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Show .t A Ohe Moral Talc,s.. for Tff'XJ Husbands, Concerning Hires, Curiosity, and the Peril of Being a Mere Man . GST1VE Cbj Holwofihq Mali G 1 Jn Which Wifey Makes Good and Wins Merited Promotion Despite Hubby's Hope That She Would Fail Ned, dearest, by the time you began: get this, I'll be mile assy, and Im not coming back for two months; end as toon aa he had read this far, Edward knew exactly what had happened, and exactly why, and his heart came up tn hla throat end choked him. and at the end be had a list which harbored both pf seventeen towns and were served by factories, and friends But St. Louis waa trains. one of those four York was tha New and terminal one of the other! If letter. Scowling, be consulted Emily's . duc-- IT For the moment, there was no need to ha go on with the letter. Mechanically, picked up the envelope and examined the office stamp; ond mechanically, even In hla acute distress, he smiled at Emily's utter truthfulness. It was scarcely an hour ago that she had come Into the living room and kissed him. and said that aha waa going out to mall something.' "And I've got to make a rather long call, too, dear," said Emily. " Bo don't bo worried. . . . No, you wouldn't enjoy It. Id rather go alone. Tex, Emily waa Incorrigibly truthful, Bhe bad posted her special delivery letter, as tl.e cancellation testified, within the hour. And two months Is a rather long call. And Edward certainly wouldn't have enjoyed It any more than he did now. Hla smile became , fixed and bitter. Ned, dearest, by the time you get this I'll be miles away, and I'm not coming back for two months. Please don't worry; I'm going to stay with an old, old friend. It wont be any use for you to try to find nte, either, because I know If you did, you'd take me home ao Ive fixed It so you can't I've done everything I can think of to keep you comfortable while Im gone, and the .nurse la the best we ever had, ao Im not afraid about the baby. Of course. If anything should happen to him, or to you, Ill know It and come back tke lightning. I'll send my letters to you through Jack (this was her brother) and you can give youre . to him. " I hate to leave you like this, dear, but Its Just as I've always said Here Edward put down the letter. He perceived that Emily had required three full pages to repeat what, she had alwaj s aid, and he knew It verbatim already. She had predicted that he couldn't trace her, and he act hla mouth grimly at the challenge. Of course, she had probably built up a rood many obstacles, and his conservatism wrould add another. He couldnt bring himself to go down to the railroad station and ask minute questions of policemen and train hands, as though he were a detective on the trail of a fugitive from Justice; nor could he Interview the cook and nurse and keep bla countenance. It was hard enough for him to think of going to Emlly'e brother (who had once called him stodgy to his face), but dignity left him as he realized his abandoned status, and he seized his hat and blade for thel University -club. The brother, himself an adventurer and follower of strange gods, was in his room. . He was the type of man who dominates the atmoipliere around him, and he and Edward werent very good friends. I was expectHello, there" he said. ing you. Edward glsred venomously at him and raised his voice. "Where's Emily? Her brother regarded him squarely In the eyes for a second or two tnd thert nodded, almost imperceptibly, toward a chair. Tou'd better sit down and smoke, Ned. TVhy, she's safe. Do you know where she is?" 9 Tea, I do. Edward made a frantic gesture of mand. " IVcK where? . Her brother looked plenty serious, but com- mad-dcnl- composed. I promised her I wouldn't tell you. She's gone to work In a big plant where nobody ever saw her before. She'a to get. eleven dollais a week, and live on It. It'a the finest thing she ever did In her lifet Ned. Tou don't realize yet who you married. Edward sat down hard and stayed mo-- ' Tou wont .J.ell me.. tlonless. was hardly an interrogation; It was more of a statement, made in a tone which showed that Edward was blinded and crushed. It Emily's big brother presently came over and on Edward's shoulder. Look here, man. he said. When you get past the shock of this; you'reigolng to nvy her. Don't shake your head; a man like you Can't help envying people who tiave the courage and the spontaneity that Emily has. Why, you put as much weight on the conventions as if they were all so Wkny legislative statutes! That's all that's biting you. Tou told me only last week you were thinking of sending her up Into the mountains for a month's vacation, anyC way." Thats different, Give me a cigaret, will put his band you?' ) Emilys brother compiled, and resumed his seat. ' Incidentally, its your own fault, Ned. You've always talked to her to your friends as though she's a sort of composite . Cleopatra and Elizabeth and de fitael yes, and a Why in thunder didn't you let her know you thought she had brains? Ive been up at the house - often enough. As long as she stuck to society, and the H. C It, and the baby, you never peeped, but If