Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-07-18
CHAPTER XVI.
Continued.

CHAPTER XVI.
Continued.
SAIL right" said Stanmore, and l
understood him to allude to my silence;
ut suits me. was ever yoluble
fellow, and my tongue bids fair to
grow rusty with the company have
kept these last two or three weeks.
The worst of your English clodhopper
is that he is dull. l 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-1
have travelled, Gaskell-it is different.
You get fash Of wit occasionally;
you meet with 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, Cas-
kell, are a man of education-no dis
guising it, old mainland I must let off
steam, gratified that l have the oppOr-
tunity of doing so in good company.
l come back to what l was saying
you lean toward tragedy in your views,
l 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 l was born, my
mother cried; but then there was a
star danced, and under that l was
born l am grateful; it might have
been otherwise; blessed heritage. l
was flogged at school; | laughed. l
was expelled; laughed. | made some
money; laughed. l was robbed of it;
! laughed. l married; laughed. My
wife deceived me, and ran away from
me; laughed. 1 shall, in all proba-
bility, in this very town meet her and
the man she preferred to me; shall
laugh. Men prate Of different philOso.
phies, but I 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 shoul
der. was looking at two sketches
which seemed strangely familiar to
me; one was a duel scene, the other Il
tipsy brawl. Where had l 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. give
you my word, if could serve you,
would. However, don't suppose you
will give me the opportunity. Now, il
you had wife as l had. and if she
had deceived you as mine deceived
me, you would sit down in sackcoth
and ashes and tear your hair. You
wouldn't be any the better off for it,
nor would it the more incline her to-
ward you by the measure of a hairs
breadth. Take my case. My wife
runs away from me. whistle her off.
The world is wide. and Is filled with
fair women. Ny wife is fair. l make
no attempt to discover her. give her
to understand that she is free to 60 her
way. What Is the consequence? After
an interval of three years she finds out
where l am, and suspects that l have
money in my purse. She writes to me
oh, in such tender strains! May she
come and see me? OF course she may.
And, Gaskell, she will come, and not
alone. She will 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 will exactly suit
me. The fact is, l feel rather hampered,
tied to my wife who is not my wife.
Without knowing 1t, she will supply
me with evidence against herself; I
shall put her in the divorce court, from
which l shall issue with clean bill,
to marry again IL please. And l may
please, for l have a susceptible heart"
In this way did Stanmore rattle on
till it was time for bed. 1t was while
we were in bed and in the dark that
he called:
"Gaskellv' .,~
"Yes?' / answered.
II have got my wife in the tolls" he
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.
II have received two letters" he
said; zone from my charming wife, the
other from my detective. My wife will
be here this evening, and, as I sus
pected, her lover Is with her. Both the
letters are addressed to me at the post
office; she does not know where l an
stopping. She herself will put up at q
little inn, the name of which she gives
me In her letter. 1t is called the Bul
and Mouth. am going to reconnoitel
it."
We walked together to the street In
which it was situated, fingered mo
ment or two outside, and then returned
to our own hotel. We should have re
mained in the open had u storm of rail-