The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1915-02-11

and is such jolly COMPANY" No. he
does not doubt her III the least. OF
course she does not mcan anything by
it, She is just thoUyhtless, he says to
himself. bus sGmeh0w-does not like it.
He would Hike 10 take a nan down 10
the beach for 4 wpeL or SC himself. bus
he cannot afford the time or the
money, and Er gives up tie idea.
His long evenings nj home alone may
soon bprome GHnoar:.ila He seeks
distraction fGo.u ji53 ra:t'r W-th !iu.c:
he joins little parties OF friends. goes
TO the thnater, takes up the threads of
old acquaintance OF his baclelor days
ana seeks 10 enjoy himself Is best lac
can. In the beginning he may d. if
as one takes opium to 3u. q pain. but
there is danger that he may learn to
like the taste again, How far he may
drift depends on the man.
And she. down near the ocean, may
wonder vaguely why his letters, which
ran seven pages long in the first two
weeks of her absence, have dwindlcd
down TO brief notes Ike Geographic
messages. written in short hurried
sentences with no details-iust one YIN
expanded fact in each sentence. like
carameis IN separate wrappers In the
old days she used to reread his letters
until she knew them by heart. Then
the mere facts they contained were ct
minor import They were merely the
excelsior in which the terms Of en-
dearment We're packed. At that time
she used to go over his letters. picking
out the adjGcuyes and nouns of loving
like n child dislodging raisins and cit
ron from Il cake.
When she finally returns in the early
autumn she finds that he is not so eff
fusively glad to see her as she expect
ed. She feels in 4 subtle way some
shade of loss that may elude EXPIRES
sion in words. He may not thrill with
enthusiasm at her story of the per
fectly delightful times" she had: he
may not be melted into his old lover
like mood when be hears again how
lonely she was and how she Just tried
to seem to be happy because of the
others"
He listens and thinks. and Of what
he thinks he may say little. Then she
grows suddenly and acutely DESTROYS
Of knowing Just how he spent the sum.
mer. He feels that her fusillade Of
questions and shots of intense interest
are coming little late in the day, aud
all would have been unnecessary ana
they would be nearer and dearer 20
each other were it not for her self i'm
posed exile on a solitary vacation.
Perhaps next day she looks over the
summer gas bills. and if they be small
she grows reflective and wonders how
they could possibly be so small if he
really sat every night alone reading
till midnight so he would be tired
enough to sleep" If the gas bills loom
larger than the amount her housewife
~ instinct tells her is just right she
feels confident he has been having card
parties up to unearthly hours and that
he has been having a splendid vaca-
ton of his own.
Innocent or guilty. on this or some
other charge, he is lucky if he be Ia,
caught between the upper and the
neither millstones Of her whitening
doubt and criticism. She. too. may
have to stand the brunt Of his protests,
and in the face of some unwarranted
jealousy. tortured out OF perhaps limo
cent trifles, she may find it difficult to
prove that convincing alibi that leaves
no slightest residue of doubt. The re
suit is often the distressingly unsatis-
fyingly Scotch verdict. Not proved"
Vacations III the household are good.
stimulating and revivifying for nus.