The St. Mary banner., 1922-09-23
The Court Of First
Resort
By MARTHA M. WILLIAMS

AllHt dF"pptl INTO an easy chair,
saying sturniiy: "Oh Mrs. Dean. Il
must speak To somebody. | shall die
unless | do"
WHATS the fatal Something?' Mrs.
Dean asked, suppresSfng an inclina-
Ioh I" laugh. Anne was hardly past
her honeymoon-She had sung the
praises OF Peter in every key through
out Il tedious engagement And all
the frSt month the praise chorus had
strenEthened-petcr was wonderful
nobody like him. No other woman
ever had or could have such lover
husband. Anne was happier than the
sunshine. She knew now just why
She had been created-to love and
! cherish Peter-but was puzzled as to
now she had fallen into such amaZ-
I ing and undeServed felicity.
Continuous harpng wears thin the
rareSt strain. Mrs. Dean had, in
truth, grown tired of the paeans She
| was genuinely glad the young folk
We're SO happy, but wise enough to
be sure the happiness would last long
er If not 80 furiously advertised.
lntuitively she understood that Anne's
alteration was grounded In selfishness
an inarticulate effort to charm Peter
into forgetting everything but her
self
She was rather piteous figure,
gaSping and snubbng, her fine hair
little unkempt, her eyes re1-rimmed.
1t moved Mrs. Dean to say kindly:
Tell me your trOuble-prOvided it is
anything a friend may hope to rem
edy"
Peter has Joined the gun club"
Anne sasped rather than said with
ont q word to me-Sad he knew !
had foolish prejudice against guns
and things. l must get over 1t be-
cause he loved them-almost next to
me. Think Of that, When he knows
| have been brought up to regard
killing things-what they call sport
as next to crime"
"There's no killing at the club"
Mrs. Dean commented. "They shoot
only at clay pigeons for the JOY of
craftsmanship. You ought to le glad
rather than hurt
"Oh! Oh-Oo," Anne walled. "You
know they go on camp hunts once or
twice year, stay fortnight and
KILL kill all the time"
"H-m-m! I think you like the veni-
son they fetch back" Mrs. Dean in
terrupted.
Anne flushed "It is dead and not |
eating it won't bring the poor deer to |
life" she protested. But that isn't |
the real hard part. l have to stay |
at home. How can Peter think of that |
with me?"
you thought you knew him up and
down. backward and forward" Mrs.
Dean began to answer
Anne broke in eagerly: "But I |
didn't I find I am married to almost
a stranger"
"Well, you have all your life to get I
really acquainted with him." Mrs. |
Dean said patiently.
Anne sprang up angrily: "You-
nOr-Peter needn't be too sure of
that" she cried "Separations are not
looked at as they were. If l go home
after things blow yer 1 shall easily
take my old place"
"If I thought you meant what you
say should be sorry, indeed. 1 have
thought a lot of you always" Mrs.
Dean said reflectively. "You vowed
In sight of God and man: Until death
us do part IF you are thinking Of
perjuring yourself simply because
Peter will not let your personality
submerge his-well it may be lucky
for him.
Anne gasped again, staring hard at
her hostess. then covered her face
with her fingers and broke into wild
sobs. II thought you'd-under-
stand" she moaned between parOx-
rsms. that you were the best friend
[ had-one I could come to for help
n-in-anything.
"You thought right-ln right things"
he older woman answered. "In
wrong ones-no. I tell you plainly
'bu are IlShIHS liit IdI'IJlIltSS VI WV
ives; it may be many more. You are
Ike so many girls-never see the
mans side. Let me tell you, a hus-
,and is much like set of artificial I
eeth--no matter how carefully they
re made and fitted 1t takes practice
O make them wear easy. Hearts and
mouths are not so different as you
night think l dare say Peter has t
ound out a lot about you since you l
oOk his name: but, being a man. has /
zen decent enough to accept the in !
vitable disappointment like a good t