The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-05
THE GENERAL $ WIFE
BY ALEXANDER CRAHAM-5lnpsoN.

Black and White.
We are only human That is not in
tended as an originality-only the reiter-
alton OF a very hard, dry, comprehensive
lact tnat means a great deal in our lives
when all is said and done.
Peach nearly forgot it; so did Mrs.
Jarmin; Jarmin did entirely. That is
now there was nearly a great deal Of
trouble which merciful Providence
averted l say "a merciful Providence,
Tor IN no other way can 1 understand
by what means that great catastrophe
was averted.
Jarm1n was a very good-looking fellow,
captain in the Indian staff corps and.
as captains even in the staff corps some
times do, thought more of himself than
did anybody else.
When home on leave he met the pref
test, daintiest little RI in Cheltenham.
and for once finding someone whom ne
could regard as better than himself he
forgot Jarmin for awhile and was gen
timely nice. He married her, and they
came out to India. Long before five
years had passed and not long after he
discovered he was the father of a child
as pretty as her mother the old seIf-es-
TEEN had reasserted itself and he
thought it quite natural, quite within
the proper course of things, that he
should have one of the sweetest women
In India for his wife and one of the
prettiest little cherubs as his child
1t must be said for Jarmn that he was
good soldier; but good soldiers do not
always get good bilets. Jarmin did.
That, too. was to him only natural, but
In the good fortune of his military career
he still further failed TO appreciate the
good fortune of his domestic life
Not that he was inattentive to Mrs
Jarmin BY no means. Jarmin was a
gentleman. He gave her all the attention
that gentleman owes to a lady Had
he neglected to see a chair for her when
she required one, it would have worried
MIN all day He was always courteous
never sympathetic, rarely tender
Everything went well, however, until
they came to stay at the Annexe. Bonn
bay, just prior to his proceeding to Sec
underabad as deputy assistant adjutant
general
Then 1t was that Peach, of the Bank
saw her sitting alone at table awaiting
the arrival of her liege lord. Of course.
Peach did not then know she had liege
lord The idea did not enter his head
he only saw vision in the most pic
turesque of pink, and it was done He
was, as he would have described such
circumstance in another man, clean
bowled-" Their eyes met, and the ex-
preston on his face brought a half
smile to her own as she glanced away.
But in that moment she had seen
something manly and frank in his coun-
tenance which she admired. Added TO
this, there was the natural pleasure all
women have in winning admiration.
There was no one to talk to, and she
looked again at Peach.
Jarmin came down to dinner full of
himself, as usual, and therefore had not
time to see what was going on. If he
had, the idea of a civilian, who was not
even one of the civil service Heaven
borns, coming between himself and his
wife, would have appeared too ridiculous
to he worthy of consideration.
Had Peach known she was married. he
might probably have saved himself
earlier. But he persuaded himself that
the man by her side was just friend.
CHicers and ladies going home or COM
ing from up-country stations sometimes
do met at the hotels in Calcutta or Bonn
bay. He was only a friend
BY the time he had got to an examtna>
ton of her fingers from distance ana
saw the wedding ring, it was too late
He Was already in love. Though she cid
not know it just then so was she.
Had she known it, things might have
been different but for the simple amus..-
mcnt of doing so she continued to look
'NNhlo'o4AoAly dL POOf ( CdCn until MS blood
was anne and his whole being tingled
with sensation such as he had never
eXpGTt.rcoG before.
few Jays went by and they wee IN
tr1ddcea. Jarmin did not give Peach
much thought. He was glad his wife
had company. It saved him the trouble
Ct extra Consideration. So he played I'm
CONSCIOUSLY for his own ruin and the ruin
NJ Two others ~
1t was shock to the young lover when
he found there was child; but he toon
THAT into his calculations also, and went
drifting towards the cataract, blindIy in
different |" eS eiything but the intense
happiness Of mis- frequent tete-a-tetes
with the woman who scared to him now
to he ecf sst" of his existence
Most :non are lit that way at one tire
or anotho"; bLt Peach had it particular
~ tad
Then 1l'inss reached a climax 1t v7s
after dinner. hey were sitting out ON