The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1911-05-12

Bursbro, and in two hours she was In
Buffalo. Then on again, without a
break. to Cleveland In two days she
had answered an advertisement and
secured employment az servant to 4
suburban family.
1t was late when the Brute awoke
and struggled to his feet, cursing his
wife for not having called him. He
stumbled out into the kitchen and
noted. with rising rage. the disorder
of the night before-the uncleared Ia
ble-an overturned chair-the unlight-
ed fire. Then his eye fell upon the
red stain In the floor.
Gone to those id Watson's
again!" he growled viciously, as he re-
membered her refuge on previous sim
liar occasions. "I'll teach her afore
night, cuss her!"
But before night, Mr.. Schofield was
under arrest and in Bursbro jail. on
charge Of numbering his wife. Her
disappearance and his known abuse OF
her led to quick suspicion, and
search OF the premises easily revealed
the blood-stained floor and apron, and
the damning Ratchet In time the
grand jury sustained the charge and
he was held for trial at the next ses-
later.
An exhaustive search for the body
of his wife revealed nothing. With
the sharper instinct of woman she
had evaded detection as effectively as
the most experienced criminal could
have done.
So the Brute in the seclusion of his
cell, sobered off. AS his mind cleared
and his hot blood cooled, perhaps his
thoughts ran more on his wife's fate
than on his own jeopardy. In his
dreams and in his waking moments,
he felt an ever-increasing dread Of
hearing of her-fearing the worst.
He grew strangely apathetic about
himself, and when, week before his
tri word was brought to him that
he was free man-that his wife had
made known her existence and where
abouts, he walked from the jail with
out COMMENCEMENT to his farm and
picked up the thread OF his life. alone
and soon unnoticed.
Over in Cleveland the suburban
family were congratulating them
selves on the cheerful, never-failing
industry-the quiet, thoughtful deft-
ness of their servant. Often they won
dered at the tincture of sadness which
seemed to overshadow her; and won
by their sympathetic kindness, she
had told her story.
Then came sickness-severe but
not lasting-and after that letter
from Kitty, her bosom friend. Will
what delight she tore 1t open! How
hungry she was for news from her ole
friends and neighbors-perhaps also
she was hungry for news of him.
One paragraph of the letter read
"He (you know who l mean) is bacl
on the farm, doing his own house
work. He has sold the cows, so h
never comes to the village with milk
and he keeps out OF sight when any
one goes along the road, SO you see
Molly dear, ! can't tell you much o
anything about him-and you don
care, | guess!"
Then as she read a big, pearly tea
, drop rolled down the pretty cheek
, and splashed out the don't care"
Presently came another letter from
, Kitty, plentifully embellished, a
! usual. with parentheses and quotation
, marks, and with a paragraph whicl
, brought more tears and long perio'
, of gazing at nothing.
r Bob (the goose still comes to Sc
mel says that he calls in to see jim
a (your jim, l mean) whenever h
+. passes the farm, (you know they use
r to be great chums before). He say
that Jim seems sad and talks yer
q little. But he works like Trojan
q whatever that Isl and he hash
drank anything since they took him t
Bursbro."
p A week later the little wife align
d ed from the stage which journeye
:. between Bursbro and Denton's Coz
v ners. Much to the drivers surprise
4 she had insisted upon getting of
- quarter of mile before reachin
2 the Schofield farm.
!. 1t was after dark, but she trudge
e along the we'll known road, carryin
:, her bundle, while the stage disal
= peared in the gloom. When she cam
y in sight of the house, there was
Q light In the kitchen, but around tn
l. dooryard all was quiet and deserted.
a She crept to the corner window an
peeped beneath the shade. She note
a the CHEEKY fire In the well-cleane
e stove, and the tidiness Of the room
;. BY the table sat the man-her Jim
e holding big needle up before tn
= lamp; and the tears welled in he
eyes and a great sob choked her, a
h she saw the big hand clumsily jal
d bling a thread at the eye.
{ Climbing softly onto the porch, sh
e lifted the latch and stood before hin
l. The man stood up, amazed and doub
d ing. He stretched out his arms al
d pealingly. His eyes were filed wit
e unspeakable pleading-with trembling