Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-06-22
BURYlNG
BANQUO'S GHOST
Copyright, 1904, by Daily Story Pub. Co..
F. H. LANCASTER

TER husbands friend had been
/ making a series of severe remarks
anent the inkspot upon her finger, her
flushed face, disordered hair and several
sheets of scattered manuscript:
4e cannot serve two masters, and
it is my duty as your friend and his
friend to tell you so plainly. And l
must say that it seems to me that this
lnspiration-I believe that is the word
you literary people use-this love of
scribbling, could be easily buried be-
meath love of husband and home"
1t is not an easy something to bury
beneath anything" the young wife OBJ
lected. "or rather, like Banquo's ghost,
it refuses to stay in the ditch
Rises at the feast and mars it, Ell?
Well, I'm sorry for you'll am sorry
for you both" Severe gray eyes looked
down critically into bothered brown
ones, and her husbands friend smiled
loftily. We'll, I've said all that 1 feel
justified in saying. Good-by. dear child
suppose you know what generally
happens when man begins to feel
himself neglected."
Helen murmured that she did and
watched the erect figure sweep down
the garden path. CO." she quoted soft
ly, and stand not upon the order of
your going" Then she sat down to
think. Was she neglecting Dick. the
dear old darling? Conscience came
a ready accuser. Last evening she had
written from tea until bedtime. True,
he mad seemed to be enjoying his
paper, but he was so kind and patient.
so strong and forceful. and so much
older than she. Of course he wouldn't
complain. And this was not the first
time it had happened. ooh" with
thrill of uneasiness, The might just as
well have gone on being an old bache-
Tor Then, with quick se1f-reproach.
L should be ashamed l am. It is
silly. My stories never amount to any,
thing anyway. Half the things 1 write
are rejected Why can't I bury this
ghost that is haunting our feast and
keep it buried?" She dropped her head
into her hands. 1t would be hard To
toreswear scribbling-how hard only
those who have scrubbed know-and
she shrank from making a resolution
That she might not be strong enough to
Keep. But as his step, with tired
sound to it, struck the stair she started
up, seized the scattered sheets and
thrust them into the crate.
1T is concluded she muttered
Whlmslcally' Banquo, thy souls
tight if it find heaven, must find il ont
.o-night.
Oh. Dick, dear, I am so glad Won
have come. l have just been planning
one of those cosy, chatty little even
ngs like we used to have when we
we're first married.,
Sure. sweetheart" Dick said cor
daily, but his spirit groaned He had
Just been planning a repetition of I,st
evening. Peace and piLe and paper,
with his little wife scribbling happily
at his elbow. 1t rested him tn lean
back and smoke and watch the light as
1T came and went in her dear younr
face. 1t is so much easier. this silent
presence, when one is tired. But Helen
was saying:
"Or if you feel like reading alond I'll
ind some fancyWork. Dick was de-
table was cleared land the curtains
drawn. he took down a book and he
gan TO read like a little man. Helen
listened with conscientious alertness
Frequently, at the suggestive turn of
a phrase the ghost would arise and sit
down in the chair opposite: but look
ing at her dear boys tired face and
feeling the WEAKNESS in his voice she
found it easy to order her Banquo back
beneath the sod
Il will hem those sheets to-morrow /.
she reflected exultingly. land make a
pair of pillow shams | must not trv
TO read. That would be regular nick
AK for letting the ghost out Poor fell
low, wonder if he has been feeling
neglected"
And the next day and the next. Dick
no longer neglected, came YEARLY home
10 read aloud until he began to think