Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1910-02-22
in which it had stood. On The 81,

in which it had stood. On The bi
of it he wrote verse of an lid song
Ny wife she ran away from me
Some two or three weens alSo,
And now she wants to come back again.
But tell her it's no go.
"Once bit twice shy" is my reply.
And if 1t was to rain
Cats and dogs and mussels and frogs
I'd never have her back again.
There was no word of explanation
beyond this Insulting doggerel. and he
was careful not to give his address.
He chuckled as he put it in the letter
box. At times he was little uneasy
lest she should seek to discover his
whereabouts for the purpose of max
ing claim for support. but as the
weeks wore on and nothing was heard
from her be became reassured.
He had had little difficulty in pro-
curing work, thanks to Captain Will
liams' note accepting his resignation,
and soon was established as assistant
to the receiving teller in a bank with
a salary of $25 week. With this and
the money already in his possession
he deemed himself rich, and his fitful
optimism obtained the ascendency once
more in Its usual eXtravagant form.
But his escape from arrest had been
lesson that had sunk in deeply. He
vowed never again under any circum-
stances to borrow" from the funds
he handled in the course of his duties.
He eschewed horse racing also, know
ing that if the bank officials became
aware that he was gambling he would
lose his place that very instant.
+ After awhile his fellow employees
noticed that Brooks, the spry, genial
Brooks, who had won the good will of
everybody, as he had in the general
office of the Latin-American Steam
ship company, manifested tendency
toward moroseness; that his face at
times assumed an expression OF mel
ancholy. Despite his love of self, he
was of those natures which do not
thrive in solitude.
He never had cared much for the
companionship of men. His inclina-
ton always had been toward that of
the opposite sex. Accustomed also as
he had been for so long to the conso-
lations of home life. to the thoughtful,
affectionate ministrations and bright
/ presence of Emma, he was bound
sooner or later to miss her.
4 There's nothing in this living alone.
The avowal came one night after be
had spent an evening at the theatel
with two sociable fellow clerks and
he gazed around his silent, cherries
bedroom. Although he had not at any
time loved Emma with that ineffable
passion which is the golden ladder
upon which the soul mounts to heaven
vet she had filed n larger place i'll Ills
; heart than he had ever had any com
plete idea of prior to her absence. Hi
. sentiment, fostered by his seltishness
revived with violence under his intro
spection. He yearned for Emma's
smile of greeting and the kiss that &c
companied it at his homecoming, TO
the numberless sweet attentions sh
> had lavished upon him.
How pretty she was, how gentle
How sweetly she had put up with hi
i'll humor! She was different from an
: of the girls and women he had eve
been acquainted with. He was SOFT,
;. he had sent the photograph, not alon
because he felt that he had mad
gratuitously n false move, but becaus
:, :, he wished he had kept 1t for himself
: There was not one personal object re
8 manning that had belonged to her. Th
y little ornaments she had liked, he
clothes, the trinkets she had left bt
hind, he had disposed of in his hast
to get rid of everything that could II
call her or to which she might la
;. claim.
He wondered If she, too, was sorr
for their separation. She must b.
!, How could she live under the etern;
nagging and fault finding of her mott
q Or and the lording proclivities Of Bet
d and not long to return to the ind
.e pendence of her own home?
She had loved him. His memol
evoked the distant vision of her fra
~ 1.-THE form clinging to him as she gaze
up into his eyes. her own aglow wit
y the glory of her alteration and its d
ne irious intensity He felt the blissf
y pulsations of her heart throbbi1
"a against him, its paean of passio
e he heard, too. in fancy the red III
IS murmur her souls ecstasy in words
u! flame and Leauty. felt the thrill th
al shivered through him as his finge
8 threaded caressingly the shinmeril
cloud Of her tresses. That was lol
ne ago in their early possession of ea'
ns other, when she had awakened
knowledge of herself and had WI
ed shipped him as god, fountainhead
al joy and light for her on earth.
nc This transcendent passion had n
Sc found in him the responsiveness
on craved and which alone could nouri
re 1t. Emma lad been an enigma to h
dc often. riddle that had bored him
il times. His blunted senses. sharpen
y by desire of her, perceived that s.
nd pidly. ignorantly. he had disdained
Ire treasure beyond price.
o But, remembering what he had be
se' to her and that she was still his wi
he believed that a reconciliation COZ
be brought about. Sentiment and ,
,ol sire took counsel with advisable
h. selfishness weighed the pros and co
w, In the end sentiment and desire, bel
,h the stronger, adjusted objections
thu their own point of view. But ey
an then it was some time before he COZ
re. summon up courage enough to t.
r, any steps in the matter.
ri Summer had given place to win
len and returned again since Emma 1
nc, left him. In all that time he had
heard from or of her He had made