The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-07-24

THE LIGHTNING STRETCHED THE FIGURE
OF MAN.
husband might approach and hear her,
abruptly she had stitled her Sobs and
had begun to undresS.
All her womanhOod was in revolt.
Her husband had been dctcstable; 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 rcpugnant 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
loved the ideal and had married the
! been beaten to death.
| Well. as an end to the chickering's wei
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 10y her turmoil of resent
mcnt and grief. She sank asleep. She
/ ~ lion with n ct ii n
/ bed. every nrrvr on the alert \ 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 ana panc. The at
moSphere was surchar@cd with "lee-
tricity. Sh" WAS quiNorine; a weight
seemed To be upon her.
As she cndeavored to collect her scat
tered senses her thoughts flow TO the
parlor window. She must so ana shut
it, for the rain was from that direction.
Norman would not do il, and she would
die rather than ask him, much rs She
%hrAnk at the trip through the hris-
tlinE darkness. Drawing on her llcccy
house slippers, SHE threw about her the
first wrap upon which she laid her
hands-a raglan coat-und desperately
set forth.
Not a movement III Norman's room.
Surely he WAS awake: he never slept
through Il thunderstorm. How cruel in
him to stay still and permit her To
make the iourncy-She, such Il coward,
How silent the house was in the
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 Il need for him.
However. even hard in her indgna
ton, she could not help playing the
wife, and. mindful that her door stucl
and was difficult to open. to avoid rous
: ing him if pcrchance he was asleep sh,
: felt for the portieres and passet
through in order to reach the hall b!
e the door from his room.
I She had taken only one or two step
/ when, instant as Il saber stroke, cam
z flare of lightning which for the fraC
o ton of a second tipped everything wit
fire and was swallowed up. Brief as
Il was, 1t gave to her dazzled eyes tn
s glimpse OF man just on her left. INC
2, tiOnless. arrested like herself.
l. A burglar. A desperadO! In MOI
4 mans room. What had been happier
n ing there in the night? Why was MOI
lie man so still? And this, then. was tn
c. subtle dread which had awakened he
- An intuition of the tragedy.
d. All. could she but have known! Coul
!. she but have last evening back AGAR
lie Could she but have the last year agail