Show 0 0 0 0 little problems 0 0 0 0 0 0 life 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 dy 1 0 0 WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN 0 0 0 0 coopy right THROWING OVERBOARD THE OLD FRIENDS in that journey of jonah the ilia prophet from joppa to nearly three thousand years ngo ago when the wind I 1 d nod and the tempest rose and the great r eat waves washing over the little I 1 croft craft threatened to rge it they threw jonah overboard that tho ilia lightened ship might ride easier in waters smoothed into peace and tranquility in ill this twentieth century ilia old time friends of ilia husband uro lire often similarly cast overboard from the ship of dinati matrimony that its burden may be find and the waves of homo home ills dis cord card may bo be stilled the direct primitive simplicity of tho the jonah incident Is rarely followed todar today it Is usually accomplished by tact and tactics by seeming innocent comments and criticisms by delicate diplomacy by placing tho the friend in nn an exposed position which makes it seem that lie he merely fell overboard it Is tile tho final result of gentle gradual pushes instead of ono one bold fearless toss when a girl marries she does not feel that the curtain lias has been rung down on oil the nearest and best in her old life iler her girl friends do not give alvo her up for lost and feet feel that she has passed forever out of their love sympathy regard nod and companionship ller her life has but broadened they will visit her ter and she them ns 09 of old they will take interest in her ter now new world and she bhe will retain as best as sho she can the threads of the old relationships the husband usually Is honestly glad that glicr ter days alono alone may be brightened a little by these friends that site she Is getting out of life all alf the happi happiness nass that she can of course lie he has very little appreciation of her old admirers lier her fervor of approval of their good points seems to bo be more sentimental than judicial lie he cannot imagine what she can possibly have ever seen in A or 13 or the others down tho ilia alphabet of her men friends wild enthusiasm over them Is hardly to be expected but for her woman friends except when they camp around ilia house at all hours find and make it impossible r for him to have a quiet talk alone with her lie Is usually complaisantly tolerant it not cordially encouraging ila iio does not always receive similar courtesy and consideration when a nt man n marries even his big truest worthiest and best friends those who have been close to him who have been ills his confidants his h chunis chums and his comrades feel with sadness that it hits has now come to the parting of ilia ways they bid him goodbye good bye in spirit it if not la in words as though lie ho were ere going to somo some island in the south seas and they might never see gee him again it Is not the natural drifting apart that comes from ills his absorption in ills his home with new duties and responsibilities I 1 ties that they fear it Is that they will bo be disqualified by ills his wife and that her secret influence will be turned against them of course they do not think she la Is just tile tho one they would have picked out for him for a man rarely does approve of ills his friends wife as quite good enough for him but they are willing to tb be magnanimous nani and let loyalty and charity wipe away prejudice and even believe that she Is the ilia wonder her husband declares if she bo be wise for her own sake and that of her husband she will try to make them her bar frIeT friends ids too and guard carefully against their even being washed overboard much less being thrown ruthlessly into a sea of forgetfulness it if they already huppen happen to bo be her friends as well wall they usually will be admitted into the home on her ticket and have n comfortable arches orchestra chair but often when it Is otherwise tile tho husband alono alone can issue but a entitling tho ilia bearer to standing room only there are some wives who show a strange jealousy in trifles they have a hunger for allness they are not satisfied with being merely supreme and first and best and most they want to be only they tire are not content with being the sun of ills his life they want to be the sun and all tho the constellations too they want to corner his ento emotional output and control tho ilia entire market they often seem to consider ills his affection regard esteem liking and favor as his emotional cash and that it if lie ho spends the ilia least bit of it elsewhere it Is taking just so much lunch from them their constant fear of competition is 18 a poor tribute to their awn powers when a roan man first tells ills his sweetheart or ills his wife about ills best friend 11 in his ill loyalty geri generous crous pride and con colt that he la Is speaking to welcoming cars lie ho may boom him unduly soon lie ho may become conscious in ili a vague way that the audience Is a bit cool and lila ills words do not seem to carry over tile the footlights and the applause Is faint and perfunctory when lie ho tells of tile tho time when they roomed together tit nt college and 1 pledged eternal it seems to her ter just a hit bit young nod sentimental wian his voice trembles a little tit at the clil episode sode of fit the th mining camp when wa his friend mir him through the fever favor sho says never mind dear acar nox new you wont need him you ton havo have mo me to ako care of you van I 1 tho the recital of it a story of ills his friends lends Ir sense sens teof humor does not appeal to her it Is weighed in the balanco and found foun wanting every good point she discounts in ili anulet ulet ct illusive way lie he feels but cannot combat every virtue Is shown to have soine mome falling failing wrapped up in the seams scams when lie he Is most inheres interested ted in impressing lier ter she