Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-12-20
LOST
BY BARRY PAIN.

BY BARRY Palm.
For some time the man had seemed
to be asleep. He sat back in one cor
ner of the carriage, his eyes closed, the
lower lip dropped, his slack fingers
nursing in his lap the pipe that he
had relinquished. Opposite to him sat
his wife, a shrunken woman with tight
lips, fiat hair, and an anxious eye. AS
she watched him and pursued the train
of her thoughts she now and then
shook her head as if with disapproval.
She was naturally garrulous, but was
restraining herself. AS a gir1 she
had been rather pretty than not; none
could have guessed it now.
Suddenly the mar sat up and
opened his eyes; he tapped the bowl
of his pipe against his boot and be-
gan to refill it.
You've had a nice Sleep" said the
woman.
The man seemed in no hurry to an
swer. He was staring blandly at the
fiat, sliding country as the local train
pulled and waddled on its slow way to
the sea. 1t was not until his pipe was
lit that he turned to her and told her
that he had not been asleep at all.
Not been asleep" she said, in a
high-pitched, aggrieved voice. well,
if I'd known that. Why, I've been par
ticularly careful not to wake you all
this time"
Thank you," said the man, without
enthusiasm. Look here" he contin-
ued. meditatively, when | was first
-er-taken i'll, and you had to get me
signed up and put away"
Now, George, please don't remind
me-" said the little woman, with some
appearance of distress.
IF l don't mind being reminded you
needn't" said the man, stolidly. what
| want to know is when | was taken
i'll was | in any way violent? Did
want to do murder to anybody"
mo; fortunately we were spared
that. You didn't even try to break up
the furniture. So far as your doing
any harm was concerned, l might have
kept you at home all the time, only the
doctor said it wouldn't do. No; you
just sat there smiling. You were a
millionaire, 20 you said. Ready You
were to write checks for any sum I
might mention. And the things you
were going to buy-well, there was no
limit to them. You owned three gold
mines and l don't know what else. 1t
was perfectly horrible to listen to
you"
WAS it?" said the mar slowly.
"Well it's all over now. I'm sitting IN
a third smoker, going to the seaside
on a flyer borrowed from my brother
who didn't want to lend it. When
that's done | go back to work at two
quid a week."
eyes, you know what your position
is we'll enough now. You're as sane
as anybody, but think how awful it
was for me then" Once launched
upon the subject of which she had not
wished to be reminded she seemed
rather to like to dwell upon it; posi-
bly, she would have welcomed any
| topic that gave her natural garrulity
a chance. "And that wasn't all | had
to put up with" she continued. why
at one time you didn't know me-you
called me Dora"
Did II" the mar asked with Gag
erness.
"You did indeed-and that not once
nor 20 times; and all your talk was
like bits of a poetry book. My sister
was there at the time; I'm sure dom
know how | should have got on with
out her. She couldn't help hearing
what you we're saying. and she asked
me if you knew anybody of that name
OF course ! could tell her we did moi
and that it was just your light-head-
| edness. Never before MOI since W.
| known you to be so complimentary
as you were then. You said things
about my eyes and hair that were quite
beyond the mark, and Carrie said II
made her shudder to listen to them
Are you going to sleep again
George?"
The man had fallen back into his
| former position. mo-" he said YEARLY
Wouldn't be worth while. We shall
be there in five minutes. What do yol
- 49,. -, about thinUc for %