she etler got out one single remark about anything else, anything that was of general importance, you put on that amused ml:e ot yours, and made fun of her. Anything that sounded like intelligence you quashed fiat Why isn't it our own fault? " d Wisely. to him (the baby) or .anything should happen to you. I'll know, and Ill come back like he . lightning." With a keen discrimination hesisliced off everything beyond Chicago;' west of Buf. tated. and sliced off everything was diction always colorful, falo. Emilys her state of to tried he appreciate but when mind when she wrote that sentence he was sure that ahe wouldn't have thought of so far lightning speed from any places from home. Presumably, she hadn't j gone further than a day'a Journey. " By the time you get Leta see O. stupid! this I'll be miles awa- y- " That eliminated the two trains which had pulled out after 10 o'clock, and left simply the 9.03 semllocai, east, and the 9.14 express, west. It also eliminated New York, because she wouldn't have taken a ten hour local to New York no, nor to Albany, either. She Would havd taken tfio 10.31 Instead and hadn't. And the 9 14 west stopped only at Rochester and Buffalo. The check up of factories and friends showed, now only five cities within range Rochester, Buffalo, and three local stops en rout to Albany. After some deliberation he crossed off Buffalo. Her only " old, old friend in Buffalo the one whose father owned the department tore bad once before been made the subject of discussion, and he was sure that Emily hadnt forgotten this, and wouldn't take the chqnce that be had forgotten It, too. Four cities. And of her seven friends In Rochester only one had sent a wedding gift. The others. If they weren't friendly enough to send so much as a salad fork, were hardly candidates for the post of hostess for two solid months. The one exception was a school friend, and Edward had a vague Impression that Emily had spoken of her just a few days ago. The mechanism of his brain presently sent him to digging about for her red leather address book, and there he co'nflrmed the vague Impression, and crossed off Rochester: for the friend had moved to Seattle. Three cities left. Blowly, thoughtfully, he drew . a line through Utica. The trouble wasn't that she had no good friends there; she had too many. Bhe could never walk dow n the street, or even go to a movie, without encountering, somebody she knew. And It would be Impossible to win them all over to her philosophy and Insure complete silence. The news would fly home overnight, and Emily had assured him that she would remain undetected for two months. Not Utica, then. Of the ultimate two cities, be eventually discarded one because he knew that it contained not more than two large industries, and both of them were devoted to heavy . manufacturing. Emilys brother had said that her employment would be among pracAnd that left Edward tically all women. with a final choice, which was curiously unsatisfying. An unimportant station with three factories, half .a dozen friends, only ninety miles away, the 9.02 stopped there, yes on signal, to leave or to take on passengers! There was evidently no demand for d local accommodation so late at night. -Edward was a lawyer. He used ths long distance telephone and got the station agent. Had the 11.54 that Is, the 9 02 from Edward's station stopped there tonight? No, sir. It hadn't. Edward lighted a cigar and frowned horriItem by Item he went over his lists. bly'. Every premise was correct, every deduction was sound. Where was the flaw ? Lets take ' . They toy " She didnt need to run away, said EdThat's a little too much. ward, defensively. O, I suppose you two think you're damned ( clever, but Her brother held up his band, as a trafflo signal. "Now, Ned! Think It over. Hasn't she always been Interested in sociology? if I kttp on liko this thtll put derstood, Ned. Tou may have accepted all that, but you haven't understood it. Now, have you? Edward drew a deep breath, Maybe not." Tou told me once bow In sophomore va- me in as assistant forewoman at $24 m wttkl the window at the black bulk of the hills, behind w hich Edw ard was reading so peacefully tit home. Suddenly be remembered how, after three years at college, he bad rebelled at taxing the family exchequer any further. He had craved actual employment, and an earned increment. He bad thought of teaching in a public school. And his father had sensed his humiliation, and reasoned with Jiim and persuaded him to graduate, and then go through law school. And the sweetness of his first "he fee was two client, and his first fee! dollars, and Edward wouldnt hava traded it with Rockefeller for half a million. It was cation you went to England on a cattle boat. Just to see what it was like " Maybe. I was eighteen! " said Edward indignantAnd I wasn't married!" Her brother snorted in violent Impatience. ly. " And two years ago you went to Palm "Tou make me tired! Ill be hanged If Beach, to find out what that was like. You you get another word out of me until you eg, Ned, you satisfy jour own "personal curishow a Uttla human feeling. Take it or leave It! osity about the- - world by