Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1923-11-08

proper place in HE matrimonial scheme
as IL related to him and this very
charming lady. In other words, he had
reached the place where he was slip
ping out Of the bridegroom pose into
the less studied and more matter-of-
fact status Of a husband He was
ready to quit acting part and he his
own self again always. though with re-
gard for the limitations and restric-
ti0nS imposed by the new estate upon
which he had entered.
The campaign against him-we may
as well call it a campaign-opened on
the evening following their return from
the trip to White Sulphur That first
day AT his desk had been n hard one !;
50 much which seemed to require his
personal attention had accumulated
while he was away. He left the office
he built up a pleasant vision of nice
quiet little dinner and then Il peaceful
hour or 50 In IT," Twin" room in slip
pcrS and an Old smoking Jacket.
Mrs. pain met him at The door with a
greeting that put him in thorough good
hunRpr This. he decided, was the best
of all possible worlds TO live in and his,
undoubtedly. was the best of all posi-
bic ways Of living.
you're late, dearest" she said
you've Just time to run upstairs and
slip on your evening clothes. I've laid
them out for you"
"Why. II "re'S nobody coming in for
dinner, Is thcre?" he asked.
She drew away from him slightly.
"No. there's no one coming" she said
"Whal difference does that make?"
"Wcll," he said, 'I'm rather fggged
out, and I sort of thought that, seeing
tlerr'd be only the two Of us, I'd come
to the table just as am"
every well, dear" she said, "suIt
Yourself"
But he took note that she had short.
en"d the Superlativc dearest" to
"dcar" Also She slipped herself out
of the circlct Of his encirclng arm.
Suddenly there was suggesti0n-a
bare trtcc--0f an autumnal chill In the
air.
But, us newly married man, how
could he suit himself? He clad himself
in the Starchy shirt, the high, tight col
lar that pinched his throat, the pinchy
patent feathers, and all the rest of the
funeral regalia in which civilized man
encases himself on any supposedly fes
tai occasion. She gave him an approx.
ing look when, ten minutes later, he
presented himself beforss ner.
"Tom," she said as they sat down, 81
think YOU always should dress for din
ner. Arthur always said that a gentle
man should dress for dinner"
He stared at her, puzzled
Arthur" he echoed. Who's Ar
thur|
my first husband" she explained.
arthur looked so well in his evening
clothes"
"Oh' ~ he said, like that. That was
all he said for minute or so. He was
thinking.
She was thinking, too. Practically all
women are popularity supposed to have
intuition, and certainly this particular
woman had her share of it. Probably
1t was in that very moment of refec-
tion that the lady decided on future
plan of action.
At any rate, this was the beginning.
Eventually, Mr.. Balm awoke to realiza-
tiOn that he was the victim of a gentle
tyranny--that he had fallen captive to
a combination enemy made up of an af-
fectlonate If somewhat masterful lady
and the memory of dead and gone
personality. Mrs. Baln's first husband
was persistently logging Mrs. Bain's
second husband Daily, after one fash
ion or another, the latter was remind
ed of the late Arthur. Arthur, 1t
seemed, had never lost his temper
What made the comparison hurt the
more was the indubltable fact that Mr..
Balm occasionally did lose his. Arthur
had never raised his voice above the
low-pitched key of innate refinement
no matter how irritated he might he.
Arthur had been so tidy; never left his
clothes lying about where he dropped
them. Arthur had not given her n cross
word In all the seven Years of their
life together. Arthur Invariably had
been So considCrate of her feelings. 1t
was Arthur this and it WAS Arthur
that. She realized her power and she
used it. Mrs. Bain'S first husband was
ever, so to speak, at the elbow of Mrs.
Bain's second husband, by proxy child
ing him, admoniShing him, correcting
him, scolding him. even.
And for all that he naturally was a
sunny-natured and companionable per-
son, Mrs. Bain's second husband was,
at the end of the first year of his mar.
ried life. in fair way to become a
most unhappy person. Their matri-
monial craft was sliding down the rap
ids toward laundering Niagara; and
she didn't realize it and ne. thorough.
~ under the dominion of forces with
which he found himself powerless to
cope, only dimly and duly appreciated
the peril. He wanted above all thingE
TO have and to hold his wife until death
did them part. But always there was
Arthur tagging along. making crowd
Of three of what otherwise might have
been congenial company of two
But, as some one has most aptly
said, It's always darkest Just before
the dawn. In this instance, though, de.
lNerance came to the oppressed. not
with the graduations OF the spreading
dawn, but rather with the solid en-
phasis of a bolt from the blue. There
mad been an evening of bridge with the
Iatums and Balm, who played well. had
Tor partner Mrs. Tatum, who didn't.
IL Is barely possible that he had be-
trayed passing emotion of testiness