The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1902-02-01

CHAPTER XIII.
Mrs. Reeks Sits Up Late.

Mrs. Reeks Sits Up Late.
Mrs. Reeks was growing suspicious.
In truth, she was a lady given to that
form of excitement pretty frequently;
perhaps 1t served to relieve the monot-
n of a somewhat drab existence.
Whatever dreams Mrs. Reeks might
once have cherished in regard to Mr..
Reeks, or to life in general, had long
since been dissipated, and now only re-
turned. in a sort of w~ashed-out form,
on the occasion of a hot supper, when
luck happened to come In the way OF
Mr.. Reeks, or when, from the pit of a
cheap theater, she saw the Might
Have-Been" behind the footlights n
renewed her youth. She was a good
woman, and a kindly one; but fate had
MOI treated her we'll, and h had
learned to expect little except buffets
and Knockout blows. But Ii pinned
her faith to Mr.. Reeks, n was moder-
Htely happy.
Now, when things looked blacklist,
and a big cloud of deb doomed heavy
above her, there IL come a CLEAN OF
hope. This husband, in whom she mad
never ceased to believe. was, by the
sheer power of his intellect and his per-
%scna!ity, to secure at least slOO. Nay,
more-was it not possible that he might
permanently take the place of this man
who had Disappeared; that he might
rise to something even more lucrative
thar either of them imagined? In the
full flush of glorious expectation, Mrs.
Reeks sent the small servant out for
something hot, and prepared to make
herself comfortable, pending h tri-
umphant return of MIR. Reeks. Then
some dim touch of the old romance
came back to the poor, commonplace
woman, and she dreamed q dream.
She thought that the days of squalfi
struggling in Camden town were over:
that a newer and q brighter world had
opened for them both, and that they
sailed out to 1t over a sunlit sea. She
had no notion where they were going,
except that she was confident in the
strength and power of some promise
which had been made to her. She
knew swith absolute certainty that
t,ouhulous times were ever and done
with. She was floating out on a broad,
opCH st1p VI LlC way " ~ AA
der happy conditions. Then the vessel
on which she sailed began to rock and
plunge, and Mrs. Reeks, starting awake,
found herself nodding in her chair-the
fire out-and the clock pointing towards
3 IN the morning.
Mrs. Reeks started to her feet and
looked about her. 1t became evident In
moment that Mr.. Reeks had not come
home, his sliDpers-like a melancholy
ghost of the end of him-stood inside
the fender: mis- pipe lay OIL the table,
ready to- his hand, to be smoked before
retiring to rest. In a word, Mr.. Reeks
was, above all things, a model husband;
and this was the first occasion on which
his wife had ever set at their humble
6reside. at such an hour, alone.
Thoroughly awakened from her
dream, Mrs. Reeks shook herself, got
up and went to the window, pulled the
1,,ind aside and looked out. 1t was a
dark enough night, and it happened
that. Just under the lamp outside the
window. a policeman had halted on mis-
cherries beat 10 look about him. Mrs.
Reeks instantly dropped the blind, with
q gasp. and retired to her chair.
Il don't like it at ALL" she muttered
TO herself. wish I'd never urged him
to so in for 1t. It's been a hard life.
and, heaven knows, we want the mon
ey; bat If this Gilbert Rickerby is dead
<as he well may be, to be advertised for
like this) l cont care for the thought
that George Reeks is stepping into his
shoes. Nearly 3 o'clock! II anything
has happened to him I'll never forgive
myself. It's false pretenses-goodness
knows what 1t is or what it isn't!"
She started up again and went to the
window, looked out, and saw, to her re-
lief, that the policeman was gone, I
thought. perhaps, he was watching the
house, she murmured To herself.
''Poor George--he's got the neart of a
zion; but you could crush him in a mo-
anent with unkindness. I hope, IL they
find him out, they won't be rough with
aim.
At last, after wandering about the
room restlessly for a long time, she
caught up the light, with al air Of de-
termination, and went up to the bed
room, tied on her bonnet with some
~ferceness and threw a cloak about her.
Then she came down stairs, extin-
guished the light and went out into the
streets. taking the key Of the house
with her. 3 ss
She set off rapidly in the direction Of
st. Johns Wood. taking the broader
thorcughfares, and only stopping to ask
the way once or twice, with something
OF fear, Of a grim-looking constable at
O street corner. So she came to the
house, and had her unsatisfactory In
terview with Cornelius, and went away
again, buoyal up with the hope that
George Reeks had taken another road,
and had reached home in her absence.
But she found, on; arrival, that there
was no sign Of him: with q sinking
heart she let herself In to the little
aaouse, and sat downgagain to wait.
Meanwhile, Mr.. Reeks himself had
been RAISING through excitingAAexperi-
sences. After that struggle In the gar
den, he found himself, as he stood help
1essly looking OF, grasped by the arm,
and hurried along at top speed Into The
Darkness. Looking up timidiy. he saw
that Gilbert Rickerby wa his guilds:
Come along, Mr.. Reeke.y cried Gil
bert; we haven't asrloment to lose.
The game III .ap. I'm afraad::3sb hut i i
dom want tpsgetsyo mixed IN m q
~ 81 disasters. TheresSiss way out
here ;gs you must Leave nleStO:loOk after
myseIf. Remember. howeversss-theyy had
& & to the ffttieIga leadins8i Into the
aalleysat the hack ~ ho~tIse;;ssEaiibeft
stood gstlIl, With aahand onsthe ashou ~