The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-11-23

'oN0 carefully suppressed, yet which
shook with wrath.
She held the photograph in its
heavy silver frame up before him.
That's my wife," he said eouablv.
with no surprise or CONSERVATION.
we haven't lived together for some
years. he went on with drunken good
nature, or I'd take you back to San
francisco and introduce you to her."
Your wife!" exclaimed the woman
IN that same low. tense voice. Then
what am II"
MY Mistress" said the man, blunt.
ly, throwing the last shred of conceal.
ment and decency to the winds. land
damned obstreperous one at that"
he went on.
Now. the woman believed in no
Providence, but trick got from her
ancestry wrung the words from her
lips.
my God! My God!" she whispered.
You haven't any," sneered the
man. You told me SO yourself" He
laughed. And 1 believed you.
would have believed anything to get
you"
Well, there was no God the woman
realized. but she would be her own
god. Her body shrank together a lit
tie, her hands clenched. The feline
was uppermost. She could have sprung
upon him. but she waited, waited for
she knew not what.
"Whnr1 tho exDAa A1.x-z..p
ancient phrase. they first make mad"
He rushed to his doom with blind
folly.
You needn't be Jealous of her, my
DEAR" he mumbled on. II used to
think loved her and we were mar
ried. damned foolishness. as you might
say. She can't hold candle to you,
If you are little touched" he tapped
his forehead impudently-"in the up
per story"
And this man. this degraded thing,
regarded her as a mad woman. There
might be no God, but there was devil
and he stood before her. There might
be no heaven, but there was a hell
and she was in It,
"On second thoughts" he rambled
on. Il couldn't introduce you to her.
You aren't respectable and she is"
He stopped and poured himself an.
other drink.
"Respectable!" he laughed. ITO hell
with responsibility. We know a better
thing that that! Soul to soul. heart
to heart, the union of equals without
the trammels of conventional bonds
for weaker beings Yes, that's what
you said"
And she recognized with horror that
he was quoting her own words.
But it doesn't go, you see. It's
all very well In theory, but it doesn't
work out in practice. The worlds
got some ideas of its own. It's been
holding 'em for a good many thou
sands Of years and you can't change
'em. You belong to me now. To hell
with your equality! You are nothing
more nor less than my property, and
mark you." he reached out a trem.
bling finger and shook It at her. "your
salvation is with me. II cast you of,
you 60 into the gutter"
She wondered vaguely how much
more Of this she could stand and live.
But don't be afraid" he went on
with . drunken attempt at reassur.
ancs. you are too fine and too hand
some, even II you are cracked. for
that-yet. I'm glad to- see you've come
TO your senses"
He rose heavily Is he spoke and
felt his way around the table hand
over hand. He approached her. She
let him do 1t. She shrank q little
closer together. every muscle tense for
action. She was no longer a woman;
she was human tigress and her phil.
osophy was gone. He was too drunk
to see 1t, too incapacitated to take
warning.
That's right" he continued as he
lurched nearer to her. Stay right
there. I'm coming to you as fast as
can and when I get close to you,
We'll kiss, and"
He was by her side now He
Strengthened himself up with a spas
modic effort, released his hold on the
table and stretched out his arms to-
ward her. And then she sprang at
him. How she did it, she could never
tell, but in some way her outstretched
arms, grasping for his throat, struck
him in the breast. Unsteady on his
feet, he went down as if he had been
shot Such was the violence of his fall
that the momentum carried her with
him. She fell upon him with all her
force. His head went back and struck
the deck with a frightful crash She
herself was almost stunned by the
violence Of her own fall, although his
body broke 1t.
She arose and stood over him for
a minute and then she lifted her foot
and brought it down upon him. He
had said she was mad woman and
1t was true. She was crazed by what
she had heard. by the horror of the
situation. She had not changed her
dress for dinner that afternoon. She
was wearing pair of light boating
shoes. 1t was lucky for him. If she
had worn evening slippers with high,
-iptd haalS oho would have ,,,o.l,o 4