The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1916-09-20
What: ought
Her Home
. BY ETHEL HOLMES

i e~~~N 49,
been able to 60 to the country durin
the summers, for Johns income woul'
not admit Of an 'otftiig.7 BIt A1i of
sudden his business IN,
when August came around it was de
cided that Mrs. Cook and the children
had better spend few weeks In SOM
rural district where there was pure air
John could not leave, his business
which was Increasing every day, SO h
packed them OF without him.
i Mrs. Cook had exacted a promis.
from her husband that he would write
every day. The first day after her de
parture he kept his promise. He wrote
the following brief letter:
Dear Ellen-I hope you and the children
arrived safely. It's very hot here. but
presume you are rejoicing in cool breezes
dined in hurry last night at a restau'
| rant and went back to the Office, where
remained till II o'clock. I am Obliged
to work nights In order to keep up with
the rush, SO you sees that haven't much
time to spend writing sias.s ts R tha
Tommy and Nellie for their
h. ta AFFECTIONATE FATHER.
THAT said Mrs. Cook, CLOCKS as II
he were very busy and that the chill
dren are the only ones who can draw
from him any expression OF affection. =
The next day Mrs. Cook looked for
another letter from her husband, hop
ing that it would be signed "your af-
fectionate husband" instead of "the
children's affectionate father" But to
her surprise no letter came, nor did she
receive one the day following or the
next or the next. It was not till a
week after the arrival of the first let
ter that another came. This one was
as overhowing with affection as the
first was devoid Of it. Its beginning
was as follows:
Dearest Nefl-It ID three days since I
have seen your dear face or kissed your
sweet lips It seems three years-no; not
years. ages. II ever get back to you
vow I will never consent to be separated
from you again. Last night I wrote you
twelve pages which, presume. you have
by this time received and digested. Yours
written yesterday is here, and have read
1t dozen times already. woke up in
the middle Of the night and got up to read
it again. %.,.
Mrs. Cook had read thus far when
she stopped and shuddered. What did
this remarkable burst of affection
mean? The newspapers had noted that
the thermometer in the city had how
ered around 90 degrees and the humid
ity varied between 80 and 100 degrees.
There had been many cases of sun.
stroke, and several persons had been
made insane by the heat. Could it be
that her husband has been thus affect
ed? Htr '
The letter trembled in her hands az
she read on. Swimming over q lot
more Of this "incoherent nonsense" as
she called it, the letter closed:
With = million kisses. your own true
love. JACK.
What caused the greatest fear in
Mrs. Cooks breast was the fact that
dren.. In this epistle there was surely
no reason to be jealous Of them. But
IL he had forgotten them his delirium
must surely be terrible. What should
she do-telegraph him to ask If he had
been sunstruck? That, of course,
would be absurd. She might inquire
Of others, but when she came to think
over her husbands intimate friends
she remembered every, one Of them
was out Of town. Besides supposing
there was nothing the matter with
John or |snppose-she wilted at the
thought-that he had written another
woman while writing his wife and got
the letters in the wrong envelope? No.
Whatever she did she must keep the
matter, from the world. There was but
one thing for her to do-go home.
In an hour after this decision she
had left her children in care Of the
landlady and taken a train. She ar
rived in the city before dark and drove
directly to her house. She found the
front door Unmatched and entered. The
table was set for dinner for one in the
dining room. She ran upstairs and
saw her husband in his bedroom tying
his cravat before mirror. He turned
and looked at her in establishment.
Great heavens! What brought you
home? Anything the matter with the
children?"
Mrs. Cook, by this time convinced
that the letter she had received had
been written to another woman than
herself, drew it from her bag and
handed it to her husband. He looked
at It.. and a singular, shamefaced ex-
preston appeared on his countenance.
g"Who IL the woman?" cried Mrs.
John. N , &@s.ai
"My dear, did this bring you homer,
i SIT did"
'''Thank heavenw
'"what do you pean?': ,.xy..
= "Why,s I was SO crowded WITH bts-
ness that L have no time to write.
found in your desk a bundle Of my old
letters to you. written when we were
first married. thought I'd make
them do while you were away"
1t was now Mrs. Cooks turn to look
shamefaced. a ..
do you mean" she faltered, "that
you ever wrote that-that kind Of a
letter to me?" ,.
, Loads Of them. And got the same
kind from you"
ooh, John, was afraid
"Afraid Of what" .