Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-06-08
The Strange
Case of a
New Love
An Unsel6sh Woman and the
Sacn6ce She Made.
By CUTHBERT BAKER.
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association.
By CUrHBERT BAKER

happy. When they were united Clar.
ence was twenty-one and Edna nine
teen. Ten years later the husband
was obliged to make a business trip
to Russia. His wife being In delicate
health at the time, It was not deemed
best that she should accompany him.
From Russia Clarence wrote often to
his wife. at times mentioning In glow
Ing terms a certain prima donna. Welt
volsky. Russian Pole. He was not
aware that there was anything said
In these letters to lead his wife to be-
lieve that his feeling for the singer
was anything more than friendship.
She did not write him that she was
Jealous Of his new found friend. In
deed. she never mentioned the singer
In any Of her letters When his and
the singers paths diverged he ceased
to mention her In his letters
One day he received cablegram
from his wife's bosom friend. Sarah
ingalls,, that Mrs. Hooper had been
caught In one Of those terrible railroad
accidents which kill and MAIN so many
people and had been crushed to death.
He had seen an account Of tho acct
dent the day before cabled to an Eng
lish paper. but did not dream Of his
wife having been on the train.
A death Of one very dear to us in
the events Of which we do not par
ticipate personally Is very different
from one where We are present. Clar-
ence Hooper could not realize that his
wife was deads 1t was only when he
returned to his desolate home that his
bereavement appeared to him as a
reality. and then 1t rushed upon him
with its full force. No children had
come to them to impart life or cheer
fulness to the companionless man.
Nevertheless he remained In the home
where he had been so happy, morbidly
dwelling upon his loss. The lady from
whom he had received the cablegra ID
announcing his wife's death had gone
abroad. crossing him on the ocean.
She had, however, left letter for him
giving all she knew of the circum-
stances attending his wife's death. 1t
was not much, since no one living bad
seen her killed and the body was I'M
recognizable. but stated that she had
buried the remains in his lot at the
cemetery He would find the grave
near the ceSter of the lot.
Hooper's first act after his return
was to visit his wife's grave and shed
bitter tears there. The remainder Of
his life seemed dreary waste before
him. He had had his one love, 1t had
passed from him. and he would never
have another A few days after this
he opened his wife's will. He was sur
prised to notice codicil added during
his absence abroad leaving the in
come Of certain property to Sarah In
gals, who had been his informant as
to the testator's death. The reason
Hooper was surprised at this be-
quest was because Sarah Ingalls, was
wealthy. Moreover, this legacy halved
his own income from his wife's prop
erty.
1t was winter when all this occurred,
and as soon as spring opened Hooper
went to the cemetery for the purpose
Of putting plants about his wife's
grave. What was his establishment to
discover that the adornment he had
intended was there already. 1t con-
sisted of rosebushes of a variety that
his wife had loved and had kept in
their conservatory during the winter
season.
Standing there beside the grave of
the woman he had loved so well a
tumult of suspicious. conjectures pour
ed in upon him. The events of his
married life passed before him in re-
view as they are said to pass in
Simultaneously before one who Is
drowning. He had known his wife
since they were children, and this
sweep of memory went so far back
as their first love, and he wondered
If any one then had been his rival.
Next be considered those she had
known when they were young men
and women. From there he passed
to those who might have come be
tween them since they had been mar
ried. Among all these he could not
remember single person who could
have filed the place he had for years
considered he alone could fill.
Hooper was stirred by deep emotion.
His wife had been an orphan with no
brothers or sisters-indeed, no relatives
In whom she had taken an interest or
who had taken any interest In her.
Sarah ingalls, had been, the only being
except himself that she had loved and
by whom she had been loved. Yet here
was some one who had forestalled him
in caring for her grave. Was this I'M
known person man or woman? II a
man, had he loved her before or after
her marriage? Had that love been re-
turned? This last thought maddened