The Newark star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1909, 1909-08-30
/. with his clenched hand.

IL with his clenehed hand.
Il tell you | must have some money!"
Miriam Challoner would not have
been human If again bitter words had
not risen to her lips. But one quick
glance at the puffy face, the red
trimmed eyes, was sufficient to warn her
of the danger of exciting his anger
while in his present condition; and In
stead she merely inclined her head-an
action which instantly caused hope to
surge into the eyes of Ch%alloner.
Il want-I must have a thousand dol
lars Here again, the attitude was
not that of a suppliant; in the demand
was more of the ~highwayman than of
the beggar.
Mrs. Challoner's dark eyes met those.
of the man, held them steady; then she
said firmly, decisively: Lawrence,
much as it hurts me to refuse you. l
feel that I must. 1t is for your own
good" The soft gown that chung to her
figure seemed to take more rigid lines
as she drew herself up and went on
with: II can give you nothing more
his sort of thing has gone quite far
enough" II
For an instant Challoner was stunned
His wife had never looked at him ike
that: there was something in the catch
of her breath, too, as she ended, thar
meant denial, he was certain. But he
took courage n renewed his attack,
and meeting with no success, he turned
to imploring, begging for the money,
Did she not know that he would not ask
her if he did not have to have it?
Women could understand why men
had to nave m~oney-she didn't under
stand. If she would only let him have
the money, he would pledge himself tc
mend his ways. a~nything-but he must.
have money. When men had to have
money, they had to have it-that was
all there was to it. And then a violent
irresistible impulse to be perfectly
truthful, to lay Bare his mind before
her, look hold of him, and that mind
was so warped, his need so desperate,
that he came perilously near to hurting
out the real reason why he needed the
money. For an instant he actually
thought that his wife would see, under
stand, appreciate the reason as some
of his male friends doubtless would.
'Tll tell you how it is, Miriam = : "
he had begun, and hen suddenly
stopped.
What was he about to do! Was there
not something queer. something not ex-
actly right, in his telling Miriam about
the other woman? After all, that was
the one thing in his life that he had
never told her. She was welcome to the
rest, but that-she mustn't know that.
and he ended by pleading:
Surely, Miriam, you're not going to
Il am sorry, Lawrence, but | must
There was a sob in the refusal as she
turned away.
And still like a spoiled child the hus-
band would not abandon his plea. Be
sides, he lac detected the sob. Once
more his attitude underwent a change;
he moved toward her, holding out his
arms as though to gather her into them
1t was a charm that always worked
with Miriam; it would now, he told
himself.
But Challoner was doomed to disap-
pointment. 1t was the last touch needed
to complete her humiliation, and wav-
ing him back, she cried:
Laurie, Laurie, anything but that
There was a flood of tears behind her
look of pain.
But 1 must = " = Cradlebaugh
= = ~ he came to a helpless pause.
Mrs. Challoner slowly repeated the
name: