The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-05-01
p PUFF
OF WIND
And what It Did For a Husband.
BY w. r. ROSE


1t was strong capful, and it swayed
the curtains and futtered the long
leaves of the hardy palm in the parloi
archway. Then it caught up bit OF
note paper that lay on the little table
in the hall and whirled 1t away be-
meath the bookcase in the corner. The
man who was entering did not see this
f1uttering note. He shut the door quick
ly and turned about
Nellie! Oh, Nellie! Where the deuce
can she be? he muttered. Never left
me like this before. What did she
take with herT He opened the clothes
closet off the bedroom and looked at
her garments hanging in an orderly
row. He let his hand fall lovingly on
the familiar folds and pass down them
| with gently smoothing pressure. Her
dresses seemed SO eloquent of her pres
ence. Was she hiding behind these
dangling frocks? He poked his way
into the closet, up one side and back on
| the other, but no Nellie was concealed
| within it's limited area.
"FunnyY' he muttered again. Seems
| to be gone without a word Wonder
what she did with her jewelryY He
thought he knew where she hid it
away, but he didn't At least it wasn't
there.
MAY have taken it with her." he
murmured and stopped short The
idea was an ugly one. you're fool,
John Austinp he said and scowled at
| himself in the glass.
There was a pleasant aroma arising
from the interior Of the dresser. 1t
seemed part of her. There were two
| Of her hairpins lying on the dresser top.
He picked them up carefully and laid
| them on the little china dish where a
| dozen or more of their brothers were
stretched at length. Her old shoes lay
beside her low sewing chair, small and
slim. He knew she had gone in hur-
ry She would never have left this
mark of untidiness if she hadn't been
pressed for time But what could have
drawn her away from home so sud-
denly?
John Austin was not a thoroughly
well man. He had worked too hard;
he was nervous and irritable. Evening
after evening he had come home and
unloaded into his wife's keeping as
much as he could of his burden of daily
vexations. For the first time in their
IS months of married bliss his wife
had left him without word Of warn
ing.
He came slowly down the stairway
and dropped himself into a big chair in
the library His eye wandered about
the apartment. 1t was growing dusky
outside, and the books about him were
dim and misty. He shook his fist in a
sudden fit of frenzy at the tiers of vol
umes.
"She's been reading harmful books"
he sputtered; "Ibsen and Maeterlink,
and who knows what all? They are
dangerous and degrading. They cor
rupt the soundest mind with their pes
simistic sophistries. What's thisY He
picked up a newspaper clipping from
the table and, lighting the gas, read it
aloud:
1.-THE souls of women knock some
times at the bars of convention, of ira
dition, Of marriage, and clamor for
freedom-even If it be the briefest of
respites. Sometimes when they least
expect it the desire to fly grows strong
upon them and they are ready to throw
down all that is at hand and strike out
boldly in the direction Of the Turing
voice. Who can blame them? Do you
blame the captive brutes in the arena
for beating their breasts sore against
the cruel bars that cut them off from
the delights of liberty? Woman has
the same instinct. 1t flares out at
times when least expected, and the
woman goes forth heart hungry and
longing, too, for that blessed boon that
men call-and monopolize- freedom"
John threw the clipping down.
absolute rot" he snarled. Then he
quickly said, "And she must have been
reading it just before she started out"
His voice sank on the last words, then
he briskly added: Don't be a fool,
John. Everything will come out all
right. You know it will. Here you
are worrying over what is probobly
trivial incident. Be man."
Nevertheless his hand trembled when
he picked up the obnoxious clipping
and tossed it into the wastebasket.
He leaned back in his chair and, TAX
ing out cigar, lighted and smoked it.
He thought of the first time he saw
Nellie, of how little he imagined she
would become so dear to him, Of the
gradual growth of love, Of the day he
asked her to be his wife. Queer that he
had never gone over the romance be-
FORE How wildly it all came back to
him. And this was the first time he had
recalled 1t. He had been too busy to
think of such trifles. Trihes! Too
busy to think of aught save his own
plans and hopes and ambitions. Had
his wife no hopes and plans-no ambi-
tons? Was her life SO indissolubly
linked with his that she was individu-
ally effaced? He had never asked him
self this question before. 1t was time
it was asked. How supremely selfish
he had been! He had never recognized
the fact until now. He passed his hand
YEARLY over his forehead. He wasn't
well. He had the blues. He needed
strong bracer. He went to the side
board and poured out half tumbler-
full Of whisky in the little glass. He
picked it up. Then he pushed it back.
It seemed coWardly. Why should he
be afraid of his thoughts? He remem-
bered, too, how reproachfully she al
ways looked at him when he drank.
He knew it was a temptation that he
ought to avoid. And yet her reproach-
full glances never stopped him. He
would laugh at her and drink In spir-
| it of brayado.
He went back to the big chair in the
library. What COMPOUNDED disagree
able companions a mans thoughts
werel They came unlimited and they
didn't have the grace to leave when
they found they were not welcome.
Did Nellie ever sit and think? She had
plenty of time for it. Much more time
than he had. Did she look bnck as he
had been looking back? Did-did she
regret?
A great many people had admired
Nellie. All the men who knew of his
domestic affairs considered him a very
lucky man. He took their compliments
| as a matter of course. He felt COM
placently that this was complimentary
to his good taste and his admirable
home discipline. Fool!
There was one man in particular, his
friend, whom he had reason to believe
had loved Nellie and would have made
her his wife. He was fine fellow q