Ripley County democrat. (Doniphan, Mo.) 1905-1920, 1911-09-01
Force of
Habit

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On his way homo that evening BriH
unconsciously felt several umes the
cracking papers In his pocket. When!
ever he did 30 he swelled out hin shnst
and remembered how relieved ana
happy and cheerful he was. Tor the
Arst time since his marriage. vhich
was six years before, Brill was entire;
" out Of debt He had that day paid
the last note the bank held against
him,
All those six years he and Ida had
been paying for the house. They had
bought II to start housekeeping In, IN
bold defiance Of the advice Of their
eidsrs, who bemoaned their loading
themselves with debt at The very OUT
set Of their married life. II they WANT
ed to do such crazy thing. was the
general cry, why didn't they 50 into
II more moderately The idea Of two
persons with their income purchasing
a 5000 place when one costing $i,2oo
would have suited their resources 90
much better!
Their relatives rehearsed the varir
Gus calamities which misht follow
their rash venture. II John didn't die
he might lose big Job and what II o.
ther OF them should have long and
lingering ilinsssH Besides, both John
and Ida were pleasure loving and new
er in the world would have the moral
courage TO make the necessary sacrt1
ihces. a.
Ip the FIRST enthusiasm Of having
such O nice house to live In the debt
did not loom ominous.
why" Ida said, gayly, "it's SO per-
fectiy splendid, having this instead OF
stutfy four-Room fat Hike everybody
else has that shsnt mind giving up
things a hitl"
That wes Of first. When days fol-
lowed days they began to look at each
other seriously over the papers COW
cred with figures. They loved tho the
ator and now they had to give It up
In fact they had to give up almost ey@
erything they had enjoyed. even their
friends. II their friends entertained
them II meant that they must snter1
tain In return, I
Life resolved itself into q grim
struggle to make their payments. lda'g
cf0thes rot BnaDpy unzi tsrili i>arneA
to walk by cigar case and keep his
eyes straight ahead. They learned to
stay at home evening after evening
and they took TO reading aloud as
diversion and to the multiplication
table and long division "a a necessity
30 It had been a long. hard struggle
and now Brill was glad It was ended
TT seems queer" he said at dinner
that night for the doEenth time. "to
think that it's all ovsr-that We
haven't got to sci mp and pinch and
save money for anything speciali We
can have Q better time nowi"
Wen enjoy. .life." Ida said dreamilyi
lrestng her chin on her clasped hands
"Think Of all the things We can dol"
well, what shall we dot" asked
Brli ,
HIS wife regarded him with = rus1
sled look. "why, ] don't know" she
said. slowly. "All the things we've
wanted to and couldn't since we were
married. suppose. And It win Be
fine not TO have the worry"
They stayed at home that evening.
fitfuriy reading and discussing the fact
that they were out of debt and rel
moved from the necessity Of scrimp
ing. When Brtll started downtown IN
the morning he remembered to throw
out his chest az he descended the
front steps, for aid be not own his
home and have his full salary to
spendi
They had fine time for while
discussing the treats they would have
They did go to the theatsr and they
bought some new clothes and Ida
Joined q literary club. But aftsr q
while Brill grew restless.
Il don't know what's the matter
with me-" be said. Il guess It's Just
nerves. don't fssi right. Something
seems wrong somehow"
there doesn't seem much to DO
his wife agreed. Il can't get up an In
tsrest IN anything"
They grew silent and distracted
Bril- developed habit Of Idly ma
king marks with his pencil on Ii,
blank pad of paper on which .hey hai
done their figuring during the paf
year.
One night he came homo Isfe
dinner little brsathless. bgi
light In his eye. He spoke
and almost dedantly. -
Il suppose you'll be furious Il me
] he said. but ! ran across good |
vestment where property II bound 4
20 up-and I've bought small sto,
building for $1,000 with six PEARS =
i pay the mortgage and
@Thst's splendidi.. interrupted b
wife. sxcitedly. We can 10 4 lust
well az notl I've thought Of y
way to cut down our expenses and !
/ dying 10 try i'll It'll be fun 70 p
again and feel that we're really
ing somethingF
-weEl.s said her relieved hnsbsl
a. he reached for the pad Of pap
1t does seem 10 give one nome<hi