The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1909-12-17
THAT BRUTAL
HUSBAND D,
BY HOWARD OTIS.


next fat above mine, and l pitied her.
How she could endure to live with
man who kept such irregular hours
could not imagine. / should rather
say regular hours, for he seldom came
IN till morning. 1t would be o'clock
and sometimes o'clock when he
passed my floor. l would hear door
open above, and at times when my
own door stood ajar / could hear a
Kiss Of welcome. After that there
would be moving about above, and
sometimes a ripple of feminine laugh
ter, never a scolding word. escaped
from their apartments.
Often in summer, when doors and
windows were left open to admit air.
], could hear the rattle Of dishes. the
drawing Of cork, the clink Of glasses,
end knew the couple were having a
supper together. remember one
night when could smell the odor Of
some savory dish. got up, dressed
myself, went out to a restaurant and
got a dozen oysters. with a bottle Of
ale.., But 1t was only my stomach that
was appeased. not my heart, and |
yearned for such an angel as lived in
the fat above me and thought what a
different husband would make her.
Surely she must have had something
Of the bohemian in her nature. and.
above all. | wanted for a wife wo-
man of that kind. pitied those men
whose wives must always remain at
home and make their husbands misera-
BILE unless they are always at home
too What q jewel a woman must be
who could receive her husband ut all
hours Of the morning after he had
spent nearly the whole night carous-
ing or playing poker ut his club. give
him loving kiss and cook supper
for him. And when this is kept up
$ during amiability of that woman be?
One day left my room just in time
to meet her on the landing l lifted
my hat and moved aside for her to
pass. taking at the same time a good
long look at her face. 1t was as fresh
rs If she were not awakened every
morning by her brutal husband. 1t
was not such face as l had expected
to see. l had fancied it would con-
tain a devil-may-care expression COM
mon with bohemian women. Her fea-
lures. on the contrary. were intellectu-
al with trace of seriousness in them.
Then it occurred TO me that with
such a husband how could she help
being serious. 1t was wonder that
she did not show traces of suffering.
She was going upstairs; l was going
down. That was the first and only
glimpse ! got Of her.
One morning did not hear the hus-
band come in at the usual hour. and
the next day q doctors buggy drove
I'D to the front door. The doctor went
up to their fat He came every day
for awhile; then a hearse stopped at
the door. and | knew that the poor
woman would not have longer to suffer
the Irregularities of brutal husband.
She never returned 10 the fat.
Some eighteen months afterward.
while at an evening party. l saw her
standing chatting with the hostess.
l recognized her at once. How could
l help recognizing her since had car
ried that one brief glimpse l had got
Of her In my heart ever since? In q
moment l was siding up to the hostess
and received the coveted Introduction.
i refrained from telling the widow
that had lived beneath her and was
aware of how she had been obliged to
sit up night after night waiting for
that husband. l didn't wish to awak-
en- painful memories. infinitely pre-
ferred that she should think she was
meeting me for the first time.
The hostess arranged for more
than casual acquaintance between me
and the widow. l saw much of her.
There was nothing Of the bohemian
about her. Indeed, she seemed to have
domestic tastes. Nevertheless l want
ed her. and did my best to win her.
All this while / kept in the back
ground my knowledge Of her past and
my surmises concerning her. In time
she consented to become my wife.
had put off so long telling her that
l had known of her former domestic
life that ! resolved 10 ueIer uoinS 81
till Immediately after our marriage. In
deed. | wished to make an experiment
Would she endure as much from me
as from her first husband? proposed
to put her TO the test. On our return
from the honeymoon l told her that
desired to visit a former bachelor
chum. She assented. At In the
morning l opened nay front door and
went upstairs. i expected to see my
wife's bedroom door open and feel her
arms about my neck. What was my
disappointment to find that the door
remained closed. opened II and en-
tered. My wife was sound asleep.
I should have considered myself for
tunate not to receive dressing. But
l did not. l was angry. made SO
much noise purposely that finally
woke her up.
Pretty late hour this" she said
"for the day after the fun OF tho
honeymoon Could not YOU make less
noise and permit me to sleep"
This was too much. told her how
I had often III the past heard her hus-