Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-05-19

your own free will You've found out,
have you, that 1 am master and you
are coming to heel?"
He whistled to her derisively, whis-
tied as If to a dog!
who is this" asked the woman in
a voice carefully suppressed, yet which
shook with wrath.
She held the photograph in its
heavy silver frame up before him.
That's my wife," he said equally,
with no surprise or CONSERVATION.
1--WE haven't lived together for some
years." he went on with drunken good
nature, "or I'd take you back to San
Francisco and introduce you to her"
"Your wife!" exclaimed the oma
in that same low, tense voice. Then
what am II"
my Mistress" said the man, blunt
ly, throwing the last shred Of conceal
ment and decency to the winds, "and
a damned ~obstreperous mi at that"
he went on.
Now, the woman believed in no
Providence, but a trick got from her
ancestry wrung the words from her
lips.
"My God! My God!" she whispered,
"You haven't any" sneered the
man. "You told me SO yourself" He
laughed. "And l believed you. l
would have believed anything to get
you"
Well, there was NO God the woman
realized, but she would be her own
god. Her body shrank together a lit
tie, her hands clenched. The feline
was uppermost. She could have sprung
upon him, but she waited, waited for
she knew not what.
Whom the gods destroy" ran the
ancient phrase, they first make mad
He rushed to his doom with blind
folly.
"You needn't be jealous of her, my
dear" he mumbled on. II used to
think I loved her and we were mar
ried, damned f%oolishness, as you might
say. She can't hold a candle to you,
il you are a little touched" he tapped
his forehead impudently-"in the up
per story"
And this man, this degraded thing
regarded her as a mad woman. There
might be no God, but there was a devil
and he stood before her. There might
be no heaven, but there was a hel
and she was in it.
"On second thoughts" he rambleG
on, 81 couldn't introduce you to her
You aren't respectable and she is"
He stopped and poured himself an
other drink.
Respectable" he laughed. "To hel
with responsibility. We know a bette
thing that that Soul to soul, hear
to heart, the union of equals withou
the trammels of conventional bond
for weaker beings Yes, that's wha
you said"
And she recognized with horror tina
he vas quoting her own words.
"But it doesn't go, you see. I'll
all very well in theory, but it doesn'
work out in practice. The world
, got some ideas of its own. It's beef
holding 'em for a good many thou
, sands of years and you can't chang
'em. You belong to me now. To bel
with your equality! You are nothin
more nor less than my property, an
! mark you," he reached out a tren
, bling finger and shook 1t at her, you
salvation is with me. If ! cast you of
, you go into the gutter"
She wondered vaguely how niue
) more of this she could stand and liv,
"But don't be afraid" he went 0
7 with a drunken attempt at reassu
ance; you are too fine and too ham
some, even If you are cracked, fc
g that-yet. I'm glad to see you've com
to your Senses"
n He rose heavily as he spoke an
felt his way around the table han
over hand. He approached her. St
4 let him do it. She shrank a lit
d closer together, every muscle tense ft
action. She was ne longer a woman
, she was a human tigress and her phi
osophy was gone. He vas too druI
. to see it, too i~ncapacitated to tai
warning.
X That's right" he continued as |
II lurched nearer to her. "Stay rig
there. I'm coming to you as fast
IT l can and when l get close to 20
we'll kiss, and"
a He was by her side now. T
! Strengthened himself up with a spa
ri modic effort, released his hold on Il
\ table and stretched out his arms I
! ward her. And then she sprang
q him. How she did it, she could new
~ tell, but in some way her outstretch,
4. arms, grasping for his throat, stru'
him in the breast. Unsteady on b
4. feet, he went down as If he had be-
!. shot. Such was the violence OF his fl
that the momentum carried her wi
Il him. She fell upon him with all h
n force. His head went back and stru'
the deck with a frightful crash. s
herself was almost stunned by t
violence Of her WI fall, although !
4 body broke it.
4 She arose and stood over him I
~ a minute and then she lifted her fc
- and brought it down upon him. J
g had said she was a mad woman a
Il it was true. She was crazed by WI
u she had heard, by the horror Of t
~ situation. She had not changed b
dress for dinner that afternoon. s
~ was wearing a pair Of light boati
y shoes. 1t was lucky for him. If s
had worn evening slippers with hi
= rigid heels, she would have mash
his face beyond recognition. AS