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Show ! The Husband Who I Acted on Kipling's Advice i By Louis Shcrwin. I b IH If your wife should go wrong with a com-BHl com-BHl rade, bo loth flB To ohoot whon you catch them you 11 flfl! swine, on my oath: WM Mako him take her and kcop her that's hell for them both. fB Barrack Room Ballads. KKj With a bitter smilo Marvyn Straker flL repeated these words to himself. Up BHn and down Brlgham street tralTlo was 1 going on as usual; In fact, everything: was acting Just as if ho were not confronted con-fronted with the greatest disgrace that could come in the way of a married man. They did not care if he had to dig hl3 nall3 into his hands to keep his rare and agony from escaping him they did not know, thank God I They did not know! How ho loved her, oven now when ho hated her most! Yet ho knew sho was not so much to blame, ho knew that that faugh! Why were women always so much taken by those sickly ladies' men. He should be punished. "God! to have that worm's throat In my hands! Every finger would find its mark to give him one tithe of the agony I feel. Fool! Can I suppose that he Is canable of feelinir the kind of agony 1 H have? That miserable scum will find MM out what it costs to mcddlo with a H strong man, a real man." HJ Marvyn Straker certainly was a H strong man. Without any brilliance, 19 his force and mentality had made them- D selves felt even as dearly as in his unl- HJ vcrsJty days. He had been, neither a H poler nor a mere athletic animal; ho PJ was not the show man of the crowd on HJ any occasion, but unobtrusively his DJ strength was felt In both spheres. In H the mines that same strength soon took HJ J him through the grades from a mucker H to a machine man, and at a pinch ho HJ could have held down a Job with the J monkey-wrench gang. J He had soon outgrown the vicloustiess J of his 'varsity days, but he had enough H of It to know as much of both sides of HE the feminine character as It was good Htt for him to know. He was never a BjM, schoolboy cynic, nor a gullible fool; and HI for this reason It hurt his pride and HI self-love as much as his lovo for her HI when the calamity happened to him. HI He had loved her with the quiet lnten- HHV slty of his nature and with all his HH strength. And his hatred for the man IH who had taken all this away from him HH took root in the same way. His anger HJ became deep, almost cool, and method- HJ ical. At first all the primitive instincts HJ had been aroused in him and he thought HJ of settling It In primitive ways. But HJ when ho recognized that his anger could H be much better satisfied by more re- H lined cruelty he gave up this Idea. HI "Malsle, Malsle," he groaned to her HJ in that one Interview they had, "1 HJ thought that you were making mc as pH near as It was possible for me to be- HJB come the son my mother dreamed of. HHJ And now you've made me a man whom HI all will dread." HI "Oh, heaven, what will he do?" sho PPJ asked, as she shivered In her fear. Al- H ready she almost hated the radical HHJ cause of their tragedy. And she began HH to realize what she had thrown away, ipH and for what. HI In the meantime Richard Curtis had HI received a letter from Straker, asking HH him to call at his house In the evening. HI When he read it at his office he caught HJH his breath almost involuntarily The HH very plain wording of the note, which HH made no mention of any reason for IB Straker's request, made it more impres- HH sive. Curtis was a coward at heart. HH but his very vanity made his mental HH cowardice greater than his physical HH fear. Therefore his first Impulse toward PPJ lllght gave way before a hope of being PJH able to bluff the thing out, or even that HH his fear was groundless. HH As Straker had known this, the HH scene In their drawing-room that even- HHJ Ing came out exactly as he had planned PPJ it. Curtis had entered, trembling, but HHJ with a careless polished air that was PPJ one of his few assets. Mrs. Straker, at HH her husband's request, had come down HH from her room, where she had spent the HHjT whole of the day. HH "I've brought you together here to HK tell you what I have decided," said PPJ His voice, always low and quiet, was HJB a trifle dryer than usual. He was sit- HH ting down In a low armchair watching JHH them both through clouds of smoke. Ho PPJ had managed to place them both so PPJ that the light shone on their faces, and PPJ the only sign of .emotion on his own HHJ was a dicker of his eyelids and a closing PPJ of his thin lips. PPJ "Decided?" exclaimed Curtis, feigning PPJ astonishment. "I am afraid you've got PPJ me, old man. What was there to do- MK "Hell!" said Straker, "don't let's ttV waste any time. Of course I've got you. HHJ If you Insist on having it explained to PPJ you, why I know that my wife has PPJ done me the compliment to prefer your jHJHj especial type of manhood. Now, do you HH "Why, but I my dear fellow HPS "Drop It. And, really, if you call nie PPJ your 'dear fellow any more I am liable HH to spoil my own plans by killing, you EHjj on the spot. And I know you won't HH like the unpleasant scandal of that," HH he added, grimly. HH "You Insult your wife," burbled Cur- IK "There was a time when T would have HBt considered It the damnedest Insult that ! W could havo been paid to