Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1913-07-11
In the Nick of
Time
4 Well Managed Scheme to
Effect a Reunion
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BY r A. mitchell

One day. passing a furniture store
with sign In the window -rhis Stock
Must Be Closed out at Once" went
10 to look for bargains. l bought a
lndy's whiting desk for my wife. little
thinking that fate was using me for
one Of its strange freaks.
The desk was sent home and placed
10 little room my wife used for a
houdoir. While she was putting 1t in
order, dustlng out the drawers and
pigeonholes. she espied the corner Of
an envelope exposed and pulled out a
letter II was sealed. addressed aud
stamped ready for the post When
came in from business in the evening
she told me Of her find and asked what
she had better do about the matter Of
its delivery to the person for whom it
was intended
II WIS addressed to hotel, where
the occupants are constantly changing.
! told my wife that there would be no
more harm 10 our opening 1t than a
government official at the dead letter
Office doing SO and we would then
know better what TO do. But frst
wnuA telephone to the hotel where the
letter was addressed to see If John
Eidsewaod the addressee. was staying
there
An answer came that the gentleman
had been there not long before, but
was not there then. and the hotel man
aeemeut did not know where he was to
be found Having. as thought. done
my rart Of the work. ! settled down to
read the evening newspaper. while
my wife opened and read the letter
Presently she came TO me. her eyes
wet with tears
"Henry. this Is the saddest case J
have ever known. She said "A wife
writes her husband. from whom she
has been separated. telling him that
she and their children are In sore dis
tress To ret money for their necessa-
ries she has been Obliged to sell piece
meal their furniture. including many
Of the presents given them when they
were married She begs him to re-
turn to her and all will be forgiven"
~WeIl. my dear" ! said to her. ''one
would suppose from your distress that
you were the deserted wife"
II feel keeniy for this poor woman =
she said, and | am going TO try to
find her husband and send him back
TO her. Why will men act so brutallyT"
"You are indulging Il feminine trait
/ In condemning him unheard. Ethel"
l replied However, will aid you in
any effort you choose to make to unite
a divided family. My opinion is that
instead Of hunting up the husband you
had better communicate with the wife
and tell her that her letter has not
reached its destination. Then you will
know better how to act. if indeed you
act at all You must remember that
persons who mix themselves up in 9TH
er persons affairs are liable to bring
trouble upon themselves"
n don't ctre~ was the reply to this
caution 1T is perfectly plain from
what this woman says that her hus-
band has treated her shamefully. and
she must be an angel to offer to for
give him
'Inst SO" | remarked and returned
TO my newspaper
Later my wife showed me the letter
she had written the deserted wife-a
letter exhibiting great deal of sym
pathy and assuring the poor woman
that she must have very forgiving
spirit to offer to take back such an un-
feeling man ! forbade Ethel to send
the letter. telling her that the only
missive would consent to was one
simply announcing that a letter had
been found and asking for instructions
in the matter Ethel did as | suggest
ed. and in due time reply came which
she read to me
The trouble between the pair was
that the husband insisted In treating
the wife's mother outrageously "a
case Of mother-in-lawr exclaimed
when my wife read this. The wife
had written the letter to her husband
without her mothers knowledge OF
consent and left ii on the desk to be
posted The mother. finding 1t there.
had put it in a drawer The desk had
soon after been sold to get money to
pay bills The letter must have slipped
down behind the drawer. Its writer
acquiesced with her mother that 1t
should never have been written Ethel
was requested to burn it,
"There is one little matter that is not
stated said to my wife when she
had finished reading the letter-"the
mother-in-law. finding the letter on the
desk, hid II between the drawer and
the back OF the desk and gave her
daughter reason to suppose that it had
been posted
How do you know that?"
u don't surmlse it."
well. what shall doY'
III you wish to confer a blessing on
this family would recommend your
sending an Internal machine to the
mother-in-law.
Don't be ridiculous This is a seri-
ous matter The letter may have provi-
uentlally faHen INTO our nands to re-
unite a divided family"
"And to divide united one"
what do you mean by thatT
what said before about mixing
ourselves up In other peoples affairs.
ouarrels beget quarrels. and before we
get through with the matter we may
GET into a fracas ourselves"
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