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Show 0KKKKKKOKKKKKKK 5 The Wife and the Mistress X Q BY W. B. BAR.R.ETT. Q O (Copyright, 1902. by Daily Story Pub. Co.) O 0MH0-0-O0-X K0-0-0 Finally they reached a little country station in the woods, and the woman handed the reins to her companion. "Give me your valise," she whispered, whisper-ed, "and keep well back. If they come drive away anywhere. I'll meet them." Then she walked into the waiting room and called the station master, who was walking outside. "Going away?" he asked. "Yes; one ticket to the Junction, please." He drew it from its place with maddening slowness. She tried not to snatch it as he held it out. "Have I time to say good-bye to my husband before the train goes? He can't leave the horse to stand." "Oh, yes; that's the whistle, but it's a mile off yet." She kept the valise in her hand and. walked back to the buggy. "Here's the ticket, Robert. The man's busy and won't see you. Cross the track, and you can hide in that, clump of bushes till the train comes. Then swing yourself up on the back-platform. back-platform. Quick!" as he moved stiffly. stiff-ly. "Good-bye, old girl," he returned, kissing her hastily. "You came out fine to-night. Take care of the children, chil-dren, and don't let 'em hear any more than you can help. You'll get on all rieht": and he snraner awav into th- your temptations may be his. Tell me, was it that other woman?" "What other?" but he faltered over the Interrogative lie. "Oh, well, if you know about her" carelessly "I suppose sup-pose it may have been. A man can't keep up two establishments on the salary sal-ary of a bank clerk. But you can't say I didn't provide for my family, Annie. Did you or the children ever want for anything?" She drew in a quick breath. "Not for material comforts, no; you kept us well housed and clothed and fed. But what you took the money for, then, was your love for her?" "Why, if you want it in plain terms, yes. I'm like a good many other fellows, fel-lows, I guess." He laughed uncomfortably. uncom-fortably. "Now I suppose your next question will be, How did I come to fancy anybody so different from you, eh? Well, I may as well have it out with you. I don't mean any offense, you know, and I appreciate your beine It was so dark and still in the woods that not a sound, save the scanty, almost al-most noiseless plash of rain, could be heard by the two breathless listeners in the buggy. The woman was holding hold-ing one hand out to feel the drops; her ears were sharpened until even the breaking of a twig made her start. "There is nothing," she said at last. "We could hear a horse's hoofs two miles off." "Go on, then, as fast as you can." "You'll not forget that you're taking tak-ing the name of John Whiting? I marked all your clothes with it this morning before I packed the valise and put those handkerchiefs that were father's fa-ther's with the same Initials embroidered embroid-ered on them; and " Her companion broke in with a discordant dis-cordant laugh. "I guess the old man would rise up In his grave if he knew it. He never took much stock in me anyway." The woman shivered slightly. "I was going to say," she continued without replying to his remark, "that you can't be recognized by the silver watch. It was never used, you know. Your gold one I've put away." "You can give it to Bob when he grows up. And I say, Annie, are you going to let the children know?" "Not more than I can help, Robert. The little ones need hardly hear of it yet a while, but, of course, Bob and Eleanor will. Nobody can keep the papers from them." "It's rather rough on them," muttered mut-tered the man. "I'm sorry for Eleanor." Elean-or." "She will bear as a woman knows how to do and has to do. But, oh, Robert, why didn't you think of that before?" "Why didn't I do a lot of things different? dif-ferent? I've lived my life, that's all, and now I'm ready to drop out of it. a good wife and all that. You won't find I ever breathed a word against you to anybody. But you were too strict in your ideas from the start, that was the trouble. You couldn't expect a fellow to live up to 'em. By Jove! one gets enough of the serious side of life in his business without having to tackle it when he's at home! Yes, I know what you'll say; but it's so. I couldn't go on being a respectable family fam-ily man all my life, and after I met Kate I had some diversion. You were all right enough, and you know I was affectionate you can't complain of anything, can