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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4621-h.zip b/4621-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b7ee6be --- /dev/null +++ b/4621-h.zip diff --git a/4621-h/4621-h.htm b/4621-h/4621-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01fa3f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/4621-h/4621-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8029 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Two Wives, by T. S. Arthur +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Wives, by T. S. Arthur + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Two Wives + or, Lost and Won + +Author: T. S. Arthur + +Posting Date: August 18, 2009 [EBook #4621] +Release Date: November, 2003 +First Posted: February 20, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO WIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWO WIVES; +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +OR, LOST AND WON. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +T. S. ARTHUR. +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +PHILADELPHIA: +<BR> +1851. +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap01">I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap02">II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap03">III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap04">IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap05">V</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap06">VI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap07">VII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap08">VIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap09">IX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap10">X</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">XI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">XII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">XIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">XIV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">XV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">XVI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">XVII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">XVIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">XIX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">XX</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">XXI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">XXII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE. +</H3> + +<P> +THE story of the "Two Wives; or, Lost and Won," is intended to show the +power of tender, earnest, self-forgetting love, in winning back from +the path of danger a husband whose steps have strayed, and who has +approached the very brink of ruin; and, by contrast, to exhibit the sad +consequences flowing from a want of these virtues under like +circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +This book is the third in the Series of "ARTHUR'S LIBRARY FOR THE +HOUSEHOLD." The fourth, which is nearly ready, will be called "THE WAYS +OF PROVIDENCE; OR, HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWO WIVES. +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +OR, LOST AND WON +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<P> +"YOU are not going out, John?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, looking up from the +work she had just taken into her hands. There was a smile on her lips; +but her eyes told, plainly enough, that a cloud was upon her heart. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson was sitting by a small work-table, in a neatly furnished +room. It was evening, and a shaded lamp burned upon the table. Mr. +Wilkinson, who had been reading, was standing on the floor, having +thrown down his book and risen up hastily, as if a sudden purpose had +been formed in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall only be gone a little while, dear," returned Mr. Wilkinson, a +slight air of impatience visible beneath his kind voice and manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't go, John," said Mrs. Wilkinson, still forcing a smile to her +countenance. "I always feel so lonely when you are away. We only have +our evenings to be together; and I cannot bear then to be robbed of +your company. Don't go out, John; that's a good, dear husband." +</P> + +<P> +And Mrs. Wilkinson, in the earnestness of her desire to keep her +husband at home, laid aside her sewing, and rising, approached and +leaned her hands upon his shoulder, looking up with an affectionate, +appealing expression into his face. +</P> + +<P> +"You're a dear, good girl, Mary," said Mr. Wilkinson, tenderly, and he +kissed the pure lips of his wife as he spoke. "I know it's wrong to +leave you alone here. But, I won't be gone more than half an hour. +Indeed I won't. See, now;" and he drew forth his watch; "it is just +eight o'clock, and I will be home again precisely at half-past eight, +to a minute." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson made no answer; but her husband saw that tears were in +the eyes fixed so lovingly upon him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now don't, love," said he, tenderly, "make so much of just half an +hour's absence. I promised Elbridge that I would call around and see +him about a little matter of business, and I must keep my word. I had +forgotten the engagement until it crossed my mind while reading." +</P> + +<P> +"If you have an engagement." There was a certain emphasis in the words +of Mrs. Wilkinson that caused her husband to partly turn his face away. +</P> + +<P> +"I have, dear. But for that, I should not think of leaving you alone." +</P> + +<P> +Almost instinctively Mrs. Wilkinson withdrew the hands she had placed +upon the shoulder of her husband, and receded from him a step or two; +at the same time her face was bent downwards, and her eyes rested upon +the floor. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments Mr. Wilkinson stood as if in earnest debate with +himself; then he said, in a cheerful, lively tone— +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by, love. I shall only be gone half an hour." And turning away, +left the room. He did not pause until he was in the street. Then a +spirit of irresolution came over him, and he said to himself, as he +moved slowly away, +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't kind in me to leave Mary alone in this way; I know it isn't. +But I want to see Elbridge; and, in fact, partly promised that I would +call upon him this evening. True, I can say all I wish to say to him in +the morning, and to quite as good purpose. But—" +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson, whose steps had been growing more and more deliberate, +stopped. For some time he stood, in a thoughtful attitude—then slowly +returned. His hand was in his pocket, his dead-latch key between his +fingers, and his foot upon the marble sill of his door. And thus he +remained, in debate with himself, for as long a time as two or three +minutes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I must see him! I had forgotten that," he exclaimed, in a low +tone, and suddenly stepped back from the door, and with a rapid pace +moved down the street. A walk of ten minutes brought him to the house +of Mr. Elbridge. But it so happened that this gentleman was not at home. +</P> + +<P> +"How soon do you expect him to return?" was inquired of the servant. +</P> + +<P> +"He may be here in half an hour; or not before ten o'clock," was the +reply. +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson was disappointed. Leaving his name with the servant, and +saying that he would probably call again during the evening, he +descended the steps and walked away. He was moving in the direction of +his home, and had arrived within a block thereof when he stopped, +saying to himself as he did so— +</P> + +<P> +"I must see Elbridge this evening. It is already nearly half an hour +since I left home, and I promised Mary that I would not remain away a +moment longer than that time. But, I did not think Elbridge would be +out. Poor Mary! She looks at me with such sad eyes, sometimes, that it +goes to my very heart. She cannot bear to have me out of her sight. Can +she doubt me in any thing? No; I will not believe that. She is a +loving, gentle-minded creature—and one of the best of wives. Ah me! I +wish I were more like her." +</P> + +<P> +Still Wilkinson remained standing, and in debate with himself. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go home," said he, at length, with emphasis, and walked quickly +onward. He was within a few doors of his own home, when his steps began +to linger again. He had come once more into a state of irresolution. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps Elbridge has returned." This thought made him stop again. "He +must have understood me that I would be around." +</P> + +<P> +Just at this moment the crying of a child was heard. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that Ella?" Wilkinson walked around a little way, until he came +nearly opposite his own house. Then he stopped to listen more +attentively. +</P> + +<P> +Yes. It was the grieving cry of his own sick babe. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor child!" he murmured. "I wonder what can ail her?" +</P> + +<P> +He looked up at the chamber windows. The curtains were drawn aside, and +he saw upon the ceiling of the room the shadow of some one moving to +and fro. He did not doubt that it was the shadow of his wife, as, with +their sick babe in her arms, she walked to and fro in the effort to +soothe it again to sleep. Had there been a doubt, it would have been +quickly dispelled, for there came to his ears the soft tones of a voice +he knew full well—came in tones of music, low and soothing, but with +most touching sweetness. It was the voice of his wife, and she sang the +air of the cradle-hymn with which he had been soothed to rest when he +lay an innocent babe in his mother's arms. +</P> + +<P> +The feelings of Wilkinson, a good deal excited by the struggle between +affection and duty on the one side, and appetite and inclination on the +other, were touched and softened by the incident, and he was about +entering his house when the approaching form of a man, a short distance +in advance, caught his eye, and he paused until he came up. +</P> + +<P> +"Elbridge! The very one I wished to see!" he exclaimed, in a low voice, +as he extended his hand and grasped that of his friend. "I've just been +to your house. Did you forget that I was to call around?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't understand you to say, certainly, that you would call, or I +should have made it a point to be at home. But no matter. All in good +time. I'm on my way home now, and you will please return with me." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that," said Wilkinson, who could not forget his +promise to his wife. "I told Mary, when I went out, that I would only +be gone half an hour, and that time has expired already." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, never mind," returned the other, lightly. "She'll forgive you, +I'll be bound. Tell her that you came home, in all obedience to her +wishes, but that I met you at your own door, and carried you off in +spite of yourself." +</P> + +<P> +And as Elbridge said this, he drew his arm within that of Wilkinson, +and the two men went chatting away. +</P> + +<P> +Elbridge was fond of good wine, and always kept a few choice bottles on +hand. Wilkinson knew this; and, if he had looked narrowly into his +heart on the present occasion, he would have discovered that the wine +of his friend had for him a stronger attraction than his company. +</P> + +<P> +As the latter had anticipated, wine and cigars were produced +immediately on their arrival at the house of Elbridge; and in the +exhilaration of the one and the fumes of the other, he soon forgot his +lonely, troubled wife and sick child at home. +</P> + +<P> +A friend or two dropped in, in the course of half an hour; and then a +second bottle of wine was uncorked, and glasses refilled with its +sparkling contents. +</P> + +<P> +The head of Wilkinson was not very strong. A single glass of wine +generally excited him, and two or three proved, always, more than he +could bear. It was so on this occasion; and when, at eleven o'clock, he +passed forth from the house of his friend, it was only by an effort +that he could walk steadily. The cool night air, as it breathed upon +his heated brow, partially sobered him, and his thoughts turned towards +his home. A sigh and the act of striking his hand upon his forehead +marked the effect of this transition of thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Mary! I didn't mean to stay away so late. I meant to return in +half an hour," he muttered, half aloud. "But this is always the way. +I'm afraid I've taken too much of Elbridge's wine; a little affects me. +I wonder if Mary will notice it; I wouldn't have her to do so for the +world. Poor child! it would frighten her to death. I rather think I'd +better try to walk off the effects of what I've been drinking. It's +late, any how, and fifteen or twenty minutes will make but little +difference either way." +</P> + +<P> +As Wilkinson said this, he turned down a cross street which he happened +to be passing at the moment, and moved along with a quicker pace. +Gradually the confusion of his thoughts subsided. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I had remained at home," he sighed, as the image of his wife +arose distinctly in his mind. "Poor Mary! I broke my word with her, +though I promised so faithfully. Oh, dear! this weakness on my part is +terrible. Why was I so anxious to see Elbridge? there was no real +engagement, and yet I told Mary there was. I would not have her know of +this deception for the world. I forgot about dear little Ella's being +so sick; what if we should lose that little angel? Oh! I could not bear +it!" +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson stopped suddenly as this thought flashed over his mind. He +was soberer by far than when he left the house of Mr. Elbridge. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go home at once." He turned and began quickly retracing his +steps. And now he remembered the moving shadow on the wall, as he +stood, nearly three hours before, in front of his house, debating with +himself whether to enter or no. He heard too, in imagination, the +plaintive cries of his sick child, and the soothing melody of its +mother's voice as she sought to hush into sleep its unquiet spirit. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<P> +WILKINSON was nearly in front of his own door, when he was thus +familiarly accosted by a man named Ellis, who came leisurely walking +along with a lighted cigar in his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo! is this you, Wilkinson? What in the name of wonder are you +doing out at such an hour?" +</P> + +<P> +"And suppose I were to ask you the same question?" inquired Wilkinson, +as he took the hand of the other, who was an old acquaintance. +</P> + +<P> +"It would be easily answered," was the unhesitating reply of Ellis, who +had been drinking rather freely. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, suppose I have the benefit of your answer." +</P> + +<P> +"You're quite welcome. I keep no secrets from an old friend, you see. +Can't you guess?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not good at guessing." +</P> + +<P> +"Had a little tiff with Cara," said Ellis in a half whisper, as he bent +to the ear of his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no!" returned Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Fact. Cara's a dear, good soul, as you know; but she's a self-willed +little jade, and if I don't do just as she wants me to—if I don't walk +her chalk line—<I>presto!</I> she goes off like a rocket. To-night, d'ye +see, I came home with the first volume of Prescott's new work on +Mexico—a perfect romance of a book, and wanted to read it aloud to +Cara. But no, she had something else in her head, and told me, up and +down, that she didn't want to hear any of my dull old histories. I got +mad, of course; I always get mad when she comes athwart my hawes in +this way. +</P> + +<P> +"'Dull old histories!' said I, indignantly. 'There's more true life and +real interest in this book than in all the Wandering Jews or Laura +Matilda novels that ever were written; and I wish you'd throw such +miserable trash into the fire, and read books from which to get some +intelligence and strength of mind.' Whew! The way she combed my hair +for me at this was curious. I am a philosopher, and on these occasions +generally repeat to myself the wise saw— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + 'He that fights and runs away,<BR> + May live to fight another day.'<BR> +</P> + +<P> +So, deeming discretion the better part of valour, I retreated in +disorder." +</P> + +<P> +"That's bad," remarked Wilkinson, who knew something of the character +of his friend's wife. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it's bad; but, then, I can't help myself. Cara has such a queer +temper, I never know how to take her." +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to understand her peculiarities by this time, and bear with +them." +</P> + +<P> +"Bear with them! I'd like to see you have the trial for a while; your +wife is an angel. Ah, John! you're a lucky dog. If I had such a +sweet-tempered woman in my house, I would think it a very paradise." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush! hush! Harry; don't speak in that way. Few women possess so many +good qualities as Mrs. Ellis; and it is your duty to cherish and love +the good, and to bear with the rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Well preached; but, as I am to apply the discourse, and not you, I +must beg to be excused." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-night. Go home, kiss Cara, and forgive her," said Wilkinson; and +he made a motion to pass on, adding, as he did so, "I'm out much later +than usual, and am in a hurry to get back. Mary will be uneasy about +me." +</P> + +<P> +But Ellis caught hold of one of his arms with both hands, and held on +to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't let you go, Wilkinson" said he, firmly. "You're the man of all +others I want to see—been thinking about you all the evening; want to +have a long talk with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Any other time, but not now," replied Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, and no other time," persisted the other, clinging fast to his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you wish to talk about?" said Wilkinson, ceasing his effort to +release himself from the firm grip of his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"About Cara," was answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Go home and make it up with her; that's the best way. She loves you, +and you love her; and your love will settle all differences. And +besides, Harry, you shouldn't talk about these things to other people. +The relation between man and wife is too sacred for this." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think I talk in this way to everybody? No, indeed!" responded +Ellis, in a half-offended tone of voice. "But you're a particular +friend. You know Cara's peculiar temper, and can advise with me as a +friend. So come along, I want to have a talk with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Come where?" +</P> + +<P> +Ellis turned and pointed to a brilliant gas lamp in the next square, +that stood in front of a much frequented tavern. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; I must go home." And Wilkinson tried to extricate himself from +the firm grasp of his friend. But the latter tightened his hold, as he +said— +</P> + +<P> +"It's of no use. I shall not let you go. So come along with me to +Parker's. Over a couple of brandy toddies we will discuss this matter +of Cara's." +</P> + +<P> +A vigorous jerk from the hand of Ellis gave the body of Wilkinson a +motion in the direction of the tavern. Had his mind been perfectly +clear—had none of the effects of his wine-drinking at Elbridge's +remained, he would have resisted to the end this solicitation, at the +hour and under the circumstances. But his mind was not perfectly clear. +And so, a few steps being taken by compulsion, he moved on by a sort of +constrained volition. +</P> + +<P> +As mentioned above, Wilkinson had nearly reached his own door when he +encountered Ellis; was, in fact, so near, that he could see the light +shining from the chamber-window through which, some hours before, he +had marked on the wall the flitting shadow of his wife, as she walked +to and fro, seeking to soothe into slumber her sick and grieving child. +For nearly five minutes, he had stood talking with his friend, and the +sound of their voices might easily have been heard in his dwelling, if +one had been listening intently there. And one was listening with every +sense strung to the acutest perception. Just as Wilkinson moved away, +an observer would have seen the door of his house open, and a slender +female form bend forth, and look earnestly into the darkness. A moment +or two, she stood thus, and then stepped forth quickly, and leaning +upon the iron railing of the door steps, fixed eagerly her eyes upon +the slowly receding forms of the two men. +</P> + +<P> +"John! John!" she called, in half suppressed tones. +</P> + +<P> +But her voice did not reach the ear of her husband, whose form she well +knew, even in the obscurity of night. +</P> + +<P> +Gliding down the steps, Mrs. Wilkinson ran a few paces along the +pavement, but suddenly stopped as some thought passed through her mind; +and, turning, went back to the door she had left. There she stood +gazing after her husband, until she saw him enter the tavern mentioned +as being kept by a man named Parker, when, with a heavy, fluttering +sigh, she passed into the house, and ascended to the chamber from which +she had, a few minutes before, come down. +</P> + +<P> +It was past eleven o'clock. The two domestics had retired, and Mrs. +Wilkinson was alone with her sick child. Ella's moan of suffering came +on her ear the instant she re-entered the room, and she stepped quickly +to the crib, and bent over to look into its face. The cheeks of the +child were flushed with fever to a bright crimson, and she was moving +her head from side to side, and working her lips as if there was +something in her mouth. Slight twitching motions of the arms and hands +were also noticed by the mother. Her eyes were partly open. +</P> + +<P> +"Will Ella have a drink of water?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, placing her +hand under the child's head, and slightly raising it from the pillow. +</P> + +<P> +But Ella did not seem to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"Say—love, will you have some water?" +</P> + +<P> +There was no sign that her words reached the child's ears. +</P> + +<P> +A deeper shade of trouble than that which already rested on the +mother's face glanced over it. +</P> + +<P> +"Ella! Ella!" Mrs. Wilkinson slightly shook the child. +</P> + +<P> +The only response was the muttering of some incoherent words, and a +continued moaning as if pain were disturbing her sleep. +</P> + +<P> +The mother now bent low over her child, and eagerly marked the +expression of her face and the character of her breathing. Then she +laid a hand upon her cheek. Instantly it was withdrawn with a quick +start, but as quickly replaced again. +</P> + +<P> +"What a burning fever!" she murmured. Then she added, in a tone of +anxiety, +</P> + +<P> +"How strangely she works her mouth! I don't like this constant rolling +of her head. What can it mean? Ella! Ella!" +</P> + +<P> +And she shook the child again. +</P> + +<P> +"Want some water, love?" +</P> + +<P> +The mother's voice did not appear to reach the locked sense of hearing. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson now lifted a glass of water from the bureau near by, and +raising the head of Ella with one hand, applied, with the other, the +water to her lips. About a table-spoonful was poured into her mouth. It +was not swallowed, but ran out upon the pillow. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy! mercy! what can ail the child!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson, a +look of fear coming into her face. +</P> + +<P> +A little while she stood over her, and then leaving her place beside +the crib, she hurried out into the passage, and, pausing at the bottom +of the stairs leading to the room above, called several times— +</P> + +<P> +"Anna! Anna! Anna!" +</P> + +<P> +But no answer came. The domestic thus summoned had fallen into her +first sound sleep, and the voice did not penetrate her ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Anna!" once more called Mrs. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +There was no response, but the reverberation of her own voice returned +upon the oppressive silence. She now hurried back to her sick child, +whose low, troubled moaning had not been hushed for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +There was no apparent change. Ella lay with her half-opened eyes, +showing, by the white line, that the balls were turned up unnaturally; +with her crimsoned cheeks, and with the nervous motions of her lips and +slight twitchings of her hands, at first noticed with anxiety and alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson was but little familiar with sickness in children; and +knew not the signs of real danger—or, rather, what unusual signs such +as those now apparent in Ella really indicated. But she was +sufficiently alarmed, and stood over the child, with her eyes fixed +eagerly upon her. +</P> + +<P> +Again she tried to arouse her from so strange and unnatural a state, +but with as little effect as at first. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my husband!" she at length exclaimed, clasping her hands together, +and glancing upward, with tearful eyes, "why are you away from me now? +Oh, why did you break your promise to return hours and hours ago?" +</P> + +<P> +Then covering her face with her hands, she sobbed and wept, until, +startled by a sharp, unnatural cry from the lips of Ella, her attention +was once more fixed upon her suffering child. