Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1903-10-02

y ~, iii ,HLN view by her VII
| I CLS3NN AH low plume. He
| ktf tWMW voice was low, and
ES& had In 1t an infies
8 =: !: :: Z; :: .: :: g: !:
~ from some sorrow
full reminiscence. She Is a woman
and poorw she said. "A woman, too
whom society forbids, upon penalty q
Punishment from tie circle In which
! she was born and bred, to seek I've
Iihood by manual labor I. y easy fol
men to talk Of freedom of thought and
action. The world Is before them To
them the bread Of charity and depend
ence mean one and the Same thtnS. Thu
latter IL the only nouriAhment Of noet
women from the cradle to the tomb.
wish the passage between the two wal
shcrter-for their sake"
Il never looked at the subject in that
light before" WAS Edwards rsmorsefuI
reply. Poor old Harriet, zee now
how much more she merits pity than
contempt"
"She is no worse OF than Thousands
Of her sisters" said Constance, in
harsher judgment Content yourself
with giving thanks that you were
born a man"
She had spoken out of the pain Of .
wrung spirit, with no thought of plead
ing her own cause. She was too proud
to murmur. least of all to her hus-
bands brother. But the conversation
was q key that unlocked for her In his
heart recesses of interest and sympathy
which must else have remained forever
barred against woman who whatevev
were her virtues and destinations, had
deliberately bartered hsr charms and
perjured herself In order to secure an
eligible settlement
"And, to do her justice, she Is supe-
rior to the practice of thearts that make
Harriet acceptable to my brother and
odious to everybody else" he meditat-
ed. She offers no profession Of devo-
ton to the man she has married, while
she accords to him the respectful duty
Of wife. Elnathan seems Satisfied
Perhaps he Graves nothing warmer.
Pray heaven he may never guess of how
much fate has defrauded him in with
holding from him the free, glad affec-
tons of q true woman"
II there were any changes In his be-
havior to Constance after this, 1t was
to be discerned in gentler address, in
unobtrusive regard for her wishes, ex-
pressed or surmised, and a prolonga-
ton Of his stay in house that held 80
few attractions for her. That this ar
rangement was highly satisfactory to
his brother was not without effect In
shaping his conduct. That Harriet piled
him with solicitations to remain before
his decision was announced, and was
loudly voluble in her protestations Of
delight when the question was ssttlsd,
had not . straw's weight with MIN
She annoyed him less than formerly,
however, either, rs he explained 1t to
himself, because he had learned charity
from Constance's defense of the lonely
spinster's policy, or because she kept
herself more in the background than
was her won't She seemed amiAbly
disposed toward Constance, too, and he
strove to credit her with kind inten-
tons with regard to one whom NEST
people in her situation would have
hated as q usurper. She abetted what
over project Of outdoor excursion OF
domestic recreation was proposed By
him for Constance's diversion, Offering
herself as tho wife's substitute IN the
sober phaeton drive on breezy after
moons, that Constance and Ddward
might act ~ outriders, and never
failed to call the husbands notice to
her graceful horsemanship and the
brighter bloom planted in her chesA1
by the exercise. Mr.. Withers never
tired Of chess, and the indsfAtgahle
toad-eater apparently shared his zeal
on this point The board was produced
nightly as the days became shorter and
the evenings cooler. and music, reading
or conversation upon art and nterA-
ture was carried on for hours By tks
two of the quartette without
from the automAta bent
over the checkered surface.
For Harriet could be taciturn when
need was-a very lay figure in dumb
ness as In starch. Whether she ever
ceased to be watchful was another mat
ter.
ITO n coxrISuBp.j