going somewhere else not to stay there the rest of jour life, , Involuntarily, and not because a stronger but for change, and stimupersonality had wllled.it. Edward's mind slid bis. to lation. wants hers Emily by being satisfy backwards from the present tragedy to the To be sure, the cases weren't parallel. somebody else, and her reasons are just the thought of Emily's crusading spirit In the Man slaves In order that his wife won't have most of Tou as same ideas yours. your get past. When he had first met her, her high to. But Edward was beholding visions, and from books. She gets hers from people. ambition had been to become a trained nurse. when he struggled to put himself In Emily's "She shouldn't have left the baby! said She had longed to go out into the world and place, his momentum carried him a step or Edward, bristling. Justify her existence by earning her own The emotion of individual two beyond. You've "Nonsense! trained a got nuise, living, at loast temporarily, and If only to was achievement very precious to Edward; and she can get back in a burry it anything prove that she could do it. She had told him his when wrath and chagrin had and first goes wrong. And she wasn't going to take then that she had cherished this ambition for so selfish that he could wasn't he subsided, the baby to the mountains, was she? That years. But her father had believed that the measure of this emotion to Emily. a deny was your own suggestion a complete vacadaughters of gentlemen should eat lightly He still thought that she had treated him tion." blush easily, marry young, and have as few very shabbily but waa it partly his own Edward writhed In his chair. But to have ideas as possible; and he had savagely profault? her working. Like a mill hand. Ugh! tected her from her soul. ' She had married "O, I guess I can stand It, said Edward was His intonation heavy with disgust and young, and Edwaid had continued the same gruffly. anguish. style of protection. Her brother brought down hla band with Her brother laughed. "When you were She had said, frequently, that all girls an approving smack. first married and didn't have so much should be taught a useful occupation, d Thats the stall! It'll pay you. And money you didn't seem to be so much whether they needed it or not It frightened let her play the hand out? a a you'll and like to have cook, her working her to realize that she had never earned a was I that wish housemaid and a I could be sure she's all right." and ecullion, penny In. her life, and she didn't know how. five times as hard for her, and ten times "Ill guarantee It. Man to man, Ned Edward had called her by pet diminutives, as dirty, as anything she'll do now. don't worry. When she comes back, shell and responded that she was earning a living He leaned forward, and put emphasis on be glorious. And two years from now, you'll as manager of his household. But suppose Ned.' so don't lt hlswords. take about it. Give your letters to me. and hard, '"'Ned, shw were left widow, with four starving And for the love of mud, don't think of I'll send you hers. children. Edward had recited the sura of dragging her back. . Thatll make her as wild his Investments and his life insurance, and Edward filed his last plea for clemency. as a colt. She had to do this. It's been in out " It seems to me Chat as long as Ive conthat they had one child and not pointed her head for ten years. Bhe offered to go four. sented to this fool thing, I might be told to Buffalo, where she'd be looked out for, and And then, six months ago, she had timidwhere she is. you killed that. Tou killed every other plan ly broached the project of an experiment. " I'm sorry, Ned. but I promised I wouldn't. and you wouldn't she tried to make with Bhe had always been denied the one privBesides, you might charge your mind. And even discuss things with her. Bhe couldn't ilege she most longed for. And quite apart on sticking it out until she's proved set sbe's stand it any longer. She'll never do anyfrom its value to herself, it would have made can get away with It. she that thing like this again, as long as she Uvea. I her so much more interesting to Edward If " Well all right.. I'm sort of rough, but know. But youve got to let her do it, this , she could have it now. Bhe wanted to gratify a did she leave? when this ancient ambition to set forth alone, once. I dont know. I wasn't in this at all, exbeen wiser, this wouldn'J have If dad had and earn her living, all by herself, for Just a cept to pass on some of ths details and agree happened. If youd been, It wouldn't. But little while she wanted It, and she wanted to be a clearing bouse for your letters to aboet jou wouldn't talk sensibly with her it, and she wanted It. To do this, and to'dis-cove- r each other." serious things, and you kept her cooped up what working people thought about, "Never mind." Edward got up. Their in a city, and she'a reached her limit. She's and dreamed about. She had a friend in Bufmet, and both smiled faintly. Emilys ej-one career taste her a of and having only falo, whose uncle owned a big department big brother thrust out his band. And shes going to a fine, big, sanitary place