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<P> +"Now, what will you take?" said Henry Ellis, as he entered, with the +weak and yielding Wilkinson, the bar-room of Parker's tavern. +</P> + +<P> +"Any thing you choose to call for," replied Wilkinson, whose mind was +turning homeward, and who wished to be there. "In fact, I don't really +want any thing. Call for two glasses of cold water. These will leave +our heads clear." +</P> + +<P> +"Water! Ha! ha! That is a good one, Bill"—and Ellis spoke to the +bar-tender—"Mix us a couple of stiff brandy toddies." +</P> + +<P> +The bar-tender nodded and smiled his acceptance of the order, and the +two men retired to a table that stood in a remote part of the room, at +which they were soon served with the liquor. +</P> + +<P> +"Bill mixes the best brandy toddy I ever tasted. He knows his +business," said Ellis, as he put the glass to his lips. "Isn't it fine?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is very good," replied Wilkinson, as he sipped the tempting mixture. +</P> + +<P> +But his thoughts were turning homeward, and he scarcely perceived the +taste of what he drank. Suddenly, he pushed the glass from him, and, +making a motion to rise from the table, said— +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, Ellis, I must go home. My child is sick, and Mary will be +distressed at my absence. Come around to my store, to-morrow, and we +will talk this matter over. Neither you nor I are now in a fit state to +discuss so grave a matter. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, will you!" +</P> + +<P> +This was the reply of Ellis, as he caught quickly the arm of his +friend, and almost forced him, by main strength, to resume his seat. +</P> + +<P> +"There, now," he added, as Wilkinson resumed his seat. "Never put off +until to-morrow what can as well be done to-day. That is my motto. I +want to talk with you about Cara, and no time is so good as the +present." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well," returned Wilkinson, impatiently. "What do you want to +say? Speak quickly, and to the point." +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I'm going to do. But, first, I must see the bottom of my +tumbler. There, now; come, you must do the same. Drink to good old +times, and eternal friendship—drink, my fast and faithful friend!" +</P> + +<P> +The warmth of the room and the quick effects of a strong glass of +brandy toddy were making rapid advances on Ellis's partial state of +inebriety. +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson emptied his glass, and then said— +</P> + +<P> +"Speak, now, I'm all attention." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you see, Jack," and Ellis leaned over towards Wilkinson +familiarly, and rested his arm upon his knee. "You see, Jack, that +huzzy of mine—if I must call the dear girl by such a name—is leading +me the deuce of a life. Confound her pretty face! I love her, and would +do almost any thing to please her; but she won't be pleased at any +thing. She combs my head for me as regularly as the day comes." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush—hush! Don't talk so of Cara. Her temper may be a little +uncertain, but that is her weakness. She is your wife, and you must +bear with these things. It isn't manly in you to be vexed at every +trifle." +</P> + +<P> +"Trifle! Humph! I'd like you to have a week of my experience. You +wouldn't talk any more about trifles." +</P> + +<P> +"You should humour her a great deal, Harry. I am not so sure that you +are not quite as much to blame for these differences and fallings out +as she is." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't to blame to-night, I am sure. Didn't I bring home Prescott, +thinking that she would be delighted to have me sit the evening with +her and read so charming an author? But, at the very proposition, she +flared up, and said she didn't want to hear my musty old histories. +Humph! A nice way to make a man love his home. Better for her and me, +too, I'm thinking, that she had listened to the history, and kept her +husband by her side." +</P> + +<P> +"And for me, too," thought Wilkinson. "I should now, at least, be at +home with my loving-hearted wife. Ah, me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, what am I to do, Jack—say? Give me your advice." +</P> + +<P> +"The first thing for you to do is to go home, and to go at once. Come!" +</P> + +<P> +And Wilkinson made another effort to rise; but the hand of Ellis bore +him down. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay, stay!" he muttered, impatiently. "Now don't be in such a +confounded hurry. Can't you talk with an old friend for a minute or so? +Look here, I've been thinking—let me see—what was I going to say?" +</P> + +<P> +The mind of Ellis was growing more and more confused; nor was the head +of Wilkinson so clear as when he entered the bar-room. The strong glass +of brandy toddy was doing its work on both of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see," went on Ellis, in a wandering way. "I was speaking of +Cara—oh, yes, of Cara. Bless her heart, but confound her crooked +temper! Now, what would you advise me to do, my old friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Go home, I have said," replied Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"And get my head combed with a three-legged stool? No, blast me if I +do! I've stayed out this long just to make her sensible of her +unkindness to one of the best of husbands—and I'm not going home until +I am dead drunk. I guess that'll bring her to her bearings. Ha! Don't +you think so, Jack?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good heavens!" was just at this instant exclaimed by one of the +inmates of the bar-room, in a low, startled tone of voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife, as I live!" fell from the lips of Ellis, whose face was +turned towards the entrance of the bar-room. +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson sprang to his feet. Just within the door stood a female form, +her head uncovered, her under person clad in a white wrapper, and her +face colourless as the dress she wore. There was a wild, frightened +look in her staring eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Is Mr. Wilkinson here?" she asked, just as her husband's eyes rested +upon her, and her thrilling voice reached his ears. +</P> + +<P> +With a bound, Wilkinson was at her side. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John! John!" she cried, in a voice of anguish. "Come home! Come +quick! Our dear little Ella is dying!" +</P> + +<P> +An instant more, and, to the inmates of the bar-room, the curtain fell +upon that startling scene; for Wilkinson and his wife vanished almost +as suddenly as if they had sunk together through the floor. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<P> +DURING the day on which our story opened, Henry Ellis had obtained from +a friend the first volume of Prescott's History of Mexico, then just +from the press. An hour's perusal of its fascinating pages awakened in +his mind a deep interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Just the book to read to Cara," said he to himself, closing the +volume, and laying it aside. "She's too much taken up with mere +fiction. But here is that truth which is stranger than fiction; and I +am sure she will soon get absorbed in the narrative." +</P> + +<P> +With his new book, and this pleasant thought in his mind, Ellis took +his way homeward, after the business of the day was over. As he walked +along, a friend overtook him, and said, familiarly, as he touched him +on the shoulder, +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad to overhaul you so opportunely. Half a dozen times, to-day, I +have been on the eve of running round to see you, but as often was +prevented. All in good time yet, I hope. I want you to come over to my +room, this evening. There are to be three or four of our friends there, +and some good eating and drinking into the bargain." +</P> + +<P> +"A temptation certainly," replied Ellis. "No man likes good company +better than I do; but, I rather think I must forego the pleasure this +time." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you say that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've promised myself another pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +"Another engagement?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly that. Barker has loaned me the first volume of Prescott's +Mexico; and I'm going to spend the evening in reading it to my wife." +</P> + +<P> +"Any other evening will do as well for that," returned the friend. "So +promise me to come around. I can't do without you." +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry to disappoint you," said Ellis, firmly. "But, when I once get my +mind fixed on a thing, I am hard to change." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps your wife may have some engagement on hand, for the evening, +or be disinclined for reading. What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"You will see me at your room," was the prompt answer of Ellis; and the +words were uttered with more feeling than he had intended to exhibit. +The very question brought unpleasant images before his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall look for you," said the friend, whose name was Jerome. "Good +evening!" +</P> + +<P> +"Good evening! Say to your friends, if I should not be there, that I am +in better company." +</P> + +<P> +The two men parted, and Ellis kept on his way homeward. Not until the +suggestion of Jerome that his wife might be disinclined to hear him +read, did a remembrance of Cara's uncertain temper throw a shade across +his feelings. He sighed as he moved onward. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish she were kinder and more considerate," he said to himself. "I +know that I don't always do right; yet, I am not by any means so bad as +she sometimes makes me out. To any thing reasonable, I am always ready +to yield. But when she frowns if I light a cigar; and calls me a +tippler whenever she detects the smell of brandy and water, I grow +angry and stubborn. Ah, me!" +</P> + +<P> +Ellis sighed heavily. A little way he walked on, and then began +communing with himself. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know"—he went on—"but, may be, I do take a little too much +sometimes. I rather think I must have been drinking too freely when I +came home last week: by the way Cara talked, and by the way she acted +for two or three days afterwards. There may be danger. Perhaps there +is. My head isn't very strong; and it doesn't take much to affect me. I +wish Cara wouldn't speak to me as she does sometimes. I can't bear it. +Twice within the last month, she has fairly driven me off to spend my +evening in a tavern, when I would much rather have been at home. Ah, +me! It's a great mistake. And Cara may find it out, some day, to her +sorrow. I like a glass of brandy, now and then; but I'm not quite so +far gone that I must have it whether or no. I'm foolish, I will own, to +mind her little, pettish, fretful humours. I ought to be more of a man +than I am. But, I didn't make myself, and can't help feeling annoyed, +and sometimes angry, when she is unkind and unreasonable. Going off to +a tavern don't mend the matter, I'll admit; but, when I leave the +house, alone, after nightfall, and in a bad humour, it is the most +natural thing in the world for me to seek the pleasant company of some +of my old friends—and I generally know where to find them." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the state of mind in which Ellis returned home. +</P> + +<P> +A word or two will give the reader a better idea of the relation which +Henry Ellis and his wife bore to each other and society. They had been +married about six years, and had three children, the oldest a boy, and +the other two girls. Ellis kept a retail dry-goods store, in a small +way. His capital was limited, and his annual profits, therefore, but +light. The consequence was, that, in all his domestic arrangements, the +utmost frugality had to be observed. He was a man of strict probity, +with some ambition to get ahead in the world. These made him careful +and economical in his expenditures, both at home and in the management +of his business. As a man, he was social in his feelings, but inclined +to be domestic. While unmarried, he had lived rather a gay life, and +formed a pretty large acquaintance among young men. His associations +led him into the pretty free use of intoxicating drinks; but the +thought of becoming a slave of a vicious appetite never once crossed +his mind with its warning shadow. +</P> + +<P> +The first trial of Henry Ellis's married life was the imperative +necessity that required him to lay a restraining hand upon his wife's +disposition to spend money more freely than was justified by their +circumstances. He had indulged her for the period of a whole year, and +the result was so heavy a balance against his expense account, that he +became anxious and troubled. There must be a change, or his business +would be crippled, and ultimate ruin follow. As gently as he could, +Ellis brought the attention of his wife to this matter. But, she could +not comprehend, to its full extent, the point he urged. It then became +necessary for Ellis to hold the purse-strings more tightly than he had +formerly done. This fretted the mind of his wife, and often led her, in +the warmth of the moment of disappointment, to utter unkind +expressions. These hurt Ellis; and, sometimes, made him angry. The +cloud upon Cara's brow, consequent upon these occasional +misunderstandings, was generally so unpleasant to Ellis, whose heart +was ever wooing the sunshine, let the rays come through almost any +medium, that he would spend his evenings abroad. Temptation, as a +natural consequence, was in his way. His convivial character made him +seek the company of those who do not always walk the safest paths. How +anxious should be the wife of such a husband to keep him at home; how +light the task would have been for Cara. Alas! that she was so selfish, +so self-willed—so blind! The scene that occurred on the evening of +Ellis's return home with the book he wished to read for his wife, will +give a fair view of Mrs. Ellis's manner of reacting upon her husband; +and his mode of treating her on such occasions. +</P> + +<P> +It has been seen in what state of feeling the husband returned home. +Remembrances of the past brought some natural misgivings to his mind. +His face, therefore, wore rather a more subdued expression than usual. +Still, he was in a tolerably cheerful frame of mind—in fact, he was +never moody. To his great relief, Cara met him with a smile, and seemed +to be in an unusually good humour. Their sweet babe was lying asleep on +her lap; and his other two children were playing about the room. +Instantly the sunshine fell warmly again on the heart of Ellis. He +kissed mother and children fervently, and with a deep sense of love. +</P> + +<P> +"I called to see the bride this afternoon," said Mrs. Ellis, soon after +her husband came in. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, did you?" he answered. "At her new home?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"She is well and happy, of course?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; happy as the day is long. How could she help being so in such +a little paradise?" +</P> + +<P> +"Love makes every spot a paradise," said Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"Beg your pardon," replied the wife, with some change in her tone of +voice. "I'm no believer in that doctrine. I want something more than +love. External things are of account in the matter; and of very +considerable account." +</P> + +<P> +"They have every thing very handsome, of course," said Ellis; who was +generally wise enough not to enter into a discussion with his wife on +subjects of this kind. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, perfect!" replied his wife, "perfect! I never saw a house +furnished with so much taste. I declare it has put me half out of +conceit with things at home. Oh, dear! how common every thing did look +when I returned." +</P> + +<P> +"You must remember that our furniture has been in use for about six +years," said Ellis; "and, moreover, that it was less costly than your +friend's, in the beginning. Her husband and your's are in different +circumstances." +</P> + +<P> +"I know all about that," was returned, with a toss of the head. "I know +that we are dreadfully poor, and can hardly get bread for our children." +</P> + +<P> +"We are certainly not able to furnish as handsomely as Mr. and Mrs. +Beaumont. There is no denying that, Cara. Still, we are able to have +every real comfort of life; and therewith let us try to be content. To +desire what we cannot possess, will only make us unhappy." +</P> + +<P> +"You needn't preach to me," retorted Mrs. Ellis, her face slightly +flushing. "When I want to hear a sermon, I'll go to church." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Ellis made no answer, but, lifting his babe from its mother's lap, +commenced tossing it in the air and singing a pleasant nursery ditty. +Caroline sat in a moody state of mind for some minutes, and then left +the room to give some directions about tea. On her return, Ellis said, +in as cheerful a voice as if no unpleasant incident had transpired, +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! I had forgotten to say, Cara, that Mr. Hemming and his wife have +returned from Boston. They will be around to see us some evening this +week." +</P> + +<P> +"Hum-m—well." This was the cold, moody response of Mrs. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hemming says that his wife's health is much better than it was." +</P> + +<P> +"Does he?" very coldly uttered. +</P> + +<P> +"He seemed very cheerful." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ellis made no comment upon this remark of her husband, and the +latter said nothing more. +</P> + +<P> +Tea was soon announced, and the husband and wife went, with their two +oldest children, to partake of their evening meal. A cloud still hung +over Caroline's features. Try as Ellis would to feel indifferent to his +wife's unhappy state of mind, his sensitiveness to the fact became more +and more painful every moment. The interest at first felt in his +children, gradually died away, and, by the time supper was over, he was +in a moody and fretted state, yet had he manfully striven to keep his +mind evenly balanced. +</P> + +<P> +On returning to the sitting-room, the sight of the book he had brought +home caused Ellis to make a strong effort to regain his +self-possession. He had set his heart on reading that book to Cara, +because he was sure she would get interested therein; and he hoped, by +introducing this better class of reading, to awaken a healthier +appetite for mental food than she now possessed. So he occupied himself +with a newspaper, while his wife undressed the children and put them to +bed. It seemed to him a long time before she was ready to sit down with +her sewing at the table, upon which the soft, pleasant light of their +shaded lamp was falling. At last she came, with her small work-basket +in her mind. Topmost of all its contents was a French novel. When Ellis +saw this, there came doubts and misgivings across his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Cara," said he quickly, and in a tone of forced cheerfulness, taking +up, at the same time, his volume of Prescott,—"I brought this book +home on purpose to read aloud. I dipped into it, to-day, and found it +so exceedingly interesting, that I deferred the pleasure of its perusal +until I could share it with you." +</P> + +<P> +Now, under all the circumstances, it cost Ellis considerable effort to +appear cheerful and interested, while saying this. +</P> + +<P> +"What book is it?" returned Cara, in a chilling tone, while her eyes +were fixed upon her husband's face, with any thing but a look of love. +</P> + +<P> +"The first volume of Prescott's History of Mexico, one of the most +charming"— +</P> + +<P> +"Pho! I don't want to hear your dull old histories!" said Cara, with a +contemptuous toss of the head. +</P> + +<P> +"Dull old histories!" retorted Ellis, whose patience was now gone. +"Dull old histories! You don't know what you are talking about. There's +more real interest in this book than in all the French novels that ever +were invented to turn silly women's heads." +</P> + +<P> +Of course, Mrs. Ellis "fired up" at this. She was just at the right +point of ignition to blaze out at a single breath of reproof. We will +not repeat the cutting language she used to her husband. Enough, that, +in the midst of the storm that followed, Ellis started up, and bowing, +with mock ceremony, said— +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you good evening, madam. And may I see you in a better humour +when we meet again." +</P> + +<P> +A moment afterwards, and Caroline was alone with her own perturbed +feelings and unpleasant, self-rebuking thoughts. Still, she could not +help muttering, as a kind of justification of her own conduct— +</P> + +<P> +"A perfect Hotspur! It's rather hard that a woman can't speak to her +husband, but he must fling himself off in this way. Why didn't he read +his history, if it was so very interesting, and let me alone. I don't +care about such things, and he knows it." +</P> + +<P> +After this, Mrs. Ellis fell into a state of deep and gloomy abstraction +of mind. Many images of the past came up to view, and, among them, some +that it was by no means pleasant to look upon. This was not the first +time that her husband had gone off in a pet; but in no instance had he +come home with a mind as clear as when he left her. A deep sigh heaved +the wife's bosom as she remembered this; and, for some moments, she +suffered from keen self-reproaches. But, an accusing spirit quickly +obliterated this impression. In her heart she wrote many bitter things +against her husband, and magnified habits and peculiarities into +serious faults. +</P> + +<P> +Poor, unhappy wife! How little did she comprehend the fact that her +husband's feet were near the brink of a precipice, and that a fearful +abyss of ruin was below; else would she have drawn him lovingly back, +instead of driving him onward to destruction. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<P> +ELLIS, excited and angry, not only left his wife's presence, but the +house. Repulsed by one pole, he felt the quick attraction of another. +Not a moment did he hesitate, on gaining the street, but turned his +steps toward the room of Jerome, where a party of gay young men were to +assemble for purposes of conviviality. +</P> + +<P> +We will not follow him thither, nor describe the manner of his +reception. We will not picture the scene of revelry, nor record the +coarse jests that some of the less thoughtful of the company ventured +to make on the appearance of Ellis in their midst—for, to most of his +friends, it was no secret that his wife's uncertain temper often caused +him to leave his home in search of more congenial companionship. +Enough, that at eleven o'clock, Ellis left the house of Jerome, much +excited by drink. +</P> + +<P> +The pure, cool night air, as it bathed the heated temples of Henry +Ellis, so far sobered him by the time he reached his own door, that a +distant remembrance of what had occurred early in the evening was +present to his thoughts; and, still beyond this, a remembrance of how +he had been received on returning at a late hour in times gone by. His +hand was in his pocket, in search of his dead-latch key, when he +suddenly retreated from the door, muttering to himself— +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not going to stand a curtain lecture! There now! I'll wait until +she's asleep." +</P> + +<P> +Saying which, he drew a cigar and match-box from his pocket, and +lighting the former, placed it between his lips, and moved leisurely +down the street. +</P> + +<P> +The meeting with Wilkinson has already been described. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely less startled was Ellis at the sudden apparition of Mrs. +Wilkinson than her husband had been. He remained only a few moments +after they retired. Then he turned his steps again homeward, with a +clearer head and heavier heart than when he refused to enter, in fear +of what he called a "curtain lecture." +</P> + +<P> +Many painful thoughts flitted through his mind as he moved along with a +quick pace. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish Cara understood me better, or that I had more patience with +her," he said to himself. "This getting angry with her, and going off +to drinking parties and taverns is a bad remedy for the evil, I will +confess. It is wrong in me, I know. Very wrong. But I can't bear to be +snapped, and snubbed up, and lectured in season and out of season. I'm +only flesh and blood. Oh dear! I'm afraid evil will come of it in the +end. Poor Wilkinson! What a shock the appearance of his wife must have +given him! It set every nerve in my body to quivering. And it was all +my fault that he wasn't at home with his watching wife and sick child. +Ah me! How one wrong follows another!" +</P> + +<P> +Ellis had reached his own door. Taking out his night-key, he applied it +to the latch; but the door did not open. It had been locked. +</P> + +<P> +"Locked out, ha!" he ejaculated quickly; and with a feeling of anger. +His hand was instantly on the bell-pull, and he jerked it three or four +times vigorously; the loud and continued ringing of the bell sounding +in his ears where he stood on the doorstep without. A little while he +waited, and then the ringing was renewed, and with a more prolonged +violence than at first. Then he listened, bending his ear close to the +door. But he could detect no movement in the house. +</P> + +<P> +"Confound it!" came sharp and impatiently from his lips. "If I thought +this was designed, I'd—" +</P> + +<P> +He checked himself, for just at that instant he saw a faint glimmer of +light through the glass over the door. Then he perceived the distant +shuffle of feet along the passage floor. There was a fumbling at the +key and bolts, and then the half-asleep and half-awake servant admitted +him. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't know you was out, sir," said the servant, "or I wouldn't have +locked the door when I went to bed." +</P> + +<P> +Ellis made no reply, but entered and ascended to his chamber. Cara was +in bed and asleep, or apparently so. Her husband did not fail to +observe a certain unsteady motion of the lashes that lay over her +closed eyes; and he was not far wrong in his impression that she was +awake, and had heard his repeated ringing for admission. His belief +that such was the case did not lessen the angry feelings produced by +the fact of having the key of his own door turned upon him. +</P> + +<P> +But slumber soon locked his senses into oblivion, and he did not awake +until the sun was an hour above the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +The moment Mrs. Wilkinson emerged, with her husband, from the bar-room +of Parker's tavern, she fled along the street like a swift gliding +spirit, far outstripping in speed her thoroughly sobered and alarmed +husband, who hurried after her with rapid steps. The door of the house +had been left open when she came forth in the anguish of her wild alarm +to summon her husband, and she re-entered and flew up-stairs without +the pause of an instant. Wilkinson was but a moment or two later in +reaching the house, and in gaining their chamber. The sight that met +his eyes sent the blood coldly to his heart. The mother had already +snatched the child from the crib in which she had left her, and was +standing with her close to the lamp, the light from which fell strongly +upon her infantile face, that was fearfully distorted. The eyes were +open and rolled up, until the entire pupil was hidden. The lips were +white with their firm compression; and yet they had a quick nervous +motion. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John! John! what is the matter?" cried Mrs. Wilkinson, as she +looked first upon the face of her child, and then into that of her +husband, with a most anxious and imploring glance. "Is she dying?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, dear, I think not," returned Wilkinson, with a composure of voice +that belied the agitation of his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! what is the matter? Yes! Yes! I'm sure she's dying. Oh! run quick! +quick! for the doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"First," said Wilkinson, who was becoming, every moment, more +self-possessed, and who now saw that the child, who was teething, had +been thrown into spasms, "let us do what we can for her. She is in +convulsions, and we must get her into a bath of hot water as quickly as +possible. I will call up Anna. Don't be alarmed," he added, in a +soothing voice: "there is no immediate danger." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure, John? Are you sure? Oh! I'm afraid she is dying! My +precious, precious babe!" And the mother clasped her child passionately +to her bosom. +</P> + +<P> +In the course of ten or fifteen minutes, a vessel of hot water was +ready, and into this the still writhing form of the convulsed child was +placed. Then Wilkinson hurried off for their physician. Half an hour +afterwards he returned with him. The good effects of the hot-bath were +already perceptible. The face of the child had resumed its placid +sweetness of expression, and there was but slight convulsive twitching +in the limbs. The doctor remained with them, applying, from time to +time, appropriate remedies, until all the painful signs which +occasioned so much alarm had vanished, and then left, promising to call +early on the next morning. +</P> + +<P> +It was past one o'clock. The physician had left, and the domestics +retired to their own apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson were alone with +their still unconscious child, that lay in a deep, unnatural slumber. +They were standing, side by side, and bending over the bed on which +little Ella lay. Wilkinson had drawn his arm around his wife, and she +had laid her head upon his shoulder. Each heard the beating of the +other's heart, as thus they stood, silent, yet with troubled thoughts +and oppressed feelings. +</P> + +<P> +A tear fell upon the hand of Wilkinson, and the warm touch, coming as +it did in that moment of intense excitement, caused a quick thrill to +pass through his nerves; and he started involuntarily. Words of +confession and promises for the future were on his tongue; but, their +utterance, just at that moment, seemed untimely, and he merely answered +the mute appeal of tears with a fervent, heart-warm kiss, that, if the +power of his will could have gone with it, would have filled the heart +of his wife with joy unspeakable. Scarcely had his lips touched hers, +ere she started up, and flung her arms around his neck, sobbing— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my husband! My husband!" +</P> + +<P> +If she had designed to say more, utterance failed, or was checked; for +she hid her face on his bosom, and wept like a heart-broken child. +</P> + +<P> +How sincere was Wilkinson's repentance for past errors in that solemn +hour! and how fervent was the promise of future amendment! +</P> + +<P> +"I were worse than an evil spirit, to lay grief upon that gentle heart, +or to make of those loving eyes a fountain of tears!" +</P> + +<P> +Such was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, and he meant all that he +said. +</P> + +<P> +"God bless you, dearest!" he murmured in her ear.—"God bless you, and +take this shadow quickly from your heart! Believe me, Mary, that no act +of mine will ever dim its bright surface again." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson slowly raised her pale, tear-moistened face, and fixed, +for a few moments, her eyes in those of her husband's. There was more +of confidence and hope in them than pages of written language could +express. Then her face was again hid on his bosom; while his arm +clasped her slender form with a more earnest pressure. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<P> +MORNING found little Ella, though much exhausted by the severe struggle +through which she had passed, so far restored that her parents ceased +to feel that anxiety with which for hours, as they hung over her, their +hearts had been painfully oppressed. +</P> + +<P> +It could not but be that a shadow would rest on the gentle face of Mrs. +Wilkinson, as she met her husband at the breakfast table; for it was +impossible to obliterate the memory of such a night of trial and alarm +as the one through which she had just passed. And yet, with a strong +effort, she strove to appear cheerful, and when she spoke to her +husband, it was with a forced smile and a tone of tenderness that +touched and subdued his feelings; for he well understood that, in a +certain sense, she was merely acting. +</P> + +<P> +But few words passed between them during the brief morning meal. As the +hour was later than usual, Wilkinson found it necessary to hurry off to +his place of business; so, rising before his wife left the table, he +kissed her pale lips, and, without venturing to make a remark, left the +room. +</P> + +<P> +The door had scarcely closed upon him, ere a tear stole out from the +sad eyes of Mrs. Wilkinson. A few moments she sat in statue-like +stillness, then there was a quick glancing of her eye upwards, while +the motion of her lips showed that she asked strength for herself, or +protection for one whom she loved better than herself. +</P> + +<P> +It was a regular custom with Wilkinson to stop at a drinking-house on +his way to his store, and get a glass of brandy. This was an afternoon +as well as a morning custom, which had been continued so long that it +was now a habit. Yet he was not aware of this fact, and, if he had +thought about the custom, would have regarded it as one easily +abandoned. He had a glimpse of his error on the present occasion. +</P> + +<P> +To do a thing by habit is to do it without reflection; and herein lies +the dangerous power of habit; for, when we act from confirmed habit, it +is without thought as to the good or evil to result from our action. +Thus had Wilkinson been acting for months as regards his regular glass +of brandy in the morning and afternoon, while passing from his dwelling +to his store. Not until now was he in the least conscious that habit +was gaining an undue power over him. +</P> + +<P> +As the eyes of Wilkinson rested upon the form of a certain elegant +coloured glass lamp standing in front of a well-known drinking-house, +he was conscious of a desire for his accustomed draught of brandy and +water; but, at the same instant, there came a remembrance of the +painful occurrences of the evening previous, and he said to +himself—"One such lesson ought to make me hate brandy, and every thing +else that can rob me of a true regard for the happiness of Mary." +</P> + +<P> +Yet, even as he said this, habit, disturbed in the stronghold of its +power, aroused itself, and furnished him with an argument that +instantly broke down his forming resolution. This argument was his loss +of rest, the consequent debility arising therefrom, and the actual need +of his system for something stimulating, in order to enable him to +enter properly upon the business of the day. +</P> + +<P> +So habit triumphed. Wilkinson, without even pausing at the door, +entered the drinking-house and obtained his accustomed glass of brandy. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel a hundred per cent. better," said he, as he emerged from the +bar-room and took his way to his store. "That was just what my system +wanted." +</P> + +<P> +Yet, if he felt, for a little while, better as regarded his bodily +sensations, the act did not leave him more comfortable in mind. His +instinctive consciousness of having done wrong in yielding to the +desire for brandy, troubled him. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall have to break up this habit entirely," he remarked to himself +during the morning, as his thought returned, again and again, to the +subject. "I don't believe I'm in any particular danger; but, then, it +troubles Mary; and I can't bear to see her troubled." +</P> + +<P> +While he thus communed with himself, his friend Ellis dropped in. +</P> + +<P> +"I meant to have called earlier," said Ellis, "to ask about your sick +child, but was prevented by a customer. She is better, I hope?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, much better, thank you." +</P> + +<P> +"What was the matter?" inquired Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"She is teething, and was thrown into convulsions." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! yes. Well, I never was so startled in my life as by the appearance +of Mrs. Wilkinson. And the child is better?" +</P> + +<P> +"When I came away this morning, I left her sleeping calmly and sweetly; +and, what is more, the points of two teeth had made their way through +the red and swollen gums." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, then. But how is Mary?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not very well, of course. How could she be, after such a night of +anxiety and alarm? The fact is, Harry, I was to blame for having left +her alone during the evening, knowing, as I did, that Ella was not very +well." +</P> + +<P> +Ellis shrugged his shoulders, as he replied—"Not much excuse for you, +I must admit. I only wish the attraction at my home was as strong as it +is at yours: Parker's would not see me often. As for you, my old +friend, if I speak what I think, I must say that your inclination to go +out in the evening needs correcting. I spend most of my evenings from +home, because home is made unpleasant; you leave your wife, because a +love of conviviality and gay company entices you away. Such company I +know to be dangerous, and especially so for you. There now, as a +friend, I have talked out plainly. What do you think of it? Ain't I +right?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," replied Wilkinson, musingly. "Perhaps you are. I have +thought as much, sometimes, myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I know I'm right," said Ellis, positively. "So take a friend's advice, +and never go out after sundown, except in company with your wife." +</P> + +<P> +There was a change from gravity to mock seriousness in the voice of +Ellis as he closed this sentence. Wilkinson compressed his lips and +shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't always be tied to my wife's apron-string. Oh, no! haven't come +to that." +</P> + +<P> +"With such a wife, and your temperament, it is the best place for you," +said Ellis, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"May be it is; but, for all that, I like good company too well to spend +all my time with her." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't she good company?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; but, then, variety is the very spice of life, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"True enough. Well, we'll not quarrel about the matter. Come! let's go +and take a drink; I'm as dry as a fish." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care if I do," was the instinctive reply of Wilkinson, who +took up his hat as he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +The two men left the store, and were, a little while after, taking a +lunch at a public house, and chatting over their brandy and water. +</P> + +<P> +At the usual dinner hour, Wilkinson returned home. He did not fully +understand the expression of his wife's face, as she looked at him on +his entrance: it was a look of anxious inquiry. She sat with Ella upon +her lap: the child was sleeping. +</P> + +<P> +"How is our little pet?" he asked, as he bent over, first kissing his +wife, and then touching his lips lightly to the babe's forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"She's been in a heavy sleep for most of the time since morning," +replied Mrs. Wilkinson, turning her face aside, so that her husband +could not see its changed expression. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Wilkinson's habitual use of brandy had long been a source of +trouble to his wife. In reviewing the painful incidents of the previous +evening, a hope had sprung up in her heart that the effect would be to +awaken his mind to a sense of his danger, cause him to reflect, and +lead to a change of habit. Alas! how like a fairy frost-work fabric +melted this hope away, as the strong breath of her husband fell upon +her face. She turned away and sighed—sighed in her spirit, but not +audibly; for, even in her pain and disappointment, active love prompted +to concealment, lest the shadow that came over her should repel the one +she so earnestly sought to win from his path of danger. +</P> + +<P> +Ah, who can tell the effort it cost that true-hearted wife to call up +the smile with which, scarcely a moment afterwards, she looked into her +husband's face! +</P> + +<P> +"It is no worse, if no better," was her sustaining thought; and she +leaned upon it, fragile reed as it was. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<P> +"COME home early, dear," said Mrs. Wilkinson, resting her hand upon her +husband, and looking into his face with a loving smile. "The time seems +so long when you are away!" +</P> + +<P> +"Does it?" returned Wilkinson, and he kissed his wife. Yet, did not the +tenderness of tone with which he spoke, nor the act of love which +accompanied it, hide from the quick perception of Mary the fact that +her husband's thoughts were elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," she replied. "I count the hours when you are absent. You'll +be home early to tea?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I will. There now, let your heart be at rest." +</P> + +<P> +And Wilkinson retired. This was after dinner, on the day that succeeded +the opening of our story. +</P> + +<P> +As in the morning, he found it the most natural thing in the world to +call in at a certain drinking house and get his accustomed glass of +brandy. As he entered the door of the bar-room, a man named Carlton +stepped forward to meet him, with extended hand. He was an old +acquaintance, with whom Wilkinson had often passed an agreeable +hour,—one of your bar-room loungers, known as good fellows, who, while +they exhibit no apparent means of support, generally have money to +spend, and plenty of time on their hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to see you, Wilkinson; 'pon my soul! Where have you kept yourself +for this month of Sundays?" +</P> + +<P> +Such was the familiar greeting of Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +"And it does one's eyes good to look upon your pleasant face," returned +Wilkinson, as he grasped the other's hand. "Where have you kept +yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm always on hand," said Carlton, gayly. "It's you who are shut +up, and hid away from the pure air and bright sunshine in a gloomy +store, delving like a mole in the dark. The fact is, old fellow! you +are killing yourself. Turning gray, as I live!" +</P> + +<P> +And he touched, with his fingers, the locks of Wilkinson, in which a +few gray lines were visible. +</P> + +<P> +"Bad! bad!" he went on, shaking his head. "And you are growing as thin +as a lath. When did you ride out?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not for two months past. I've been too closely occupied with +business." +</P> + +<P> +"Business!" there was a slight air of contempt in Carlton's voice and +manner. "I hate to hear this everlasting cant, if I must so call it, +about business; as if there were nothing else in the world to think or +care about. Men bury themselves between four brick walls, and toil from +morning until night, like prison-slaves; and if you talk to them about +an hour's recreation for body and mind, all you can get out of them +is—'Business! business!' Pah! I'm out of all patience with it. Life +was made for enjoyment as well as toil. But come, what'll you drink? +I've preached to you until I'm as dry as a chip." +</P> + +<P> +The two men stepped to the bar and drank. As they turned away, Carlton +drew his arm within that of Wilkinson, saying, as he did so— +</P> + +<P> +"As it is an age since I saw you, I must prolong the pleasure of this +meeting. Your work is done for the day, of course." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I can't just say that it is." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I can then. If you've been immuring yourself, as you have on +your own confession, for some two months, or more, an afternoon with +good company is indispensable. So, consider this a holiday, and think +no more of bags, boxes, cash-book, or ledger. I bought a splendid +trotter yesterday, and am going to try his speed. You are a first-rate +judge of horse-flesh, and I want your opinion. So, consider yourself +engaged for a flying trip to Mount Airy." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a tempter," said Wilkinson, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no. A friend, who will give health to your veins, and life to your +spirit." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see," said Wilkinson, now turning his thoughts upon his +business—"if there isn't something special that requires my attention. +Yes," he added, after thinking for a few moments—"a customer promised +to be in after dinner. He is from the country, and bought a good bill +last season. You will have to excuse me, Carlton. I'll go with you +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, and I shall do no such thing," was promptly answered. "Let +your customers call in the morning—always the best time for business. +Men don't buy in the afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"My experience says differently." +</P> + +<P> +"A fig for your experience! No, no, my good friend. You're booked for a +ride with me this very afternoon; so let your business and customers +take care of themselves. Health is better than dollars; and length of +days than great possessions. There's wisdom in miniature for you. +Wouldn't I make a capital preacher, ha?" +</P> + +<P> +"But Carlton"— +</P> + +<P> +"But me no buts, my hearty!" and Carlton slapped Wilkinson on the +shoulder as he spoke, in a familiar manner. "You're my prisoner for the +rest of the day. Do you understand that?" +</P> + +<P> +"You've bought a fast trotter, have you?" said Wilkinson, after a brief +but hurried self-communion, the end of which was a determination to +take the afternoon for pleasure, and let his customer call in the +morning. +</P> + +<P> +"I have; and the prettiest animal your eyes ever looked upon." +</P> + +<P> +"Fleet as an arrow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay; as the very wind. But you shall have a taste of his quality. So +come along. Time passes." +</P> + +<P> +The two men left the tavern, and went to the stable where Carlton's new +horse was kept. The animal was soon in harness. +</P> + +<P> +Four hours afterwards, the last rays of the setting sun came through +the windows of a room, in which were seated, at a table, Carlton and +Wilkinson. Liquor and glasses were on the table, and cards in the hands +of the men. Wilkinson appeared excited, but Carlton was calm and +self-possessed. The former had been drinking freely; but the latter +exhibited not the smallest sign of inebriation. A single five-dollar +bill lay beside Wilkinson; a dozen bills and two gold coins were beside +the other. They were playing for the last stake. Nervously did +Wilkinson lay card after card upon the table, while, with the most +perfect coolness, his adversary played his hand, a certainty of winning +apparent in every motion. And he did win. +</P> + +<P> +"Curse my luck!" exclaimed Wilkinson, grinding his teeth together, as +the last five-dollar bill he had with him passed into the hands of his +very particular friend. +</P> + +<P> +There was more than "luck" against him, if he had but known it. +</P> + +<P> +"The fortune of war," smilingly replied the winner. "The race is not +always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, you know. You played +well—very well; never better within my knowledge. But, as you say, +luck was against you. And, by the way, what a curious and uncertain +thing this luck is! I've seen men lose at every turn of the card, until +they had parted with thousands; and then, on a borrowed dollar, +perhaps, start again, and not only get every thing back, but break +their antagonists. This is an every-day occurrence, in fact." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson had risen from the table, and was pacing the room in a +fretful, impatient manner. Suddenly he stopped. A light flashed over +his face. Then, sitting down, he snatched up a pen, and writing on a +slip of paper—"Due Andrew Carlton $20," signed it with his name. +</P> + +<P> +Carlton saw every letter and word as they left the pen, and ere the +last flourish was made to the signature, had selected four five-dollar +bills from the pile beside him. Simultaneously with the motion of +Wilkinson's hand, in pushing to him this memorandum of debt, was the +motion of his hand in furnishing the sum required. +</P> + +<P> +"Not the man to be frightened at a little adverse fortune, I see," +remarked the cunning tempter. "Well, I do like a man who never can +acknowledge himself beaten. The timid and easily discouraged are soon +left far behind in the world's race—and they deserve to be." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson did not reply. Another deal was made, and again the two men +bent over the table in their unequal contest. +</P> + +<P> +In less than half an hour, the money obtained from Carlton had gone +back to him. +</P> + +<P> +By this time twilight had fallen. +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly eight o'clock, as I live!" muttered Wilkinson. He had drawn +forth his watch. "I had no idea of this. And we are ten miles from the +city!" +</P> + +<P> +A thought of his anxiously waiting wife flitted across his mind. He +remembered her last pleading injunction for him to come home early, and +the promise he had given. Alas! like so many more of his promises to +her, made to be broken. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we return now; or order supper here?" said Carlton, in his bland +way. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go back immediately," replied Wilkinson. "It is an hour later +than I supposed. I was to have been home early this evening." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too late now to join your family at tea. They have given you out +before this. So, I think we'd better order supper here. The moon is +full, and it will be almost as clear as daylight; and much pleasanter +riding, for the dew will keep down the dust. What say you?" +</P> + +<P> +The end was, Wilkinson yielded. +</P> + +<P> +"Not down in the mouth, because of this little run of ill-luck?" said +Carlton, in a bantering way, as he saw a cloud settling over the face +of his victim. +</P> + +<P> +Lights had been brought in, and the two men still remained seated by +the table at which they had been playing, awaiting the preparation of +supper. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm never down in the mouth," replied Wilkinson, forcing a smile to +his countenance. "Better luck next time, has always been my motto." +</P> + +<P> +"And it will carry you safely through the world. Try another glass of +brandy." +</P> + +<P> +"No—I've taken enough already." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't every man who knows when he has enough," returned the other. +"I've often wished that I knew exactly the right gauge." +</P> + +<P> +And, as Carlton spoke, he poured some brandy into a glass, and, adding +a little water, affected to take a deep draught thereof; but, though +the glass was held long to his mouth, only a small portion of the +contents passed his lips. In replacing the tumbler on the table, he +managed to give it a position behind the water-pitcher where the eye of +Wilkinson could not rest upon it. He need hardly have taken this +trouble, for his companion was too much absorbed in his own thoughts to +notice a matter like this. +</P> + +<P> +"They're a long time in getting supper," remarked Carlton, in a +well-affected tone of impatience. "What is the time now?" +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson drew forth his watch, and, after glancing upon the face, +replied— +</P> + +<P> +"Ten minutes after eight." +</P> + +<P> +"We shall have it pretty soon now, I suppose. They don't understand the +double quick time movement out here." +</P> + +<P> +As Carlton said this, his eyes rested, with more than a mere passing +interest, on the gold lever that Wilkinson, instead of returning to his +pocket, retained in one hand, while with the other he toyed with the +key and chain in a half-abstracted manner. +</P> + +<P> +For the space of nearly a minute, neither of the men spoke, but the +thought of each was at the same point. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a beautiful watch," at length Carlton ventured to say. There +was a well disguised indifference in his tones. +</P> + +<P> +"It ought to be," was the reply of Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"What did it cost you?" +</P> + +<P> +"One hundred and forty dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it a good time-keeper?" +</P> + +<P> +"First-rate. It hasn't varied a minute in six months." +</P> + +<P> +"Just such a watch as I would like to own. I've had terrible bad luck +with watches." +</P> + +<P> +This was a kind of feeler. +</P> + +<P> +No reply was made by Wilkinson, although an offer to sell trembled on +his tongue. He still kept the watch in his hand, and toyed with the key +and chain, as before, in an absent manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Could you be tempted to sell?" finally asked Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. Perhaps I might,"—said Wilkinson. He drew his breath +deeply as he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Or, perhaps you would trade?" and Carlton now produced his gold lever. +"Mine is a very good watch, though not so valuable as yours. It keeps +fair time, however. I paid a hundred dollars for it three or four years +ago." +</P> + +<P> +A mutual examination of watches took place. +</P> + +<P> +"Well—what do you say to a trade?" +</P> + +<P> +The servant appeared at this juncture, and announced supper. The two +watches were returned to their respective places of deposit, and the +two men proceeded to the dining-room. Here the traffic, just begun, was +renewed and completed. The watches were exchanged, and Wilkinson +received sixty dollars "boot." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I order the horse brought out?" asked Carlton, as they arose, +about half an hour afterwards, from the supper-table. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; if you please." +</P> + +<P> +This was not said with much promptness of tone; a fact instantly noted +by the ear of Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm ready. Come—let's have a drink before we go!" +</P> + +<P> +The two men stepped to the bar and drank. Then they lingered, each with +a lighted cigar, and finally withdrew—to proceed to the city? No. To +return to their room up-stairs, and renew their unequal contest. The +sixty dollars which Wilkinson had received were staked, and soon passed +over to his adversary. Rendered, now, desperate by his losses and the +brandy which inflamed his brain, he borrowed, once more, on his +due-bill—this time to the amount of several hundred dollars. His +ill-success continued. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly eleven o'clock, when Wilkinson started up from the table, +exclaiming, as he threw the cards upon the floor— +</P> + +<P> +"Fool! fool! fool! One step more, and I am ruined. Carlton!" And he +fixed his eyes almost fiercely upon his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Carlton! I thought you my friend, but find, when it is almost too late +to profit by the discovery, that you are a tempter. Ay! and worse than +a tempter. Pure air and the bright sunshine! Is this your health for +mind and body? Oh! weak, weak, unstable one that I am! Poor Mary!" This +was said in a low, mournful, and scarcely audible voice. "Thus has my +promise to you vanished into thin air!" +</P> + +<P> +As Wilkinson said this, he turned away and left the room. Carlton was +in no hurry to follow. When, at length, he came down, and made inquiry +for the one he had dealt by so treacherously, the man, who was shutting +the windows of the bar-room, and about locking up for the night, +replied that he had not seen him. +</P> + +<P> +"Not seen him?" he asked, in a tone of surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. He didn't come in here." +</P> + +<P> +The hostler was aroused from his sleeping position on a bench in the +corner, and directed by Carlton to bring out his buggy. During the time +he was away, the latter made a hurried search in and around the house. +Not finding the object thereof, he muttered, in an under tone, a few +wicked oaths; then, jumping into his vehicle, he put whip to his horse, +and dashed off towards the city. He had Wilkinson's due-bills in his +pocket for various sums, amounting, in all, to nearly two thousand +dollars! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<P> +ALMOST motionless, with her sleeping babe upon her lap, sat Mrs. +Wilkinson for nearly half an hour after her husband left the house. She +saw nothing that was around her—heard nothing—felt nothing. Not even +the breathings of her sleeping infant reached her ear; nor was she +conscious of the pressure of its body against her own. Fixed in a +dreamy, inward gaze were her eyes; and her soul withdrew itself from +the portal at which, a little while before, it hearkened into the world +of nature. At last there came a motion of the eyelids—a quivering +motion—then they closed, slowly, over the blue orbs beneath; and soon +after a tear trembled out to the light from behind the barriers that +sought to retain them. A deep, fluttering sigh succeeded to this sign +of feeling. Then her lips parted, and she spoke audibly to herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that I knew how to win him back from the path of danger! He does +not love his home; and yet how have I striven to make it attractive! +How much have I denied myself! and how much yielded to and thought of +him! He is always kind to me; and he—yes—I know he loves me; but—ah!" +</P> + +<P> +The low voice trembled back sighing into silence. Still, for a long +time, the unhappy wife sat almost as motionless as if in sleep. Then, +as some thought grew active towards a purpose in her mind, she arose, +and laying Ella on the bed, began busying herself in some household +duties. +</P> + +<P> +The afternoon passed slowly away, yet not for a moment was the thought +of her husband absent from the mind of Mrs. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"What ought I to do? How shall I make his home sufficiently attractive?" +</P> + +<P> +This was her over and over again repeated question; and her thoughts +bent themselves eagerly for some answer upon which her heart might rest +with even a small degree of hope. +</P> + +<P> +The prolonged, intense anxiety and alarm of the previous night, added +to bodily fatigue and loss of rest, were not without their effect upon +Mrs. Wilkinson. Early in the day she suffered from lassitude and a +sense of exhaustion; and, after dinner, a slight headache was added; +this increased hourly, and by four o'clock was almost blinding in its +violence. Still, she tried to forget herself, and what she suffered in +thinking about and devising some means of saving her husband from the +dangers that lay hidden from his own view about his footsteps. +</P> + +<P> +"If I could only add some new attraction to his home!" she murmured to +herself, over and over again. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes she would hold her temples with both her hands, in the vain +effort to still, by pressure, the throbbing arteries within, while she +continued to think of her husband. +</P> + +<P> +As tea-time drew near, Mrs. Wilkinson left Ella in the care of a +domestic, and went into the kitchen to prepare some delicacy for the +evening meal of which she knew her husband was fond; this engaged her +for half an hour, and the effort increased the pain in her aching head. +</P> + +<P> +The usual time at which Mr. Wilkinson came home arrived, and his wife, +who had returned to her chamber, sat with her babe on her bosom, +listening for the well-known welcome sound of her husband's footsteps +in the passage below. Time glided by, yet she waited and listened in +vain; and to the pleasant thoughts of the influence her love was to +throw around him on that very evening, to keep him at home, began to +succeed a fear, which made her heart faint, that he would not come home +at all; or, at least, not until a late hour. +</P> + +<P> +The sun went down, and stealthily the sober twilight began to fall, +bringing with it shadows and forebodings for the heart of the anxious +wife. +</P> + +<P> +How vainly she waited and watched! The twilight was lost in darkness, +and yet her eagerly listening ear failed to note the well-known sound +of her husband's footfall on the pavement, as she stood, listening at +the open window. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! what can keep him so long away!" +</P> + +<P> +How often did these words come sighing from her lips, yet there was no +answer. Alas! how to the very winds were flung the pleasant hopes she +had cherished—cherished with a sense of fear and trembling—during the +afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +Night closed in, and the time wore on steadily, minute by minute, and +hour by hour, until the poor wife was almost wild with suspense and +anxiety. The dainties she had so thoughtfully and lovingly prepared for +her husband remained untasted, and had now become cold and +unpalatable—were, in fact, forgotten. Food she had not, herself, +tasted. Once or twice a servant had come to know if she would have tea +served; but she merely answered—"Not until Mr. Wilkinson returns." +</P> + +<P> +Nine—ten—eleven o'clock; still Mrs. Wilkinson was alone. Sometimes +she moved restlessly about her chamber; or wandered, like a perturbed +spirit, from room to room; and, sometimes in mere exhaustion, would +drop into a chair or sink across the bed, and sit or lie as motionless +as if in a profound sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Ah! could her husband have looked in upon her, but for a few moments; +could he have seen the anguish of her pale face; the fixed and dreamy +expression of her tearful eyes; the grieving arch of the lips he +loved—could he have seen and comprehended all she suffered and all she +feared, it must have won him back from his selfish folly. And how many +wives have suffered all this, and more! How many still suffer! Errant +husband, pause, look upon the picture we have presented, and think of +the many, many heart-aches you have given the tender, long-suffering, +loving one who clings to you yet so closely, and who, for your sake, +would even lay down, if needful, her very life. +</P> + +<P> +Happily for Mrs. Wilkinson, her child lay in a sound sleep; for, with +the appearance of the edges of two teeth through her red and swollen +gums, the feverish excitement of her system yielded to a healthy +reaction. +</P> + +<P> +Twelve o'clock was rung out clearly upon the hushed air of midnight; +and yet the poor wife was alone. One o'clock found her in a state of +agonized alarm, standing at the open street-door, and hearkening, +eagerly, first in one direction and then in another; yet all in +vain—for the absent one came not. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly two o'clock, and Mrs. Wilkinson, in the impotence of her +prolonged and intense anxiety and fear, had thrown herself, with a +groan, across her bed, when a sound in the street caught her ear. +Instantly she started up, while a thrill ran through every nerve. Feet +were on the door-steps; a key was in the lock—a moment more, and the +door opened and shut, and a familiar tread that made her heart leap +echoed along the passage. Her first impulse was to fly to meet the +comer, but a hand seemed to hold her back; and so, half reclining, she +awaited, with her heart beating violently, the appearance of him whose +strange absence had cost her so many hours of bitter anguish. A moment +or two more, and then an exclamation of surprise and almost terror, +fell from her lips. And well might she be startled at the appearance of +her husband. +</P> + +<P> +Pale, haggard, covered with dust, and with large drops of perspiration +on his face, Wilkinson stood before his wife. With a grieving look he +gazed upon her for some moments, but did not speak. +</P> + +<P> +"My husband!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson as soon as she could recover +herself; and, as she uttered the words, she threw her arms around him, +and buried her weeping face on his bosom. +</P> + +<P> +But Wilkinson tried to disengage her arms, saying, as he did so— +</P> + +<P> +"Not this!—not this, Mary! I am unworthy of even your feeblest regard. +Speak to me coldly, harshly, angrily, if you will. That I deserve—but +nothing of kindness, nothing of love. Oh, that I were dead!" +</P> + +<P> +"My husband! my husband! you are dearer to me than life!" was whispered +in reply, as Mary clung to him more closely. +</P> + +<P> +Such evidences of love melted the strong man's heart. He tried to brace +himself up against what, in his pride, he felt to be a weakness, but +failed, and leaning his face downward until it rested upon the head of +his wife, sobbed aloud. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<P> +WILKINSON, on leaving the presence of the man who, under the guise of +friendship, had so basely led him astray, and robbed him—it was +robbery, in fact, for Carlton had not only enticed his victim to drink +until his mind was confused, but had played against him with trick and +false dealing—passed, not by the bar-room of the hotel, but through +one of the passages, into the open air, and with hurried steps, and +mind all in a whirl of excitement, started on foot for home. He was not +in a state to consider exactly what he was doing—he did not reflect +that he was at least ten miles from the city, and that it would take +him hours to walk that distance. His predominant feeling was a desire +to escape from the presence of the man who had so basely betrayed and +almost ruined him. +</P> + +<P> +It was a calm, clear, summer night; and the full moon, which had +reached the zenith, shone with an unusual radiance. Not a leaf moved on +the forest trees, for even the zephyrs were asleep. All was stillness +and tranquil beauty. +</P> + +<P> +Yet nature did not mirror herself on the feelings of Wilkinson, for +their surface was in wild commotion. The unhappy man was conscious only +of the folly he had committed and the wrong he had sustained; and +thought only of his culpable weakness in having been drawn, by a +specious villain, to the very verge of ruin. +</P> + +<P> +Onward he strode, toward the city, with rapid pace, and soon his +thoughts began to go forward towards his home. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Mary!" he sighed, as the image of his wife, when she said to +him—"I count the hours when you are away," arose before his eyes. +Then, as the image grew more and more distinct, his hands were clenched +tightly, and he murmured through his shut teeth— +</P> + +<P> +"Wretch! cruel wretch, that I am! I shall break her heart! Oh, why did +I not resist this temptation? Why was I so thoughtless of the best, the +truest, the most loving friend I ever knew or ever can know—my Mary!" +</P> + +<P> +Rapid as his steps had been from the first, the thought of his wife +caused Wilkinson to increase his pace, and he moved along, the only +passenger at that hour upon the road, at almost a running speed. Soon +the perspiration was gushing freely from every pore, and this, in a +short time, relieved the still confused pressure on the brain of the +alcohol which had been taken so freely into his system. Thoroughly +sobered was he, ere he had passed over half the distance; and the +clearer his mind became, the more troubled grew his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +"What," he repeated to himself, over and over, "what if our dear Ella +should be in convulsions again?" +</P> + +<P> +So great was the anguish of the unhappy man, that he was all +unconscious of bodily fatigue. He was nearly half way to the city when +overtaken by Carlton. The latter called to him three or four times, and +invited him to get up and ride; but Wilkinson strode on, without so +much as uttering a word in reply, or seeming to hear what was said to +him. So Carlton, finding that his proffer was disregarded, dashed ahead +and was soon out of sight. +</P> + +<P> +At what hour Wilkinson reached his home, and how he was received, has +already been seen. +</P> + +<P> +Too heavy a pressure lay on the mind of the unhappy man, as he met his +wife at the breakfast table on the next morning, for him even to make +an effort at external cheerfulness. There was not only the remembrance +of his broken promise, and the anguish she must have suffered in +consequence of his absence for half the night—how visible, alas! was +the effect written on her pale face, and eyes still red and swollen +from excessive tears—but the remembrance, also, that he had permitted +himself, while under the influence of drink, to lose some two thousand +dollars at the gaming table! What would he not endure to keep that +blasting fact from the knowledge of his single-hearted, upright +companion? He a gambler! How sick at heart the thought made him feel, +when that thought came into the presence of his wife! +</P> + +<P> +Few words passed between Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, but the manner of each +was subdued, gentle, and even affectionate. They parted, after the +morning meal, in silence; Wilkinson to repair to his place of business, +his wife to busy herself in household duties, and await with trembling +anxiety the return of her husband at the regular dinner hour. +</P> + +<P> +This time, Wilkinson did not, as usual, drop in at a certain +drinking-house that was in his way, but kept on direct to his store. +The reason of this omission of his habitual glass of brandy was not, we +are compelled to say, from a purpose in his mind to abandon the +dangerous practice, but to avoid encountering the man Carlton, who +might happen to be there. But he was not to keep clear of him in this +way. Oh, no. Carlton held his due-bills for "debts of honour," calling +for various sums, amounting in all, as we have before said, to about +two thousand dollars, and he was not a person at all likely to forget +this fact. Of this Wilkinson was made sensible, about an hour after +appearing at his store. He was at his desk musing over certain results +figured out on a sheet of paper that lay before him, and which had +reference to payments to be made during the next three or four weeks, +when he heard his name mentioned, and, turning, saw a stranger +addressing one of his clerks, who had just pointed to where he was +sitting. The man, with his unpleasant eyes fixed upon Wilkinson, came, +with firm yet deliberate steps, back to his desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Wilkinson, I believe?" said he. +</P> + +<P> +"That is my name." Wilkinson tried to feel self-possessed and +indifferent. But that was impossible, for he had an instinctive +knowledge of the purport of the visit. +</P> + +<P> +The man thrust his hand into a deep inside pocket, and abstracted +therefrom a huge pocket-book. He did not search long in the +compartments of this for what he wanted, but drew directly therefrom +sundry small, variously shaped pieces of paper, much blotted and +scrawled over in a hurried hand. Each of these bore the signature of +Wilkinson, and words declaring himself indebted in a certain sum to +Andrew Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +"I am desired to collect these," said the man coldly. +</P> + +<P> +Much as Wilkinson had thought, in anticipation of this particular +crisis, he was yet undecided as to what he should do. He had been made +the victim of a specious scoundrel—a wolf who had come to him in +sheep's clothing. Running back his thoughts, as distinctly as it was +possible for him to do, to the occurrences of the previous night, he +remembered much that fully satisfied him that Carlton had played +against him most unfairly; he not only induced him to drink until his +mind was confused, but had taken advantage of this confused state, to +cheat in the grossest manner. Some moments passed ere he replied to the +application; then he said— +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not prepared to do any thing with this matter just now." +</P> + +<P> +"My directions are to collect these bills," was the simple reply, made +in a tone that expressed even more than the words. +</P> + +<P> +"You may find that more difficult than you imagine," replied Wilkinson, +with some impatience. +</P> + +<P> +"No—no—we never have much difficulty in collecting debts of this +kind." There was a meaning emphasis on the last two words, which +Wilkinson understood but too well. Still he made answer, +</P> + +<P> +"You may find it a little harder in the present case than you imagine. +I never received value for these tokens of indebtedness." +</P> + +<P> +"You must have been a precious fool to have given them then," was +promptly returned, with a curling lip, and in a tone of contempt. "They +represent, I presume, debts of honour?" +</P> + +<P> +"There was precious little honour in the transaction," said Wilkinson, +who, stung by the manner and words of the collector, lost his +self-possessions. "If ever a man was cheated, I was." +</P> + +<P> +"Say that to Mr. Carlton himself; it is out of place with me. As I +remarked a little while ago, my business is to collect the sums called +for by these due-bills. Are you prepared to settle them?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," was the decisive answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," said the collector, who had his part to play, and who, +understanding it thoroughly, showed no inclination to go off in a huff; +"you do not clearly understand your position, nor the consequences +likely to follow the answer just given; that is, if you adhere to your +determination not to settle these due-bills." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll make the effort to collect by law, I presume?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we will." +</P> + +<P> +"And get nothing. The law will not recognise a debt of this kind." +</P> + +<P> +"How is the law to come at the nature of the debt?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will"—Wilkinson stopped suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you?" quickly chimed in the collector. "Then you are a bolder, or +rather, more reckless man than I took you for. Your family, friends, +creditors, and mercantile associates will be edified, no doubt, when it +comes to light on the trial, under your own statement, that you have +been losing large sums of money at the gaming table—over two thousand +dollars in a single night." +</P> + +<P> +A strong exclamation came from the lips of Wilkinson, who saw the trap +into which he had fallen, and from which there was, evidently, no safe +mode of escape. +</P> + +<P> +"It is impossible for me to pay two thousand dollars now," said he, +after a long, agitated silence, during which he saw, more clearly than +before, the unhappy position in which he was placed. "It will be ruin +anyhow; and if loss of credit and character are to come, it might as +well come with the most in hand I can retain." +</P> + +<P> +"You are the best judge of that," said the collector, coldly, turning +partly away as he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell Carlton that I would like to see him." +</P> + +<P> +"He left the city this morning," replied the collector. +</P> + +<P> +"Left the city?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir; and you will perceive that all of these due-bills have been +endorsed to me, and are, consequently, my property, for which I have +paid a valuable consideration. They are, therefore, legal claims +against you in the fullest sense, and I am not the man to waive my +rights, or to be thwarted in my purposes. Are you prepared to settle?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not to-day, at least." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not disposed to be too hard with you," said the man, slightly +softening in his tone; "and will say at a word what I will do, and all +I will do. You can take up five hundred of these bills to-day, five +hundred in one week, and the balance in equal sums at two and three +weeks. I yield this much; but, understand me, it is all I yield, and +you need not ask for any further consideration. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, sir, what do you say?" Full five minutes after the collector had +given his ultimatum, he thus broke in upon the perplexed and undecided +silence of the unhappy victim of his own weakness and folly. "Am I to +receive five hundred dollars now, or am I not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Call in an hour, and I will be prepared to give an answer," said +Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. I'll be here in one hour to a minute," and the man +consulted his watch. +</P> + +<P> +And to a minute was he there. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, sir, have you decided this matter?" said he, on confronting +Wilkinson an hour later. He spoke with the air of one who felt +indifferent as to which way the decision had been made. Without +replying, Wilkinson took from under a paper weight on his desk a check +for five hundred dollars, and presented it to the collector. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," was the satisfied remark of the latter as he read the face +of the check; and, immediately producing his large pocket-book, drew +forth Wilkinson's due-bills, and selecting one for three hundred and +one for two hundred dollars, placed them in his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"On this day one week I will be here again," said the man, +impressively, and, turning away, left the store. +</P> + +<P> +The moment he was out of sight, Wilkinson tore the due-bills he had +cancelled into a score of pieces, and, as he scattered them on the +floor, said to himself—"Perish, sad evidences of my miserable folly! +The lesson would be salutary, were it not received at too heavy a cost. +Can I recover from this? Alas! I fear not. Fifteen hundred more to be +abstracted from my business, and in three weeks! How can it possibly be +done?" +</P> + +<P> +To a certain extent, the lesson was salutary. During the next three +weeks, Wilkinson, who felt a nervous reluctance to enter a +drinking-house lest he should meet Carlton, kept away from such places, +and therefore drank but little during the time; nor did he once go out +in the evening, except in company with his wife, who was studious, all +the time, in the science of making home happy. But it was impossible +for her to chase away the shadow that rested upon her husband's brow. +</P> + +<P> +Promptly, on a certain day in each week of that period, came the man +who held the due-bills given to Carlton, leaving Wilkinson five hundred +dollars poorer with each visitation—poorer, unhappier, and more +discouraged in regard to his business, which was scarcely stanch enough +to bear the sudden withdrawal of so much money. +</P> + +<P> +Under such circumstances it was impossible for Wilkinson to appear +otherwise than troubled. To divine the cause of this trouble soon +became the central purpose in the mind of his wife. To all her +questions on the subject, he gave evasive answers; still she gathered +enough to satisfy her that every thing was not right in regard to his +business. Assuming this to be the case, she began to think over the +ways and means of reducing their range of expenses, which were in the +neighbourhood of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. The result will +appear. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<P> +THE morning of the day came on which Wilkinson had to make his last +payment on account of the due-bills given to Carlton. He had nothing in +bank, and there were few borrowing resources not already used to the +utmost limit. At ten o'clock he went out to see what could be done in +the way of effecting further temporary loans among business friends. +His success was not very great, for at twelve o'clock he returned with +only two hundred dollars. Carlton's agent had called twice during the +time, and came in a few minutes afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +"You're too soon for me," said Wilkinson, with not a very cheerful or +welcome expression of countenance. +</P> + +<P> +"It's past twelve," returned the man. +</P> + +<P> +"All the same if it were past three. I haven't the money." +</P> + +<P> +The collector's brow lowered heavily. +</P> + +<P> +"How soon will you have it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't tell," replied Wilkinson, fretfully. +</P> + +<P> +"That kind of answer don't just suit me," said the man, with some +appearance of anger. "I've been remarkable easy with you, and now"— +</P> + +<P> +"Easy!" sharply ejaculated Wilkinson. "Yes; as the angler who plays his +trout. You've already received fifteen hundred dollars of the sum out +of which I was swindled, and with that I should think both you and your +principal might be content. Go back to him, and say that he is about +placing on the camel's back the pound that may break it." +</P> + +<P> +"I have before told you," was replied, "that Mr. Carlton has no longer +any control in this matter. It is I who hold your obligations; they +have been endorsed to me, and for a valuable consideration; and be +assured that I shall exact the whole bond." +</P> + +<P> +"If," said Wilkinson, after some moments' reflection, and speaking in a +changed voice and with much deliberation, "if you will take my note of +hand for the amount of your due-bills, at six months from to-day, I +will give it; if not"— +</P> + +<P> +"Preposterous!" returned the man, interrupting him. +</P> + +<P> +"If not," continued Wilkinson, "you can fall back upon the law. It has +its delays and chances; and I am more than half inclined to the belief +that I was a fool not to have left this matter for a legal decision in +the beginning. I should have gained time at least." +</P> + +<P> +"If you are so anxious to get into court, you can be gratified," was +answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well; seek your redress in law," said Wilkinson, angrily. +"Occasionally, gamblers and pickpockets get to the end of their rope; +and, perhaps, it may turn out so in this instance. My only regret now +is, that I didn't let the matter go to court in the beginning." +</P> + +<P> +The man turned off hastily, but paused ere he reached the door, stood +musing for a while, and then came slowly back. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me your note at sixty days," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," was the firm reply of Wilkinson. "I offered my note at six +months. For not a day less will I give it; and I don't care three +coppers whether you take it or no. I had about as lief test the matter +in a court of justice as not." +</P> + +<P> +The man again made a feint to retire, but again returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Say three months, then." +</P> + +<P> +"It is useless to chaffer with me, sir." Wilkinson spoke sternly. "I +have said what I will do, and I will do nothing else. Even that offer I +shall withdraw if not accepted now." +</P> + +<P> +The man seemed thrown quite aback by the prompt and decisive manner of +Wilkinson, and, after some hesitation and grumbling, finally consented +to yield up the balance of the due-bills for a note payable in six +months. +</P> + +<P> +"Saved as by fire!" Such was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, as +the collector left the store. "I stagger already under the extra weight +of fifteen hundred dollars. Five hundred added now would come nigh to +crushing me. Ah! how dearly have I paid for my folly!" +</P> + +<P> +While he still sat musing at his desk, his friend Ellis came in, +looking quite sober. +</P> + +<P> +"I know you've been pretty hard run for the last week or ten days," +said he, "but can't you strain a point and help me a little? I've been +running about all the morning, and am still two hundred dollars short +of the amount to be paid in bank to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Fortunately," replied Wilkinson, "I have just the sum you need." +</P> + +<P> +"How long can you spare it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Until day after to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall have it then, without fail." +</P> + +<P> +The money was counted out and handed to Ellis, who, as he received it, +said in a desponding voice— +</P> + +<P> +"Unless a man is so fortunate as to be born with a silver spoon in his +mouth, he finds nothing but up-hill work in this troublesome world. I +declare! I'm almost discouraged. I can feel myself going behindhand, +instead of advancing." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't say that. You're only in a desponding mood," replied Wilkinson, +repressing his own gloomy feelings, and trying to speak encouragingly. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish it were only imagination. It is now nearly ten years since I +was married, and though my business, at the time, was good, and paying +a fair profit on the light capital invested, it has, instead of getting +more prosperous, become, little and by little, embarrassed, until +now—I speak this confidently, and to one whom I know to be a +friend—were every thing closed up, I doubt if I should be worth five +hundred dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so bad as that. You are only in a gloomy state of mind." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish it were only nervous despondency, my friend. But it is not so. +All the while I am conscious of a retrograde instead of an advance +movement." +</P> + +<P> +"There must be a cause for this," said Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. There is no effect without a cause." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know what it is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"A knowledge of our disease is said to be half the cure." +</P> + +<P> +"It has not proved so in my case." +</P> + +<P> +"What is the difficulty?" +</P> + +<P> +"My expenses are too high." +</P> + +<P> +"Your store expenses?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, my family expenses." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you ought to reduce them." +</P> + +<P> +"That is easily said; but, in my case, not so easily done. I cannot +make my wife comprehend the necessity of retrenchment." +</P> + +<P> +"If you were to explain the whole matter to her, calmly and clearly, I +am certain you would not find her unreasonable. Her stake in this +matter is equal to yours." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear! Haven't I tried, over and over again?" +</P> + +<P> +"If Cara will not hear reason, and join with you in prudent reforms, +then it is your duty to make them yourself. What are your annual +expenses?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am ashamed to say." +</P> + +<P> +"Fifteen hundred dollars?" +</P> + +<P> +"They have never fallen below that since we were married, and, for the +last three years, have reached the sum of two thousand dollars. This +year they will even exceed that." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Too much! too much!" +</P> + +<P> +"I know it is. A man in my circumstances has no right to expend even +half that sum. Why, five hundred dollars a year less in our expenses +since we were married would have left me a capital of five thousand +dollars in my business." +</P> + +<P> +"And placed you now on the sure road to fortune." +</P> + +<P> +"Undoubtedly." +</P> + +<P> +"Take my advice, and give to Cara a full statement of your affairs. Do +it at once—this very day. It has been put off too long already. Let +there be no reserve—no holding back—no concealment. Do it calmly, +mildly, yet earnestly, and my word for it, she will join you, heart and +hand, in any measure of reform and safety that you may propose. She +were less than a woman, a wife, and a mother, not to do so. You wrong +her by doubt." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I do," said Ellis in reply. "Perhaps I have never managed her +rightly. I know that I am quick to get out of patience with her, if she +oppose my wishes too strongly. But I will try and overcome this. There +is too much at stake just now." +</P> + +<P> +The two men parted. Henry Ellis pondered all day over the present state +of his affairs, and the absolute necessity there was for a reduction of +his expenses. The house in which he lived cost four hundred and fifty +dollars a year. Two hundred dollars could easily be saved, he thought, +by taking a smaller house, where, if they were only willing to think +so, they might be just as comfortable as they now were. Beyond this +reduction in rent, Ellis did not see clearly how to proceed. The rest +would have mainly to depend upon his wife, who had almost the entire +charge of the home department, including the expenditures made on +account thereof. +</P> + +<P> +The earnestness with which Ellis pondered these things lifted his +thoughts so much above the sensual plane where they too often rested, +that he felt not the desire for stimulating drink returning at certain +hours, but passed through the whole of the afternoon without either +thinking of or tasting his usual glass of brandy and water. On coming +home to his family in the evening, his mind was as clear as a bell. +This, unhappily, was not always the case. +</P> + +<P> +And now for the task of making Cara comprehend the real state of his +affairs; and to produce in her a cheerful, loving, earnest co-operation +in the work of salutary reform. But how to begin? What first to say? +How to disarm her opposition in the outset? These were the questions +over which Ellis pondered. And the difficulty loomed up larger and +larger the nearer he approached it. He felt too serious; and was +conscious of this. +</P> + +<P> +Unhappily, Cara's brow was somewhat clouded. Ellis approached her with +attempts at cheerful conversation; but she was not in the mood to feel +interested in any of the topics he introduced. The tea hour passed with +little of favourable promise. The toast was badly made, and the +chocolate not half boiled. Mrs. Ellis was annoyed, and scolded the +cook, in the presence of her husband, soundly; thus depriving him of +the little appetite with which he had come to the table. Gradually the +unhappy man felt his patience and forbearance leaving him; and more +than once he said to himself— +</P> + +<P> +"It will be worse than useless to talk to her. She will throw back my +words upon me, in the beginning, as she has so often done before." +</P> + +<P> +Tea over, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis returned with their children to the +sitting-room. The former felt an almost irrepressible desire for the +cigar, which habit had rendered so nearly indispensable; but he denied +himself the indulgence, lest Cara should make it the occasion of some +annoying remark. So he took up a newspaper, and occupied himself +therewith, until his wife had undressed and put their two oldest +children to bed. As she returned from the adjoining room, where they +slept, Ellis looked earnestly into her face, to see what hope there was +for him in its expression. Her lips were drawn closely together, her +brows slightly contracted, and her countenance had a fretful, +discontented expression. He sighed inwardly, and resumed the perusal of +his newspaper; or, rather, affected to resume it, for the words that +met his eyes conveyed to his mind no intelligible ideas. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ellis took her work-basket, and commenced sewing, while her +husband continued to hold the newspaper before his face. After some ten +minutes of silence, the latter made a remark, as a kind of feeler. This +was replied to with what sounded more like a grunt than a vocal +expression. +</P> + +<P> +"Cara," at length said Ellis, forcing himself to the unpleasant work on +hand, "I would like to have a little plain talk with you about my +affairs." He tried, in saying this, to seem not to be very serious; but +his feelings, which had for some time been on the rack, were too +painfully excited to admit of this. He both looked and expressed, in +the tones of his voice, the trouble he felt. +</P> + +<P> +Now, just at the moment Ellis said this, his wife was on the eve of +making the announcement, in rather a peremptory and dogmatic way, that +if he didn't give her the money to buy new parlour carpets, for which +she had been asking as much as a year past, she would go and order +them, and have the bill sent in to him. All day this subject had been +in her mind, and she had argued herself into the belief that her +husband was perfectly able, not only to afford her new carpets, but +also new parlour furniture; and that his unwillingness to do so arose +from a penurious spirit. Such being her state of mind, she was not +prepared to see in the words, voice, and look of her husband the real +truth that it was so important for her to know. From the beginning of +their married life, she had been disposed to spend freely, and he to +restrain her. In consequence, there was a kind of feud between them; +and now she regarded his words as coming from a desire on his part to +make her believe that he was poorer, in the matter of this world's +goods, than was really the case. Her reply, therefore, rather pettishly +uttered, was— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! I've heard enough about your affairs. No doubt you are on the +verge of bankruptcy. A man who indulges his family to the extent that +you do must expect shipwreck with every coming gale." +</P> + +<P> +The change of countenance and exclamation with which this heartless +retort was made startled even Cara. Rising quickly to his feet, and +flinging upon his wife a look of reproach, Ellis left the room. A +moment or two afterwards, the street-door shut after him with a heavy +jar. +</P> + +<P> +It was past midnight when he came home, and then he was stupid from +drink. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<P> +HOW different was it with Wilkinson, when he returned to his wife on +the same evening, in a most gloomy, troubled, and desponding state of +mind! A review of his affairs had brought little, if any thing, to +encourage him. This dead loss of two thousand dollars was more, he +felt, than he could bear. Ere this came upon him, there was often great +difficulty in making his payments. How should he be able to make them +now, with such an extra weight to carry? The thought completely +disheartened him. +</P> + +<P> +"I, too, ought to retrench," said he, mentally, his thoughts recurring +to the interview which had taken place between him and Ellis. "In fact, +I don't see what else is to save me. But how can I ask Mary to give up +her present style of living? How can I ask her to move into a smaller +house? to relinquish one of her domestics, and in other respects to +deny herself, when the necessity for so doing is wholly chargeable to +my folly? It is no use; I can't do it. Every change—every step +downwards, would rebuke me. No—no. Upon Mary must not rest the evil +consequences of my insane conduct. Let me, alone, suffer." +</P> + +<P> +But how, alone, was he to bear, without sinking beneath the weight, the +pressure that was upon him? +</P> + +<P> +With the usual glad smile and heart-warm kiss Wilkinson was greeted on +his return home. +</P> + +<P> +"God bless you, Mary!" said he, with much feeling, as he returned his +wife's salutation. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson saw that her husband was inwardly moved to a degree that +was unusual. She did not remark thereon, but her manner was gentle, and +her tones lower and tenderer than usual, when she spoke to him. But few +words passed between them, until the bell rang for tea. While sitting +at the table, the voice of Ella was heard, crying. +</P> + +<P> +"Agnes!" called Mrs. Wilkinson, going to the head of the stairs that +led down into the kitchen—"I wish you would go up to Ella, she is +awake." +</P> + +<P> +The girl answered that she would do as desired, and Mrs. Wilkinson +returned to her place at the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Anna?" asked Mr. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Wilkinson smiled cheerfully, as she replied, +</P> + +<P> +"Her month was up to-day, and I concluded to let her go." +</P> + +<P> +"What!" Wilkinson spoke in a quick surprised voice. +</P> + +<P> +"She was little more than a fifth wheel to our coach," was replied; +"and fifth wheels can easily be dispensed with." +</P> + +<P> +"But who is to take care of Ella? Who is to do the chamber work? Not +you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be troubled about that, my good husband!" was answered with a +smile. "Leave all to me. I am the housekeeper." +</P> + +<P> +"You are not strong enough, Mary. You will injure your health." +</P> + +<P> +"My health is more likely to suffer from lack, than from excess of +effort. The truth is, I want more exercise than I have been in the +habit of taking." +</P> + +<P> +"But the confinement, Mary. Don't you see that the arrangement you +propose will tie you down to the house? Indeed, I can't think of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not be confined in-doors any more than I am now. Agnes will +take care of the baby whenever I wish to go out." +</P> + +<P> +"There is too much work in this house, Mary'" said Mr. Wilkinson, in a +decided way. "You cannot get along with but a single domestic." +</P> + +<P> +"There are only you, and Ella, and I!" Mrs. Wilkinson leaned towards +her husband, and looked earnestly into his face. There was an +expression on her countenance that was full of meaning; yet its import +he did not understand. +</P> + +<P> +"Only you, and Ella, and I?" said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; only we three. Now, I have been wondering all day, John, whether +there was any real necessity for just we three having so large a house +to live in. I don't think there is. It is an expense for nothing, and +makes work for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"How you talk, Mary!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't I talk like a sensible woman?" said the young wife, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't go into a smaller house, dear." +</P> + +<P> +"And why not, pray?" +</P> + +<P> +"Our position in society"— +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Wilkinson did not finish the sentence; for he knew that argument +would be lost on his wife. +</P> + +<P> +"We are not rich," said Mrs. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"No one knows that better than myself," replied the husband, with more +feeling than he meant to exhibit. +</P> + +<P> +"And, if the truth were known, are living at an expense beyond what we +can afford. Speak out plainly, dear, and say if this is not the case." +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't just like to say that," returned Wilkinson; yet his tone +of voice belied his words. +</P> + +<P> +"It is just as I supposed," said Mrs. Wilkinson, growing more serious. +"Why have you not confided in me? Why have you not spoken freely to me +on this subject, John? Am I not your wife? And am I not ready to bear +all things and to suffer all things for your sake?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are too serious Mary,—too serious by far. I have not said that +there was any thing wrong in my circumstances. I have not said that it +was necessary to reduce our expenses." +</P> + +<P> +"No matter, dear. We are, by living in our present style, expending +several hundred dollars a year more than is necessary. This is useless. +Do you not say so yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is certainly useless to spend more than is necessary to secure +comfort." +</P> + +<P> +"And wrong to spend more than we can afford?" +</P> + +<P> +"Undoubtedly." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let us take a smaller house, John, by all means. I shall feel so +much better contented." +</P> + +<P> +It was some time before Wilkinson replied. When he did so, he spoke +with unusual emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my dear wife!" said he, leaning towards her and grasping her hand; +"you know not how great a load you have taken from my heart. The change +you suggest is necessary; yet I never could have urged it; never could +have asked you to give up this for an humbler dwelling. How much rather +would I elevate you to a palace!" +</P> + +<P> +"My husband! Why, why have you concealed this from me? It was not true +kindness," said Mrs. Wilkinson, in a slightly chiding voice. "It is my +province to stand, sustainingly, by your side; not to hang upon you, a +dead weight." +</P> + +<P> +But we will not repeat all that was said. Enough that, ere the evening, +spent in earnest conversation, closed, all the preliminaries of an +early removal and reduction of expenses were settled, and, when +Wilkinson retired for the night, it was in a hopeful spirit. Light had +broken through a rift in the dark cloud which had so suddenly loomed +up; and he saw, clearly, the way of escape from the evil that +threatened to overwhelm him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<P> +TWELVE o'clock of the day on which Ellis was to return the two hundred +dollars borrowed of Wilkinson came, and yet he did not appear at the +store of the latter, who had several payments to make, and depended on +receiving the amount due from his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Has Mr. Ellis been here?" asked Wilkinson of his clerk, coming in +about noon from a rather fruitless effort to obtain money. +</P> + +<P> +The clerk replied in the negative. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor sent over his check for two hundred dollars?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Step down to his store, then, if you please, and say to him from me +that he mustn't forget the sum to be returned to-day, as I have two +notes yet in bank. Say also, that if he has any thing over, I shall be +glad to have the use of it." +</P> + +<P> +The clerk departed on his errand. In due time he returned, but with no +money in his possession. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see Mr. Ellis?" asked Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," was replied. "He hasn't been at the store to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Not to-day!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter? Is he sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"His clerk didn't say." +</P> + +<P> +Taking up his hat, Wilkinson left his store hurriedly. In a few minutes +he entered that of his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Mr. Ellis?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, sir," was answered by the clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"Has he been here this morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"He must be sick. Have you sent to his house to make inquiry?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet. I have expected him all the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"He was here yesterday?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until late in the afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! Did he complain of not being well?