El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-25
Power
A short story.

IN
/ Iva woman, but it was said Of her
that no London or Paris model could
I display a perfect gown to better ad-
I vantage than she. And yet, as she
stood in the drawing room of her Ken
/ singtOn flat and studied herself in the
mirror, she frOwned. On the sofa sat
+ her husband, fair, fat, and forty, i'm
mersed in his evening paper. present
! ", with the utmost caution, she stole
a glance at him Then, perhaps with
I the object of attracting his attention,
she made a curious little noise in her
/ throat He looked up irritably. Mrs.
! Mackenzie was smiling at her, own
/ reflection in the glass
Hello. what's the joker he said
Nothing" She threw him a casual
glance. I was only making mental
comparison between Ruth Miller and
myself at the show this afternoon"
"Humph. That alll'
"And it amuses me. I was looking
my best today"
Her husband chuckIed grimIy to
! himself. Yes, remembering a time when
he himself had been as putty in the
/ hands of this splendid wife of his, and
could deny her nothing, he positively
/ chuckIed. Thank heaven, he reflected,
I that period OF infatuatiOn was past
! he had seen visions of the bankruptcy
court in consequence Of it more than
| once. He still liked to see Elise nicely
f.
/ him now Therefore, he was glad she
! seemed so satisfied with things gene
rally. a lot of trouble and unpleasant
/ ness would be saved thereby
Ruth simply makes me wild" con-
I tinued Elise The amount that woman
must spend on clothes. Wen. well OF
course, they're very well Off"
Her husband looked up sharply
Tony draws a jolly sight less than
I $4,000 a year" he said
ola G
/ the reply. And, after all. pretty
| dresses aren't everything What does
/ It matter what silly people think or
| say2"-
1 Arthur Mackenzie put down his pa
7 per A very decided wave Of opposition
was beginning to agitate his mind
| Just as he had once submitted to his
Wife's merest Whims, SO now he was
apt on principle 70 eontraYert every
thing she said Was Elise, he asked
himself, in danger of becoming a
I trump
Elise herself, shreWdly guessing the
trend of his thoughts, came and seated
J herself on the sofa at his side.
Dear old boy" she whispered, strOk-
I ing his bald head, the fact is you've
always spoiled me and taught me to
} be eXtravagant, but I'd rather go with
out clothes at all than badger a hus-
band for money.
who said L couldn't afford money!
demanded her victim, growing dis
tinctly uneasy-he didn't know why.
Nobody did, old silly. 1 was talking
of Ruth
Her fingers crept dOWnwards till
they rubbed against his cheek He
found the sensation pleasing. For a
long time he had not been so favored
perhaps he had not demanded it.
This isn't a very new frOck2'' he
asked presently at random, vOicing the
vague discOntentment that was in him
-Oh, yes It is-last years"
Last years. His paper slipped to
the floor. Formerly dresses had lasted
Elise weeks, Sometimes months, but
never years. Yet she had spoken ap-
parently without regret. This was
new and sensational development Of
her character altogether. 1t alarmed
him. More. it served to give his Op-
position definite shape. AS Elise swung
round into his usual attitude towards
dress and dress allowance, so he au-
tOmatically swung round into hers.
You really mustn't grow into a
trump at your time Of life" he said
'D'yOU think I ann"
NO, no, of course not, my dear; but
still yOu-yOu-why, you used to love
new clothes once" he muttered in an
injured tone.
so I do still. Arthur but get at
tached to my old ones too This dear
old hat for instance"
Yes, I was just looking at it." he
interrupted. Bend down.
There's nothing wrong with it."
grumbled Elise It's better than
Ruth's-" However. she bent down.
why. the feathers are all sOiled,"
he exclaimed 1T must be centuries
old There was a wrench, little
scream from Elise. and he had torn
one Of the offenders out
oh. Arthur, you've spoiled II! I
hate yOu!"
But Arthur was past stroking- Ar
thur stood up. Rightly or wrongly, he
fIattered himself he had always stood
up to Elise-nOt in the trifles of life,
OF course, but in the big things, prov
ing he was the master
Now look here" he said, the vul-
gar side of his nature coming out
strongly, as it always did when his
temper was reused i won't ave you
become dowdyi"
But it was quite a good hat,H
pleaded Elise, with triumph glistening
eyes.
without condescending to reply. he
went to his desk. unlocked it, sat down
and wrote a check
I'm not angry" he said. as he gave
it to her, only determined. I don't
want to see that hat or that dress
again. I am far richer than Tony Mill
er, and, he said cOndescendingly, with
the memory fresh upon him of Elise's
well timed careSS, you're a far finer
woman than TOny's wife. I won't
tolerate this new fad of yOurs-that's
all it is. a fad-nO, not for a moment
I won't! Understand"
yes, Arthur, 7 understand she re-
piled meekly. iii try not to offend
again"
You'd just better-weu not" he re-
marked with trucuIent redundancy.
Then he kissed her and stalked out.
Elise looked at the check Five
hundredr' she cried aloud in her &c
stacy. ''HeighoT with a luxurious
stretch. the new way is not so bad
Unluckily the strong man had not
closed the door properly Also he had
paused outside to pick up and read a
letter that was lying on the hall table
Therefore he overheard
'Stung! stungl By all the godsr' he
muttered furiOusly. And I kissed
her. Oh, the deucer
Then he skunk away.