looks way oft into the distance or nags flags ills hla train of thought nt at tile the wity way station of some commonplace observation that shows she lias has only been half listening its us she bhe interrupts to point out the tunny funny shade of a cloud or to ask him it if lie does riot not think old rose sash cur baltis are arc beautiful when it lie invites his friend to dinner nt at their house houe for the first lie he li Is filled with a boyish delight and overanxious that it will bo be a success he Is proud of its ills howe homo and wan tEsto have it admired lie he Is proud ot of ills his wife and proud of ills friend and wants them really to like ench other she Is pleasant but bul 1 just a n little more fled than Is absolutely necessary there Is a slight blight air of constraint talk does not flow freely the alie fountain of ills his frienda lendo fr wit throws only it timid tentative spray occasionally pad causes cause only tile tho faintest fain splash of a half smile after tile the coffee things brighten up a little and over the cigars the ill two talk over old betit Is not a real trio when goodnight good night time cornea comes and lie he goes to the door and helps hlf his friend on oil with ills his coat and on ilia steps a few minutes look up tip nt at the stars and discuss the weather prospects there seems a note missing in in the music both are arc conscious of it when lie he hurries brick 0 to o the dining room where they have tarried because it seemed more comfortable to hear the ilia verdict of the tha jury of one lie Is disappointed even though lie ho feared it was waa prejudiced the first remark Ilas nt he large bonds bands does docs not seem really vital but it Is significant lie ile does get credit for dressing well but as this was to bo be expected lt it does not count lie ile laughs too loudly he be seems conceited lie ho mispronounced four words lie ho called her husband by some flippant nickname lie he lias has such strange views of religion she Is sure lie ho Is an atheist there must be something wrong with lila ills family lie he never mentioned liny any of them site she would wager anything there Is a cruel streak in him for she could tell it by tho the exi pres slon of ills his mouth site she seems to have n certain pleasure in checking oft the items seemingly unconscious of the pain she la Is giving in her prejudiced wood mood even st paul would be disqualified had he come in its as a friend upon whom the husband depended tor for affect affection lon counsel nod and comradeship in the duys days that follow tho the resentful rebellion stimulated by the defense and protest helps her to find now new flaws and defects and the never falling trickle of comment Tint and criticism may begin to wear a abay ayay 1 Y a rock of driendl ship the friends friendy visits become shorter as the Inter interval vai between them grows longer and then cease the husband occasionally meets him downtown down town and lie he chafes tit nt the thought that lie Is ih not treating him squarely it seems disloyal but lie he cannot see how to change it lie ile frets nt at the curtailment of ills hla freedom lie does not speak of tile the meeting at home ile iio knows that it if lie he should speak it would mean a fust lado of questions not of real interest but of curiosity the instinct of being on guard like a sentry whose duty it Is to challenge ile iio does not caro care to invite tho ilia inquisition it la Is sod sad when it wife even through overzealous loving closes A with till her bar own hand the door of I 1 her er husbands lius bands confidence it may rust on its hinges and become to reopen other friends of ills his may bo be dropped overboard in many ways and for many excuses but with tho ilia some same real rea son one may inny borrow money lioney another may have had bad table manners which lier her comments convert into almost a crime it a third Is not tolerated because of ills his wife and so tila catalogue of extinguishing tile the lights of runs on until all the lie old ones ara snuffed into darkness and forgetfulness ness the friends then aro are tho the new ones they have roads made together since their marriage and her old friends that are new to him they are those that have not wondered wetah tho ilia storms storma and trials of life and been tested and found staunch find and true the old friendships friendship carry with them a sentiment deep rooted in the past a sweetness a tenderness a loyalty a communion of memories and experiences that cannot bo be duplicated lu in after life they tire like old books that we have loved for years the binding Is worn and smoothed by our hands and by dear hands bands now stilled forever the inscription with tile tho date Is growing fainter for the yes eyes to decipher but easier caster for the heart to read there are passages that beeped and in us still loyally retaining our penciled lines so BO we could turn to thern them in perfect confidence whenever wo io desire there Is the thumb mark that floods memory luci nory with ft glow of hallowed golden goldan light for only wo we know what it means there to 18 the ilia turned down page it would seem irreverence to told fold back there are dim dried brown tints on ilia margins that somehow suggest the autumn of our years yeara there Is tile tho fern lent slipped in ili that night wo we cleall never forget while a sal sinla Is stilt still jett lu in tho the heart and the iho narrow ribbon hook mark Is faded and crinkled and the whole book Is deihr to us its iiii wo we lovo it nud nod we trust it it has ila an lion ilon ost est feel ns as wo w open it and it speaks tho ilia sanio same old words just tit in tile lie thame old wily with no slightest changet through nil all tho the years tile new editions in green and gold are beautiful but they seem mccin so self conscious and assertive they look new and they new flud seem untried untested unproved |