The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-08-05

Na.s Y ~ aF ~.
wonder II . man ever realizes wha& 4
= la.l te ~ 4 :,
III hSr 6Un6lss u him and bs lIugA va
Ge her inS NH Then ~ hSAyd HasFy
lSugi tender little slSugh ind -;
|cided StD po1tp on his call. Il Il 81 3s n
N Fl Monder II Helen Ayer haS t5oubde
or WtEFies, pr II ~ go ests blus7'''
xA4 int evsntng ~ surprised her With
the demand: \. !: ~ ',ss ss sS "a
TEL me something about your woffk ' J.
Nv vosk ,''s I. as s5'. .#s.: 4 ii
Yes. what are you working on
now" i s.,.s., G. a..x z ,8s s$
.'ghy, some essays; about a. much
as anything" sSS X M IN
~ Az, thsy were bnmping against the
same old Ice dos. but Tim dstsrnined not
to see 1t. " ssgs f4ss8' t$s} ny. Es
what sort Of essays?'' he persisted.
4, why er ethical. principally"
Il "Iow do you 20 about writing an es-
say, Helen?" M ~ ~ #f ID
Why. don't know. Pretty much @.
anyone else does, suppose" jsssss
n; There was q pause; them: AZ sE$
''That's good work you've bean doing
on the Meridian" 3D. S " f5}s 4 I.
Thank you" : III . z s5.q@ 2s
Jim got up desperately, & and began,
looking around for his hat He wished
with all his heart Just then that it was
not against the rule for her to ask whore
he was going, 1t would have been such q
satisfaction. TO his soul to tell her he
was going in search Of some one who
| wasn't . clam. J.. =. .@s,t Sf IN
Al tie weeks wore to months, Jim
failsd to understand that he wassas
angry as hurt schoolboy over his re-
pulse. He fancied that mysterious
forces were at work within him-and
perhaps they were. That the deeper
Iinstincts Of his nature were awakening
land crying for companionship-a crygto
which his wife could not respond. It
was as' though he had CROPPED nthe dark
for the touch Of = human hand and
grasped the cold clay Of dethroned idol.
He seemed to be looking forward into
tlong years OF neliness the unuttsfa-
bile loneliness rofyA mismated soul; the
conviction Of failure, Of incompleteness
grew upon him. The story Of his Nfe
spelled tragedy. He told himself hit.
terly that while he dreamed Of affinity
he had drifted upon aftectation. And
being young and vigorous, he 1llng out
,savagely against his fate. 4 Other men
roamed II will II their wives gardens;
he might enter only when she chose to-
let down the bars. TO stand waiting
without always This was not mar
riage-this was not even common COM
partnership. It was not long before, dis
content ran up its evil seed. when
a tie becomes a farce, the sooner It is
broken the better" : ,@r,,z ~ .#
+ So 1t happened that while onlookers.
were still commenting admiringly up.
on the beautiful success Of the experi-
.ment, one, of the experimenters wa1 In
| His heart face to faca9with the thought
Of divorce and the other was spending
long hours with her head in her hands,
thinking, thinking. Why had it failed?
| It had been carefully planned and faith
fully executed. It looked reasonable.
! It war reasonable. a.1A md sy et--a md yet
l. LUSr64WAA UOk ~ JO1Uu&5E. IL Lac ~ ~ SaASS
did not get more happiness. - sup-
pose happiness is not very reasonable
sort of something" she murmured. visit
fully, and rose to stand before the fire.
While she stood there, twisting tho
| rings on her fingers, Jim came In. He
had resolved to tell her plainly what he
thought. That this death in life was no
longer endurable. ,.j'"s = ( - =
"Helen," he began. abruptly, edo you
think we get as much out Of matrimonc
as might be gotten?" a,
Helen smiled mirthlessly.' K
1--WE don't seem to get very much"
she admitted. ~ 81.
Jim started He had forgotten-rath'
er it had never occurred to him that she
might also be-well, disappointed. She
looked very fair standing there in the
firelight, and-she was his wife. All the
manhood in him rallied at that thought.
Checked, embarrassed, he took up the
book she had been reading, and asked,
awkwardly:: l'<
"Shall read aloud?" =" AZ
If you think you will enjoy Ruskin."
She dropped into q chair and sunk her
cheek against her knuckles. Jim began
to read mechanically. He was playing
for time, and he knew 1t. II only there
was some other way. But there was
none-he knew that, too. Without an
idea of what he was reading, he fell to
- ~ mo- ro