The Glenwood post., 1923-11-01

! time he was shot, he could reconstruct
the occasion when Mrs. Bain's former
husband first came into his life. They
had been married just two months
then. The honeymoon was in its last
quarter. If the couple were ever to 60
along together in harmony the time
had now come when mutual under
standing must succeed the period of
adjustment and balance. She had the
benefit of experience on her side; for
she had been through the process once
before. Tom Balm might be green
hand at this business of being married,
but, subconsciously, he was beginning
to adjust himself in his ordained and
| proper place in the matrimonial scheme
as it 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 a part and be his
own self again always, though with re-
| gard for the limitations and restric-
tions 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 a hard one
so much which seemed to require his
! personal attention had accumulated
while he was away. He left the office
pretty well tired out. On his way home
he built up pleasant vision of a nice
| quiet little dinner and then a peaceful
hour or so in the living room In slip
/ pers and an old smoking jacket.
Mrs. Balm met him at the door with a
greeting that put him in thorough good
humor This, he decided, was the best
of all possible worlds to live in and his,
undoubtedly, was the best of all posi-
| BILE 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, there's nobody coming in for
dinner, is there?' he asked.
She drew away from him slightly.
"No, there's no one coming" she said.
what difference does that make?"
"Well." he said, I'm rather fggged
out, and l sort of thought that, seeing
! there'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
ened the superlative dearest" to
dear" Also she slipped herself out
of the circlet of his encircling arm
Suddenly there was a suggestion-a
bare trace-of an autumnal chill in the
air.
But, as 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 regala 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 before her.
"Tom," she said as they sat down. ~
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"
"Ohl /" 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
it was in that very moment of reflec-
ton that the lady decided on a future
plan of action.
At any rate, this was the beginning.
Eventually, Mr. Balm awoke to reallza-
ton that he was the victim Of gentle
tyranny-that he had fallen captive to
combination enemy made up of an af-
| fectionate if somewhat masterful lady
and the memory Of a dead and gone
personality. Mrs. Bain's first husband
was persistently dogging Mrs. Bain's
second husband Daily, after one fash
ion or another, the latter was remind
| eu VI tilt lalt Alliui al lhul, II
seemed, had never lost his temper.
What made the comparison hurt the
more was the indubitable 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 be.
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 considerate of her feelings. II
was Arthur this and 1t 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.
| Gov oil tbot ho nm ot,traIIx, n