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Show hi MY HUSBAND AND I n CHAPTER CIX. CHftortf Return A th daya p-l I worried mm about aijr action as recanted Lola Gardner's letter let-ter and more of what the letter Implied. Surely It waa the'tetter of one Intimate to another the doelng sentence proved that: "I shall think of you every day, and hope you will not entirely force t. La. J." It was certainly more like a ve letter than any I had ever written either t Clifford of any Other man. lld my n- nd care for hot h t hae women w 1 1 h whom be ueed to associate? Were Mabel Morton and Lola tiardnor both In tuve with him? Hut again that ever recur-rtnt recur-rtnt question arose: If so, why had be married me? Thy mlht still be In lov with him, I reasoned, and he be flattered by their devotion without returnlnc It In the same dorree. Ho I tried to comfort myplf without much success. Clifford had wired that hs would be at Mine on the afternoon train. 1 long-vd yet feared to see him return. 1 must be careful care-ful or he would euspvrt by illy sutity I manner that I had done somethlns: of which I was sahamed. Mine was a tender I ooneclenoe. unused to derit. Kdlth and I were watch ins; at the window win-dow when he came up tha walk. How handsome he waa; how well he carried himself. Why oouidn't 1 make him care for me? "Hello, there! he called as he oame In. l saw you two looklnc out the window. Is everything all right?" he aakM as he tossed Kdith up In his arms and cave me a hssty kiss on my che. "Any mall for me?" 1 "Yes no," 1 answered, then lauand nervously. 'I mean that everything e all right, and that there Is no mail. Ln rou expect somer t asked as casually as could. "I'm no." he replied sbsently as he i-veeted i-veeted himself of his coat. "1 thought there mtffht be, that's all. I Immediately thought that he had heard from U O. and that she had told him shs had written. Rut I made no remark and Clifford said nothing ru. thr, although 1 imagined he looked pus-aled. pus-aled. He went out as soon as dinner evr. Had he gone to see I Ala Oaraner, and would she tell him she hsd ad- drNd a lMr to htm at th hotiae? 1 Well, If hs asked me, I should have to tell another he, although I hated tu. ONI LIS LEADS TO ANOTHER. I not only hated to He again, but hated myself for thinking of It. That'a the trouble when one stoops to deceit. Una untruth laada to another. I remember once heating a public man, a politician, say "1 never lie, not under any condition. Not perhape becauae I'm too good, or think It so dreadfully wrong, but It Is too hard to remember what I have said, and I am so apt to contradict mysHf; whara-a. whara-a. if I tell tha altnpis tmtli, I liaye I nothing to remember. I tU It the same : every time. A He never remains a single He; it breeds other lies with surprlslnc swiftness." I went to bed quite early, I would put off the questioning I was sure Clifford-would Clifford-would aak as long as possible. When he came in 1 pretended to be sound ssleep and he did not speak to me. "I found out last night." Clifford re marked at the breakfaat table, "that a letter had been addreaaed to me here at the house. It ehould have been dHlvereu the day I went away, t shall apeak to the postman and I want you to question lUte and Mandy. "oh, they never touch tha mall t e-' Clalmed. "Well, the letter was written and I I never received It." , "I am aura It never came,' I lied. "Perhaps; but It is a moat unusuaj thing for a letter to go astray, especially If It la delivered In the same town In which It Is mailed. I U speak lo the post-man post-man this morning." I said nothing, and could only hope that our letter carrier was not blessed with a good memory. , CHAPTER CX. Doe it seem that my story Is mads up of unimportant happenings? But Isn't lifs all like that? lin t it the small, in-significant in-significant things Instead of the Important Impor-tant events that make for either our happiness or our unhapplneas? It see,. ao to me; aitd so I am telling of my life Just as It was emther of our lives, Cllf- 1 ford's and mine. 1 ueed to wonder If there were any rules by which one rould win happiness; If books were published giving poor mls-uuledPnUmtstohowejoutu hold the affection of those they loved. Hut I have made up my mind that life la an endless experiment. That the old "try, try again," la the only possible way to succeed In marriage as In alt other things we attempt. Hut at this time! thought to diaaemble, act a part, meet Clifford'a coldness with deceit lies. If necessary waa the only way. Now 1 know better. Kxnerlence Is a severe teacher, but we all must go to school to her. I think It la Emerson who saya: -The man Is on half himself, ths other half is his expression." Ho I think it was with ms. And tha "naif that waa my expreesioh was iiT" free, because I could give no confidence to the man with whom I lived and whom I loved. A REEOLVE, All my life I had felt nothing but contempt con-tempt for the girl or woman who would try to hold her lover's or her husband's love when she saw It slipping fron her. I remember the aubject came up one day when I was lunching with a woman I met In Chicago. She didn't agree with me, and said that when the time game if I had treason 1 would hang on Just as defiantly as any one. Now that I was slmost sure that Clifford loved eltntsr Mabel Horton or Lola Gardner, or to;n. I reeolved to hide my misery as best X could until I was absolutely sure 1 had j lost htm. that no part of his love belonged to me. Then 1 would quietly leave mm, and Edith and I would ge( what happlr nees ws could out of life. I Ioes It seem strange that I knew so i little about these two women who so vi- tally interested me? That I should not know which of them my husband favored? Remember that I had only met them once or twice; that Clifford seemed determined j I should not know them, end that told me nothing of the evenings he spent with them. Perhaps had I mat them oft- ' ener, known them better, 1 should not have been so miserably Jealous who ' knows! Tet In spits of my distrust, my an- f hsppiness. L too, "hung en," as the Cni-cago Cni-cago woman had expressed It-boptng .moat againat trope that someUiingWould happen .to change things between AC"'- ! ford and me; change them for the bet- : ter. Sv' NO TRACE 0 TH fcTTE R. "I spoke to ths postmanthis morning Mildred," Clifford remarked when i.- came In, and he says hs has a sort of a recollection that he delivered1 a letter addressed ad-dressed to me. He thinks he noticed It because 1 get so little house mall." "Then he a not surer' I asked, so r- -lleved I scarcely could keep the Joy from my voice. "No not absolutely.' "Well, I have questioned both Kate and Mandy closely end neither have toucned the mail. I knew thay hadn't, because whenever Ka te gets a letter 1 always give It to her. Mandy m.wr gets any maiL" Course shs don't!" Edith, who hsd been listening, broke In. "Why, Mandy '. can't read nor write. I read her stories j out of my books sometimes. j "I know you do. dear." I told her. I thankful for the Interruption, "and It la ' very nice of you. But It teaches you to 1 read nicely as well as entertaining Mandy, I se keep It sp." i . "It's queer about the letter. Clifford mused, seemingly loath to drop ths sub 1 )ect. "but probably it was lost 4n the post- I office.- J Hs was Tory quiet the rest of ths eve- j nlng. and I made up my mind that no J matter whst happened I would never lis I to him again. ( I Tomorrow Muriel Franklrn's Attitude. ' Coprnxht by Oeort-e Matlhewe Adams. ' |