Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-05-24
JOBSON LEFT ALONE.

Il NEW uOASEp SNtl As4AS% DDUrJtA ~ III 0SR-
son on his arrival nome from the office one
vening couple Of weeks ago.
docs, hey2y was Mr. Jobson's offhand
reply. well, why don't you 90, then. No
cable chains or hawsers or things like that
/ tied to you, are there, EN-"
"N-no,Y replied Mrs. Jobson; only, Of
course, | don't like to leave you to shift
for your"
Now, just hold on a minute with that,
my DEAR" interrupted Mr. Jobson, taking
Colossus OF Rhodes stand in front Of her
and thrusting bis lands into his trousers
| pockets. Just keep the rest OF that in, If
you want to oblige me. WAT dye thinks
going to happen 10 me II you go away, EN-
Flank that / won't be able to get my coat
! N or of, or that LII suddenly stop breath
ing, or that I'll forget now to comb my
hair, or that III lose out on the art Of walk
/ ing from one end Of the room to the othe-,
or something like that? Ii any such no
tions have possession Of you, Mrs. Jobson
| just forget EN-, won't youz Don't you mr.
/ agine that | won't be able to scrabble along
! by my little old lonesome. Fact is, I'd
rather enjoy it. Married folks are too much
together, anyhow. They ought to be away
from each other and out Of all communica-
tion with eath other for two or three months
each year, at least"
I'D only be gone for a couple of days."
put in Mrs. Jobson, musingly, "and could
let the housemaid have a little vacation.
and you could get your-meals downtown,
and"
"Thatll be all o. K, broke in Mr. job
son, shortly. II guess | won't miss any
thing in the way Of meals or anything else
that's coming to me. Stay as long as you
| Ikea week, or two weeks for that matter.
Be change for both Of us. Go ahead.
Night as well start the first thing to-mor-
row morning"
"Well, maybe | shall remain week or
ten days." answered Mrs. Jobson, in a mat
ter-of.fact way that caused the offhand Mr..
Jobson to glance sidewise at her, and then
she went upstairs to pack. She departed
after breakfast on the following morning.
1t was not until Mr.. Jobson was remov-
| ing his Office coat that afternoon that he
suddenly recalled that his wife was away.
He looked trae blank with the thought.
Then he essayed to whistle deyil-may
care tune, and sailed forth to restaurant
for his dinner. The meal seemed rather
tasteless to him, although he bent over it
with a rakish air and smoked a cigar over
his demitasse with fine bachelor flourish.
The meal over, he went forth into the
street, where he met a number of young
blades from his office. Their garrulous,
choppy talk seemed strangely vapid to him,
although lie played couple lof games Of
billiards with them and endeayored to as
sumo the manner OF a footloose middle-aged
husband enjoying himself nightly. They
suggested one OF tie stag saows to him.
but he couldn't see the suggestion at ali.
1 He thought he migat well go along nome
and finish reading the evening paper and
write letter or 50.
/ The house seemed strange, not to say I'M
canny, to Mr.. Jobson when ne let himself
/ in. His heart sank, but he wasn't going to
admit it, so he whistled "A Hot Time, al
| though the tune dwindled away into a dirge
before he had finished with it, Mr.. Jobson
4 lit all of the downstairs gas and drew the
/ curtains. Then he leaned on the mantel-
piece and gazed vacantly at the piano and
tried to reflect upon what bully thing
/ grass widowhood was once in awhile. His
eye caught sight of Mrs. Jobsons picture ON
the piano. He hadn't noticed that photo
graph before for long time. He walked
over to it and picked it up.
"Darned pretty woman, that girl, all
right, he unused, half aloud, brushing away
a Dit VI mary duSt llUul Tie
with his sleeve. Then, after a pause, he
added; And the best that ever put op
shoe leather, at that"
Compelled to admit to himself that he
was falling into pretty low spirits, Mr.. job
son started to whistle some more. Then he
sat down at the piano and began to pick
out, with two fingers of his right hand.
some of the favorite pieces that Mrs. Job
lcAf fslo for
this dull work. and too reminiscent in the
bargain, and SO he suddenly left off and
walked upstairs, where he lighted all of the
gas. He watered some ferns in little pots
on their dressing-room mantel, and while
doing this his eye caught sight of note
which his wife had left on the mantel for
him before leaving
Dear old boy" the note read, remember
that your shirts and collars and cuffs are in
the second drawer of the chiffonier / sent
two of your suits to the cleaners before
leaving this morning. They will be ready
in a couple of days. Don't forget to fill the
saucer in the birds cage each morning with
water. | left him enough seed for week
You must wear your overcoat if the days are.
chilly. | shall probably stay with sister for
ten days. Shall write every day or So"
! Well, it had been good many years since
Mr.. Jobson had pressed vaguely scented
| bit of note paper to his face, but he did it
when he read that note, and then he tugged
at his collar as if rising lump had made the
! collar a trife too tight for his neck.
''Best girl that ever came over the hills.
all right he murmured, and then he sat
down on the couch and began to finish read
ing the evening paper 1t took him FIVE min
utes to discover the mpracticability Of read
ing newspaper held upside down, and
wnen he made the discovery he threw it
down in disgust and made ready for bed
1t took him a mighty long time to fall asleep,
and while he was tossing and turning he
found himself rejecting that there had been
whole lot of things he'd said to Mrs. Job.
son recently that he might just as well have
kept to himself.
Before he started downtown the next
morning he received CHEEKY letter from
Mrs. Jobson, telling him that she was en-
! joying herself immensely, and that her sis
| ter and brother-in-law were insisting upon
| her prolonging her visit to two weeks. Mr..
Jobson experienced a queer, tight little