Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1905-06-22

tHLt h
sort of thiuS they send me. | wish /
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 Soilng his shirt
You write ever So much better than l.
only I've been at it longer You mustn't
get discouraged Noull strike it in
time"
Time! I've been at 1t two wears
No, Stella. / GUESS its "a city desk and
twenty-five Il week for mine Tor the
rest Of my life What's the odds any.
wayt'
In the face OF such hopelessuess 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
late, and she had recognized IN this
heartsickuess the one malady Of which
she might not even try TO cure him.
Her attempts indeed seemed only to lr-
ritate 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 n great
many everyday men still do, in spite Of
the qulbs and jests of the comic pa
pers. He had thought her the daintiest
sg.rI,t .,g lf.,
married her, and his greatest delight
had come with the contemplation Of
the things lie would do for her when
be got there" That hc would ulti-
mately get there" he had never doubt
ed The newspaper on which he work
ed had printed three or four Of his ro-
mances, and scores Of his friends had
complimented him on their cleyerness.
Surely the magazines ought not to be
difficult after this
As matter of fact, they had proved
not OuIy difficult, But unprcguable.
Manuscript after manuscript was re
turned to him, always with thanks
and a printed slip. stella, on the other
hand, had received s. 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 AnthO-
ny naturally looked upon fairy tales
with some contempt but lately Stella
had found a steady market for humOr-
Gus verse. and humorous verse her hus-
band considered his forte The fact
that he was fond Of her and wanted
her to be proud Of him made her prog
ress merely the more a reproach 1t
was he who must he proud of her now
he, Anthony Matthew, six feet one IN
his stockings. Somehow those six feet
were the crowning aggravation
There was no denying that, nOtwith-
standing his superior height, Anthony
did not write half SO well as Stella.
His work lacked the grace and point
OF hers. and he conceded it, A bur
lesquc sonnet which she had finished
the night before lay on the desk beside
long envelope addressed TO the Ed
itor of the Decade" Anthony had rcad
the verse twice. and he knew that it
was better thau anything he had ever
done. The Decade would print #. and
the boys at the office would say. Saw
n poem OF your wlfe's this morning |
should think you'd 20 I'm for magazine
work some yourself. old man"
Stella's fresh young voice made Itself
heard abov" the clatter of plates IN the
room adjoining "The Good Old Sum
mer Time" had given way 10 "Bcda-
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