St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1906-04-21
HIS WIFE'S7
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Copyright, 1soas By yossphR BowslA9
b cosNo HAMlLroN

i ~ - /
Cline played polo as he played every
other game-the game Of life included
-strenuously, bu1l-headedly. sparing
himself nothing.
In the living-room Of his bungalow
he found q letter and a cable. The let
ter, in his wife's large, rather care
less writing, sent a warm glow through
him. He pounced upon it eagerly, held
1t In front of him for q moment, and
then, with a smile, ssagely decided to
read the cable first. The letter should
serve as the olives.
He lit a pipe, flung q singing oath
at the sleepy punkah-wallah, crossed
to the mantelboard, on which q row
Of candles burned. and carefully
opened the envelope of the cable with
q penknife.
It was dated from London, and a
as follows:
Don't read my letter. Sailing to-
day.-Milly."
He read 1t two or three times. Was
1t q joke? 1t commended itself as an
expensive one for the wife OF q minor
commissioner.
Don't read my letter. Mile all
over, by Jove! What letter? Not"
His eyes fell upon the one he was
holding. The one he was saving. The
that was to serve as the olives.
Don't read my letter. Why not!'
~ MrlvoS n1A,@l mn $hNyvUh h1a4 wife
were In the room. What do you
mean? This is the first I've had from
you for three mails, and you promised
before you went home never to miss
writing. Don't read my ] shall,
most distinctly, / shall. Why did you
write It, fit wasn't to be read"
But he put the thick-looking envel.
ope against the clock, thrust his hands
into his pockets and took four PAGES
back.
Clife was q one-love man. Won
enhadnot entered into his calculations
until Nellie had come into his life, and
taken his heart In both her hands. He
had taken love as seriously as he q
taken his examinations, and. having
married, his wife had become the only
woman In the world. His three years
of married life had been S o far as he
was concerned, extremely happy. He
had never stopped to ask himself
whether his work or his wife came
first. His work was necessary. His
wife essential. And he. had never
stopped to ask himself whether his
/ wife was happy. Hadn't she
married him? Was she the sort
of woman who entered into so serious
q compact as marriage with a man she
wasn't quite SUR she loved?
Like all one-love men, like all men
who takethemselves and everybody else
seriously, he was q jealous man. He
| had no patience with discomfort. He
| could not tolerate habby-mindedness.
| He gave no other woman q thought.
It was impossible for him to under
| stand the necessity Of his wife's ever
giving q thought to any other man.
He worked to the best of his power,
and he loved to do the best in his pow
er, and he thanked Heaven daily for
| his work and for his wife.
He was q Just and sympathetic man.
| He was the kind Of man who carves .
niche for. himself IN history, but he
/ had the greatest contempt for senti.
mentality, and no patience with neu'
| roticism. He divided men and women
into two classes. good and bad. The
former, when they came into his work
or his life, he looked upon as part Of
the great machine working to n end
The latter he waved aside. He cult
waited a wide optimism, q wholesome
belief in honesty, faith. truth and
friendship. Deep down in his nature
however, there ran a curious vein Of
cynicism.
He stood for an hour looking at the
letter. His dinner was brought in; his
servants stood ready to serve 1t. He
ignored the fact. His whole mind was
concentrated on the letter. Why was
he not to read It? II 1t contained
something his wife was ashamed Of
why had she written 1t, in the frst
place? II It contained something in
tended to give him pain, why. at the
last moment, had she telegraphed K
prevent his feeling it?
Extreme annoyance at being tri1e6
with was all he felt for the first hour
IT was merely some foo1ishness on hi
wife's part, some extravaganza, some
act Of sentimentality, he argued. Blu
presently the cynic In him began t,
make grimaces, and all sorts OF Low
and horrid thoughts capered through
his brain.
He ordered the motionless servants
ont Of the room. His indomitable self
restraint left him. That most mali
cious demon, Jealousy, walked arm II
arm with him up and down the roon
Tor hours. But the temptation to opel
the letter was withstood.
Al two In the morning he went t,
he'd. worn out, sick Of himself, Sic
Il everything. The letter rename,
unopened, against the face OF tn
clock. II this man had had no jeal
onsv in his nature, he would have been
nj men 20. what is called a fine fellow
He would have been able to allow tn
letter to stare him in the face, da.
after day, with absolute unconcerr
His wife didn't wish him to read It
very we'll, 1t should not be read. On
fortunately, lGoland vas not more jeal
nus of Melisand than was gC1fne Of hi
/ wife. Struggle as he might, conce1
trate his attention on the details Of III
work as he did, that letter stung hir
from morning till night. He cou1dn'
hear It cleaning white against til
clock. He hid It behind a framed PHI
toeraph. The glass and frame wer
not thick enough to hide It from hi