her," said the JTMH other, dryly. His wife looked at him, US appealingly. PPJ "Now you havo Interrupted me sufll- MH clontly," he went on. "I am now going HHJ to tell you what I have decided. When pH . I am done you may ask mo any ques- PPJ tlona that arc seemly. Stand up!" he HIHI exclaimed, as Curtis made a motion to PIP take a seat. "Who are you, to sit down PPJ in my presence!" HHJ "As you have decided that this pcr- HH son Is preferable to your husband," mH continued Straker, addressing his wife, HH "you shall abide by your decision. You HJB shall go to him and stay with him. He HB shall fill the place of your husband, and PPJ If you try to escape, us you may have HHJ no idea of doing nt this early stage, I PPJ shall follow you and find you, wherever HHJ you may hldo, and bring you back. I HK am not going to divorce you. I shall de- flH sert you and you must divorce me. You will then marry the person you havo chosen as being preferable to mc. Tho proof of your guilt is in my possession. It remains hidden from your parents and your family as long as I see fit. If you ever run away, tho first thing I shall do upon finding you will bo to take you to them and show them what I have. And In the end you will be brought back to your punishment. "You havo hoard what I havo said?" he turned to Curtis. "And now I would remark to you that you will not find It a paying game to try to get out of your punishment. Before you are through you will doubtless think it preferable to kill yourself rather than go on in the way I havo marked out for you. But I know you won't do that, for you have not the courage. If you attempt to console yourself with any other woman I will break you like a raw colt." "Who oro you to talk of breaking me?" blazed up tho 3park of manhood in Curtis. "Your master," said Straker, quietly getting to his feet and standing by the other man's side. And not for ono minute min-ute did Curtis try to meet his master's eyes. All three of them knew that Straker Stra-ker had told the exact truth. He was their master, and tho others knew it. for their weakness corresponded to his strength. "Xnw " Jn Irl IStrnlrnp nc Virt tlirnw Vila coat over his arm and picked up a valise, va-lise, "I am going away for two months. Dbn't attempt to ieave Salt Lake, for I havo explained the consequences to you. When I come back I will notify you. You can then file a complaint for divorce and tho case will go by default. You will then be married, and I think that I can trust both of you to work out my revenge." They heard the front door bang as they were left alone with the memory, of his words. O a o Had Marvyn Straker been an Inmate of tho Curtis household his vindictive-ness vindictive-ness would have been satisfied within three months. At first they had taken up their life with an attempt to make the best of it. But she, with a woman's wo-man's inveterats admiration for strength, soon realized how much of it Marvyn Straker had. how pitifully little Curtis could lay claim to and, with the first thought of contempt, she began to hate him Curtis on iis part had started with the consolation that at any rate his wife was a beautiful woman, and very much In love with him. But little by little an Inkling of the contempt she felt began to dawn upon him. And with that innate in-nate knowledge of himself that is withheld with-held from few of even the most self-infatuated self-infatuated men, he realized that It was Just contempt! and he began to return her hatrod with interest. His infinite littleness was forced on her In their close Intercourse, and her growing hatred ha-tred and unhapplness galled him almost beyond bearing. Their first year passed uneventfully except in his business' affairs. Ho became be-came involved in a speculation in a mine in the southern part of Utah. He had been let in on the ground floor and Jumped In with his whole force, borrowing borrow-ing money on his property to realize the cash. Whom the cellar opened underneath under-neath him his fall was proportionate and for a time he was In desperate straits. Straker had Jtcpt close watch upon every detail 3f Curtltfs affairs and snapped at his chance without delay. He knew Curtis would be wanting money and he had little doubt that he would give him un opening. As he hod calculated Curtis had fallen into the trap he had laid for him. It was he that lent Curtis the money to save himself from ruin. Every note that Curtis signed, and It almost surprised him how readily these notes were accepted, found their way eventually Into Straker's hands. For Straker had continued to succeed in every affair he managed and to accumulate piece after piece of valuable valu-able property. In six months more Curtia and his living liv-ing punishment seemed to have- reached the depths of wretchedness. He had never been a hard drinker, for women had always been his prevailing weakness. weak-ness. But he dared not try consolation with them, for he was not desperate enough yet to defy his fear of Straker. So now he began to frequent the company com-pany of a hard-drinking, hard-gambling crowd. His wife was thankful for the relief his absence from tho house afforded af-forded her, even though it made him more unbearable when he did come home. And ho also became more Involved. Straker began to put on the screws through