The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-14
THE JOKE WAS ON HIM.

former WaShlngtonldn Wno Ho" lives in New York closed up his Man. haitian establishment a few weeks ago and went down to Atlantic City to roll around and smoke. At the same time his wife. Washington girl, came on to Washington to visit her folks, The other day the lolling husband in Atlantic City was summoned back to New York by his business, and on the morning that he received this summons he had letter from his wife in Wash ington saying that she was starting home from New York on the Il a. m. train.
 Good job" said the husband in At lantic City to himself I'll just meet her train in Philadelphia and surprise her by turning up and we can ride to- gether to New York"
 Which he did He went up from At lantic City to Philadelphia on morn- ing train, loafed around Slumberburg for an hour or so and was at the sta ton when the Washington train got in
 He hustled through the gate and clam bered aboard the rear car, and then started forward to find his spouse. She was in the third car he struck. When he saw her, however, he came pretty close to falling down in the aisle. She was up in one of the front seats, with her back to her husband as he entered the car from the rear of course, and her hatless head rested back on the cushion in a manner that looked distinctly langushing to the startled and pallid husband Her head was { rtc1l h of a man, only a small part or whose Van Dyke bearded face the husband could see.
 The husband could hardly believe his eyes. He toppled into one of the rear
 seats, yanked out his handkerchief and mopped his forehead, and found that he was almost in a tremble of aston | ishment.
 l Great scott!" he thought, breaking out into another perspiration, It's
 impossible; 1t can't be my wife, the salt | water isn't out of my eyes yet. I'll look again."
 | He rose from his rear seat and looked again. Of course the woman whose 1 head was so close to that of the man
 with the Van Dyke beard was his wife.
 He would know the back of her head among a thousand.
 The husband was just fairly smoking by this time. He began to gnaw on his nails. The cheery laughter of his wife reached his ears, and he did something that one would not suppose is really
 ever done outside the pages of cheap
 noyel-he "smothered cuss." He saw the wreck of his little home. He saw
 all sorts of things that the male idiot
 always sees under such and similar | circumstances.
 Yes yes; this husbands story was a sad, sad one as he sat there in rear
 seat, gnawing his nails, wondering just
 what'd be the best way to kill the Van- Dyked chump.
 | He hadn't yet figured this point out
 before his rage overmastered him, and
 he charged up the aisle toward where
 his wife and the unknown were sitting.
 There was blood in his eye, and his
 features were working viciously, and every muscle of his body was aching from the tension, as he stopped over
 the back of the seat, tapped his wife on
 the shoulder and said in a checked, l hoarse voice:
 "Clara, a word with you" His wife turned her head swiftly, and | when she saw her husband her face lighted up delightedly
 "Why, Jack" she exclaimed, rising
 in her seat and facing him, with her
 hands extended "how In the wide
 world do you happen to be on this
 train? Did you-are you ill? Is there any bad news?" for she had noticed his wild looks and had become alarmed as
 she was talking.
 "Lust a word with you, Clara" re-
 piled her husband. still in that awful
 tone, at the same time gazing at the
 man with the Van Dyke beard, who
 was grinning with what seemed to the husband combination of asininity and | impudence at both husband and wife.
 The wife stepped out of the seat, but as she did so the whole truth of the
 business flashed through her mind | She threw back her head and let out a peal of laughter. The man with the ivan Dyke threw back his head and
 laughed, too.
 "WhN, Jack, you old jealous thing
 you!" said his wife, archly regarding him with her head on one side anc
 then breaking again into mirth.