Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-09-19

at Ilcthty We "oiO
both just about used up. thin as fiddle
strings. and like fiddle-strings ready
TO snap at touch. Seems queer to
thlnk that thirty-five dollars week
could make such Il difference! With
1t we We're in Paradise; without it we
were as near the other place as people
can get, l guess.
well, 1t was too much for her. She
was one of those women who can't
stand hardships and she couldn't make
out In the position she was in. Love
wasn't enough for her. there had to
be luxury and comfort, too. One day.
l came home and she was gone. No."
IN answer to a look OF inquiry on Dom
inick's face. there was no other man.
She wasn't that kind, always as
straight as string. No, she Just
couldn't stand the grind any longer.
She left letter in which she said
some pretty hard things to me. but
I've tried to forget and not bear NAL
ice. 1t was a woman half crazy with
heat and nerves and overwork that
wrote them. The gist of 1t was that
shed gone back to California, to her
sisters who lived there. and she was
not coming back. She didn't like 1t
marriage, or me. or Chicago. She was
just going to throw the whole busi-
ness overheard. She told me If fol
lowed her. or tried to hold her, she'd
disappear. limited that she'd kill her
self. That was enough for me. God
knows if she didn't want me l wasn't
going to force myself upon her. And.
anyway. she knew fast enough ]
couldn't follow her. l hadn't money
to have my shoes patched. much less
buy ticket to California.
After that there were some dark
days for me. Deserted, with no mon
ey, with no work, and no prospects
i tell you that's the time the iron goes
down into a mans soul. l didn't know
what was going to become of me. and
I didn't care. One day on the street
met an old chum OF mine. fellow
called Defay, that hadn't seen for
years. He was going to the Klondike,
and when he heard my hard-luck story,
he proposed TO me to join forcesi and
go along with him. I jumped at It,,
anything to get away from that town
and state that was hunted with memo
ries Of her.
at was Just the beginning of the gold
rush and we went up there and stayed
for two years. Defay was one of the
finest men l ever knew. Life's all ex-
tremes and contrasts; there's sort
close into 1t. I'd had an experience
with the kind of woman that breaks
mans heart as you might pipe
stem, then l ran up against the kind
of man that gives you back your be-
lief in human nature. He died OF ty-
phoid a year and a half after we got
there. had It first and nearly died: (:
in fact, the rumor went out that 1t
was that was dead and not Delay. As
/ changed my name and went on the
stage soon afterward 1t was natural
enough for people to say Junius Car
ter was dead.
81 was pretty near starving when
drifted on the stage. ! had learned
some conjuring tricks. and that and
my voice took me there. l just about
made a living for a year. and then
ioated back down here. ] never played
in San Francisco till now. / acted on
the western circuits. used to go as
far East as Denver and Kansas City
through the northwestern cities and
Salt Like. / managed to make a liv-
ing and no more. was cast in parts
that didn't suit me. The Klondike
Monologue was the first thing l did
that was in my line"
Did you never sec or hear of your
wife?"
Not a word. didn't know whether
she was dead or living till last night.
Buford raised his eyes and looked
piercingly into the young mans face.
Dominick forgot the time. his engage
ment. Berny's anticipated entrance.
He drew himself up in his chair and
said in a loud, astonished voice:
Last night? Then the woman you
saw here last night was your wife,"
The actor gravely inclined his
head.
81 saw my wife" he said solemnly,
last night at Deledda's restaurant.
1t was entirely by accident. liked
the Mexican cooking and had been
more than once to that place. Last
night | was about to enter the back
part of the restaurant when | saw her
sitting there alone in the corner. For
a moment could not believe my eyes.
got behind lace curtain and watch
ed her. She was changed. but it was
she. ] heard her speak to the waiter
and n I'd neyer spen her face I'd have
known the voice among a thousand.
She'd grown stouter and | think even
prettier. and she looked as II she
were prosperous. She was well
dressed and her hands were covered
with rings. When she went out I
followed her and she came straight
here from the restaurant and rang
tho hall and en- mo in -