Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-12-21
From, the washington Star.

trOnl tue washington Star.
There was a SLY, furtive look in the
mans eye as he entered the vestibule
Of his home. Also there was some
thing hangdog and sinking in his
manner.
His wife, Of course, noticed these
| things at once. She observed when
h kissed him that his lips were hot
and parched. He did not meet her
gaze. There was a distinct veil over
his usually frank and open manner.
His talk, as he hung up his hat and
coat on the hall hatrack. was disjointed,
not to h point, randomlike. He APP
peared to be talking merely for the
sake Of making talk, as me cOnverses
with the purpose of covering up some
thing.
This, too, his Spouse, of course, no.
ticed. She eyed him keenly out OF the
corner of her expS ienced eye. There
was no aroma Of drink on his breath.
She had taken pains to ascertain that.
and studied and she continued to OBJ
serve him sidelongwise. A married
woman becomes extremely, almost un-
canntly adept in discerning it when her
man a been In some sort Of mischief.
Not only that, but she becomes weirdly
skilled In putting her finger, SO to
speak, upon the very nature of the
mischief.
But this time this wife plainly was
baffled. He continued to avert his gaze
from hers. He looked positively shifty-
eyed-something very unusual in him.
He did not ask her what there was for
dinner; a question which she had
learned confidently to expect from him
as soon as he put foot in the vestibule
of evenings.
Feeling all right, dear?" she asked
him. experimentally.
"uh-huh," he replied, staring oddly
at a little picture that he'd been per-
fectly familiar with for at least four
teen years.
Things go all right at the office to-
day." she inquired.
Huh? Office? Things go all right %
he said, absently. What things?
Sure things went all right. Why
wouldn't they?"
'Oh, nothing replied his wife.
She stopped prodding him. Wives
know. with a knowledge based upon in
side experience, that the husband with
anything on his mind sooner or later
will blurt out something to give away
the character of the burden, If let
alone. The wives hate like fury to wait
for the hour of the hurting out, be-
curiosity deferred maketh the
feminine heart sick: but, in a pinch,
they Will follow the dope, no matter
how hard 1t hurts.
AS She fused around, however, she
decided to try another little lead or so,
upon the chance that she might ac-
%cidentally spring the cause of his dis
quietude.
The bills were a little heavy this
month, I'll admit" she said, as If
they'd been on that theme.
At first he arc seemed to have
heard her observation. After n pause,
however, he glanced up ut her question
ingly.
BILLS? Oh. yea, tie bills" he said.
We'll. Tn 10. kicking about the bills.
am 1? VII; said anything about bills?
l don't shrek about bills, do I? I'll
pay 'em as long as I've got the price.
Can't do any better than that, can IT.
Thus driven back, h turned the
matter off with what lightness she
could ssume. All the same, the under
lying cause OF his disquietude, his alb
sorption, his hangdogginess, had be-
gun very decidedly to bear upon her,
and for q considerable less sum than
two Lincoln pennies she could and
would have shaken him until his teeth
ratified. But she maintained her APP
pearancc and name of exterior calm.
They shine at his maintaining the APP
pearance stuff.
Continuing to observe him out of the
left-hand corner of her eye, she no
ticed that quite occasionally, II not
oftener, his right hand would sort of