The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-03-25
Judge Not.

ABROAD Tor aWhlle. having no tleS
children or other relatives, there was
nothing to hold me to any particular
place. One day l was clearing out my
late wife's desk when came upon a
fat envelope Opening It, 1 found
something that astonlshed me.
But to tell my story properly must
begin back about FIVE years.
Marjorie and made love match.
We were both members of smart set
in society and such being the case.
we're not especially ignorant of the
ways of the world. We both had q
number Of old flames, and after mar
riage neither Of us was inclined tc
confne ourself to the exclusive at.
tentlon Of each other. After awhile,
however, dropped all the women
had previously loved, retaining only
one, with whom l had a platonic
friendship She was Mildred Burke,
woman of excellent sense and fairly
intellectual. Margerle did not seem to
object TO the attention OF this friend,
lhough she did not herself make
boon companion of Miss Burke.
1 was not so satisfied with the con-
tlnued devotion of one Of my wlfe's
admirers, Courtney Stewart. Marjorie
seemed TO like him for the very rea-
sons that condemned him. He was
reckless, careless, always getting into
trouble and always finding some good
friend to help him out-in short. the
very kind of man to whom n woman
IS most liable TO give her heart. My
wife was always telling me of these
traits, referring to them as something
especially attractive. l declined to be
interested.
remember on one occasion at the
breakfast table when my wife was
telling me of one Of Stewards esca-
pades | coldly informed her that the
man was weak, foolish, dishonorable.
saw suppressed flash IN her eye
and slight color rise to her cheek.
81 don't expect you to take an inter-
est In people who are natural. frank,
generous Your kind looks out for his
own interest, is devoid Of sympathy,
never gives himself away. but takes
especial pains to listen TO all he hears"
"Do you refer TO any particular per
SOM" asked, with some hauteur.
"Certainly-to your particularly pla
tonic love, Mildred Burke"
We left the breakfast table without
another word, and there was cool
ness between us for several days. but
1t gradually wore away, and neither
again mentioned his or her particular
friend TO the other.
One morning it suddenly occurred to
me that my wife was as apt to be
meeting her especial friend as was
to meet mine. The thought was not
pleasant. But why shouldn't she have
the same privilege as l? The case was
different Miss Burke was a woman
Of high principle. Stewart was q
scapegrace and not to be trusted. The
bee of suspicion having got into my
bonnet, It buzzed and tickled and
stung till was beside myself with
jealousy. Had my wife continued to
tell me about the fellows escapades !
should have had confidence In her in
nocence, AS it was l was sure there
were clandestine meetings.
l did something of which / have evei
since been ashamed. / used detec
tive, not directly, to spy upon my wife
4 could not quite come down TO that
but upon Courtney Stewart, which
was just as bad, for 1t was through
him that l expected to trap Marjorie
| directed my sleuth to shadow Stew
art, not letting him know that my
wife was In any way concerned.
At the end of month he reported
that there was nothing bad about
Stewart. On the contrary, he was
popular and respected. Mention was
made Of several kindly, impulsive act
TO needy people. A list of women he
had met was furnished me, and my
wife's name was not among them.
The report made me very much
ashamed Of myself, especially as It ap.
peared to me that my dear wife, see.
ing that her retention OF her friend an.
noyed me, had given him up. AS soon
as l could recover some OF my self re.
spect | devoted myself to treating her
with every consideration and all my
affection. From that day until her
death not cloud came between us.
And now l come back to that fat en-.
velope have mentioned There were
in 1t IN woman's hand. all in the
same writing, number of documents.
At first resolved to destroy them
without an examination, but just as ]
was about to do so my eye caught the
name Burke. Then read every one OF
them.
That my wife had employed shad-
over for my especial friend, astonish-
ing as It was, was nothing to the re-
port she received on Mildred Burke.
Not a shadow OF suspicion attached to
her relations with me- but, horrible to
relate, she was keeping up relations
with another married man that were
as criminal as her Intimacy with me
Was Innocent