The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-11-11

Il. ft1s.reld mN'lsS G
Before her eighteenth birthday. sh
had married him against the advice o.
her mother. and in spite of the warning
OF her friends, endowing him who was
dependent on his pay n stepped III
deb with the handsome fortune left
her by her father. Then came th.ee
years of welded life of varying happi-
ness, at the end of which time the
ardor on her part remained undated
while on his it had vanished quite.
His growing Indifference made hei
woman-like. more anxious to retain his
affection, while her eagerness defeated
its own ends by rendering him more
careless still. Satisfied now If She
might retain his friendship if not his
love, she eNerted her wit. tact and fas-
cination. straining her heart and
wounding it in the straining and all
how she had in the fulness of her girl
ish love, idealized him; seeing him as
no other had: endowing him with at
tributes of heart and character he had
never possessed; for no longer did he
take pains to conceal the hardness,
s~elfishness and lack of honor, which a
brilliant surface had once
helped 20 hide.
Her disillusion nee begun. was
quickly completed. Soon came the
knowledge of his unfaithfulness, his
losses on the ace course n at the
gaming table, as we'll as the perception
that his nature was gradually coarsen-
ing by drink and dissipation. The day
was o long postponed when she
learned her whole fortune had been
squandered by him in ways that We're
wrongs to her. And when, no longer
able to preserve patience, she upbraid-
ed him, he brutality struck her. BY
this time he had quilted the army, and
disappearing, he left her and her child
depending on friends. her mother being
now dead.
Then began her struggle for life, bit
ter and long maintained. She had al
possessed a certain talent for
writing, a facility of expression, pic
t~uresqueness of description, power of
Imagination, and having before her ex-
amples Of those who had won %indepen-
dence by the art of fiction seemingly
with ease and without effort, and being
all unconscious of the numbers who
yearly perish in the hard struggle to
gain the shores of success. and are
therefore unheard of and unknown,
she resolved to embrace literature as
a calling. To pen short stories for
children, biographical sketches and
dIllcleS on SUBJECTS Oh tne ady, WAS 10
one endowed with her gifts but the
least part of the difficulty before her.
To dispose Of them became an arduous
for no one desired to read, much
less to accept them.
Many a mile she walked from office
to Office, which. with a 1uttering heart
and overstrung nerves she entered to
offer manuscripts over which she had
spent much time. always hoping she
might find acceptance. Money was ter
ribly needed by her. The result was
ever the same. Each magazine or
journal had its own staff of contrib
utors; hundreds of stories were waiting
for consideration. The supply was
greater than could be exhausted for
was permitted to leave. or which she
by post, were. when not lost or
mis!aid. invariably returned to her, IN
til her spirit was well-nigh broken.
A turn came in the tide of her af-
fairs when they seemed desperate. A
tale retained by a magazine for over
twelve months at last saw the light
truth to nature, pathos. and originality
OF plot. A second story was accepted
by the same magazine, and all editor
who had returned her stories and es-
ass unread. requested her to send him
some articles. Those he had previous
~ rejected were posted 10 MIN n
paid for within a week.
Slowly and gradually her name be-
gan to grow familiar to the public: with
appreciation came courage to %persevere.
and putting forth all her strength, she
wrote a novel, largely embodying in
Its pages. her own life. This a been
published by George Bostock. IT'S
success was Immediate. her name be-
came famous, independence was won.
And now while lifted out Of the
storm and stress Of life. and beginning
to bask in the sunshine Of hard-earned
success, her husband, after years of alb
sence. returned to claim the benefit of
her changed fortunes; returned a worm
out wreck, a hardened adventurer, a
confirmed rogue. For her W sake
and for the sake Of her child, she pro-
tected herself against him. and sue
coed In buying for a considerable sun
his consent to a legal separation, which
she could otherwise have obtained had
she brought the incidents Of her life
into court. And Cor five years she
heard Of him no more. until at the
demand for money to which she paic
no heed. nor had h seer him mean
while until that terrible night-hi:
last on earth.
The CHASTITY horror Of that scene
came back to her afresh with all its
terrible possibilities Tor her future ant
her heart sank. weighted by despair
within her. For a moment it seemed
she had no courage to meet the appal.
ling accusation which would be brough
against her: no strength to assert he
innocence until the memory Of he,
child came to her. Then from tn,
depths Of her stricken soul, she prayed
for aid that she might meet this darl
misfortune; that her innocence SHOULD
be made plain to the world.
When breakfast was brought, sh,
drank some coffee, but could not eat;
nor did she talk, her mind was nov
busy with plans, surmises, possibili,
ties, fears.
AT last Veronica said:
There is some one waiting to SCI
you"
"who% Olive Dumbarton said fear
fully.
mr.. Bostock."
A n of intense relief came to tn,
miserable at the SCUM Of tina
name. and she suddenly realized tina
she was moi quite alone In l'ee. Al
ways a faithful friend and a wise coun
sellor, he would help her.
How kind Of him. Has he bee,
long waiting?"
about an hour. 1 did not like t
tell you before. I don't think you ar
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