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. But he didn't look very well." +</P> + +<P> +There was something in the manner of the clerk which Wilkinson did not +understand clearly at first. But all at once it flashed upon his mind +that Ellis might, in consequence of some trouble with his wife, have +suddenly abandoned himself to drink. With this thought came the +remembrance of what had passed between them two days before; and this +but confirmed his first impression. +</P> + +<P> +"If Mr. Ellis comes in," said he, after some moments of hurried +thought, "tell him that I would like to see him." +</P> + +<P> +The clerk promised to do so. +</P> + +<P> +"Hadn't you better send to his house?" suggested Wilkinson, as he +turned to leave the store. "He may be sick." +</P> + +<P> +"I will do so," replied the clerk, and Wilkinson retired, feeling by no +means comfortable. By this time it was nearly one o'clock, and six or +seven hundred dollars were yet required to make him safe for that day's +payments. The failure of Ellis to keep his promise laid upon him an +additional burden, and gradually caused a feeling of despondency to +creep in upon him. Instead of making a new and more earnest effort to +raise the money, he went back to his store, and remained there for +nearly half an hour, in a brooding, disheartened state of mind. A +glance at the clock, with the minute-hand alarmingly near the figure 2, +startled him at length from his dreaming inactivity; and he went forth +again to raise, if possible, the money needed to keep his name from +commercial dishonour. He was successful; but there were only fifteen +minutes in his favour when the exact sum he needed was made up, and his +notes taken out of bank. +</P> + +<P> +Two o'clock was Mr. Wilkinson's dinner hour, and he had always, before, +so arranged his bank business as to have his notes taken up long enough +before that time to be ready to leave promptly for home. But for the +failure of Ellis to keep his promise, it would have been so on this day. +</P> + +<P> +"It's hardly worth while to go home now," said he, as he closed his +cash and bill books, after making some required entries therein. "Mary +has given me over long ago. And, besides, I don't feel in the mood of +mind to see her just now. I can't look cheerful, to save me; and I have +already called too many shadows to her face to darken it with any more. +By evening I will recover myself, and then can meet her with a brighter +countenance. No, I won't go home now. I'll stop around to Elder's, and +get a cut of roast beef." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson had taken up his hat, and was moving down the store, when a +suggestion that came to his mind made him pause. It was this: +</P> + +<P> +"But is not Mary waiting for me, and will not my absence for the whole +day cause her intense anxiety and alarm? I ought to go home." +</P> + +<P> +And now began an argument in his thoughts. The fact was, a sense of +exhaustion of body and depression of spirits had followed the effort +and trouble of the day, and Wilkinson felt a much stronger desire for +something stimulating to drink than he did for food. Elder's was a +drinking as well as an eating-house; and in deciding to go there, +instead of returning home, the real influence, although he did not +perceive it to be so, was the craving felt for a glass of brandy. And +now came the conflict between appetite and an instinctive sense of what +was due both to himself and his wife. +</P> + +<P> +"It will only put her to trouble if I go home now." Thus he sought to +justify himself in doing what his better sense clearly condemned as +wrong. +</P> + +<P> +"It will rather relieve her from trouble," was quickly answered to this. +</P> + +<P> +For a little while Wilkinson stood undecided, then slowly retired to a +remote part of the store, took off his hat, and sat down to debate the +point at issue in his mind more coolly. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go home early," said he to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not go home now?" was instantly replied. +</P> + +<P> +"It is too late; Mary has given me up long ago." +</P> + +<P> +"She will be extremely anxious." +</P> + +<P> +"I can explain all." +</P> + +<P> +"Better do it now than two or three hours later: poor Mary has suffered +enough already." +</P> + +<P> +This last suggestion caused the image of his wife to come up before the +mind of Wilkinson very distinctly. He saw, now, her smile of winning +love; now, the sad drooping of her countenance, as he turned to leave +her alone for an evening; now, the glance of anxiety and fear with +which she so often greeted his return; and now, her pale, +grief-stricken face, after some one of his too many lapses from the +right way. And, in imagination, his thoughts went to his home in the +present moment. What did he see? A waiting, anxious, troubled wife, now +sitting with fixed and dreamy eyes; now moving about with restless +steps; and now standing at the street-door, eagerly straining her eyes +to see in the distance his approaching form. With such images of his +wife came no repulsive thought to the mind of Wilkinson. Ever loving, +tender, patient, forbearing, and true-hearted had Mary been. Not once +in the whole of their married life had she jarred the chord that bound +them together, with a touch of discord. He could only think of her, +therefore, with love, and a feeling of attraction; and this it was that +saved him in the present hour. Starting up suddenly, he said, "I will +go home: why have I hesitated an instant? My poor Mary! Heaven knows +you have already suffered enough through my short-comings and +wanderings from the way of right and duty. I am walking a narrow path, +with destruction on either hand: if I get over safely, it will be +through you as my sustaining angel." +</P> + +<P> +A skilful limner, at least in this instance, was the imagination of +Wilkinson. Much as it had been pictured to his thoughts was the scene +at home. Poor Mary! with what trembling anxiety did she wait and hope +for her husband's coming, after the usual hour for his return had +passed. Now she sat motionless, gazing on some painful image that was +presented to her mind; now she moved about the room from an unquietness +of spirit that would not let her be still; and now she bent her ear +towards the street, and listened almost breathlessly for the sound of +her husband's footsteps. Thus the time passed from two until three +o'clock, the dinner yet unserved. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what can keep him away so long?" +</P> + +<P> +How many, many times was this spoken audibly! Now her heart beat with a +quick, panting motion, as the thought of some accident to her husband +flitted through the mind of Mrs. Wilkinson; now its irregular motion +subsided, and it lay almost still, with a heavy pressure; for the fear +lest he had again been tempted from the path of sobriety came with its +deep and oppressive shadow. +</P> + +<P> +And thus the lingering moments passed. Three o'clock came, and yet Mr. +Wilkinson was absent. +</P> + +<P> +"I can bear this suspense no longer," said the unhappy wife. "Something +has happened." +</P> + +<P> +And as she said this, she went quickly into her chamber to put into +execution some suddenly-formed resolution. Opening a wardrobe, she took +therefrom her bonnet and a shawl. But, ere she had thrown the latter +around her shoulders, she paused, with the words on her lips— +</P> + +<P> +"If business should have detained him at his store, how will my +appearance there affect him? I must think of that. I do not want him to +feel that I have lost confidence in him." +</P> + +<P> +While Mrs. Wilkinson stood, thus musing, her ear caught the sound of +her husband's key in the lock of the street-door. How quickly were her +bonnet and shawl returned to their places! How instant and eager were +her efforts to suppress all signs of anxiety at the prolonged absence! +</P> + +<P> +"He must not see that I have been over-anxious," she murmured. +</P> + +<P> +The street-door closed; Mr. Wilkinson's well-known tread sounded along +the passage and up the stairway. With what an eager discrimination was +the ear of his wife bent towards him for a sign that would indicate the +condition in which he returned to her! How breathless was her suspense! +A few moments, and the door of her room opened. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, John!" said she, with a pleasant smile, and a tone so well +disguised that it betrayed little of the sea of agitation below—"what +has kept you so late? I was really afraid something had happened. Have +you been sick; or did business detain you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was business, dear," replied Mr. Wilkinson, as he took the hand +which Mary placed within his. The low, nervous tremour of that hand he +instantly perceived, and as instantly comprehended its meaning. She had +been deeply anxious, but was now seeking to conceal this from him. He +understood it all, and was touched by the fact. +</P> + +<P> +"I ought to have sent you word," said he, as he kissed her with more +than usual tenderness of manner. "It was wrong in me. But I've been +very hard put to it to take up my notes, and didn't succeed until near +the closing of bank hours. I loaned Ellis some money, which he was to +return to me to-day; but his failing to do so put me to a good deal of +inconvenience." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm sorry," was the sympathizing response. "But how came Mr. Ellis +to disappoint you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't exactly know. He hasn't been at his store to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Worse, I'm afraid." +</P> + +<P> +"How, worse?" +</P> + +<P> +"His habits have not been very good of late." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! how sad! His poor wife!" +</P> + +<P> +This was an almost involuntary utterance on the part of Mrs. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Her poor husband, rather say," was the reply. "The fact is, if Ellis +goes to ruin, it will be his wife's fault. She has no sympathy with +him, no affectionate consideration for him. A thoroughly selfish woman, +she merely regards the gratification of her own desires, and is ever +making home repulsive, instead of attractive." +</P> + +<P> +"You must be mistaken." +</P> + +<P> +"No. Ellis often complains to me of her conduct." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, John! I can scarcely credit such a thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless it is hard for <I>you</I> to imagine any woman guilty of such +unwifelike conduct. Yet such is the case. Many a night has Ellis spent +at a tavern, which, but for Cara's unamiable temper, would have been +spent at home." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! she will have her reward," sighed Mrs. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"And you yours," was the involuntary but silent ejaculation of +Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +Ere further remark was made, the dinner-bell rang, and Mr. Wilkinson +and his wife repaired to the dining-room. +</P> + +<P> +It was not possible for the former to endure the pressure that was on +his feelings without letting the fact of its existence betray itself in +his countenance; and Mary, whose eyes were scarcely a moment from her +husband's face, soon saw that his mind was ill at ease. +</P> + +<P> +"How much did Mr. Ellis borrow of you?" she asked, soon after they had +taken their places at the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Two hundred dollars," was replied. +</P> + +<P> +"No more?" The mind of Mrs. Wilkinson was evidently relieved, at +knowing the smallness of the sum. +</P> + +<P> +"True, it isn't much," said Wilkinson. "But even a small sum is of +great importance when we have a good deal to pay, and just lack that +amount, after gathering in all our available resources. And that was +just my position to-day." "Why didn't you call on me?" Mary smiled, +with evident meaning as she said this. +</P> + +<P> +"On you!" Wilkinson looked at her with a slight air of surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, on me. I think I could have made you up that sum." +</P> + +<P> +"You!" +</P> + +<P> +A bright gleam went over the face of Mrs. Wilkinson, as she saw the +surprise of her husband. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, me. Why not? You have always been liberal in your supplies of +money, and it is by no means wonderful that I should have saved a +little. The fact is, John, I've never spent my entire income; I always +made it a point of conscience to keep as far below it as possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Mary!" Beyond this simple ejaculation, Wilkinson could not go, but +sat, with his eyes fixed wonderingly on the face of his wife. +</P> + +<P> +"It is true, dear," she answered, in her loving gentle way. "I haven't +counted up lately; but, if I do not err, I have twice the sum you +needed to-day; and, what is more, the whole is at your service. So +don't let this matter of Ellis's failure to return you the sum +borrowed, trouble you in the least. If it never comes back to you, the +loss will be made up in another quarter." +</P> + +<P> +It was some moments before Wilkinson could make any answer. At last, +dropping the knife and fork which he held in his hands, he started from +his place, and coming round to where his wife sat, drew his arms around +her, and as he pressed his lips to hers, said with an unsteady voice— +</P> + +<P> +"God bless you, Mary! You are an angel!" +</P> + +<P> +Had she not her reward in that happy moment? Who will say nay? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<P> +ON the morning that followed the fruitless attempt of Henry Ellis to +make his wife comprehend the necessity that existed for an immediate +reduction in their household expenditures, he did not get up until +nearly ten o'clock. For at least an hour before rising, he was awake, +suffering in both body and mind; for the night's debauch had left him, +as was usually the case, with a most violent headache. During all the +time he heard, at intervals, the voice of Cara in the adjoining, +talking to or scolding at the children; but not once during the time +did she come into the chamber where he lay. He felt it as a total want +of interest or affection on her part. He had done wrong; he felt that; +yet, at the same time, he also felt that Cara had her share of the +blame to bear. If she had only manifested some feeling for him, some +interest in him, he would have been softened; but, as she did not, by +keeping entirely away, show that she thought or cared for him, the pure +waters of right feeling, that were gushing up in his mind, were touched +with the gall of bitterness. +</P> + +<P> +Rising at length, Ellis began dressing himself, purposely making +sufficient noise to reach the ears of his wife. But she did not make +her appearance. +</P> + +<P> +Two doors led from the chamber in which he was. One communicated with +the adjoining room, used as a nursery, and the other with the passage. +After Ellis had dressed and shaved himself, he was, for a short time, +undecided whether to enter the nursery, in which were his wife and +children, or to pass through the other door, and leave the house +without seeing them. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall only get my feelings hurt," said he, as he stood debating the +point. "It's a poor compensation for trouble and the lack of domestic +harmony, to get drunk, I know; and I ought to be, and am, ashamed of my +own folly. Oh dear! what is to become of me? Why will not Cara see the +evil consequences of the way she acts upon her husband? If I go to +destruction, and the chances are against me, the sin will mainly rest +upon her. Yet why should I say this? Am I not man enough to keep sober? +Yes"—thus he went on talking to himself—"but if she will not act in +some sort of unity with me, I shall be ruined in my business. It will +never do to maintain our present expensive mode of living; and she will +never hear to a change." +</P> + +<P> +Just at this moment an angry exclamation from the lips of Mrs. Ellis +came sharply on the ears of her husband, followed by the whipping and +crying of one of the children, who had, as far as Ellis could gather, +from what was said, overset his mother's work-basket. +</P> + +<P> +"No use for me to go in there," muttered the unhappy man. "I shall only +increase the storm; and I've had storms enough!" +</P> + +<P> +So he went from the chamber by way of the passage, descended to the +entry below, and, taking up his hat, left the house. +</P> + +<P> +Now, of all things in the world, in the peculiar state of body and mind +in which Ellis then was, did he want a good strong cup of coffee at his +own table, and a kind, forbearing, loving wife to set it before him. +These would have given to his body and to his mind just what both +needed, for the trials and temptations of the day; and they would have +saved him, at least for the day, perhaps for life; for the pivot upon +which the whole of a man's future destiny turns is often small, and +scarcely noticed. +</P> + +<P> +As Ellis stepped from his door, and received the fresh air upon his +face and in his lungs, he was instantly conscious of a want in his +system, and a craving for something to supply that want. Having taken +no breakfast, the feeling was not to be wondered at. Ellis understood +its meaning, in part, and took the nearest way to an eating-house where +he ordered something to eat. For him, it was the most natural thing in +the world, under the circumstances, to call for something at the bar +while his breakfast was preparing. He felt better after taking a glass +of brandy. +</P> + +<P> +Ellis had finished his breakfast, and was standing at the bar with a +second glass of liquor in his hand, when he was accosted in a familiar +manner by the same individual who had lured Wilkinson to the +gaming-table. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my boy! how are you?" said Carlton, grasping the hand of Ellis and +shaking it heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to see you, 'pon my word! Where do you keep yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"You'll generally find me at my store during business hours," replied +Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you call business hours?" was asked by Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +"From eight or nine in the morning until six or seven in the evening." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—yes—yes! With you as with every other 'business' man I know. +Business every thing—living nothing. You'll get rich, I suppose; but, +by the time your sixty or a hundred thousand dollars are safely +invested in real estate or good securities, health will have departed, +never to return." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so bad as that, I presume," returned Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"How can it be otherwise? The human body is not made of iron and steel; +and, if it were, it would never stand the usage it receives from some +men, you among the number. For what are the pure air and bright +sunshine made? To be enjoyed only by the birds and beasts? Man is +surely entitled to his share; and if he neglects to take it, he does so +to his own injury. You don't look well. In fact, I never saw you look +worse; and I noticed, when I took your hand, that it was hot. Now, my +good fellow! this is little better than suicide on your part; and if I +do not mistake, you are too good a Christian to be guilty of +self-murder. Why don't you ride out and take the air? You ought to do +this daily." +</P> + +<P> +"Too expensive a pleasure for me," said Ellis. "In the first place, +with me time is money, and, in the second place, I have no golden +mint-drops to exchange for fast horses." +</P> + +<P> +"I have a fine animal at your service," replied the tempter. "Happy to +let you use him at any time." +</P> + +<P> +"Much obliged for the offer; and when I can run away from business for +a few hours, will avail myself of it." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you say to a ride this morning? I'm going a few miles over +into Jersey, and should like your company above all things." +</P> + +<P> +"I hardly think I can leave the store to-day," replied Ellis. "Let me +see: have I any thing in the way of a note to take up? I believe not." +</P> + +<P> +"You say yes, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that. It doesn't just seem right." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense! It is wonderful how this business atmosphere does affect a +man's perceptions! He can see nothing but the dollar. Every thing is +brought down to a money valuation." +</P> + +<P> +We will not trace the argument further. Enough that the tempter was +successful, and that Ellis, instead of going to his store, rode out +with Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +He was not, of course, home at his usual dinner-hour. It was between +three and four o'clock when he appeared at his place of business, the +worse for his absence, in almost every sense of the word. He had been +drinking, until he was half stupid, and was a loser at the gaming-table +of nearly six hundred dollars. A feeble effort was made by him to go +into an examination of the business of the day; but he found it +impossible to fix his mind thereon, and so gave up the attempt. He +remained at his store until ready to close up for the day, and then +turned his steps homeward. +</P> + +<P> +By this time he was a good deal sobered, and sadder for his sobriety; +for, as his mind became clearer, he remembered, with more vividness, +the events of the day, and particularly the fact of having lost several +hundred dollars to his pretended friend, Carlton. +</P> + +<P> +"Whither am I going? Where is this to end?" was his shuddering +ejaculation, as the imminent peril of his position most vividly +presented itself. +</P> + +<P> +How hopelessly he wended his reluctant way homeward! There was nothing +to lean upon there. No strength of ever-enduring love, to be, as it +were, a second self to him in his weakness. No outstretched arm to drag +him, with something of super-human power, out of the miry pit into +which he had fallen; but, instead, an indignant hand to thrust him +farther in. +</P> + +<P> +"God help me!" he sighed, in the very bitterness of a hopeless spirit; +"for there is no aid in man." +</P> + +<P> +Ah! if, in his weakness, he had only leaned, in true dependence, on Him +he thus asked to help him; if he had but resisted the motions of evil +in himself, as sins against his Maker, and resisted them in a +determined spirit, he need not have fallen; strength would, assuredly, +have been given. +</P> + +<P> +The nearer Ellis drew to his home, the more unhappy he felt at the +thought of meeting his wife. After having left the house without seeing +her in the morning, and then remaining from home all day, he had no +hope of a kind reception. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no use!" he muttered to himself, stopping suddenly, when within a +square of his house. "I can't meet Cara; she will look coldly at me, or +frown, or speak cutting words; and I'm in no state of mind to bear any +thing patiently just now. I've done wrong, I know—very wrong; but I +don't want it thrown into my face. Oh, dear! I am beset within and +without, behind and before and there is little hope for me." +</P> + +<P> +Overcoming this state of indecision, Ellis forced himself to go home. +On entering the presence of his wife, he made a strong effort to +compose himself, and, when he met Cara, he spoke to her in a cheerful +tone of voice. How great an effort it cost him to do this, considering +all the circumstances by which he was surrounded, the reader may easily +imagine. And what was his reception? +</P> + +<P> +"Found your way home at last!" +</P> + +<P> +These were the words with which Cara received her husband; and they +were spoken in a sharp, deriding tone of voice. The day's doubt, +suspense, and suffering, had not quieted the evil spirit in her heart. +She was angry with her husband, and could not restrain its expression. +</P> + +<P> +A bitter retort trembled on the tongue of Ellis; but he checked its +utterance, and, turning from his wife, took one of his children in his +arms. The sphere of innocence that surrounded the spirit of that child +penetrated his heart, and touched his feelings with an emotion of +tenderness. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, wretched man that I am!" he sighed, in the bitterness of a +repentant and self-upbraiding spirit. "So much dependent on me, and yet +as weak as a reed swaying in the wind." +</P> + +<P> +How much that weak, tempted, suffering man, just trembling on the brink +of destruction, needed a true-hearted, forbearing, long-suffering wife! +Such a one might—yes, would—have saved him. By the strong cords of +love she would have held him to her side. +</P> + +<P> +Several times Ellis tried to interest Cara in conversation; but to +every remark she replied only in monosyllables. In fact she was angry +with him, and, not feeling kindly, she would not speak kindly. All day +she had suffered deeply on his account. A thousand fears had harassed +her mind. She had even repented of her unkindness towards him, and +resolved to be more forbearing in the future. For more than an hour she +kept the table waiting at dinner time, and was so troubled at his +absence, that she felt no inclination to touch food. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I am not patient enough with him," she sighed, as better +feelings warmed in her heart. "I was always a little irritable. But I +will try to do better. If he were not so close about money, I could be +more patient." +</P> + +<P> +While such thoughts were passing through the mind of Mrs. Ellis, a +particular friend, named Mrs. Claxton, called to see her. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, bless me, Cara! what's the matter?" exclaimed this lady, as she +took the hand of Mrs. Ellis. "You look dreadful. Haven't been sick, I +hope?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, not sick in body," was replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Sick in mind. The worst kind of sickness. No serious trouble, I hope?