The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-03-30
judge Not.
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resolved +" sell off everything | pos
sesacd Of u household nature and 20
abroad for awhile HAY in" no ties.
children or either relatives. there was
nothing I" held me t" any particular
place. one day | was clearing out my
late vifcS desk when ! came upon I,
lat envelope Opening il, found
something that as,"nishci me.
Hu, to tell my story properly | must
begin back about fly" years.
Marjorie aud | madc Il love match
We were boil, members Of !; smart set
were not especially ignorant Of the
ways Of the world We both had q
number of old flames. and after mar
rage neither of us was inclined to
coniinc "ursclf to the exclusive at.
tentiom of each other. After awhile
however dropped all the women I
had previously loved. retaining only
one. with whom l had platonic
woman of excellent sense and fairly
intellectual Margerie did not seem to
object to the attention Of this friend.
though she did not herself make Al
boon companion of Miss Burke.
| was not 50 satisfied with the con-
tinued devotion of one of my wife's
admirers. Courtney Stewart Marjorie
seemed to like him for the very rca-
sons that ! condemned him. He was
reckless. careless. always getting into
trouble and always finding some good
friend IT, help him out-in short. the
very kind of man to whom a woman,
is most liable to give her heart My
wife was always telling me Of these
traits. referring to them as something
espcc tally attractive. | declined I" he
Interested
l remember on one occasion at the
breakfast table when my wife was
telling me If one Of Stewards csca-
padcs l c"ldly Informed her that the
| saw II suppressed flash IN her eye
and slight color rise t" her cheek
II 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.
especial pains t" listen to all he hears -
do you refer to any particular per-
SON. 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
It gradually wore away. and neither
again mentioned his or her particular
friend t" the other.
One morning it suddenly occurred to
me that my wife was as apt to be
meeting her especial friend as l was
to meet mine. The thought was not
pleasant But why shouldn't she have
the same privilege as 1? The case was
different. Miss Burke was woman
Of high principle. Stewart was a
scapegrace and not to be trusted. The
bee of suspicion having got into my
bonnet. 1t buzzcd and tickled and
stung till ! was beside myself with
jealousy. Had my wife continued to
tell me about the fellows escapades I
should have bad confidence in her in
nOcence. As il was was sure there
were clandestine meetings.
did something Of which have ever
since been ashamed. | used dctec-
tive. not directly. t" spy upon my wife
Il could not quite come down to that
but upon Courtney Stewart, which
was just as bad. for II was through
him that expected to trap Marjorie.
I directed E,y sleuth to shadow Stew
art. not letting him know that my
wife was in any way concerned.
At the end Of month he reported
Stewart On the contrary. he was
popular and respected. Mention was
made Of several kindly. impulstve acts
to needy people. A list of women he
had met was furnished me. and my
wife's name was not among them.
iVt'vIt uldtue very
ashamed Of myself. especially as IT ap-
pearcd to me that my dear wife, see
ing that her retention Of her friend an
noycd me. had given him up. As soon
ms 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 | come back to that fat Ell
velopc l have mentioned. There were
in It in woman's hand. all in the
same writing. a number of documents.
At first l resolved to destroy them
without an examination. but just as I
was about to do =" 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 shadow Of suspicion attached to
her relations with me: but. horrible to
relate. she was keeping up relations
with another married man that were