you? but a woman with a saucy little daredevil way like hers, I tell you. takes a man's fancy in spite of all he can do. She was more my kind, Annie; there's no use talking. I thought a lot of her. If she wanted diamonds or a saddle horse I had to get 'em for her. You never cared about such things, you know, darkness. The train dashed up. She could see-him see-him climb on at its further end and; hear the thump of baggage and boxes-under boxes-under the station master's hands. One sob escaped her. Then with short, sharp puffs the train started and the cars dragged out of sight. "Hey, there! Stop here, will you?" called a voice from a light wagon drawn by a sweating, galloping horse, as two men drove up to the platform. "Too late," answered the station master. "What d'ye want? You ain't travelin', are you?" "We want the man that got off on that train." "There wasn't any man, nobody but a woman." "What kind of a woman?" "A little one not up to my shoulders." shoul-ders." "Sure there was no one else?" asked the other mn.n. 4J'.j .iri i;3l mm - !ff fin iji ' ' and If she did. why " "See here," she interrupted. "You haven't the slightest conception of any biutality in what you are saying, I suppose; but please spare both her and me the comparisons. 1 didn't ask for any justification of your caring for her. But, if she loves you, why is she not with you to-night? Was there not sufficient of the daredevil spirit in her to face flight and danger with you?" He did not answer at once; then he muttered with an attempt at lightness; "Well, you know, Annie, all women wom-en haven't the grit that you have. And she's got other friends; she's too popular pop-ular to give up all her chances for one." The bitter curl of his lip was hidden by the darkness. "Robert," she said softly, "I want you to remember that one of the two women loved you. I know nothing about the other, and it does not matternow. mat-ternow. But when you think of tonight's to-night's ride, you may take that comfort to your soul; and you'll need comfort some day. It is breaking my heart to He drew it from Its place with mad-denning mad-denning slowness. Jackson was to blame, curse him, for winding me up so -soon. It was he that got the bank directors here this month. He's had his evil eye on me all winter. Stop, will you? I heard something." "Sh-sh! That was a call a man's voice!" he whispered excitedly. "You hold the reins, if they come; I'll jump and cut." But it was the scream of "Good-bye, old girl. You came out fine to-night." "Not a soul. She bought her ticket and got on while I was unloading the baggage." "Fooled again!" was the angry exclamation. ex-clamation. "Well, Jackson, we've raced twenty miles, now I guess we'll walk home." "It was a mistake to go to Kate for information," said his comrade. "She told us all she knew fast enough she won't have any more use for him but it was the wife we ought to have kept our eye on. I told you that all along. We might follow her up now, if it wasn't likely to be too late." The wife had driven away, alone. Into the black woods. lei. you go line tms. The man made no answer. Then suddenly she drew in the horse till he stumbled back on his haunches. "Listen!" she cried. Through the stillness they could hear a new sound, painfully distinct; the quick trot of hoofs and the roll of wheels over a distant bridge. They listened, breathless, two interminable minutes. "My God!" exclaimed the man. "that's no country team. They've been to Riverton, and now they're coming over the turnpike. I'm done for." "No, you're not. It takes half an hour to get here from Riverton. That long stretch across the meadows and the place where the road is being mended will put them back five minutes, min-utes, too. We're close to the station now." . "Hurry, then." But the horse picked his way slowly down the hill in the darkness. The man was desperately nervous; the woman calm as if looking into the face of death. a distant locomotive, followed by the dull roaring of the train. No o'ier sound was audible in the silent woods save the soft falling rain. "I should like to ask you one thing before we part," said his wife presently, present-ly, in the calm, deliberate tone which is sometimes a feature of intense mental men-tal pressure. "How did you come to all this? Were you an honest man in the beginning, as as I believed you to be or have your friends been deceived In you all these many years? "I am asking as much for Boh's sakf as my own. He U much like you and |