Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-07-18
A REASON FoRlNcoMPATIelLlT>
IOriGinaI.l

| We're both miSera BILE
The stranger changed position, the
| movement and his manner indicating
that he had Il purpose in view and had
| struck its trail.
wife pine for company" he asked.
Il don't think so; she says not"
"Then what's the natter"
III tell you. Dolly Markham was as
| pretty and as nice Il girl as ever you'd
see in the village where l married
| her.
shes pretty as Il peach now" inter
! ruptcd the visitor
I'VE loved each other just naturally
| fell right into it us soon as we met. L
didn't have any trouble to get her and
she didn't have any trouble TO get me-
! We We're married and came to live i'll
| the little house just up on the hill. l
had told her that there WAS Il dearth
| of neighbOrS here and she'd have to be
satisfied with me- She said l was all
| she wanted. and when she came was
| delighted with the house which, is very
coy and comfortable. l was looking
| forward TO a happy life here Iby the
sea, which l have always loved.
II don't know how it was. but we
| hadn't been here Il month before, she
| began to say sharp things to me. she
| who had been Il model of anna bilNy,
and l, who had always prided myself
| on being able to keep my temper, sur
| prised myself 10y giving it back to her.
| Within half an hour after saying dis
| agreeable words to each other we'd
| both be sorry and would kiss and
make up But We kept getting into
new quarrels. and at last we didn't
| take the trouble to make up. We just
| let it all go without either of us eX-
| pressing regret and began over ag;rin.
We loved each other just the same
and would have been happy if we
hadn't fallen into habit of quarrel
ing about every little thing that came
up. We tried to stop ii. hut we
couldn't.
AT the end of six, months Dolly went
back to her native town. We had To-
separate. We didn't say anything
about a divorce. but just separated. |
pinned so without her that after awhile
got my brother TO take my place
here. and / went TO see what Dolly
was doing. l found that she pinned for
me as l did for her. I,stayed a month
in the town. We both had plenty of
friends and went about a good deal
with them and spent some time by
ourselves In that whole thirty days
we didn't speak one sharp word TO
each other | asked her to go back
with me, and she agreed that if we
could pass another month without a
quarrel she'd do as l asked We pass
ed another month in perfect peace
then we went back resolved that there
!, should be no more unhappiness from
inc-ompata bility of temper.
We hadn't been back two' days be
fore we had Il spat. And. having had
one. we had another. Doll stood it as
long as she could, then went back
home again This time it seemed nee
essary. for the child, was coming. and
it didn't do for her tO,be rasped- After
the child was born Iijoined them both
and spent a happy time with them,
during which we hadn't, as before, Il
single quarrel.
1T seemed that the, child ought to
keep us froms scraps intfuture, and we
came back. But, youiknow, child for
the first three monthS:ha n lot of collie,
and it's mighty trying to the temper,
so that now there was some excuse
for
That wasn't it," interrupted the
stranger. Go on
''At any rate, we qnarreled more than
ever. The little one lis now three years
old, we love her and each other, but
we can't keep our temperS. There being
three of us, we can't separate as be-
fore; the child keeps us together. We
don't want to separate; we just want
to keep steady, but we can't. Some
times / think there's something in the
sea air to stir people up. Sometimes
L think L am failing or Doll is failing
under some hidden disease. But doc
tor looked us both over and says were
all right. / asked him why we had to
fight and he said our physical makeup
was not harmonious
''Nonsenser' exclaimed the stranger
whats that you say, sirT'
I'm the director of an insane asy-
lum Insanity comes largely from vio- |
lating natural laws. Man is Il gregari |
Gus animal. Deprive him of the com |
pany of others-various others-and he
breaks up. Shut up two people together |
TO pass through the same scenes day |
after day, month after month. and they |
viii have 10 quarrel; they can't help |
it. That is my theory and I'm testing |
it. Thus far I've proved it in every |
case"
Arising, the visitor shook the hand of |
the lighthouse keeper, left n silver dol |
lar in his palm and departed.
4 year later Il man called at the -
lunatic asylum and asked for the di- |
rector.
'Ah"' said the latter on entering. |
The lighthouse keeper"
NO. sir. the ey-iighthouse keeper My |
wife and / live in a town full of people |
apd know every one of them. Three |
nights in the week we go somewhere /
or some one comes in. Our fights are
ended. We're happy"