Bridgeton pioneer., 1913-12-25

to being about her soon became evi.
dent When Chenoworth called to
spend an evening with his friends Mrs.
Hathorne was animated; when he did
not call she was dull.
One evening while Hathorne was
with his wife. she being without ami
nation or anything to talk about, he
took up book. 1t proved to be the
novel that had excited the brief dis
cussion with which this story opens
He finished 1t before going to bed
Without saying anything to his wife
on the subject he resolved to apply
the expedient adapted by the heroine
or the novel to his own case.
One morning he announced to his
wife that he was obliged to make a
long business trip. and the same even.
ing, when Chenoworth was present.
told the latter that be would rely on
him. as he had done once before, to see
tina. Mrs Hathorne should not be left
to NOPE alone. Chenoworth again
promised to give all of his time to the
lady she desired. though there was an
undercurrent of embarrassment be-
tween the trio that did not appear on
the surface
When the husband departed he had
no idea of swerving from the plan
adopted by the heroine of the novel.
whose action his wife had so much ad-
mired. In that case there was no at
tempt on the part of the wife to spy
hD- lie ~,
act in accordance with his own pleas
ure, and when he returned 1t was be-
cause he had discovered that he loved
his wife better than the other woman.
A man would not be apt to play such
a part, and Hathorne's original inten-
tion was turned awry by desire to
discover on his return the status be-
tween his friend and his wife. Cheno-
worth had been used to complaining
that Sunday evening was the loneliest
to him of all the evenings of the week,
and his calls at that time were fire.
quent. Hathorne wrote that he would
return on Monday, at the same time
intending to walk into his house
about 0 o'clock Sunday evening. He
would contrive to enter without being
heard.
Arriving in the city, he started for
his home-brisk at first, but soon slow
ing his pace. AS he drew near the
house he almost stopped altogether
His nature revolted from what he was
about to do. He was about to play the
spy on his wife and on his best friend
He baked in his purpose.
Supposing these two had become at
tached to each other, were they not,
like all other human beings, amenable
to what we call temptation? He
thought of the words in the Lords 8
Prayer, Lead US not into temptation"
Hathorne could go no further with
his reasoning. He felt that he was not
immaculate, but was as liable to yield
to temptation as either his wife or
his friend. What he would do he
would decide when a decision became
necessary. One thing he would not do
he would not demean himself by be-
coming spy upon his wife and his
friend. Walking up to his front door.
he put the key in the lock, took plenty
of time scraping his boots on the rug
in the vestibule and was about to open
the inner door when it swung on its
hinges, and his wife threw her arms
around his neck with all the old time
fervor
The embrace lasted some moments,
not word being spoken, but each
knew that the same matter influenced
both. When they entered the living
room Hathorne expected to see Cheno-
worth. He was not there. But Ha-
thOrne made no comment on his abb
sence. He stammered an explanation
as to his coming Il day earlier than he
had expected, but it is difficult for an
honest man to lie, and he had not
thought to frame an excuse before en-
tering.
"Never mind the reason, DEAR" said
his wife, who with woman's keen in
tuition had OWNED the true one. You
intended to surprise me and Dick, but
you couldn't bring yourself to do it. l
have tried you, dear. because | was
obliged to do so in order to try your
friend. To deceive one it was neces-
sary to deceive the other. Sit down
and listen to me-"
He seated himself. drew her down
on his lap and she continued:
"YOu remember our conversation
about the heroine In the novel who re-
claimed her husband by leaving him
with her rival and Dicks singular
comment? Well, l resolved to test
Dick to see whether he was as un-
principled as he pretended. Fortunate
ly you were called away
mo; l went Intentionally to apply
your heroine's device to you"
You don't mean it? Well, 1t helped
me amazingly in what | was intending
to do. soon saw that you were jealous
but l didn't think it best to take you
into my confidence, and it wouldn't be
for long Since you have been away
this time have put severe test upon
Dick
And the result?" asked Hathorne