Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-09-19

ootSS anu uSNSI any thih5 oiOPPS
slouchy about her. Ask her to go to
the theater and there wouldn't be
woman in the house who could beat
her for looks and style. Besides that.
she was fine conversationalist, could
talk as easily as book on any sub
ject. If / brought her a novel. shed
read It and have the whole plot at
her finger-ends, and be able to talk
1t all over, have her own opinions
about every character. oh, she was
an accomplished. fascinating woman
II 1 say 1t myself! Any man might
have taken to her. She was for ever
telling me about California. and how
she wanted to get back there"
Californian" interrupted Dominick-
Did she come from California;"
From here-from San Francisco.
She was native daughter Of the state
and the town. / was interested in Cal
ifornia myself at that time, though I'D
never seen it. and we'd talk of that
and other things till. bit by bit. we
drifted nearer and nearer together
and the day came when we were en-
gagged. I thought that was the happi-
est day Of my life. and 1t would have
been II she'd stayed true to her
promises"
The clock struck the single silvery
note Of the half-hour and Dominick
heard 1t. He was interested in the
story. but he had only another half
hour to give. and said as Buford
paused:
60 on. It's very interesting. Don't
stop"
"The first step in our married life
that seemed to me strange. that cast,
not what you'd call a cloud, but
shadow, over my happiness. was that
she insisted on keeping the marriage
secret. She had several reasons. all
of which seemed good and sufficient
to her. She said her people would
not like her marrying a stranger far
away from home, and that they'd cut
up very ugly when they heard 1t. Her
principal reason, and the only one
that seemed to me to have any force.
was that she feared she'd lose her
job. She had it on good authority that
the firm where she worked wouldn't
employ married women. and If they
knew she'd got a husband who was
making a fair salary. they'd give her
Tthe sack. Whether 1t was for all the
reasons together. or for Just this one
1 don't know. but she'd only marry me
II I'd solemnly promise to keep the
anything. Shed out and out be-
witched me.
so we were married and went to
housekeeping in little fiat in a sub
urb. We had our mail sent to our old
address at Mrs. Heeney's. She was
in the secret. the only person who
was. We had to let her know because
of the letters. and inquiries that
might have been made for us from
time to time. We were married in the
winter, and that winter was the hap
piest time of my life. I'll never for
get it. That little fiat and that little
black-eyed woman-they. were Just
Paradise and the angel in it for me.
Not but what she had her faults; she
was hot-tempered. quick to flare up.
and sharp with her tongue. But l
never cared-just let her sputter and
fizz till she'd worked 1t all off and
then I'd take things up where they
were before the eruption began. 1t
was n happy time-a man in love and
a woman that keeps him loving-you
can't beat It this side of Heaven"
Dominick made no answer. The
actor for a moment was silent and
then with a sigh went on.
81 suppose it was too good to last.
Anyway. 1t ended. We'd lived that
way for six months when in the be-
ginning of June the Dramatic School
failed and lost my job. 1t came on
uFft ort artnft, ,,,I
sort of knocked us out for a bit. |
wasn't rs upset by It as Mrs. Cartes
was, but She"
who's Mrs. Carter?" said Domi-
nick
MY wife. That's my name, Junius
Carter. OF course the name / use on
the stage is not my own. took that
in the Klondike, made It up from my
mothers and the name of a pard
had who died. Well. as l was saying
Mrs. Carter took 1t hard. She couldn't
seem to get reconciled to it. tried
to brace her up and told her 1t would
only be temporary. and I'd get an
other place soon, but she was terribly
upset. We'd lived well. not saved
cent, furnished the fiat nicely and
kept a servant. There was nothing
for it but to live on what she made,
1t was hard on her, but I've often
thought she might have been easier
on me. / didn't want to be idle or eat
the bread she paid for. Lord knows.
tried hard enough to get work. I
tramped those streets in sun and rain
till the shoes were falling off my feet.
But the times were hard. money was
| tight, and good jobs were not to be
had for the asking. One OF the worst
features OF the case was that | hadn't