The San Francisco call., 1904-12-05

IAk Good Old Summer Time.
w what is it? A check?"
Anthony. who had come to be known
in nubIisbing circles as stella Mat
thew's husband" did not answer at
once. His face turned a shade redder
and he crammed the envelope which
the postman had given him into the
recesses Of his inside pocket. StelIa
flung down the dishrag and thrust her-
self into the doorway between the
kitchen and the combination dining
room and library. Did you get
check?" she persisted.
DO I ever get checks?" Anthony
returned savagely. yet with note IN
his voice that inspired pity Re
turned with thanks. Rejection does not
necessarily imply lack of merit; that's
the sort of thing they send me. wish
l knew what it is they like about your
stories
why, nothing specially, dear" re-
piled his wife. She wiped her arms on
her apron that she might put them
about his neck without soiling his shirt
you write ever so much better than l,
only I've been at it longer. You mustn't
get discouraged. You'll strike it in
time
''Timel I've been at it two years.
No, Stella, guess it's a city desk and
twenty-five a week for mine for the
rest of my life. What's the odds, any
way?"
In the face of such hopelessness as
this Stella felt her presence worse than
useless. She put up her rosy lips TO
be kissed, and went back to continue
her struggle with the coffee cups. She
had seen Anthony down very often
of lot he in
heartsickness the one malady of which
she might not even try TO cure him.
Her attempts, indeed, seemed only TO
irritate and annoy the big, square
chinned fellow whose defeat was so
much the harder for him to bear be-
cause of her success.
Anthony loved his wife. as a great
many everyday men still do in spite
of the quips and jests of the comic
papers. He had thought her the dain-
tiest and brightest of little women
when he married her, and his greatest
delight bad come with the cOntempla-
tion Of the things he would do for her
when he got there" That he would
ultimately get there" he had never
doubted. The newspaper on which he
worked had printed three or four of
his romances, and scores of his friends
had complimented him on their clever
ness Surely, the magazines ought not
to be difficult after this
AS matter of fact, they had proved
not only difficult, but impregnable
Manuscript after manuscript was re-
turned to him. always with thanks
and printed slip. Stella, on the other
hand. had received five dollars for
her very first story, a fable intended
for children, and had sold nearly
everything that had come from her
pen since. This had not been so
humiliating, for Anthony naturally
/ looked upon fairy tales with some
contempt, but lately Stella had found
a steady market for humorous verse,
and humorous verse her husband con-
| sidered his forte. The fact that he
was fond of her and wanted her to be
proud of him made her progress mere
ly the more repr9ach. 1t was he who
must be proud of her now-he, An
| thony Matthew, six feet one in his
stockings. Somehow, those six feet
We're the crowning aggravation.
There was no denying that notwith-
standing his superior height. Anthony
did not write half as we'll as Stella.
/ His work lacked the grace and point
of hers. and he conceded it. A bur-
! lesque sonnet which she had finished
| the night before lay on the desk be-
side long envelope addressed to the
/ Editor of The Decade" Anthony had
read the verse twice, and he knew that
/ it was better than anything he had
ever done. The Decade would print
/ it and the boys at the office woulc
/ say: saw a poem of your wife's this
morning. ] should think you'd go in
for magazine work some yourself, old
/ man."
| Stella's fresh young voice made it
/ self heard above the clatter of plates
I in the room adjoining. The Good
/ Old Summer Time" had given way to
+ "Bedalia." Anthony paused, holding
+ the manuscript. to listen.
Oh. Bedalia 'Dalia. 'Dalia.
I've made up my mind to stale ye.
Oh Bedalia. Bedalia. dear.
J Mere association of words shot a sud
den impulse into his brain. The sonnet
was in his hands the addressed enve-
! lope was before him; why shouldn't this
signature? Its appearance as his COM
+ position would be in the nature of a tri-
umph. and Anthony felt that he had
j earned a triumph of one kind or an
/ other Il saw poem of yours" they
would be compelled TO remark at the
I office And Stella? Why. Stella could
/ gain nothing by the use of her name
with the verse-nothing but a few dol
! lars. which he could easily make up to
her in allowance. Anyhow, Stella was
his wife. and what belonged to her be-
J longed to him. If she knew what he
was going TO do she wouldn't care She
would be glad that he had found a way
] to be happy.
Anthony seized the pen ct his elbow