Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1922-03-25

auotneF ph0eton on the long, pleasant
drive and Martin said to the fat man
in it:
"Mr. Bates, l want to make you &C
quainted with my Wife,"
PLEASED to meet you, Mrs. Lloyd!"
said the fat man, pleasantly. Martin
told Cherry, when they passed him.
that that was the superintendent of
the mine. and seemed pleased at the
encounter. Presently Martin put his
arm about her and the bay horse dav-
died along at his own sweet VIII, while
Martins deep voice told his wife over
and over again how adorable and beau
tiful she was and how he loved her.
Cherry listened happily. and for
little while the Old sense Of pride and
achievement came back-she was mar
ried she was wearing a plain gold
ring But after a few days that feel
ing vanished forever and instead it
began TO seem strange to her that
she had ever been anything else than
Martins wife.
For several days she and Martin
laughed necessarily and praised each
other necessarily, while they experl-
mented with cooking and ate delicious
gypsy meals.
BY midwinter Cherry had settled
down to the business of life buying
bacon and lard and sugar and matches
at the store of the mine, cooking and
cleaning. sweeping. and making beds
She still kissed Martin Co0d-by every
morning and met him with an aifec-
tionate rush at the door when he came
home, and they played Five Hundred
evening after evening after dinner.
quarreling for points and laughing ~
each other, while rain sluiced down on
the porch. But sometimes she won
dered how 1t had all come about, won
dered what had become Of the violent
emotions that had picked her out of
the valley home ana established her
here, in this strange place, with this
man She had never seen a year ago.
OF these emotions little was left.
She still liked Martin, she told her
self, and she still told him that she
loved him. But she knew she did not
love him, and in such an association
as theirs there can be no liking. Her
thoughts rarely rested on him; she
was either thinking of the prunes that
We're soaking, the firewOod that was
running low, the towels that wet
breeze was blowing on the line: or
she was far away, drifting in vague
realms where feelings entirely strange
to this bare little mining camp and
this hungry, busy, commonplace man,
held sway.
The first time that she Quarreled
with Martin she cried for an entire
day, with the old childish feeling that
somehow her crying mattered, some
how her abandonment would help to
straighten affairs. The cause Of the
quarrel was q trifle; her father had
sent her a Christmas check and she
Immediately sent to San Francisco
shop for clock that had taken her
fancy months before
Martin, who had CHANGED TO be
pressed for money, although she did
not know 1t, was thunderstruck upon
discovering that she had actually dis
posed of fifty dollars so lightly. For
several days a shadow hung over their
intercourse, and when the clock came,
as large as a banjo, gided and quaint,
he broke her heart afresh by pretend
ing not to admire It,
Bnt on Christmas eve he was de-
layei at the mine and Cherry, smitten
suddenly with the bitterness Of having
their first Christmas spoiled I'm this
way, sat up for him, huddled In her
silk wrapper by the alright stove.
Sic was awakened by feeling herself
lowered tenderly into bed and raised
warm arms to clasp his neck ana they
kissed each other
The next day they laughed al the
clock together, and after that peace
relgned for several weeks. But ii was
inevitable that another quarrel should
come and then another; Cherry was
young and undiscipincd. perhaps not
more selfish than other girls Of her
age. but self-centereA and uureae0u-
able. She had 70 learn self control
and she hated TO control herself She
had 70 economic when poverty pos
sessed neither picturesqueness nor .n.
terest They were always seyora
weeks behind In the paymoat Of DO
nestle bills. and these recurring ~.
minders Of money strlueeucy mad
dened Cherry. Sometimes she sumtped
il up, with angry tears. reminding him
that She was still wearing her trous
seau dresses, and had no maid, and
never went anywhere,
But she developed ste0dily. AS She
grew skilful ln managing her little
house, She also grew in the art of
managing her husband and herself
She became clever At avoiding taueee
of disagreement; she listened, nodded
agreed, with a boiling heart. and had
the satIs-n cti5n OF having Martins
viewpoint yeer the next day. or the
next hour, to meet her own secret
conviction Martin seemed satisfied
and an their little world accepte3 her
az matter Of course But under it
al Cherry knew that something young
sud IRRESPONSIBLE qUf cor GIpUt IN her