Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1901-09-26

SO this was the woman who made
Leo so unhappy? She had bent her
head for her husbands kiss, and re-
piled to his question as to whether
VOLTS room was ready, that she
hoped their guest would find every
thing as he liked it, And with a
pleasant nod she said to the latter
"Auf wiedersehen, Herr Doctor"
Then she disappeared, with the jing-
ling basket on her arm, through the
tall folding-doors that opened into the
dining-room.
Wolf stood looking after her. Her
manner is perfect" he murmured, as
the door closed behind the slender
figure. He walked slowly toward the
carpeted staircase, as Leo. who
thought his friend was following him,
called back. Where are you, Wolf?
This way, please"
He went into Leo's sitting-roOm
and passed through the studio. In
spite of the early hour. It was all
brilliantly lighted, and had a rich
look, almost too magnificent, perhaps.
The chamber which was assigned to
him was exceedingly comfortable and
only too elegantly furnished. There
were rugs scattered about. bear-skins
and costly articles of luxury every.
where
Make yourself comfortable, Wolf;
a cup OF tea or glass of wine is
quite at your disposal You need not
make a great toilet. Our guests will
be here in an hour and will come to
fetch you
Dr. Maiberg was alone. He had
dismissed the servant who brought in
his trunk and offered his services In
unpackng it, He must be ready in
an hour so he had not very much
time. He sat down on the sofa and
looked about the room. He must first
of all get accustomed to the idea of
being Leos guest. How often that
had been the case in those earlier
days Then he had sat opposite one
of the gayest of mortals, in a plain,
cane-bottomed chair, before the
plainest table imaginable. Colors,
papers, pencils, and all sorts of
painting apparatus were tossed about
in the widest confusio., and in the
midst of it all tin tea-kettle was sing
ing gayly. The little black stove in
the corner of the white-washod room
was cold, for the fire was only made
once a day. and before the curtainless
window of the attic room the neigh
boris cat ran across the roof and
wondered that the two men within
could laugh SO heartily in spite of
the poverty, the cold, and the sour
wine
What had happened to Leo? Dir.
Maiberg drew his hand hastily across
his forehead. The beautiful, slender
figure OF his young wife rose before
his eyes-was she really such a
nonentity as Leo made her out?
Poor fellow-if it really were So Il
must be horrible to live in con.
slant struggle with pettiness and mar.
rowness. horrible for any man, but
most of all for an artist. He pictured
to himself the results of this want of
character. How horrible to have a
wife who did nothing but wash and
cook and bake, who simply by her
presence drove away the graces and
all poetry. Leo's letter had made
him more anxious than he had been
willing to acknowledge to his friend.
Thank Heaven. her appearance. at
least, was by no means prosaic, She
had seemed to him like one of those
beautiful wumanly figures that
Beyschlag paints SO charmingly.
Could the mind really be so great a
contradiction of the exterior?
Presently he drew long breath as
he went up to the table. and with an
expression of emotion locked at a
shallow glass dish i'm which some
pine-branches and Christmas roses
were gracefully arranged.
That could have been no one but
her: no servant would even have
dreamed Of that" he said under his
breath, and he had a vision of her as
she stood there arranging the flowers
That certainly did not look like O
prosaic nature. to offer home-flowers
as friendly greeting to the stranger
from foreign land
The comfortable home-feeling he
had had on his arrival came over
him with renewed force; but then Il
suddenly occurred to him that he was
in fair way 20 commit gross sin q
omission-he certainly ought. before
he appeared among the other guests
TO pay his respects to the hostess
He finished dressing as quickly as
possible. and then requested servant
10 announce him TO Frau Jussnitz
The man came back I'm three minutes
TO say that his mistress regretted ex
tremely not to be able to receive the
Herr Doctor. as she was occupied "
the nursery at present.
Leo, who entered a moment after
the servant. laughed shortly. as he
threw himself down on the sofa. al
the queer mixture OF disappointment
and resignation plainly expressed on
the doctors face.
Don't take It to heart, Wolf, he
said. as the servant left the room
"The nursery is the barrier which
my wife erects to enable her To es'