The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-12-05
0o000Q00QQ00Q OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
CHAPTER XVI.
Continued.

80 OuAto 1uGs WAS EtGl u FVO1QDlt
fellow, and my tongue bids fair tC
grow rusty. with the, company have
kept these last two or three weeks
The worst of your English clodhoppeI
is that he is dull. I don't complain Of
him for being coarse; it is his dulness
that mettles me. He never makes a re.
mark worth listening to, and to hold
forth to such scum is enough to give
one the megrims- On the Continent
have Travelled, GaskelI-it is different
You get a fash Of wit occasionally;
you meet with a farceur who enter
tains you; but here, God save us! there
Is nothing but coarseness and drunk
enness. No, there is no talking to such
dregs Of the CUTTERS Now you, Gas
kell, are a man of education--no dis
guising it, old man-and must let off
steam, gratitied that have the oppor-
tunity of doing so in good company.
| come back to what / was saying
you lean toward tragedy in. your views,
I toward comedy. All, that's right
look through my portfolio; you'll find
some fairish sketches there-half Of
them taken in foreign lands. Yes, as
Beatrice says, when was born, my
mother cried; but then there was a
star danced, and under that l was
born 1 am grateful; it might have
been otherwise; a blessed heritage. !
was logged at school; laughed.
was expelled; laughed. made some
money; / laughed. was robbed Of it;
] laughed. married; laughed My
wife deceived me, and ran away from
me; / laughed. I shall, in all proba-
bility, in this very town meet her and
the man she preferred to me; l shall
laugh. Men prate Of different philoso-
phies, but l will stake mine against
the lot. There is something in my port
folio that interests you; what is it?"
He came and leaned over my shout
der. was looking at two sketches
which seemed strangely familiar to
me; one was duel scene, the other a
tipsy brawl. Where had I seen those
pictures, or their like, before? I could
not recall, and yet they haunted me.
mot bad" said Stanmore. II have
sold plenty of copies Of those and of
other pictures in the portfolio. Cont
mental subjects, most Of them; they
are the most popular. Gaskell, for the
last half hour that glass of wine has
stood at your elbow, and you have not
put your lips to it,"
II do not drink / said, constrained
to answer him.
Tragedy again. A mistake. I give
you my word, il could serve you, /
would. However, don't suppose you
will give me the opportunity. Now, if
you had wife as I had. and il she
had deceived you as mine deceived
me, you would sit down in sackcloth
and ashes and tear your hair. You
wouldn't he any the better off for it,
nor would 1t the more incline her to-
ward you by the measure of hairs
breadth. Take my case. My wife
runs away from me. I whistle her off.
The world is wide, and is filed with
fair women. My wife is fair. I make
no attempt to discover her. give her
to understand that she is free to go her
Wy " lat 10 C44C CQncCQuC1lCCt <l1lC1
an interval of three years she finds Out
where am, and suspects that / have
money in my purse. She writes to me
--ohD in such tender strains! May she
come and see me? OF course she may,
And, Gaskell, she will come, and moi
alone. She viii bring the other fellow
with her-or, rather, he will insist upon
coming with her. telling her that he
will keep out of my way. Little does
she dream that this VIII exactly sui
me. The fact is. I feel rather hampered
tied to my wife who is not my wife
Without knowing it, she will supply
me with evidence against herself;
shall put her in the divorce court, from
which l shall issue with clean bill
to marry again if please. And I may
please, for have a susceptible heart
In this way did Stanmore rattle or
till it was time for bed. 1t was whilt
we We're in bed and in the dark tina
he called:
"Gaskell!'
''Yes?" answered.
II have got my wife IN the TOLLS" BIZ
said, laughing heartily. "a detective
is following her unawares."
He continued to laugh for some time
1t struck me on the following morn
ing that he cast strange, compassionate
glances at me.
Il have received two letters hi
said; lone from my charming wife, Thu
other from my detective. My wife viii
be here this evening, and, as I sus
pected, her lover is with her. Both tn,
letters are addressed to me at the post
office; she does not know where I an
stopping. She herself will put up at
little inn, the name Of which she give
me in her letter 1t is called the Bull
and Mouth. am going to reconnoite
it,"
We walked together to the street il
which it was situated, fingered a mo
ment or two outside, and then returne,
to our own hotel We should have re
NAMED in the open had storm Of rail-
not come. on,, which rendered it advis
able that we should take shelter unde
a roof Then said Stanmore, with an
other OF those compassionate glance
which I had already observed;
''GaskeIl, old man. 1 ana going /
show YOU something but you must firs
give me a promise
'sWhat pr0mise1s / asked
''That when sou see what I have I
show you, and whom you hear the ea
pIaRation shall give, you will not ru