The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1913-04-18

pect was obliterated She stood yawn-
ing drearily. and gazing ont with eyes
10 which her yawns had brought tears.
Her hair made wild brush round her
head. her face looked pinched and
old. She was one Of those women
whose good looks are dependent on
animation and millinery. In this fix
ity of inward thought, unobserved in
unbecoming disarray, one could real
ize that she had attained the thirty
four years she could so successfully
deny under the rejuvenating influ-
ences of full dress and high spirits.
During her toilet her thoughts re-
fused to leave the subject of last
nights quarrel She and her husband
had had disagreements before-many
In the last year when they had virtu-
ally separated, though the world did
not know it-but nothing so ignomini-
ously repulsive as the scene of last
evening had yet degraded their COM
partnership. Bernice was ashamed In
the gray light of the dim, disillusion-
ing morning she realized that she
had gone too far. She knew Domi-
nick to be long-suffering, she knew
that the hold she had upon him was
powerful one, but the most patient
creatures sometimes rebel, the most
compelling sense Of honor would
sometimes break under too severe
strain. AS she trailed down the
long passage to the dining-room she
made up her mind that she would
make the first overture toward recon
ciliation that evening. 1t would be
difficult but she would do it.
She was specializing as to how she
would begin, in what manner she
would greet him when he came home,
when her eyes fell on the folded note
against the clock. Apprehension
clutched her as she opened 1t. The
few lines within frightened her still
more. He had somewhere? She
turned the note over, looking at the
back, In sudden tremble of fearful
ness. He had never done anything
like this before, left her, suddenly
cut loose from her in proud disgust.
She stood by the clock, staring at the
paper, her face fallen into scared
Darkness, the artificial hopefulness
that she had been fostering since she
awoke giving place to a down-drop
into an abyss Of alarm
The door into the kitchen creaked
and the Chinaman entered with the
second part Of the dainty breakfast
cooked especially for her.
What time did Mr.. Ryan leave this
morning." she said without turning,
throwing the question over her shout.
der.
81 dunno" the man returned, with
the expressionless brevity of his race
particularly accentuated in this case,
as he did not like his mistress. He
no take blickfuss here. He no stay
here last night"
She faced round on him. her eyes
full Of a sudden fierce intentness
which marked them in moments of
angry surprise.
Wasn't here last night?" she de-
manded. What do you mean"
He arranged the dishes with careful
precision, not troubling himself to
look up, and speaking with the same
dry Indifference.
He not here for blickfuss. No one
sleep in his bed. l go make bed-all
made. / think he not here all night"
His work being accomplished he
turned without more words and passed
into the kitchen. Berry stood for a
moment thinking, then, with a shrug
of defiance. left her buckwheat cakes
untasted and walked into the hall.
She went directly to her husbands
room and looked about with sharp
glances. She opened drawers and
peered into the wardrobes. She was
woman who had a curiously keen
memory for small domestic details,
and a few moments investigation
proved to her that he had taken some
Of his oldest clothes, but had left be-
hind all the better ones, and that the
silver box Of jewelry on the bureau
filled with relics Of the days when he
had been the idolized son of his par
ents-lacked none Of it's contents.
More alarmed than she had been In
the course Of her married life she left
the room and passed up the hall to
the parlor. The brilliant, over-fur-
nished apartment in which she had
crowded every fashion in interior dec
grafton that had pleased her fancy
and been within the compass Of her
purse, looked slovenly and unattract.
i've in the gray light Of the morning.
The smell of smoke was strong in it
and the butts and ashes Of cigars
Dominick had been smoking the eve
ming before lay in tray on the center
table. She noticed none of these things,
which under ordinary circumstances
would have been ground for scolding,
for she was woman of fastidious per
sonal daintiness. A cushioned seat
was built round the curve Of the bay
window, and on this she sat down,
drawing back the fall of thick ecru
lace that yelled the pane Her eyes
were fastened with an unwinking fix
ity on the fog-drenched street with
out; her figure motionless.
Her outward rigidity of body con-
cealed an intense inward energy of
thought. 1t suddenly appeared to
her as if her hold on Dominick, which
till yesterday had seemed so strong
that nothing but death could break it,
was weak, was nothing. 1t had been
rooted in his sense of honor, the sense
that she fostered in him and by means
of which she had been able to make
him marry her Was this sense not
so powerful as she believed, or
dreadful thought!-was 1t weakening