the agents who held the notes for him. And he knew that Curtis held certain stock for a client. He went to this man, who he knew was going away and offered to buy it. "I want that stock," he said, "for certain purposes of mine. I will pay your price for It.' But I don't want any one outside of ourselves our-selves to know of the transfer, not even Curtis, who you say holds the. certificates. certifi-cates. You can give me a bill of sale and a power of attorney giving me the right to demand tho stock whenever I see fit." When Curtis was most hard pressed for money he thought of the stock he had. Smith, who, he supposed, was still the owner, had gone East, and he could surely make It good before he came back. He would use it. "Forgery? That sounds damnable!" And he was beginning ,to return th? stock Into his safe. But the thought of the plight ho was In urged him on and he did it. And two days afterward Marvyn Straker had material in his possession pos-session that gave him the option at will of making Richard Curtis a guest of the State of Utah, under the hospltalble management of Warden Pratt. With money at hand and the Immediate Immedi-ate fear remo'ed Curtis began to bethink be-think himself of his home affairs. And the result was one week in Son Francisco Fran-cisco in which he enjoyed a respite, n. did his wife, from tho monotonous wretchedness of their life. At the end of that week his first warning came In the shape of a. telegram tele-gram from Marvyn Straker. Curtis, with n sort of Dutch cournge at a distance of 000 miles Ignored the summons. He went on to Lob Angeles. He had been there three days when a card was brought up to his room bearing bear-ing the name "Marvyn Straker." It brought an echo of the feeling that had come over him when he had read Straker's Stra-ker's note on that day when' the rest of his life had been outlined for him by another. His first Impulse was to deny himself to his unbidden visitor, but a fear of the unknown consequences of act came over him. "I thought," said Straker, when he hod closed the door behind him, "that I had told you it would be foolish to try and run away from me." "You fiatter yourself," was the reply. "Why should I run away from you?" "Probably because you have a faint Idea that It rests with me to give you a six years holiday in the Jail!" answered Straker quietly. "Get back'" he exclaimed as Curtis made a motion to spring at his throat. "Even you are hardly such a fool as to think you can hurt me." .Curtis sank back against the opposite wall staving at his torturer as a rabbit stares at a snake. "You see, my man," Straker went on in the same even tone, "all those accommodating ac-commodating gentlemen with whom you have had dealings lately have been merely agents for me, who am your master, as I evidently have to remind you." "What are you going to do?" finally asked the weal: man. "Do? Why, the proofs will be merely hostages for your good behavior. You will now return to Salt Lake City to your wife," added the strong man grimly. grim-ly. When Straker returned to Salt Lake he found that Curtlss wife had done as he expected she would. She did not know that she was being closely watched all the time nnd accordingly had fled to New York. Straker found a telegram waiting for him to the effect that his former wife had taken a berth, under an assumed name, on the White Star Liner for Liverpool. A telegram was Immediately dispatched dis-patched t6 her assumed name in New York reading: "Unless you prepare to return at once you will be arrested on the cliarge of complicity with your husband In the crime of forgery. Your family will receive re-ceive full account." Over and above her misery she felt the hopelessness of attempting to get away from the relentlese man who had constituted hlmswlf her fate. Within a week she was back In Salt Lake. And the Curtis family resumed Its penance. Their relief did not come for another two years. While Straker was In Europe, Eu-rope, he received. word one day that Malsie Curtis was dangerously 111. If there was any compunction In the man, no one watching him as ho read the telegram could have noticed any trace of it on his face. Two days later she died. The only message she left was for Straker. "Ask him if he has had his revenge?" When Curtis became a confirmed drurkard and from that turned to the morphine'' habit there were charitable people who attributed It to remorse for the way he had treated his wife. Marvyn Straker Is a much envied man. His name Is In the board of directors direc-tors In many companies who pay their quarterly dividends regularly. If there Is anything that he can not buy It is because It Is not tangible enough to be for sale. There are many who envy him because he Is rich, because his bUBlncss affords him Just enough occupation occu-pation to keep him from Idleness, because be-cause ho is healthy and strong, and even because he is single. Whether he is happy or contented, or both, or neither. Is a problem which the three men who are supposed to be his closest friends can not answer; even the men who make up the regular four at whist at the club, who Invariably make up the same foursome at the golf links. But every one agrees that no i:rn is more feared today than Murryn ftra-ker. ftra-ker. And it's a well known fact that there's |