store. Edward had hooted at her and said; Lots of nerve, old man. It'll come out where they're practically all women employes-severa-l "Now, baby!" beautifully. And whenever you're lonesome hundred of em and she's perfectHer brother seemed to have forgotten his shout." ly capable of taking care of herself. She al" Thanks, I will He turned, went toward ultimatum, for"h8 begad' to speak, gently. been. Tou pull yourself together, ways has Tou dont understand her. Ned. 1 do, the door, turned back. " Maj-b- I was a little and have a little nip of conscience, and try but you never have. The way she loves to shortsighted Just a little," he said, and this, to see the good in it. wander around the woods at night, alone from Edward, waa equivalent to an abject As he Aat there, Edward could vlsualizs and out in a canoe, alone so happy she had bis wife, with her brown eyes shining, and , apology. to sing out loud crazy about everything ,in On the way back to the bouse he found , her cheeks flushed with excitement, running nature. Freedom. Sort of like a wild thing; some a little hunt for to slight difficulty in analyzing bis own like way girl naughty I wish you could see her eyes when she used mood. He had calmed down a good deal; and the end of the rainbow. He could see her to come irt. Not afraid of anything in heavJust as Emilys brother bad prophesied, be darting into the station to'mall her letter en or on earth. Bea, and sky, and storm and at the branch postoffice; and hear her gasp began to entertain a transient thrill of pride sunset. And the sympathy she'a got for for Emilys daring. No other girl be had of delight for th great adventure as she Little mother of th climbed aboard thF train. And there would ever known would have possessed it, even If very living being. world. And independence. Tou haven't un be depths in her eyes as she peered out of - she bad conceived the same desire. bor-rifie- -- e e -- B.it there was something else to console him, too; Emily was adventurous, but she wasn't foolhardy." She would carry out her purpose unswervingly, but she would take no unnecessary risks simply for the sake of taking them. With her brother and an " old, old friend " in support, there was really no cause for apprehension. And as Edward conceded this, he grudgingly conceded, also, that the experience might be good for her. If she proved her point, she would never need to prove It again; and If she didn't, liis own position would be immeasurably strengthened, and he might have some hope of leading her Into the paths of conservatism, which he lov.ed. And the chanocs were that she would return to him contrite, disillusioned, and permanently convinced that the rainbow didn't end where he thought It did. Altogether it wasn't as tragic an Incident aa It had once appeared. Even so, his nature revolted at the double defiance of Emily and her brother, in regard tocher sanctuary. She was so well hidden that he couldnt find her, was she? Edward quirked his mouth in a grimace of Why. he had enough information at hand right now to make a very good stab at locating her. People seemed to forget that his profession depended on clews and trifles. And both Emily's letter and her brother's conversation had fairly teemed with unconscious evidence. Why, It would be as easy as rolling off a log. And as the Impulse came to him, his mood lifted and he quickened his pace. He'd show em that Emily wasn't the only clever one In the family! In the house again, he saw the nurse, and Joked, with .her About the whole proceeding-bra- g east-boun- It consecutively. j Well, to begin with, she had gone to the station and taken one of those two trains Something caught at his brain and trirped It. Train? What else was there to take? Why, trolley! Interurban trolley. All the started from a central square Just be ond the station, and Emily would have saved a block by walking through the train-sheAlso, she had needed to mall her letter at the branch postofflee there. Between 8.30. when she had left the house, and 9.30, when he had got the letter, there were no east bound trolleys. The west bound Inter- urban left at 8.35 and 9 35. Bhe couldn't have caught the earlier car; she was miles away before the later. But south Edward put his head back and roared. South by hardly four miles, the unfashionable suburb of Crofton, a region of factories. And In Crofton there was a huge knitting mill, rand there was the largest candy' factory in the world. Emily loved candy. And women made It! It was undoubtedly' the candy company and the beauty of it was that he had lately made with that company a very pleasant contract which Emily knew nothihg at all about. The wedding book disclosed a single entry from Crofton. She wasn't aueb a devoted friend that &ie had sent a gift, and Emily had never spoken of her as an Intimate; but Edward discounted this because of other factors. She had gone to school with Emily, and she was teaching English in a welfare organization She had come to Emily's home only once, and that waa at an inclusive tea, but Edwwrd remembered her very clearly as' a mousy little girl with burning eyes and , lConiisucd.cn following page. J , -- |