El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-12

J ~ - NAL reply, thanking MN Tor nj
I sympathy and saying that she hoped
/ his little daughter would be a Srea1
| comfort to him. She did not suSgeS
/ that she might ever see him again
( Indeed, she never allowed herself tC
/ think of this possibility. The man was
/ dead to her.
Nor did her sentiments change when
six months later, she received SaT
/ Antonio newspaper, containing q
I marked notice that Gordon Craig would
soon move to New York to open there
| q branch office in connection with his
| business in Texas She was interested
to be sure, but still she told herself
again that his coming east meant
nothing to her. She wondered for q
minute where his baby-pOOr mother
less mite-was. As Craig did not tell
her that his own mother was caring for
his little daughter, Mary's heart ached
at the thought of the chudS loss OF
the mOther-loVe that had been her own
portion and which her own child re-
) ceived in generous measure
Her little boy continued delicate, and
Mary was always anxious about him
Once she asked her physician why the
boy was not strong and we'll
I give him the best of care Of which
am capable" she said, and just the
food that you say he should have, yet
he does not gain flesh and color. What
is the trouble with him.
The doctor looked grave. ITO be
frank, Mrs. Fletcher" he answered,
you were overwOrked for months be-
fore the child came, and of course your
nervous condition told upon him. But
We Will hope to overcome this cOngeni-
tai weakness and make a strong man
Of him yet
Even as he spoke the physician did
not feel confident of the hope he held
out to the anxious mother Yet doctors
must say such things if they would
keep their patients brave.
When the child was IS months old
Bert told Mary that he had to 90
away on a three weeks trip to the
west"
Business demands it." he said. The
wife was ashamed of the wave Of re-
lief that swept over her as she appre-
ciated what it would mean to be una
fraid of his condition for the length of
time he mentioned. She reproache I
herself for she knew that if he drank
when in New York, he would certainly
do so out in a far off CITY WncTe
there was no danger of his Delinquent
cles being suspected by his wife or
mother. Then another thought seized
her.
you will leave me with enough mon
ey to live on while you are absent,
won't you, Bert?'' she asked. You
know our rent is overdue, and I have
no ready money in the house"
III manage to pay the rent before
leave, returned her husband gruffly,
but can't let you have any other
cash l need it for travelling expenses
But, Bert she reminded him, baby
and 1 must live And you know I have
not cent of my own"
You might have had some" he said
brutally, IF you had not spent the little
your mother left in burying her To
De sure II was only a couple of hun
ofeu' put you could have made cheaper
funeral arrangements than you did"
This speech proved to Mary Fletcher.
more than anything else had ever done.
10 what depths of coarseneSs her hus-
band had been sinking of late. She
remembered his seeming grief at her
mothers death. and wondered how he
could speak as he now did Of the Won-
an he had respected. Yet she did not
utter any protest, but returned after
a moment, to the matter in hand For
she and the baby must live.
what do you propose TO have me
DO during your absence, Bert%' she
asked 7 am sorry to seem so per-
ssltent: but l must plan for caring for
"Oh, III see about It." said the man
Don't fuss any more. There's time
enough to arrange all that"
Three days later Mary received a let
ter from her mOtherinlaW. Bert had
told her she wrote, of his projected
trip While she did not approve of it.
she had so far lost all influence over
her son that what she said TO him went
Tor little. He had asked her to lend
MIN money to leave with his wife while
ne was away. This she could not do.
She had already lent him so much
money to-as he had told her-put into
ms business, that she simply could not
aIIOrd TO give him any more. In fact
she herself was living more econoDaf-
cally than ever before and had moved
into a fiat smaller than the other one
she mad occupied. and il a very unde-
SlraDle nelghbOrhOOd. She had kent all
this from Mary, as Bert had asked her
to do, but the time had now come
when the wife must know it The pro
posal Berts mother now had to make
was that Mary and the baby come and
stay with her during Bert's absence
me child amt we'll" she wrote
and perhaps the change would do If
good You'd better be here with me
getting your food and the chiId's than
out in that lonely village starving
Mary's face flushed as she read. How
could she bring herself 10 be an cbiect
OF her noInerlnlaW s charity Then she
reminded herself that she was not 90
ing TO town for her own sake, but for
the sake of the child and that if was
also Berts child, and his mothers
grandson. What right had the wife to
allow ner personal pride to stand be-
tween her and what might be for fine
baby's good2 She remembered a rro-
verb OF her husbands, and the fuII
meaning of it made her smile bitter1I-
as she repeated-'Needs must when tbe
LeElI 9rlVesF She no longer deceived
nerseIt by trying to see the good points
IN her husbands character. Thew were
too hard to find. But she must endure
Tor the sake Of the baby As long as he
lived that would be her duty.
When Bert came home that NIGHT sbo
told him of his mothers letter
fes, he said, ma said she'd write
and ask YOU down. You'd better 90 to
her' for Lord knows haven't a cent to
keep you on while Pm away- Times
are harder than everI"
Mary was not impressed by this last
remark, for, when her husband had
been spending money reckIessly, he al
by declaring that times were 6ard 80
that there was nothing doing in the
business world" ~ 'A9