The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-06-24
HOW LONG WILL 1T LAsTa


fectly happy though they had been mar
REQ I'VE years Other married folks en-
wed them because they seemed TO have
| served the problem OF perennial honey
| moons They actually firted with one
| another, and were never jealous. Young
I wives Who had come TO know the mar
RED state as quite q serious matter said
mat II was easy enough 10 appear
Siriish' so long as one had no children.
Ally McCalium (nee Bondurant) had no
| children Therefore, said the mothers.
/ she has no wrinkles, her mouth up-curls
AZ the corners. her complexion keeps.
| her laugh is like it was ar l.. Young
ter night at the club. defended them
selves with references TO Dick McCallum
| and his ideal home life.
He's the worst rounder in the bunch.
! they said, and he doesn't even make II
a secret from Ally. She's good fell
lev, and so is he, and they're both glad
Of it."
| So the McCallums f1irted and frolicked
through four years of married life with
/ no secrets from each other. no troubles
I that they could not laugh away over
1 their morning coffee, and not even a
EFhif of the malodorous breath of Nine.
Grundy- To be sure. Mrs. Kewick. who
was forever squabbling with her hus-
band and who had seven children though
1 SA4G ncS Iyl ~ cdlS OtQr &OUIcIcQ now
| long it would last and old Mrs Lucy
Olivia Pettibone, who was studying nledi-
cine at 80, took her son Claude te task
for, as she expressed II, going a little
too far with that thoughtess McCallum
woman.
Ally said Dick one morning. as he
laid aside his newspaper. I'm getting
tired of YOU
I'm glad you spoke first, Richey." she
laughed for you've bored me TO death
ever since Marie Legarde got married
wish you'd either join some more clubs
or get up another Irritation
I'm tell you what, Ally" he yavned.
lets vacation apart. What dye say2"
THE very thing. I'll go East and you
go West, to find the one that we love
best, she was singing with delight at the
mere idea.
That's it, Well dance and firt and
spoon and have little suppers-do every
thing that self-respecting, lively young
folks can do, Ell, Ally? Just like We
did before we were married. and"
Just like you've been doing ever
sincei" she Knocked.
We'll. you haven't been leading a con-
ventional life. exactly. have you. Aily?"
mo, and 1 don't intend &c. I'm salts.
fed with you. Dick. and you seem to
be"
Satisfied? I'm tickled to death with
you, Ally, and you know it. So, why
wouldn't we have as much fun out of the
rest of the world as we can? Still, so
much satisfaction and so much happt
ness is apt TO give US a touch of ennui 1T
sast, you know. I guess. after I've had
another whirl at real bachelorhood, III
be gladder to come home to you than
ever"
And so win I. Richey." she assented,
and with this understanding they set
11l- fvcr hit v.1a fxxrta
months vacation as far apart as the
two oceans and their mutual and we'll
tried affection would let them.
Are you going as a-er, a married man
or as a bachelor, Dick?" she asked him.
when he drove her and her maid and all
the luggage to the depot.
IL don't you think we'd better both
own up Ally? We don't want to deceive
anybody. you know, and besides. it's al
ways easier-that is, I've found 1t al
ways more feasible to carry on an af-
faire," so to speak, since"
Since you were married? Why. you
shameless villaini" she pouted. but It
was agreed that they should own up
as Dick put it. Then they swore a low
Ing oath to meet in Chicago at the end Of
the summer and, at little wine supper
or their own. to swap experiences con-
cealing nothing, cxaggerating nothing;
to describe for mutual delectation all the
characters they had met, "how far they
had gone with each. how this one had
made love or permitted advances, how
that one had wooed and how the other
had endured the snub implied, or the
snub direct That was to be the one I'M
alterable pact between them-no secrets
at the end. For the rest, they were
to write once a week, she from the shores
of the Atlantic and he from Frisco.
which he chose for the candidly given
reason that II was 1.-THE hottest old town
in the world" And so they parted. their
faces grave for the moment. and in their
eyes the thoughtful loyalty that may
have slumbered but had never died in
their hot, young hearts.
And when the leaves were brown in the
parks and the overworked panamas had
vanished from State street, Mr.. and Mrs.
Dick McCallum met again at Grand Cen
trail station with an ebullient eclat that
was the torment and the envy OF all
beholders. for she hung upon his lips like
an old-fashioned sweetheart, and he held
her in his strong, long arms Ike the lover
IT. the story books. and there was q
CULVER about his strong mouth and a
tear in her blue eyes such as only wooers
know. and as they rode TO the hotel.
they held hands all the way. and said
such tender things as even they had not
spoken for four years
1t doesn't matter how long and merriiy
they laughed over that little supper By
the dim, rudy lights Of the coy dining
room in which they were ensconced for
r,early three hours. She talked and laugh
Cd. and he laughed and talked. till every
trivial adventure of their merry makings
seemed to have been told and retold,
with all the side lights turned on and
none of the trimmings left of. And then,
as he stood up 10 end the little festivity,
he said
And you're glad, Ally. TO come back
u me?"
clad, Dick? It's IKE being born again.
because. because-you're so glad. too.
Aran't Won RichevYs And he kissed her
eyes, her ears. her hair and her lips.
But when he went out 10 telephone
for a carriage and left her pluHling her
self against the cool lake breeze. he
stood idly in the booth. saying to him
self: You're q low dog. that's what
you are, McCallum. He pulled from his
inside pocket letter. which he tore Into
bits. ssI'u not send Il. It's q biz late. but
well. she isn't fit 10 tie ny Aily's shoe
latchr'
Ten minutes later they were entering
the hotel Ally first and Dick following
with her wraps lie was close enough u
see a handsome stranger rise from one
OF the leather settees. and greet Mrs.
why. Any God bless you. where did
you come from
And Dick saw her go pale and red BY
turns as ne came up. ard she introduces !
the talt fresh-faced. clcan-llmbed young
man as Mr.. Frank Schoheid-
This IS ny husband Fr-Mr- Scho- /
field" she said. blushing furiously- And I
then. 70 Dick. with uneasy emphasis. /
we net az Newport Richey. Mr- Scho- |
field IL a Yale man. too. % weren't /
you. Mr.. SchofeldT
But though she carried K OF quite Sex-
terously. the young stranger looked rux- /
-,ed ard after a few counoaplsre words I