Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1908-01-30
REALIZATION.
BY Josephine EIyom.

ament is not always guarantee
of happy welded life When
Charles Plummer married Isabel
Marchmont, they promised them
selves an ideal state of bliss. 1t is
more than probable that they loved
each other sincerely, but a disre-
gard of the cid adage, "Bear and
forbear," will discount large
sum Of love, and given a little ma
tural stubbornness on both sides,
will often lead to disastrous con-
sequences.
Such had certainly been the case
with this highly strong and sensi.
tive couple. Fifteen months togeth,
er, and then the break came. They
Trad now been living apart, without
any communication with each other
for nearly three months. They had
agreed that their temperaments-
often only a pseudomym for tenn
per, >" were incompatible, and
that they were better separated 1t
Is true that Charles had strongly
opposed this arrangement when it
was first mooted by his wife, but
she seemed possessed with the idea
and eventually in the month Of
November, in the second year Of
their married life, he agreed not to
communicate with her for ono
whole year. At THE end of THAT
time, Isabel argued they would be
quite sure Of their own minds, and
might talk the situation over to
gether with view either to the
continuance of the arrangement or
a reunion.
All this sounds very cold-blooded
but Isabel had schooled herself to
it. She had strong opinions, was
very independent, extremely proud
and perhaps a little foolish in a
learned way. 1t was January,
now. How dreary the days were !
Short in reality, but terribly long
in seeming. Isabel Marchment-for
she was professionally known by
her maiden name as Q painter of
miniatures-was busy enough, but
the things with which she was oc-
cupied did not seem to fill her
thoughts or strongly hold her in
-terest.
At present she wanted much
more. She wanted something, not
noply to occupy her time, but to dis
tract her thoughts and to fill up
the many hours Of loneliness. She
was not long i'm making up her
mind what she would do. She would
put into execution a pet project.
paint a picture for the Academy
exhibition. She had never previ-
.orisly exhibited, and could not, Of
course, be sure that her painting,
still upon the lap o fthe gods, would
be accepted. But, at any rate, the
anticipation, the careful Flooding
work, the planning and inventing,
would be worth while, even if in
the end her picture failed to gain
the Academy walls. 1t was, how.
ever, one thing to make up her
mind to paint picture and quite
another to get ready to work with a
suitable subject. Everything in
earth and heavn seemed to have
been done. She forgot that the
main occupation of painters and
writers, indeed of everybody else
in this working world, is the doing
of the same thing n a slightly diff
ferent way from that in which it
has been done in all the ages.
Isabel was sitting between dusk
and dark, in the pretty little bou-
.doir of her flat, when her maid
brought her a parcel that had ar
rived by the 5 o'clock post. She
took it YEARLY and let it lie upon
her lap, for she was so tired and
miserable.
"Ah, it is from Maryl' she ex-
claimed, noting the postmark. The
contents turned out to be an auto
graph album which Charles had
given her on her wedding day and
which had been carried off a few
days later by her chum, Mary Mey-
.ers, now Mrs. Henderson, who pro-
posed contributing one of her pref
ty water colors to its pages. There
was note enclosed, and Isabel,
glad of something to distract her
mind from thorphts that vyere TOO