The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-09

The Man Of Science walked up the
street with a dazed look. on his face
Some one had been talking to him
some one who wasn't a man of science,
| but a Woman of the World, which is
quite another thing. She had talked in
the rapid, bewildering way that her
kind affects. At first the Man Of Sci
ence hadn't attended much, being deep
at the time in mental speculation as
to the effects Of certain bacilli on a
given ground in a given temperature.
But eventually he did listen, because it
was borne upon him that this creature,
who didn't know the difference between
Schizomycetes and Schizophyta, was
actually presuming to lecture him!
Look here, doctor, it's all very well.
You may know all that's worth the
knowing about hearts and brains and
all that sort of thing, but so far as hu-
man nature goes you're a fool. There's
that pretty little wife of yours, for in
stance eating out her heart, and strain
ing her sensitive brain for a bit Of hui
man companionship, a scrap Of human
love, while you go about looking q
your fellow men-yes, at her, too, L
daresay-merely as probable subjects
flor your nasty experiments
Those were her actual words, and
before the doctor had sufficiently
recovered from his Indignation to speak
she had whisked away, with a flushed
face and painting chest and an irritat-
ing "frou-frou" Of silken skirts. Yes,
but her last remarkable remark
thrown at him over her shoulder as
she disappeared:
you deserve to lose her, and hope
you will
The Man of Science gazed after her
for full ten minutes. "You deserve to
lose her. and hope you will" The
doctor trembled, then he c1enched his
hands and unclenched them again.
What did she mean? Lose her, indeedi
Rosie was in perfect health. Why, he
had registered her pulse only yester-
day, to use it as an example in the book
he was writing and to compare it with
other and less steady pulses. Did she
mean to inSinuate that he wasn't at
tentive enough? Rosie had never COM
planned, and surely women always did
complain If they were miserable. He
made an effort to throw off the vague
alarm that possessed him, and to go
back comfortably to the bacilli. But
he couldn't, for, once in way, they
got on his nerves.
To calm himself he stopped boy
and bought copy of a daily paper,
hoping to find in it the finish of sci
entif1c discussion. He made effort to
read it as he walked. Generally he
read better so than at other times, but
now he found himself staring at the
date on the first page over and over
again. June the 10th. There was some
thing in his mind that he associated
with June the 10th. Was It on that
day that he had made his famous dis
covery? No, of course not! It was
the day on which he had married Rosie
Rosie all pink and white and trusting
Rosie fresh from her country home
Rosie as frolicsome and beguiling as
a young kitten. For the first few
months 1t was almost delightful to
have his precious books thrown across
the room into far corner, and to ma
Rosie perching on his knee instead.
But afterward-well, perhaps after
ward he had been a little preoccup1ed
Fame was very absorbing. Had there
been quite room for fame and Rosie IN
his life of late?
A sudden tenderness overwhelmed
him. Little things that he had for
gotten surged into his memory. He
saw himself sick. well-nigh unto death,
and he saw the strained, anxious look