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a free, off-hand, yet insinuating manner about Mrs. Claxton, +that, while it won the confidence of a certain class of minds, repulsed +others. Mrs. Ellis, who had no great skill in reading character, +belonged to the former class; and Mrs. Claxton was, therefore as just +said, a particular friend, and in a certain sense a confidante. +</P> + +<P> +"The old trouble," replied Mrs. Ellis to the closing question of her +friend. +</P> + +<P> +"With your husband?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. He pinches me in money matters so closely, and grumbles so +eternally at what he calls my extravagance, that I'm out of all +patience. Last evening, just as I was about telling him that he must +give me new parlour carpets, he, divining, I verily believe, my +thoughts, cut off every thing, by saying, in a voice as solemn as the +grave—'Cara, I would like to have a little plain talk with you about +my affairs.' I flared right up. I couldn't have helped it, if I'd died +for it the next minute." +</P> + +<P> +"Well; what then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! the old story. Of course he got angry, and went off like a streak +of lightning. I cried half the evening, and then went to bed. I don't +know how late it was when he came home. This morning, when I got up, he +was sleeping as heavy as a log. It was near ten o'clock when I heard +him moving about in our chamber, but I did not go in. He had got +himself into a huff, and I was determined to let him get himself out of +it. Just as I supposed he would come into the nursery, where I was +sitting with the children, awaiting his lordship's pleasure to appear +for breakfast, he opens the door into the passage, and walks himself +off." +</P> + +<P> +"Without his breakfast?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed. And I've seen nothing of him since." +</P> + +<P> +"That's bad," said the friend. "A little tiff now and then is all well +enough in its place. But this is too serious." +</P> + +<P> +"So I feel it. Yet what am I to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"You will have to manage better than this." +</P> + +<P> +"Manage?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I never have scenes of this kind with my husband." +</P> + +<P> +"He's not so close with you as Henry is with me. He isn't so mean, if I +must speak plainly, in money matters." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't know about that. He isn't perfect by many degrees. One +of his faults, from the beginning, has been a disposition to dole out +my allowance of money with a very sparing hand. I bore this for some +years, but it fretted me; and was the source of occasional +misunderstandings that were very unpleasant." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Claxton paused. +</P> + +<P> +"Well; what remedy did you apply?" asked Mrs. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"A very simple one. I took what he was pleased to give me, and if it +didn't hold out, I bought what I needed, and had the bills sent in to +the store." +</P> + +<P> +"Capital!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "Just what I have been thinking of. +And it worked well?" +</P> + +<P> +"To a charm." +</P> + +<P> +"What did Mr. Claxton say when the bills came in?" +</P> + +<P> +"He looked grave, and said I would ruin him; but, of course, paid them." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that the way you got your new carpets?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And your new blinds?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I declare! But doesn't Mr. Claxton diminish your allowances of +money?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but his credit is as good as his money. I never pay for dry +goods, shoes, or groceries. The bills are all sent in to him." +</P> + +<P> +"And he never grumbles?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't just say that. It isn't a week since he assured me, with the +most solemn face in the world, that if I didn't manage to keep the +family on less than I did, he would certainly be ruined in his +business." +</P> + +<P> +"The old story." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I've heard it so often, that it goes in at one ear and out at the +other." +</P> + +<P> +"So have I. But I like your plan amazingly, and mean to adopt it. In +fact, something of the kind was running through my head yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Do so; and you will save yourself a world of petty troubles. I find +that it works just right." +</P> + +<P> +This advice of her friend Mrs. Ellis pondered all the afternoon, and, +after viewing the matter on all sides, deliberately concluded to act in +like manner. Yet, for all this, she could not conquer a certain angry +feeling that rankled towards her husband, and, in spite of sundry half +formed resolutions to meet him, when he returned, in a kind manner, her +reception of him was such as the reader has seen. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<P> +THE turning-point with Ellis had nearly come. It required, +comparatively, little beyond the weight of a feather to give +preponderance to the scale of evil influences. Cara's reception, as +shown in the last chapter, was no worse than he had anticipated, yet it +hurt him none the less; for unkind words from her were always felt as +blows, and coldness as the pressure upon his heart of an icy hand. In +the love of his children, who were very fond of him, he sought a kind +of refuge. Henry, his oldest child, was a bright, intelligent boy +between eight and nine years of age; and Kate, between six and seven, +was a sweet-tempered, affectionate little girl, who scarcely ever left +her father's side when he was in the house. +</P> + +<P> +At the tea-table, only the children's voices were heard: they seemed +not to perceive the coldness that separated their parents. After +supper, Mr. Ellis went up into the nursery with Henry and Kate, and was +chatting pleasantly with them, when their mother, who had remained +behind to give some directions to a servant, came into the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" said she, in rather a sharp voice, as she entered, "it is time +you were in bed." +</P> + +<P> +"Papa is telling us a story," returned Kate, in a pleading tone: "just +let us wait until he is done." +</P> + +<P> +"I've got no time to wait for stories. Come!" said the mother, +imperatively. +</P> + +<P> +"Papa will soon be done," spoke up Henry. +</P> + +<P> +"It's early yet, mother," said Ellis; "let them sit up a little while. +I'm away all day, and don't see much of them." +</P> + +<P> +"I want them to go to bed now," was the emphatic answer. "It's their +bed-time, and I wish them out of the way, so that I can go to work. If +you'd had their noise and confusion about you all day, as I have, you'd +be glad to see them in their beds." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll have to go," said Mr. Ellis, in a tone of disappointment that +he could not conceal. "But get up early to-morrow morning, and I will +tell you the rest of the story. Don't cry, dear!" And Mr. Ellis kissed +tenderly his little girl, in whose eyes the tears were already starting. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, and with sad faces, the children turned to obey their mother, +who, not for a moment relenting, spoke to them sharply for their lack +of prompt obedience. They went crying up-stairs, and she scolding. +</P> + +<P> +The moment the door of the nursery closed upon the retiring forms of +the children, Mr. Ellis started to his feet with an impatient +exclamation, and commenced pacing the room with rapid steps. +</P> + +<P> +"Temptations without and storms within," said he, bitterly. "Oh, that I +had the refuge of a quiet home, and the sustaining heart and wise +counsels of a loving wife!" +</P> + +<P> +By the time Mrs. Ellis had undressed the children and got them snugly +in bed, her excited feelings were, in a measure, calmed; and from +calmer feelings flowed the natural result—clearer thoughts. Then came +the conviction of having done wrong, and regret for a hasty and unkind +act. +</P> + +<P> +"He sees but little of them, it is true," she murmured, "and I might +have let them remain up a little while longer, I'm too thoughtless, +sometimes; but I get so tired of their noise and confusion, which is +kept up all day long." +</P> + +<P> +And then she sighed. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, and with gentler feelings, Mrs. Ellis went down-stairs. Better +thoughts were in her mind, and she was inwardly resolving to act +towards her husband in a different spirit from that just manifested. On +entering the nursery, where she had left him, she was not a little +disappointed to find that he was not there. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't possible that he has gone out!" was her instant mental +ejaculation; and she passed quickly into the adjoining chamber to see +if he were there. It was empty. +</P> + +<P> +For some time Mrs. Ellis stood in deep abstraction of mind; then, as a +sigh heaved her bosom, she moved from the chamber and went down-stairs. +A glance at the hat-stand confirmed her fears; her husband had left the +house. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, me!" she sighed. "It is hard to know how to get along with him. If +every thing isn't just to suit his fancy, off he goes. I might humour +him more than I do, but it isn't in me to humour any one. And for a man +to want to be humoured! Oh, dear! oh, dear! this is a wretched way to +live; it will kill me in the end. These men expect their own way in +every thing, and if they don't get it, then there is trouble. I'm not +fit to be Henry's wife. He ought to have married a woman with less +independence of spirit; one who would have been the mere creature of +his whims and fancies." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ellis, with a troubled heart, went up to the room where so many of +her lonely evening hours were spent. Taking her work-basket, she tried +to sew; but her thoughts troubled her so, that she finally sought +refuge therefrom in the pages of an exciting romance. +</P> + +<P> +The realizing power of imagination in Ellis was very strong. While he +paced the floor after his wife and children had left the room, there +came to him such a vivid picture of the coldness and reserve that must +mark the hours of that evening, if they were passed with Cara, that he +turned from it with a sickening sense of pain. Under the impulse of +that feeling he left the house, but with no purpose as to where he was +going. +</P> + +<P> +For as long, perhaps, as half an hour, Ellis walked the street, his +mind, during most of the time, pondering the events of the day. His +absence from business was so much lost, and would throw double burdens +on the morrow, for, besides the sum of two hundred dollars to be +returned to Wilkinson, he had a hundred to make up for another friend +who had accommodated him. But where was the money to come from? In the +matter of borrowing, Ellis had never done much, and his resources in +that line were small. His losses at the gaming-table added so much to +the weight of discouragement under which he suffered! +</P> + +<P> +"You play well." Frequently had the artful tempter, Carlton, lured his +victim on by this and other similar expressions, during the time he had +him in his power; and thus flattered, Ellis continued at cards until +repeated losses had so far sobered him as to give sufficient mental +resolution to enable him to stop. +</P> + +<P> +Now, these expressions returned to his mind, and their effect upon him +was manifested in the thought,— +</P> + +<P> +"If I hadn't been drinking, he would have found in me a different +antagonist altogether." +</P> + +<P> +It was an easy transition from this state of mind to another. It was +almost natural for the wish to try his luck again at cards to be +formed; particularly as he was in great need of money, and saw no +legitimate means of getting the needed supply. +</P> + +<P> +The frequency with which Ellis had spent his evenings abroad made him +acquainted with many phases of city life hidden from ordinary +observers. Idle curiosity had more than once led him to visit certain +gambling-houses on a mere tour of observation; and, during these +visits, he had each time been tempted to try a game or two, in which +cases little had been lost or won. The motive for winning did not then +exist in tempting strength; and, besides, Ellis was naturally a +cautious man. Now, however, the motive did exist. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I do play well," said he, mentally answering the remembered +compliment of Carlton, "and but for your stealing away my brains with +liquor, you would have found me a different kind of antagonist." +</P> + +<P> +Ellis had fifty dollars in his pocket. This sum was the amount of the +day's sales of goods in his store. Instead of leaving the money in his +fire-closet, he had taken it with him, a sort of dim idea being in his +mind that, possibly, it might be wanted for some such purpose as now +contemplated. So he was all prepared for a trial of his skill; and the +trial was made. To one of the haunts of iniquity before visited in mere +reprehensible curiosity, he now repaired with the deliberate purpose of +winning money to make up for losses already sustained, and to provide +for the next day's payments. He went in with fifty dollars in his +pocket-book; at twelve o'clock he left the place perfectly sober, and +the winner of three hundred dollars. Though often urged to drink, he +had, knowing his weakness, firmly declined in every instance. +</P> + +<P> +Cara, he found, as usual on returning home late at night, asleep. He +sought his pillow without disturbing her, and lay for a long time with +his thoughts busy among golden fancies. In a few hours he had won three +hundred dollars, and that from a player of no common skill. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, Carlton said true. I play well." Over and over did Ellis +repeat this, as he lay with his mind too much excited for sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Wearied nature yielded at last. His dreams repeated the incidents of +the evening, and reconstructed them into new and varied forms. When he +awoke, at day-dawn, from his restless slumber, it took but a short time +for his thoughts to arrange themselves into a purpose, and that purpose +was to seek out Carlton as the first business of the day, and win back +the evidence of debt that he had against him. +</P> + +<P> +The meeting of Ellis and his wife at the breakfast-table had less of +coldness and reserve in it than their meeting at tea-time. No reference +was made to the previous evening, nor to the fact of his having +remained out to a late hour. +</P> + +<P> +It was the intention of Ellis, on leaving his house after breakfast, to +repair to his store and make some preliminary arrangements for the day +before hunting up Carlton; but on his way thither, his appetite +constrained him to enter a certain drinking-house just for a single +glass of brandy to give his nerves their proper tension. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! how are you, my boy?" exclaimed Carlton, who was there before him, +advancing as he spoke, and offering his hand in his usual frank way. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to meet you!" returned Ellis. "Just the man I wished to see. Take +a drink?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care if I do." +</P> + +<P> +And the two men moved up to the bar. When they turned away, Carlton +drew his arm familiarly within that of Ellis, and bending close to his +ear, said—"You wish to take up your due-bills, I presume? +</P> + +<P> +"You guess my wishes precisely," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I shall be pleased to have you cancel them. Are you prepared to +do it this morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am—in the way they were created." +</P> + +<P> +A gleam of satisfaction lit up the gambler's face, which was partly +turned from Ellis; but he shrugged his shoulders, and said, in an +altered voice—"I'm most afraid to try you again." +</P> + +<P> +"We're pretty well matched, I know," said the victim. "If you decline, +of course the matter ends." +</P> + +<P> +"I never like to be bantered," returned Carlton. "If a man were to dare +me to jump from the housetop, it would be as much as I could do to +restrain myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I've got three hundred in my pocket," said Ellis, "and I'm prepared to +see the last dollar of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Good stuff in you, my boy!" and Carlton laid his hand upon his +shoulder in a familiar way. "It would hardly be fair not to give you a +chance to get back where you were. So here's for you, win or lose, sink +or swim." +</P> + +<P> +And the two men left the tavern together. We need not follow them, nor +describe the contest that ensued. The result has already been +anticipated by the reader. A few hours sufficed to strip Ellis of his +three hundred dollars, and increase his debts to the gambler nearly +double the former amount. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<P> +MRS. ELLIS knew, by the appearance of her husband, that he had not been +drinking on the night previous, late as he had remained away. This took +a weight from her feelings, and relieved her mind from self-upbraidings +that would have haunted her all the day. After breakfast her mind began +to ponder what Mrs. Claxton had said on the day previous, and the more +she thought of her advice and example, the more she felt inclined to +adopt a similar course of action. On new Brussels carpets she had, long +ago, set her heart, and already worried her husband about them past +endurance. To obtain his consent to the purchase, she felt to be +hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +"I must get them in this way, or not at all. So much is clear." Thus +she communed with herself. "He's able enough to pay the bill; if I had +any doubts of that, the matter would be settled; but I have none." +</P> + +<P> +With the prospect of getting the long coveted carpets, came an +increased desire for their possession. +</P> + +<P> +In imagination Mrs. Ellis saw them already on the floor. For some hours +there was a struggle in her mind. Then the tempter triumphed. She +dressed herself, and went out for the purpose of making a selection. +From this moment she did not hesitate. Calling at a well-known carpet +warehouse, she made her selection, and directed the bill, after the +carpet was made and put down, to be sent in to her husband. The price +of the carpet she chose was two dollars and a quarter a yard; and the +whole bill, including that of the upholsterer, would reach a hundred +and sixty dollars. +</P> + +<P> +When Mrs. Ellis returned home, after having consummated her purpose, +the thought of her beautiful carpet gave her far less pleasure than she +had anticipated. In every wrong act lies its own punishment. Uneasiness +of mind follows as a sure consequence. From the idea of her beautiful +parlours, her mind would constantly turn to her husband. +</P> + +<P> +"What <I>will</I> he say?" +</P> + +<P> +Ah! if she could only have answered that question satisfactorily! +</P> + +<P> +"I will be so good, I will disarm him with kindness. I will humour him +in every thing. I will not give him a chance to be angry." +</P> + +<P> +For a while this idea pleased the mind of Mrs. Ellis. But it only +brought a temporary respite to the uneasiness produced by her wrong act. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell him just what I have done," said she to herself, as the +dinner hour approached, and Cara began to look for her husband's +return. "He might as well know it now, as in a week; and, besides, it +will give him time to prepare for the bill. Yes, that is what I will +do." +</P> + +<P> +Still, her mind felt troubled. The act was done, and no way of retreat +remained open. The consequences must be met. +</P> + +<P> +The hour for Mr. Ellis to return home at length arrived, and his wife +waited his coming with a feeling of troubled suspense such as she had +rarely, if ever, before experienced. Smiles, ready to be forced to her +countenance, were wreathing themselves in her imagination. She meant to +be "<I>so</I> good," so loving, so considerate. A particular dish of which +he was so fond had been ordered,—it was a month since it had graced +their table. +</P> + +<P> +But time moved on. It was thirty minutes past the dinner hour, and he +was still away. At last Mrs. Ellis gave him up. A full hour had +elapsed, and there was little probability of his return before the +close of business for the day. So she sat down with her children to eat +the meal which long delay had spoiled, and for which she had now but +little appetite. +</P> + +<P> +Wearily passed the afternoon, and, as the usual time for Ellis's +appearance drew near, his wife began to look for his coming with +feelings of unusual concern. Not concern for him, but for herself. She +had pretty well made up her mind to inform him of what she had done, +but shrank from the scene which she had every reason to believe would +follow. +</P> + +<P> +The twilight had just begun to fall, and Mrs. Ellis, with her babe in +her arms, was sitting in one of the parlours, waiting for and thinking +of her husband, when she heard his key in the door. He came in, and +moving along the entry with a quicker step than usual, went up-stairs. +Supposing that, not finding her above, he would come down to the +parlours, Mrs. Ellis waited nearly five minutes. Then she followed him +up-stairs. Not finding him in the nursery, she passed into their +chamber. Here she found him, lying across the bed, on which he had, +evidently, thrown himself under some strong excitement, or abandonment, +of feeling, for his head was not upon a pillow, and he lay perfectly +motionless, as if unconscious of her presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry!" She called his name, but he made no answer, nor gave even a +sign. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry! Are you sick?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a slight movement of his body, but no reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry! Henry!" Mrs. Ellis spoke in tones of anxiety, as she laid her +hand upon him. "Speak! What is the matter? Are you sick?" +</P> + +<P> +A long deep sigh was the only answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you speak, Henry?" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "You frighten me +dreadfully." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't trouble me just now, if you please," said the wretched man, in a +low, half-whispering voice. +</P> + +<P> +"But what ails you, Henry? Are you sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"How? Where? What can I do for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing!" was faintly murmured. +</P> + +<P> +By this time, Cara began to feel really alarmed. Leaving the room +hurriedly, she gave the babe she held in her arms to one of her +domestics, and then returned. Bending, now, over her husband, she took +one of his hands, and clasping it tightly, said, in a voice of earnest +affection that went to the heart of Ellis with electric quickness— +</P> + +<P> +"Do, Henry, say what ails you! Can't I get something for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll feel better in a little while," whispered Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me send for the doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no! no! I'm not so sick as that," was answered. "I only feel a +little faint, not having taken any dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you go without a meal? It is not right to do so. I waited for +you so long, and was so disappointed that you did not come." +</P> + +<P> +There was more of tenderness and wife-like interest in Cara's words and +manner than had been manifested for a long time, and the feelings of +Ellis were touched thereby. Partly raising himself on his elbow, he +replied— +</P> + +<P> +"I know it isn't right; but I was so much engaged!" +</P> + +<P> +The twilight pervading the room was too feeble to give Mrs. Ellis a +distinct view of her husband's countenance. Its true expression, +therefore, was veiled. +</P> + +<P> +"You feel better now, do you?" she inquired tenderly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear," he answered, slightly pressing the hand she had laid in +his. +</P> + +<P> +"I will order tea on the table immediately." +</P> + +<P> +And Mrs. Ellis left the room. When she returned, he had risen from the +bed, and was sitting in a large chair near one of the windows. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you better, dear?" tenderly inquired Mrs. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a good deal better," was answered. And the words were truly +spoken; for this unlooked-for, kind, even tender reception, had wrought +an almost instantaneous change. He had come home with a feeling of +despair tugging at his heart. Nothing appeared before him but ruin. Now +the light of hope, feeble though were the rays, came glimmering across +the darkness of his spirit. