The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1914-07-16
HER AUTHOR HUSBAND
BY CHARLES EUGENE BANKS.

In the dusk of the evening a woman
sat at piano, softly improvising.
Outside the katydids trilled an an
swering refrain. The air was heavy
with the fragrance of roses that
clambered over the low walls of the
cottage.
The house, built of hewn logs, sat in
the center of a wide stretch of lawn.
To the right stood a grove of oak and
elm, poplar and naples. To the left
ran an apple orchard warm with the
blush of early ripening fruit.
The woman at the piano rested her
hands on the keys and sat for mo-
ment IN ailence. Then she rose and
going to door looking into room
at the back called softly, "William!
Well,' came deep response.
May / come in?"
Certainly, my dear You are al
ways welcome"
He laid his pen aside and held out
his hand to her. What is it, little
sweetheart? Lonesome, eh? Never
mind. / shall be done with this work
very soon and then we will have
long play spell"
Don't write any more tonight,
dear" She trailed her fingers softly
through his tangled hair. Its SO
beautiful out of doors. Take me for
stroll under the trees"
Il can't stop until the book is done.
TI1o III II OF
change this ending. When the book
is off for good, little one, we will
have long vacation
1t is always So" she said, with q
disappointed sigh, "and it will always
be. The book! The book! You care
more for any one of those scrubbed
pages than you do for me-"
He glanced up at her with half
smile, expecting to see laughing de-
NAL of her words in her eyes. But
she turned away and went back to
the piano. Through the doorway he
watched her for a moment and then
bent again to his work
How different was this from the
married life she had dreamed of. She
"oo SOoASS CICys lOAu VI iAIOAuos
pleasure, music. Before they were
married they had artists and littera-
teurs for their associates and the hours
had been bright with wit, repartee and
song. Now they had been for months
in this secluded spot, with hardly an
old friend to pay them an occasional
visit He must not be interrupted III
his work. When the book was done
they would have time enough for en-
joyment In his absorption he did not
: miss the society of friends, but she
had not this needed concentration to
fill her hours. Her heart cried out
for sympathy and love, for the touch
of nature that makes comrades of two
souls, cor that answer to the animated
heartbeats OF conscious being, with
out which life is as dry we'll in
desert. She had looked forward with
delight to the time when she should
be her husbands confidant, when the
people of his creation should be her
people. known to her almost as soon
as to him, so that she should have
sort of partnership in them, and some
thing to do with giving them to the
world. She had planned to be his
helpmeet, his inspiration. She had
seen herself suggesting lesser char
acter for a tale, adding a word or
phrase, contributing a witticism But
into that world she had found no en-
trance. 1t was kingdom with but
room for one, and she was farther
away from it now than when they
were married IL months ago. If her
husband took her into his confidence
concerning his literary pursuits it was
to read her page here and there, and
that in such an unaccented way as TO
leave 1t almost meaningless He saw
she found no enjoyment in these Pc
rusals and gave them up altogether.
Night and day he thought of his work
and she grew more and more lonely.
She did not doubt his affection for
her, but she could not be satisfied
with an occasional caress or a gentle
word. as the whole expression of it.
One day, at the little station near
their cottage, she met Ralph Farms
worth, and the instant look of admira-
ton that came to his eyes was not dis
pleasing to her. She had grown so
weary of solitude that another being
out of their old world was gladly well
coined. He was staying with a rela-
tive in the neighborhood, he told her;
his physician had advised the country;
but for his part he hated it. He did
not go away, however, but planned
many ways of meeting the pretty wife
of the author, who found no time from
his books to entertain her. She was
too much of woman not to know
Farnsworth remained because of her
She did not admit it to herself, yet
down deep in her heart she was
pleased with the admiration she had
awakened in this man of the world,
with his air of WEAKNESS toward
everything. 1t was something to have
power over one who had seen every
thing and despised it. She was so
much alone that he found little diff
Guilty in meeting her and she began