The Bottineau courant., 1909-10-22

| no good to yourself, can do no good to
others. and everybody else will get
down from the fence to kick you."
Left to his own devices, Brooks took
a survey Of the position in which he
found himself, and his conclusion was
not without qualification to him. The
clean "bill Of health" she had been the
means Of obtaining for him from Cap
tain Williams had in fact left at his free
disposal as his own property several
hundred dollars from his stealings and
from his last "plunge" on the horses,
which had been a winning one Then
there was the furniture The piano
was supposed to be Emma's, and he
felt sure she would send for it, but
he had no intention Of surrendering it,
Not one stick, not one penny, would
she ever get out of him after the way
in which she had treated him. The
very day after her departure he sold
the instrument to the piano house
from which it had been purchased.
Within three days he had removed
from the hotel where they had lived
in state for such brief period and
transferred such furniture as he re-
Quired to one room in q bachelor apart
ment house. The rest he disposed of
for cash. He was bachelor again to
all fntents and purposes, and he re-
solved to enjoy his liberty to the full.
He had had enough of married life,
with its cares and the discipline of re-
straint it imposed. Once more he was
zone of the boys" To make his posi-
ton unmistakable and discourage any
disposition on his wife's part to return
to him he forwarded, care of her
mother, her portrait, that had been
conspicuous on the parlor mantel,
after taking it from the gilded frame
in which it had stood. On the back
of it he wrote a verse Of an old song:
My wife she ran away from me
| Some two or three weeks ago,
And now she wants to come back again,
But tell her it's no go.
| "Once bit twice shy" Is my reply,
And If 1t was to rain
Cats and dogs and mussels and frogs
I'd never have her bsNS again.
There was no word Of explanation
beyond this insulting doggerel, and he
was careful not to give his address.
He chuckled as he put it in the letter
box. At times he was a little uneasy
lest she should seek to discover his
whereabouts for the purpose Of max
ing claim for support, but as the
weeks wore on and nothing was heard
from her be became reassured.
He had had little difficulty in pro-
curing work, thanks to Captain Will
liams' note accepting his resignation
and soon was established as assistant
to the receiving teller in bank with
a salary Of $25 week. With this and
the money already in his possession
he deemed himself rich, and his f1tful
optimism obtained the ascendency once
more in its usual extravagant form.
But his escape from arrest had been a
lesson that had sunk in deeply. He
vowed never again under any circum-
stances to 'borrow'' from the funds
he handled in the course of his duties.
He eschewed horse racing also, know
ing that if the bank officials became
aware that he was gambling he would
lose his place that very instant.
After awhile his fellow employees
noticed that Brooks, the spry, genial
Brooks, who had won the good will of
everybody, as he had in the general
Office of the Latin-American Steam
ship company, manifested tendency
toward moroseness; that his face at
times assumed an expression of mel
ancholy. Despite his love Of self, he
was Of those natures which do not
thrive in solitude
| He never had cared much for the
companionship Of men. His inclina-
ton always had been toward that of
the opposite sex Accustomed also as
he had been for so long to the conso-
lations Of home life, to the thoughtful,
affectionate ministrations and bright
presence Of Emma, he was bound
sooner or later to miss her.
"There's nothing in this living alone"
The avowal came one night after he
had spent an evening at the theater
with two sociable fellow clerks and
he gazed around his silent, cheerless
bedroom. Although he had not at any
time loved Emma with that ineffable
passion which is the golden ladder
upon which the soul mounts to heaven
yet she had filled larger place in his
heart than he had ever had any CON-
plete idea of prior to her absence. His
sentiment, fostered by his selfishness,
revived with violence under his intro
spection. He yearned for Emma's
smile Of greeting and the kiss that ac-
compapied it at his homecoming, for
the numberless sweet attentions she
had lavish he'd upon him.
How pretty she. was, how gentle!
How sweetly she had put up with his
Ill humor! She was different from any
Of the girls and women he had ever
been acquainted with. He was sorry
he had sent the photograph, not alone
because he felt that he had made
gratuitously false move, but because
he wished he had kept it for himself.
There was not one personal object re-