Evening journal., 1912-05-23
A FAMILY
MATTER
Bv EVAN 3. M'KNIGHT

noyed with the feminine pecuhartties i
of his wife. The best way for him to
do is to get used To them. l suppose
the reverse OF this is true-thnt a wo-
man may az well get used TO the pc
culiarities OF her husband: but. being
man. l don't know anything about
that part OF It
The first thing | noticed about my
wife after marriage that | didn't Ike
was that she opened my letters and
read them with as much complacency
as II they were her own. There was
nothing In them to injure me In her
estimation. but that didn't make their
opening by her any more agreeable TO
me. When a man has reached middle
age without having any one dare to
read what belongs to him alone. hav-
ing from childhood considered such an
act highly discreditable, not to say dis
honorable. to have his wife do such a
thing CRATES on him terribly.
hoped that when Lena noticed that
I never opened any letter Of hers she
would refrain from opening mine
When she came down 10 breakfast
later than l and the postman mad de-
liVered the morning mail 1 would hand
her her letters intact. Sometimes she
would say This is from Aunt Cla-
rissa" or Cousin Sarah OF her sister or
a brother. 'Why didn't you open itT'
whereupon I would say senfentiously,
~ have never been accustomed TO
open another persons letters"
But Lena didn't take the hint OF any
\ other hint gave her. just keeping on
breaking the seals of my correspond
ents' epistles till at last concluded 70
give her more marked hint than any
/ had thus far devised wrote note
to myself from a mythical Horace
Dunn. telling me In confidence of his
engagement to Julia Haley. an init
mate friend OF my wife. AS l expect
ed, Lena opened the letter; but, finding
IN It a conddence-one which very
much interested her-she sealed 1t up
: again, saying nothing to me about the
matter.
Maybe there wasn't a hot time when
Lena congratulated her friend on heE
engagement Lena asked me who the
scoundrel was who had claimed to bt
engaged to ner friend without admit
, ting that she had opened the letter the
man had written me and then deceiv
ed me by sealing it again. For some
time saw by her demeanor that hel
friend was not satisfied TO have the
4 matter hushed up and insisted on find
Q ing out who the man was who claimed
to be engaged TO her. Finally, wheI
my wife could Withstand the pressure
u no longer, she made a confession an'
= demanded the required information
My time had come. told her tina
I the lady TO whom the writer claime
to be engaged was not her friend
n all. but another person of the sam
name. Then proceeded to give her
II lecture on the practice of interferin
n with any one else's correspondence
even her husbands. by doing So"
said, "you have caused a great det
Of unnecessary trouble. Had you lei
me the sole reader OF my letter tn
n error would not have been made"
This had only an Irritating effec
10 on my wife. who vowed she would nc
= again touch one of my letters eve
s- With a poker and for a time handle
i me my mail unopened in high dudgeol
Sc But she soon fell into her old habit
p Instead of accepting the situation, q
" l shouid have done. concluded TO la
10 another trap. / wrote myself anotht
4 fn
a. In distant city from another mythici
~ friend of mine. confessing that he ha
70 embezzled some money and asking n
fe what under heaven he should do to e
We cape state prison. he added that
he any one except myself should see b
m confession the ruin he dreaded woul
re be sure TO come
ne lena opened this letter and. hndir
that she had stumbled upon anoth'
secret. made up her mind 20 reseal Il
letter and this time keep silent on
te matter that was OF no personal inte
a est to her But Just as she was abol
- to do so there was a smell Of smol
n from the laundry. and, leaving u
an note and it's envelope side by side
her desk with letters Of her own. 81
ID. ran downstairs to learn II the hou
It was on Ere She found an incipie
blaze. which with some trouble vi
put out. Then she went back to h
desk and did as she had intended wi
- my letter.
When came ip and found the lett'
~ apparently untouched. / tore It op
re and took out letter to my wife fro
as one of her friends containing a con
am deuce had no right to possess.
,ut handed the note to Lena. demandi
he to know how a private letter to b
had come In an envelope addressed
no me.
lst shall never. forget the frighten
e look that came over Der face. Inter
Vi ing to slip my letter back into its
- velope. having been ratified on accou
of the blaze In the laundry. she b
- taken up the wrong letter.
took her 10 my arms and said
IN her: my dear. find you have ags
deceived me. But so long as yon do
deceive me In any more serious W
y" than this l forgive you. Hereaff
open my letters when you like. 1t
a womanly weakness and in a meast
excusable.'
les From that time I have not car
o whether Lena opens my letters or q
~. But she doesn't Experience