not |
for the poor little lad" This scene |
took place the night preceding the |
boys fourth birthday. The husband |
came home the following evening !
.noody and dispirited; as he entered |
the little yard the child ran up to him |
with slip OF paper; is only contained |
a few lines but they were sufficient to |
make him turn sick and giddy, and to |
clasp and kiss the child pcssionately |
as he cnoked back his sobs, for with |
all her faults he had loved his wife
how dearly he had never realized until |
he read the misspelt scrawl she had |
given the child to deliver:
"Good-by; I'm off width Teeto. You |
can have the brat-I don't whant him. |
BEsS."
Concluded next week.