Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-07-18
The First Quarrel
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

So wilson lOrSOOK DaCnelOfnOOQ iast
September. In the seven months that
have elapsed he has become in all out
ward appearances like unto all other
married men, and he can even go to
market and order Sunday dinner
without betraying the uncertainty
that clutches at his heart. Fifteen
years from now he will be no more
of benedict than he is at this mo-
ment, for taking his place as the head
OF family seemed to be the most
natural thing in the world for him.
Since last Thursday night he has
been on the outs with his wife, the
last Of the connubial experiences
through which he has to pass. The
Misunderstanding came about in the
simplest way imaginable, but Wilson
made the initial mistake of not ex.
planning Immediately and then made
the second by asserting his right to
consider himself very much abused.
His wife, on her part, believes that
she was grossly treated and she is
still the least bit inclined to think
that 1t is not so certain she was not
more seriously deceived. In the midst
Of the sorely strained relations that
exist Wilson continues to declare that
che is acting Just like woman"
while Mrs. Wilson is celebrating over
going back to her parents. What both
of them need is the advice of a SEN
sible friend but that friend has not
yet arrived ON the scene and the two
are resting on their arms. The fact
that both of them have confided in
friends who are anything but sensi-
BILE makes the opening of actual hos
tilities possible at any moment, which
ID deplorable, for if they come the.
consequences will almost certainly be
fatal.
Wilson had an opportunity last week
to go in on business venture that
will mean great deal to him in a
financial way. He purposely refrained
from telling his wife of it SO that he
might surprise her with the complete
story of the effect as well as the cause.
He closed the bargain on the Thurs
day night of the rupture, and that is
the chief reason for his present atti-
tude.
He came home that afternoon rath.
Of earlier than usual and dressed for
dinner with unusual. care. He was in
high spirits during the meal and his
wife thought afterward with wholly
erroneous conclusions of the way in
which he had arrayed himself and of
the attention he had paid her before
he left the house. At the time she
was rejoiced because Of them, but she
did not realize then the depths of
perfidy" of which man is capable.
Shortly after dinner while the happy
young couple were sitting in the Ii;
brary, there came ring of the tele-
phone. Mrs. Wilson answered 1t and
was bit disturbed when a pleasant,
feminine voice asked for her husband.
She listened more closely than she
might under other circumstances
when Wilson answered and she was
puzzled extremely when she heard
him say:
At the Esplanade, you say? All
right, I'll be there in half an hour.
There was note of jubilation in his
voice, and that looked suspicious, in
deed, when Wilson hurried into his
topcoat and kissed his wife goodbye,
adding by way of explanation only a
4 statement that he had an engagement
that might keep him out until later
than usual. OF course, the pleasant,
I feminine voice belonged to an ex-
change operator, and the engagement
was with regard to the business that
he could not tell his wife of at that
time, bit Mrs Wilson did not know
this.
The poor little woman allowed her.
self to get into an unfortunate state
OF mind during the long hours that
followed. She told herself over and
over that Harry had had some reason
for acting the way he did, but every
time she told herself so the memory
OF her husbands unexplained depar-
ture was recalled. In spite of her.
self she could not associate the two,
and though they did have a vital
relation it was not of the kind at all
that she imagined.
It was nearly o'clock the next
morning when Wilson slipped quietly
into the house. He felt like singing,
but he tiptoed upstairs and into his
room like thief, lest he should
awake his wife. She, with straining
ears, noted all this and charged it up
against him, while Wilson prepared
for bed and went to sleep like school
boy. For the wife, however, there
was no such thing as sleep, and the
very fact that her husband did not
speak to her seemed the final proof of
all that she suspected, II did not oc-