El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-10
= One Woman's Story =
By Virginia Terhune Van de Water
CHAPTER xXXIv.

/ OUT OI Z all, As the VIII
ter wore itself away, the all
| meant more than she dared
! think. When she found her thoughts
/ straying to the subject she looked al
her child and checked them For after
! her mothers death her husband drank
! more frequently and more deeply than
! eVer-althOugh he always took his
! liquor in the city and never at the
I MiddlebrOOk saloons. Often he would
| come home from town just intoxicated
| enough to be irascible and impossible
| to please.
| He was in one of his worst moods
/ when, on his return from town one
| evening in the late winter he handed
/ Mary a letter he had brought from
/ the village pOstOffice- For the Fetch
( erS to receive mail was an unusual Oc-
! currence nowadays Mary had not kept
/ in touch with the friends she once had,
/ and if Bert had any correspondence 1t
was sent to mis- office. So, unless
I MarY's mOtherinlaW wrote to her-aS
she did nfrequently-the receipt of an
! epistle was uncommon enough to make
I the wife look Up in surprise when her
! husband remarked, Here's a letter for
! you, Mamie"
Her curiosity changed to another
/ sensation as she saw on the envelope
handed her Gordon Craig's welI-re-
J membered chirOgraphy She did not
notice the expression of ill-cOnceaIed
7 suspicion on her husbands face, but.
with hands that trembled in spite OF
herself, she tore open the envelope and
glanced hastily through the letter. 1t
was not long, and the writer told her
! that CHANGING 20 pick up a New York
newspaper bearing a date of several
months ago, he had seen the notice or
Mrs DanfOrth's death and had thus
learned where her daughter was liv-
ing He wished to express his sincere
sympathy. He, too, had known trouble.
ais wife had died last year, leaving
him with a tiny daughter.
You and I have both drunk deeply
of the cup of sorrow, since last we
met" he wrote When I think of
what life Holds in the way of suffer-
ing, 1 wonder f 1 am the same man
whom you used to know l think Of
ten of your parents goodness to me,
and of what an ideal home you had,
and hope that your present life full
fills the promise of your happy girl
hood"
Mary folded the letter thoughtfuIIv
The sight OF Craig's handwriting, the
references he made to her former life,
had aroused a flood of recOIIections
that made her forget for a moment her
present surroundings. Her father and
mother were gone, and ne had lost
ms wife. How strange to think or
Gordon as the father of motherless
little grill All bitterness was gone
from Mary's thought of him If he had
WrOnged her, he had suffered. What
was she that she should condemn himg
Her husbands voice broke harshly
upon her musings, and she started
violently.
Weir he exclaimed loudly.
I beg your pardOni" she stammered-
Did you speak before
No, but I'm speaking nOwi Who's
that letter from
The woman hesitated, then steadied
her voice and answered gravely.
From an old friend"
What's his name?''
Gordon Craig" she replied She
was surprised that she felt no trepida-
ton, no embarrassment as she spoke
the name of the man she had once
loved On the contrary, as she repeated
the familiar syllables she seemed to
gain strength and self control
An old friend, chr Knocked her hus-
band I never heard of him.
knew him when I was a girl
said Mary briefly. She began TO talk
OF other matters, but the half-drunken
man was not to be deferred from his
determination to probe to the bottom
Of what he considered a suspicious cir
cumstance- A sudden thought occurred
to him.
Il say he demanded. "is that the
man that was going with you when
you first started work at Pearson's- I
the man I told you I heard was paying /
you attention.
His wife hesitated- Her sense of /
truth would not let her tell the lie that /
n. !
She had compromised with honor when 1
she married the man before her. She I
would not add to that sin BY lying I
now. Her husband, his Imagination /
inflamed by drink, noted her hesitation /
and put his own construction upon il /
he grasped her wrist angrily.
Is that the MANI" he repeated
HIS wife looked him straight in the
eyes. Yes" she said
He gripped her slender wrist more |
tightly but she did not vince
were you ever in love with him."
he demanded
said again,
Tell me the truth about this thfngw
ne exclaimed Did you ever see him /
after you promised to marry meg'
NO." she replied
How many letters before this have
you got from him.
None" Her tone was low but firm
Inc angry man let her go and
turned from her, then, assailed BY an
other doubt. he caught her by the
shoulders.
asked.
The red and watery eyes glared
.b 10Y INTO INTO the steady ones lifted to
-neIh- Inc man was trembling with
age, but the wife, though pale, an
wered without wavering.
have nOti"
n, nat a damned lier' he roared I
! zen with twist of his powerful !
rms, ne flung the fragile woman from
nm win such force that she staggered
md IelI to the floor. Without a back
Yarq glance the husband stamped out |
u the house
he did not return until after mid ]
llght although his wife. bruised in /
,ooY and spirit, listened and watched
trough the lonely hours. He was
= IN lIIlhlnS IN the village tavern for the
lrst time. from which place, when he
vas hopelessly intoxicated. he was
rouSht home by the landlord Z
AS Mary opened the door for her 7
usoand and his companion. she knew
ndt her sercet was hers no longer, and S
nat by tomorrow all the village would I
e informed that Bert Fletcher was a
runkard