Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1914-12-11
CHAPTER |.

cd library of his spacious home. To
all intents he was man at peace with
the world. He had money and power.
He had advanced from a penniless
miner to a millionaire figure in the
business world. AT fifty his we're the
fruits of well-spent, energetic life. !
Handsome and immaculate in his per-
fectly tailored evening clothes, he fit
ted into the beautiful room with it's
rich tapestries and oriental rugs with
all the ease and naturalness of a man
born to culture and wealth.
Every now and then his eyes wan
dered from his newspaper to the fig
ure of his wife sitting at the other side
of the richly carved table. The tiny,
unimposing little woman in her badly
cut, dun-colored gown was the one in
congrroue detail in the room. She
was like shabby little prairie flower
suddenly transpiantcd to a conserva-
tory where brilliant orchids and lovely
roses bIoomed all about her, her faint
little fragrance overpowered by their
heavy sweetness-her delicate lowell
ness completely submerged by very
her surroundings.
To Shades critical eyes, the dowdy
little figure. with the work basket in
her lap and her head bent over the
stocking she was contentedly darning.
was an actual eyesore. He had fitted
up magnificent home that would
have made a perfect setting for a prin-
cess, and his wife's appearance had
not changed q particle from the days
when they lived in tumble-down cot
tage and he worked in the mines in his
shirtsleeves. With the getting of vast
amounts of money he had acquired a
veneer OF manners and tastes that at
times failed to conceal the rough and
brutal instincts of the real man His
social horizon was enlarging. but
within it his wife seemed to find no
place. He wanted, beyond this and
everything, to climb the political tree
and pick the fruits thereof His wife
seemed not to know that there was
such a thing as political tree to
climb. With herself, her husband and
her work she was contented and
happy.
The wives of other men of his po-
sition were social queens noted for
their beautiful gowns, their entertain
ing and their clever wit He alone
was shackled to woman he would
have been ashamed to introduce TO
his friends. Only he was tied to a
wife he could not force either by
pleading or argument to enter inio
the life which meant so much to him.
Tonight as he rehearsed in his
mind hts many unsuccessful efforts to
make Mary advance and take an inter-
est In his Life as it was now, rebellion
surget in his heart. He had struggled
year after ysar to attain his present
standing. his present position in the
world and Mary. the one loved thing
of his life. insisted on hanging like
milestone around his neck
Why, oh. why, couldn't the woman
progress? Why hadn't she developed
as he had done? Why was she COM
placently sitting there satisfied to re-
main just as she had been twenty
years ago, hopelessly behind the
times?
IL
should he consent to be held back by
her? If she wouldn't go on with him
he would leave her behind. The
thought and the resultant decision
had their birth suddenly but positively
in the mans mind. He would make
one more argument one last appeal.
II Mary wouldn't meet him half way,
Mary could stay behind with her ever
lasting darning and her eternal knit
ting She could wash and cook and
stew and sew, if she liked. but she
couldn't do it in his mansion.
But Daniel Slade was no more I'M
comfortable at having her there than
Mary Slade was at being obliged to
live in this great, elegant house, with
its crowds of servants and its routine,
absolutely foreign and well-nigh hate
full to her She knew she didn't at
into her surroundings She realized
her own innarmony. Her attempts to
look natural and feel comfortable
were pathetic. She felt lost without
the task OF overseeing the Mondays
washing. She was heart-broken be-
cause she couldn't personally superin-
tend the making of Dams coffee Her
hfe was incomplete because a hireo
cook made the bread that was served
on the table and because Dan never
seemed TO miss the evenly brown
loaves that had been her especial
pride in the cid days.
Mary Slade WAS as commonplace as
cup Of boiled tea. She was a plain,
ordinary. everyday woman, who loved
simple, unpretentious life, with the
neighbors dropping In for a word or
two. exchanging recipes for mullins
and debating the proper way to sea
son stew.
There was neither charm nor com
fort for her In the vista of rooms open
ing out from the spacious library The
brocaded chairs were straight and
didn't rock. They we're high-posted
and stlltcd compared to her own low
seated little rocker In the cottage.
When she sat back In TIN. stiffiy