Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-23
THEEVEN|NG STORY.
AN OVERDOSE.
(Copyrixht. 1918, BY W. werner.I

Mrs. Hattie, picking up the DaDy. II J.
were behind the lace counter, where
was four years ago, no man alive could
tempt me away from it to marry him"
Rather rough on me- commented
Ted. gloomily.
Marriage is just another name for
old clothes and drudgery from one
years end to another. There is the
same round of homework to go through
with every day in the week. Meals to
cook and serve. whether you know
how to do it or not. The rooms to tidy
| up and the everlasting heap of soiled
dishes to wash. I'm tired of 1t all"
Ted WINGED. He was doing the best he
could, and had done so from the start
His wife's continual faultfnding cut
him like knife. But we talked over
this thing of marrying on small sal
ary before taking the STEP he ex-
postulated. You knew beforehand that
SIS per week was the extent of my in
come I never deceived you about any
thing"
Hattie shifted Her grumbling spells
always ended in a storm of tears. Damp,
with a red nose and disheveied hair,
she was certainly not attractive
For the first time since their marriage
Ted studied his wife's appearance with
a critical eye. Her feet were sllpshod.
smudge of SCOT discolored one cheek,
and her hair hung in ugly wisps: he
wondered if all wives were similarly
regardless of their home attire. But
even as he wondered memory recalled
his own mother, neat, tidy, pleasant,
presiding easily and well over her
household. Decidedly all women were
not like Hattie.
Of a loyal disposition, Ted had been
very slow in discovering his Wi1e
trn q
Ian excuse for them. Hattie was tired.
or Hattie was not feeling up to the
mark; the weather was too hot, or TOO
cold, or too wet, or too dry, the wfno
blew or it didn't blow-everythlng
might be wrong except Hattie hersel1.
He excused her abominable housekeep.
| ing because she had not been tralnSf
up to 1t, and nearly starved trying 10
eat cookery that seemed to grow
steadily worse instead of better he
looked what he was. overworked ana
undernourished. When the baby came
he had taken on extra bookkeeping 70
help out his regular salary. and an old
cough that had troubled him in boy
hood and returned. But under all the
work and the worry Ted had never
complained He tried very hard to pro-
vide Hattie with the things she craved,
practicing a rigid self-denia1 himseif
that would have been CALLING to less
since their marriage-four years of
fretfo1 repining on Hattie's part four
years of constant endeavor on his II
was disheartening. No matter how ne
strove to please her, She refused TO De
satisfied, continuously reverting to the
carefree life of girlhood- Now, as he
listened to the TRADE something seemed
to break inside him. If Hattie regret
ted their marriage, as she constantly
affirmed that she did. what was there
in it for him more than there was 1or
her? On his part it had been four years
of self-abnegation. of hard labor. with
no days off, no vacation And always
she spent the contents of his pay en-
veIope Still, il SHE wished to go her
vay alone He swallowed hard.
~Hattie,'" said he quietly. IF we made
a mistake in marrying perhaps II can
be remedied- They are wanting clerks
at the lace counter where you once
worked and no doubt will be glad to
take you on again. Tog up ana go
back to the store
She had not expected to be taken seri-
ousIy and stared at him.
'Meanine--- Easped aa'tie' oooo'
That you shall have your liberty,
said Ted. unsteadily. Il will not be so
big a brute as to hold you longer In
bondage. In sense. marriage means
mutual sacrifices. but you do not SO
construe it. guess I've made the
same mistake all men make who be
lieve that a woman finds any lovabie
quality in man except his ability to
make money. I can never do any bet
ter than am doing now. and possibly
may not do as we'll. But from this hour
YOU are free-free as the air you
breathe
A brief exultant thrill-like that of
Gagged bird suddenly freed-swept over
her Then a thought of little Ted
"-rhe baby!''
j Never mind him. said Ted. icily.
SISTER Nell is keen on kids She'll care
for him. Til borrow 500 to fix you up
with clothes, and your salary will do
the rest"
1t was a different Ted now speaking
a cold. unimpassioned man laying down
the law Not the forbearing creature
she was accustomed to nag She felt
the change in his manner. and 1t struck
her like a chill Conflicting emotions
choked her. She was silent, but her
ing-thinking- Now that freedom was
to be hers she knew that she did not
really want it. She glanced dizzily
about. Here was her pretty parior-
The dining room fitted with its white
and gold china. The two bedrooms
and the child's white crib visible in one
of them-the pet canary singing in the
sun. It meant home. though she never
had thought of it in this way before
1t came to her suddenly that Ted earned
the money that made it possible. G1anc-
ing at her husband, she noted, for the
first time. the white threads in his hair
the careworn face, sad now in its ex-
preston, and it broke upon her what
all this had cost him. Last, though not
least. there was the growing baby. Did
she really want to sunder those home
ties and go out in the world alone? And
for what-for pretty clothes? She
knew that she did not. 1t was her own
discomfort that had brought on Ted's
.ultimatum. With a heart full of re-
morse she bent, like one in dream,
over her baby boy. And at that in
slant in walked her husbands mother.
Hey" cried this cheerful lady, MOTTO
ing the two set faces turned toward
her What's wrong in this birds nest
You look like a funeral was on. Any
body dead"
yes" said Ted, trying to joke "A
home, long ailing, has gone by the
board. In other words, my wife and /
have come TO division of the ways.
Tired of drudgery, she wants to go back
to the lace counters
81 never said that burst out Hattie
frightened by results she had not fore
seen or expected.
something to that effect" insisted
Ted griInly. Anyway, she prefers lib
erty to a life with me SO it's all up
with u.s.
what nonsense" scoffed his mother
II don't know what your trouble is, but
this I do know. Marriage is not to be
lightly entered upon nor so lightly set
aside Besides, you are not free to sep