The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-06-19
"Mr.BuddingtOn' S:
Fortune
1t Was Bestowed Where II
Would Do the Most Coed
By ETHEL HOLMES

Dy ETHEL 1ULmES
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Young Mrs. Buddington was a model
bride. Perhaps the word enduring"
would better describe her. She had
married a mans man, and a mans
man, especially when very young. Is
easily drawn from his home. Tom
Buddington had scarcely returned from
his wedding journey before he was
waylaid by his former associates and
induced to spend an evening with them,
leaving bis wife at home alone.
Tom knew this was all wrong. At
midnight he succeeded In tearing him
self away from his companions and
went home. The house was dark and
without sound. He put his iatchkey
into the lock very quietly and went
upstairs softly. This was not because
he feared to awaken his wife. for he
didn't believe she was asleep. 1t was
rather the result OF a guilty conscience.
He would have liked to hear a sweet
voice say: ''That you, deariei Had a
good timer But he entered the dress
ing room next the bedroom without
any greeting. Looking in where Bess
was sleeping, by the light turned low
he saw her peacefully slumbering.
Tom was both relieved and disap-
pointed. He was pleased that his bride
had not lain awake waiting for him,
but he would have liked a brief chat
with her before going to sleep himself.
The lady was not asleep; she was pre-
tending. She was a wise woman. II
she cheerfully received her husband
after his return from his bachelor
friends she would have encouraged
him to go to them again. II she up
braided him It would have a tendency
to drive him away from her. Tom
went to sleep ungreeted and unre-
preached. He resolved that he would
not do so any more.
But Toms effort to be good proved a
failure. A young man, especially a
mans man, needs relaxation. His er-
ror was not In this; 1t was In failing
to provide his wife with relaxation
also, or, rather, in forcing her to spend
a considerable number Of evenings
alone. If it was not practicable to
furnish her with company he should
have remained with her. even IL he did
need relaxation, for she needed 1t as
much as he did, probably more, since
her place during the day was at home,
and 1t was natural that In the evening
she should need change of scene. IN
fortunately Toms income was not suf-
ficient to enable them to go out to
theaters or such other places Of amuse-
ment.
"Just you wait, dearie," Tom said to
bis wife one evening when he was 60
ing out with couple Of men friends,
"till Uncle Alec shuffies or this mortal
coil, and III stop this going out with
out you. You shall have all the opera
and the other amusements you like"
Now, Uncle Alec was a childless
bachelor, who had worked and saved,
never having married because he
thought he couldn't afford to marry,
till he had come to old age and for
tune without any one except his
nephew to inherit his money. He had
therefore pitched upon Tom for the
purpose, and 1t was all settled that the
young man was to have 100000 after
the old mans death.
Tom, being sensible of this prospec-
tive advantage, aimed to show his I'M
Gle proper attention. Since both were
engaged during the day, the evening
was the only time that the dutlful
young man could pay his respects to
the old gentleman. Bess understood
that one night every week was to be
devoted to this purpose. Tom went to
see his uncle with tolerable regularity,
and when he omitted to do 80 his wife
understood that he had made the visit,
though on such omissions Tom was
enjoying his bachelor friends. Some
times on his regular nights for visit
ing his uncle he would take Bess with
him. She was great favorite with
the elder Buddington, which pleased
Tom very much, for 1t strengthened
the younger In the matter Of his pro-
spective fortune
When the Buddingtons had been
married a decade the wife did not
need her husbands companionship so
much as at first because she was taken
up with several little children who
had come to her in the meanwhile.
Tom continued still to be mans man
and found good deal to take him out.
Indeed, there was more to absorb his
attention every year. He dabbled in a
small way in politics, having some
taste for wire pulling, and was a
member OF various associations. He
needed no excuses for going out even
ings, for there was always a commit
tee meeting or something OF the kind
that served the purpose. None Of these
engagements brought In any money,
and the practical Mrs. Buddington was
not made the better satisfied with her
husbands absences by pecuniary gain.
But she did not complain. Tom said
that it was the duty of citizen to take
an interest In the government of his
country. his state or his city, as each
needed his attention. There was no
gainsaying this. and Bess was not the
woman to interfere with whatever her
husband considered his duty. She
made the monthly stipend go as far as
it was possible to make it go. patched
the children's clothes and pinched in
every way. The elder Buddington
might have helped the family, but men
who devote their lives to piling up