The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1903-07-24

THE LIGHTNING SKETCHED THE FIGURE
OF MAN.
husband might approach and hear her,
abruptly she had stifed her sobs and
had begun to undress.
All her womanhood was in revolt.
Her husband had been detestable; he
had been brutal; he had uttered things
that she never would have believed he
could, and she had been led into as
sertions now keenly repugnant to her,
oh, he was so irritating, so masterful,
so unreasonable! And thereupon
thronged into her tossing mind retort
after retort which she might have
made, but which she had not thought
of in time.
She crept into bed and softly cried
afresh. These were not angry tears,
but tears from the depths of desolate
heart, Thus at last her married life
had gone the way of so many other
married lives of which she had read
and heard. The prophecies of cynical
and imbittered acquaintance had come
true-that she would discover she had
lONSI thC lIlel1 anu udu ludII1cu lu6
real. The dreams of her girlhood had
been beaten to death.
Well, as an end to the chickering's vel
come the separation. She would prove
to him that she was not dependent
upon him, not in the slightest. She
would answer defiance with defiance,
Worn out by her turmoil of resent
md ;4f ,IN
awakened with a start, sitting up in
bed, every nerve on the alert. A thun-
derstorm was over the city. How long
it had been in progress she did not
know, but wind and rain combined
were lashing roof and pane. The at
mosphere was surcharged with elec-
tricity. She was quivering; a weight
seemed to be upon her.
AS she endeavored to collect her scat
tered senses her thoughts flew to the
parlor window. She must go and shut
1t, for the rain was from that direction.
Norman would not do it, and she would
die rather than ask him, much as she
shrank at the trip through the bris-
tling darkness. Drawing on her fleecy
house slippers, she threw about her the
first wrap upon which she laid her
hands-a raglan coat-and desperately
set forth.
Not a movement in Norman's room.
Surely he was awake; he never slept
through thunderstorm. How cruel in
him to stay still and permit her to
make the journey-she, such a coward!
Sfl f1n
midst of sough of wind and rain and
growl of thunder! Almost she was
forced into speaking to Norman to as
certain If really he was awake. But,
no; she never, never would acknowl-
edge a need for him.
However, even hard in her indigna-
ton, she GOULD not help playing the
wife, and, mindful that her door stuck
and was difficult to open, to avoid rous-
ing him if perchance he was asleep she
felt for the portieres and passed
through in order to reach the hall by
the door from his room.
She had taken only one or two steps
when, instant as saber stroke, came
u flare of lightning which for the frac-
tion of a second tipped everything with
fire and was swallowed up. Brief as it
was, it gave to her dazzled eyes the
glimpse of man just on her left, mo-
tionless, arrested like herself.
A burglar! A desperado! In Nor
mans room. What had been happen.
ing there in the night? Why was Nor.
man so still? And this, then, was the
subtle dread which had awakened her
an intuition of the tragedy.
All, could she but have known! Could
she but have last evening back again!
Could she but have the last year againl