The daily Alaskan., 1905-10-13
A Realistic Picture
[Orlginnll

| than q few lovers spats, and now that we were united for life we had made the discovery that we were incom' patible. I saw In store for us a series ! of outbursts lasting through lifetime I hastened to my friend Merriam-a singular friend for Q man of twenty five, since he was seventy-tO pour my | trouble in hls ear.
 What Is 1t, BIllyT he asked sym pathetIcally.
 We have QuarreIed," I replied, al most in tears.
 Well" he said, with O smile, "dio you expect to go through life billing and coolng?
 No, but l have always been used after a quarrel with any friend to be the first to offer my hand and make lt all up. I would have desplsed the man who would refuse to meet me half way"
 "'The man. yes, but did you always meet with such response from wO- man"
 'I never had such quarrels with women. I was not sufficiently lnti. mate with any of them"
 "Ah, there's the difference. A man never becomes as intimate with anoth- CT man as with a woman. Besides, a woman is nOt-a man. Sit down, light your pipe, and I'll tell you what have never cOnfided 10 any one before.
 My marriage, like yours, was love match. l had had q great many men friends and one man chum. The night after our return from our wedding trip I took up my hat to go out. Where are you goingT asked my wife. I'm going round to Tom Moves for few minutes just to say How d'you do?' after my absence. And you expect me to spend the evening here alone on the first night after our return7 If Tom is to take you so early, what will be the result after you have begun to get tired of meY T didn't suppose marriage meant giving up my best friend But what need to give a dialogue that led up to a violent quarrel?
 Tt was very plain to mo that If l had tried to find the most unreasonable woman in the world I could not have better succeeded. At first after our uuarrels we made a great ado about making up, but pretty soon we sulked after the paroXysms, growing less and less sulky every hour till tranquility was restored. At times l would apolO- gize for what l had done and occasion. ally for what had not done, but after awhile I discovered that the best way was to Ignore the causes of our difficult ties entirely. They were all shocks re sultlng from the efforts of two currents to blend.
 q did not spring from the grub bach elor Into the butterfly married man. It took long while to change me. As the years went by I let go more and more my bachelor instincts and deyel. oped those of a husband and father. A new world was growing Into exist ence for me. For a time I did not re alize how fully l had become part of 1t, and at times cast longing eyes back to my bachelor independence. But the day came at last when looked upon my bachelorhood as an undevelOped eX- istence In which the heart had no part and my own sweet will was the current in which I drifted aimlessly.
 "Then came children to live and chil- dren to lose. Each child was like a tender shoot springing from my heart. l Those who passed from us are as dear today as those who lived. In the fam fly, with all its cares, its respOnsibili- ties, its grlefs, we found the only hap | piness that never died.
 And now that those of our children wno have lived have left us to form their own worlds we are alone to- gether, as we were when the current of our lives first met and mingled, Do you suppose we never quarrel? If | you do, you are mistaken. But we know that our quarrels are part of | our imperfect natures, and we accept them as we accept our other ills Thus we do not magnify the evil they do which is in itself insignificant" Q"
 Frank" called a sharp, Querulous voice from another room, "are you go' ing to talk all dayT
 What do you want, dear"
 You know very well that have been wanting to speak to you about something of importance for half a1 | hour"
 'T'll be with you in moment Don't get into stew about nothing" I pressed the old mans hand and withdrew. It seemed to me that in hls brief story and the bit of sequel con- talned in the few words I had heard he had given me a picture of what my life would likely be. The romances had read of the happy period of young love, the beautiful drifting together o1 two souls, a gradual decline without chnfng, all seemed to me to be incom' patible with our imperfect natures Beautiful examples there doubtless are but when a consciousness of my OWL lmperfecuons loomed up before me had no hope that mine would be one of them. Going home, found my newly welded wife and said to her:
 Lucy, have just been talking witt