Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-01-08

But when Fate is weaving web abo,fta man the yarn may seem simple when the result is to be most complex.
 There were two persons who observed the descent of Huston and the cab upor the gas office with surprise. These were the instruments of Fate. One was MT James Wharton, third vice president ol the bank; the other young married woman, Mrs. Josephine Hodges by name, confidential friend of Mrs Huston. Tn his haste Huston saw neith. CT of them.
 'H'm," muttered MT, James Wharton Good deal of style for young man ol Illusions salary, it seems to me. Won. der what's his hurry?''
 So, ever vigilant in the interests of the bank, MT. James Wharton stepped into the gas office and asked the clerk what Huston's mission was
 Paid gas bill of $2.80,'' replied the clerk grinning Must have been aw. full anxious to keep the company out ol 28 cents to pay dollar to cabman tc do it.''
 Must be drunk or crazy" muttereo the bank official to himself as he xur ried out
 During the brief remainder of the day at the bank the third vice president watched Huston narrowly. That un. conscious person with the humor of the . cab incident uppermost in his mind cer tainly did grin and chuckle from time to time in manner that gave color to Wharton's suspicious
 These suspicious were duly voiced al the daily conference of the officers and they lost nothing in the telling-as sus picions never do. The upshot was that 1t was decided to have Illusions books have little examination made into his life and habits out of the bank.
 Tn the meantime trouble of an entirely different nature was brewing for the unfortunate Huston On that fatal September morning after he had left home, Mrs. Josephine Hodges called on Mrs. Huston and together they had gone into the city on little shopping expedi- tion While crossing a street just as the bells were striking II they had been run down by careless cabman and had narrowly escaped injury When they protested sharply they had taken the number of his cab, 1476. with threat to make trouble for him. "A blond wo- man with peroxide hair and supernatur- ally tinted cheeks had leaned from the cab and laughed at their anger, but had been pulled back by man whose face they did not sec Mrs. Huston had hur- ried home, but Mrs. Hodges had gone tc the gas office to pay her gas bill Thers she had seen the pyrotechnic arrival oi Huston in the cab and had noted, in- voluntarily the number of the cab 1476.
 To say that the discovery surprised her would be to put 1t mildly. She nearly cry. It was the same cab that had run them down a short time ago and, of cohrse, Huston was the companion of the peroxide blond. In her haste to tell .tpoor Flo" (to-wit, Mrs. Huston) of her discovery she forgot to pay her gas bill and arrived at the Huston cot tage nearly as soon as Mrs. Huston.
 The consequence was that when Illus ton arrived home that afternoon, burst ing with the joke about the cab he found a deserted cottage very much disordered with evidences of hasty packing, and a brief, tear-stained note informing him that he was a base wretch and that his wife had gone home to herlm mother.
 Utterly bewildered he hurried to the home of his wifes people, but was not admitted nor was he permitted to see his wife.
 Tn the meantime MT. John Hodges, expert bookkeeper had been sum moned by the bank to go over Illusions books on Sunday. Having been made. the confidant of his wife Josephine, he was not surprised and hinted as much to the bank officials.
 ttYou- know, his wife has left him." chattered Hodges, proud to be the ve- hicle of such 8 choice morsel. "A blond woman, cabs, wine-ali that sort of thing
 So, although not an irregularity was found in the books, the officials thought it better to take no chances and Mon day MT. Huston found polite note on his desk informing him that his serv- ices would be no longer required, and that instead of the usual 30 days notice pay for that time would be handed him