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad to hear it!" was the warm response of Cara. "Oh! it is so +wrong for you to neglect your meals. You confine yourself too closely +to business. I wanted you to come home to-day particularly, for I had +prepared for you, just in the way you like it, such a nice dish of +maccaroni." +</P> + +<P> +"It was very thoughtful in you, dear. I wish I had been at home to +enjoy it with you." +</P> + +<P> +Tea being announced, Mrs. Ellis arose and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Come; supper is on the table. You must break your long fast." +</P> + +<P> +"First let me wash my hands and face," returned Ellis, who wished to +gain time, as well as use all the means, to restore his countenance to +a better expression than it wore, ere meeting Cara under the glare of +strong lamp light. +</P> + +<P> +A basin was filled for him by his wife, and, after washing his hands +and face, he left the chamber with her, and went to the dining-room. +Here Cara got a distinct view of her husband's countenance. Many lines +of the passion and suffering written there during that, to him, +ever-to-be-remembered day, were still visible, and, as Cara read them +without comprehending their import, a vague fear came hovering over her +heart. Instantly her thoughts turned to what she had been doing, and +most sincerely did she repent of the act. +</P> + +<P> +"I will confess it to him, this very night," such was her mental +resolution,—"and promise, hereafter never to do aught against his +wishes." +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding Ellis had taken no dinner, he had little appetite for +his evening meal; and the concern of his wife was increased on +observing that he merely tasted his food and sipped his tea. +</P> + +<P> +The more than ordinary trouble evinced, as well in the whole manner of +Ellis as in the expression of his face and in the tones of his voice, +oppressed the heart of Cara. She felt that something more than usual +must have occurred to disturb him. Could it be possible that any thing +was wrong in his business? The thought caused a low thrill to tremble +along her nerves. He had frequently spoken of his affairs as not very +prosperous; was always, in fact, making a "sort of a poor mouth." But +all this she had understood as meant for effect—as a cover for his +opposition to her wish to spend. What if it were all as he had +represented? +</P> + +<P> +Such thoughts could not but sober the mind of Mrs. Ellis, and caused +her manner towards her husband to assume an air of tenderness and +concern to which it had too long been a stranger. How quickly was this +felt by Ellis! How gratefully did his heart respond to his wife's +gentler touches on its tensely strung chords! +</P> + +<P> +That evening Henry Ellis spent at home. Not much conversation passed +between him and his wife; for the mind of each was too heavily burdened +with thoughts of its own to leave room for an interchange of ideas. But +the manner of Cara towards her husband was subdued, and even tender; +and he felt it as the grateful earth feels the strength-giving +impression of the gentle rain. Leaving the past, to the future both +their thoughts turned; and both strengthened themselves in good +resolutions. +</P> + +<P> +Cara resolved to be a better wife—to be more considerate and more +yielding towards her husband. And Ellis resolved to abandon, at every +sacrifice the vicious habits he had indulged,—habits which, within a +day or two, had led him aside from the path of safety, and conducted +him to the brink of a precipice, from which he now started back with a +thrilling sense of fear. +</P> + +<P> +More than twenty times during that evening was Cara on the eve of +telling her husband about the carpet. But she shrank from the +confession. +</P> + +<P> +"In the morning I will do it," was her final conclusion; thus putting +off the evil hour. But morning found her no better prepared for the +task. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<P> +ALL through the night, the mind of Ellis was haunted with troubled +dreams; but, on waking, he felt calm, and good purposes were in his +heart. The manner of Cara still being tender and considerate, he went +forth feeling the strength of her love, and resolving, for her sake, +and the sake of his children, to free himself from his present +entanglements, cost what it would. +</P> + +<P> +Seven hundred dollars was the sum he had lost at the gaming-table and +for over five hundred of this, Carlton held his obligations, payable on +demand. Besides this, he owed on account of temporary loans, from +business friends, about an equal amount. Moreover, on that day, a note +of three hundred dollars fell due; and in the coming ten days, about a +thousand dollars had to be paid into bank. The aggregate of all these +obligations, to be met within two weeks, was two thousand three hundred +dollars. +</P> + +<P> +As Ellis looked at this formidable amount, and calculated his +resources, he felt, for a time, utterly discouraged. But a reaction +from this state of feeling came, and he set his mind vigorously to work +in devising means for the pressing emergency. +</P> + +<P> +"There is one thing certain," said he to himself, as he pondered the +matter. "Carlton will have to wait. So there are five hundred dollars +pushed ahead. I received no value in the case, and shall not hurry +myself to make payment." +</P> + +<P> +Even while Ellis thus spoke, a man called and presented the due-bills +he had given to the gambler. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't take these up now," was the prompt reply. +</P> + +<P> +"My directions are to collect them forthwith," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Carlton will have to wait my convenience." Ellis spoke with +considerable irritation of manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I say so to him?" was asked, in a tone that involved a warning +of consequences. +</P> + +<P> +"You can say to him what you please," answered Ellis, sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! very well!" +</P> + +<P> +The man turned away, and walked towards the door. He paused, however, +after going a short distance; stood, as if reflecting, for some +moments, and, then came back. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better think over this a little;" said he, in a conciliatory +voice. "The debt is, I need not remind you, one of <I>honour</I>; and it is +neither wise nor safe for a man of business to let such a debt be +handed over for legal collection. You understand, I presume?" +</P> + +<P> +The suggestion caused Ellis to start, involuntarily. He saw, at a +glance, the dangerous position in which he stood. Only by retaining a +fair credit would it be possible for him to surmount his present +difficulties; and his credit would be instantly blasted if a suit were +brought against him by a man he had now good reasons to believe was +known in the community as a gambler. +</P> + +<P> +"You understand me?" repeated the collector, in a tone of marked +significance. +</P> + +<P> +Ellis tried to regain his self-possession, and affect indifference. But +his feelings were poorly disguised. +</P> + +<P> +"Just say to Mr. Carlton," he replied, "that it is not my purpose to +give him any trouble about this matter. I will take up the due-bills. +But I have some heavy payments to make, and cannot do it just now." +</P> + +<P> +"When will it be done?" +</P> + +<P> +"That I am unable, just now, to say." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you give me a part of the money today?" +</P> + +<P> +Ellis shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I have notes in bank, and they must take the precedence of all other +payments." +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have five hundred dollars to pay to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +The man's countenance began to lower. +</P> + +<P> +"Just go to Mr. Carlton, if you please, and tell him what I say. He's a +man of common sense;—he will listen to reason." +</P> + +<P> +"My orders to collect were imperative," persisted the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him that you can't collect to-day. That I must and will have +time. There now! Go! I've something else to do besides arguing this +matter fruitlessly." +</P> + +<P> +The collector turned off with an angry, threatening look. A few minutes +after he was gone, and ere the mind of Ellis had recovered its balance, +a customer called in and paid a bill of a hundred dollars. This +awakened a feeling of confidence; and, in a hopeful spirit, Ellis went +forth to make arrangements for the balance of what was wanted for the +day. He found no difficulty in procuring the sum he needed, which was +four hundred dollars. After taking up his note, he called upon his +friend Wilkinson with the two hundred dollars he had failed to return +the day before, when, after apologizing for his neglect, he asked him +how he would be off in regard to money matters during the ensuing two +weeks. +</P> + +<P> +"Tight as a drum," was answered. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Ellis, showing more disappointment +than he wished to appear; "for I have made some calculation on you. I +have nearly two thousand dollars to take care of in the next ten days." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could help you. But, indeed, I can not," said Wilkinson, +looking serious. "I have been a good deal crowded of late, and shall +have my hands full, and more than full for some time to come. I never +knew money so tight as it is just now." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I neither. Well, I suppose we shall get through somehow. But I +must own that things look dark." +</P> + +<P> +"The darkest hour is just before the break of day," said Wilkinson, +with an earnestness that expressed his faith in what he said. His faith +was born of a resolution to separate himself from all dangerous +companionship and habits, and a deeply felt conviction of the +all-sustaining strength of his wife's self-denying affection. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—yes—so the proverb says, and so the poet sings," returned Ellis, +thoughtfully. "This seems to be my darkest hour. God grant it be only +the precursor of day!" +</P> + +<P> +"Amen!" The solemn response of Wilkinson was involuntary. +</P> + +<P> +"And so you can't help me?" said Ellis, recovering himself, and +speaking in a more cheerful voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I cannot." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, help will come, I suppose. There is nothing like trying. So good +morning. Time is too precious to waste just now." +</P> + +<P> +Between the store of Wilkinson and that of Ellis was a refectory, where +the latter often repaired for a lunch and something to drink about +eleven or twelve o'clock. It was now twelve, and, as Ellis had taken +only a light breakfast, and omitted his morning dram, he felt both +hungry and dry. Almost as a matter of course, he was about entering +this drinking-house, when, as he stepped on the threshold, his eyes +rested on the form of Carlton, standing by the bar with a glass in his +hand. Quickly he turned away, and kept on to his store, where he +quenched his thirst with a copious draught of ice-water. Not a drop of +liquor had passed his lips when he went home at dinner-time. And he was +as free from its influence when he joined his family at the close of +day. Cara received him with the kindness and consideration that were so +grateful to his feelings; and he spent the evening, safe from all +dangers, at home. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<P> +"WILL you have the money now, dear?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, as she arose, +with her husband, from the dinner-table, on the day she announced to +him the fact that she had saved a few hundred dollars, out of the +amount given her for the expenses of the family. +</P> + +<P> +"No, not to-day," replied Wilkinson. "In fact, Mary," he added, "I +don't feel just right about taking your money; and I think I must +manage to get along without it." +</P> + +<P> +"John!" Mrs. Wilkinson seemed hurt by her husband's words. +</P> + +<P> +"It is yours, Mary," was replied with much tenderness of manner. "You +have saved it for some particular purpose, and I shall not feel happy +to let it go back again and become absorbed in my business." +</P> + +<P> +"Have we divided interests, John?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, in a low, +serious voice, as she clung to her husband's arm, and looked steadily +into his face. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope not, Mary." +</P> + +<P> +"Am I not your wife?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes; and one of the best of wives." +</P> + +<P> +"And do I not love you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never for a single moment has a doubt of your love been whispered in +my heart." +</P> + +<P> +"Such a whisper would have wronged me. Yes, my husband, I do love you, +and as my very life." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson bent down and pressed his lips to hers. +</P> + +<P> +"Love ever seeks to bless its object," continued Mary, "and finds, in +doing so, its purest delight. Do you think I could use the money I +have, in any way that would bring me so much pleasure as by placing it +in your hands? Surely your heart says no." +</P> + +<P> +"I will take it, dear," said Wilkinson, after a slight pause. His voice +was unsteady as he spoke; "and you will have your reward," he added, in +tones filled with a prophecy for the future. +</P> + +<P> +"Never—never—never shall act of mine bring a shadow to that dear +face!" was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, as, with an impulse of +affection he could not restrain, he threw his arms around his wife and +hugged her to his bosom. +</P> + +<P> +"Bless you! Bless you, Mary!" came, almost sobbing, from his +overflowing heart. +</P> + +<P> +On his way to his store, that afternoon, Wilkinson felt the old desire +to stop and get his usual glass of brandy, and he was actually about to +enter a drinking-house, when the image of his wife came so distinctly +before his mind, that it seemed almost like a personal presence. He saw +a shadow upon her face, and the dimness of tears was in her tender blue +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"No!" said he resolutely, and with an audible expression, and quickly +passed on. +</P> + +<P> +How his bosom rose and fell, with a panting motion, as if from some +strong physical effort. +</P> + +<P> +"What an escape! It was the very path of danger!" such were his +thoughts. "To venture into that path again were the folly of a madman. +No, Mary, no! Your love shall draw me back with its strong attraction. +A new light seems breaking all around me. I see as I never saw before. +There is the broad way to destruction, and here winds the narrow but +pleasant path of safety. Ruined hopes, broken hearts, and sad wrecks of +humanity are scattered thickly along the first, but heavenly +confidence, joyful hearts, and man, with the light of celestial truth +upon his upturned face, is to be found in the other. Shall I hesitate +in which to walk? No!" +</P> + +<P> +With a quicker and more elastic step Wilkinson pursued his way, and +reached his store just as a customer from the country, who had been +waiting for him, was leaving. +</P> + +<P> +"Just in time," said the latter. "I've been waiting for you over half +an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I dined later to-day than usual," returned Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"I wanted to settle my bill, but there were two or three items which +your clerk could not explain. So I concluded to let the matter stand +over until I was in the city again, which will be in the course of a +few weeks. However, as you are here, we will arrange it now." +</P> + +<P> +So the two men walked back to the desk upon which lay Wilkinson's +account books. The customer's bill was referred to, and one or two +slight discrepancies reconciled. The amount of it was nearly two +hundred dollars. +</P> + +<P> +"You will take off five per cent. for cash, I presume?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," replied Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +The money was paid down. +</P> + +<P> +"So much for not stopping on the way to business for a glass of brandy." +</P> + +<P> +This thought was spontaneous in the mind of Wilkinson. After his +customer had left, he fell into a musing state, in which many thoughts +were presented, that, from the pain and self-condemnation they +occasioned, he tried to push from his mind. But he was not able to do +this. Much of the history of his daily life for the past few years +presented itself, and, in reviewing it, many things stood out in bold +relief, which were before regarded as of little moment. Not until now +did he clearly see the dangerous position in which he stood. +</P> + +<P> +"So near the brink of ruin!" he sighed. "I knew the path to be a +dangerous one; I knew that other feet had slipped; but felt secure in +my own strength. Ah! that strength was weakness itself. I a drunkard!" +He shuddered as the thought presented itself. "And Mary, the hopeless, +brokenhearted wife of one lost to every ennobling sentiment of the +human mind! It is awful to think of it!" +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson was deeply disturbed. For some time longer his mind dwelt on +this theme: then, in the depths of his own thoughts, and in the +presence of Heaven, he resolved to be in safety, by avoiding the path +of danger; to put forever from his lips the cup from which he had so +often drank confusion. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he appeared to be lifted above the level he had occupied, into +a region whose atmosphere was purer, and to a position from which he +saw things in new relations. It was only then that he fully +comprehended the real danger from which he had escaped. +</P> + +<P> +"And my wife has saved me!" was the involuntary acknowledgment of his +heart. +</P> + +<P> +The rest of the afternoon was spent by Wilkinson in a careful +investigation of his affairs. He ascertained the entire amount he would +have to pay in the coming six months, and also his probable resources +during the time. The result was very discouraging. But for the sum lost +to Carlton he would have seen all clear; but the abstraction of so much +lessened his available means, and would so clog the wheels of his +business as to make all progress exceedingly difficult. +</P> + +<P> +There was a shadow on the brow of Wilkinson when he met his wife that +evening, and she saw it the moment he came in, notwithstanding his +effort to seem cheerful. This shadow fell upon her heart, but she did +not permit its reproduction on her countenance. +</P> + +<P> +After tea, Mary was busied for a short time in getting little Ella to +sleep. When she returned, at length, to their sitting-room, she had a +small package in her hand, which, with a smiling face, she laid upon +the table at which her husband sat reading. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that, dear?" he asked, lifting his eyes to her face. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall soon see," was answered, and Mrs. Wilkinson commenced opening +the package. In a moment or two, five or six rolls of coin were +produced, nicely enveloped in paper. +</P> + +<P> +"This is my sub-treasury," said she, with a smile. "I took an account +of the deposits to-day, and find just five hundred and fifty dollars. +So, even if Mr. Ellis should fail to return the two hundred dollars he +borrowed, you will still be three hundred and fifty dollars better off +than you thought you were. So push every gloomy thought from your +heart. All will come out right in the end." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson looked at the money like one who could scarcely believe the +evidence of his senses. +</P> + +<P> +"This for the present," said Mrs. Wilkinson, leaning towards her +husband, and fixing her gentle, yet earnest, loving eyes upon his face. +"This for the present. And now let me give you my plans for the future. +Your business is to earn money, and mine to expend so much of it as +domestic comfort and well-being requires. Thus far I believe the +expenditure has not been in a just ratio to the earnings. Speak out +plainly, dear husband! and say if I am not right." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson sat silent, gradually withdrawing his eyes from those of his +wife, and letting them fall to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I am right," said the latter, after a pause. "And such being the +case, you have become pressed for money to conduct your business. A +change, then, is required. We must lessen our expenses. And now listen +to what I have to propose. I went this afternoon to see Mrs. Capron, +and she says, that if we will furnish our own room, she will board us +and a nurse for ten dollars a week." +</P> + +<P> +"Board us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear. Won't it be much better for us to take boarding for two or +three years, until we can afford to keep a house?" +</P> + +<P> +"But our furniture, Mary? What is to be done with that?" +</P> + +<P> +"All provided for," said Mrs. Wilkinson, with sparkling eyes, and a +countenance flushed with the excitement she felt. "We will have a sale." +</P> + +<P> +"A sale!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a sale. And this will give you more money. We will live at half +the present cost, and you will get back into your business at least a +thousand dollars that never should have been taken from it." +</P> + +<P> +"But the sacrifice, Mary!" said Wilkinson, as if seeking an argument +against his wife. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you never hear of such a thing," she replied, "as throwing over a +part of the cargo to save the ship?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bless you! Bless you, Mary!" exclaimed Wilkinson, in a broken voice, +as he hid his face upon his wife's bosom. "You have, indeed, saved me +from shipwreck, body and soul, just as I was about to be thrown upon +the breakers! Heaven will reward your devoted love, your tenderness, +your long-suffering and patient forbearance. Thank God for such a wife!" +</P> + +<P> +And the whole frame of the strong man quivered. +</P> + +<P> +It was many minutes before either of them spoke; then Mr. Wilkinson +lifted his face, and said calmly— +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Mary, we will do as you propose; for you have spoken wisely. I +will need every dollar in my business that I can get. And now let me +say a few words more. In times past I have not been as kind to you—as +considerate—" +</P> + +<P> +"Dear husband! let the past be as if it had not been. You were always +kind, gentle, loving"— +</P> + +<P> +"Let me speak what is in my mind. I wish to give it utterance," +interrupted Wilkinson. "In times past, I have too often sought +companionship from home, and such companionship has ever been dangerous +and debasing. I have this day resolved to correct that error; and I +will keep my resolution. Henceforth, home shall be to me the dearest +place. And there is one more thing I wish to say"— +</P> + +<P> +The voice of Wilkinson changed its expression, while a slight flush +came into his face. +</P> + +<P> +"There is one habit that I have indulged, and which I feel to be an +exceedingly dangerous one. That habit I have solemnly promised, in the +sight of Heaven, to correct. I will no longer put to my lips the cup of +confusion." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson was not prepared for the effect these words had upon his +wife, who, instantly uttering a cry of joy, flung herself into her +husband's arms, sobbing— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! I am the happiest woman alive this day!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<P> +TO Ellis the trials of the next two weeks were of the severest +character. Yet, he kept himself away from drinking-houses, and +struggled manfully to retain his feet under him. In this he was only +sustained by the kindness of his wife's manner, and the interest she +seemed to feel in him. Had she acted towards him with her usual want of +affectionate consideration, he would have fallen under the heavy +burdens that rested upon him. Scarcely a day passed in which he was not +visited by Carlton's agent, and fretted almost past endurance by his +importunities. But he steadily refused to take up any of the due-bills; +at the same time that he promised to cancel them at some future period. +This did not, of course, suit the gambler, who sent threats of an +immediate resort to legal proceedings. +</P> + +<P> +Of all this Cara knew nothing; yet she could not help seeing that her +husband was troubled, and this caused her to muse on what she had done +with increasing uneasiness. She no longer took any pleasure in the +thoughts of new parlour carpets. But it was too late, now, to retrace +her steps of error. The carpets were already in the hands of the +upholsterers, and a few days would see them on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"I must tell him about them," said Cara to herself, about a week after +her act of folly, as she sat, towards the close of day, brooding over +what she had done. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed. In a few days +the carpets will be sent home, and then"— +</P> + +<P> +A slight inward shudder was felt by Cara, as she paused, with the +sentence unfinished. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm foolish," she added, recovering herself, "very foolish. Why +need I be so afraid of Henry? I have some freedom of action left—some +right of choice. These were not all yielded in our marriage. His will +was not made the imperative law of all my actions. No—no. And here +lies the ground of difference between us. The fact is, he is to blame +for this very thing, for he drove me to it." +</P> + +<P> +But such thoughts did not satisfy the mind of Mrs. Ellis, nor remove +the sense of wrong that oppressed her spirit. So, in a little while, +she came back to her resolution to tell her husband, on that very +evening, all about what she had done. This was her state of mind, when +her friend Mrs. Claxton called in. After the first pleasant greeting, +the lady, assuming a slight gravity of manner, said— +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know, Mrs. Ellis, that I've thought a good deal about the +matter we talked of the last time I saw you?" +</P> + +<P> +"To what do you allude?" asked Cara. +</P> + +<P> +"To running up bills without your husband's knowledge. All men are not +alike, and Mr. Ellis might not take it so easily as Mr. Claxton has +done. The fact is, I have been checked off a little, so to speak, +within a day or two, and it has rather set me to thinking" +</P> + +<P> +"In what way?" inquired Mrs. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"I will tell you—but, remember, this is in the strictest confidence. +It might injure my husband's business if it got out. In fact, I don't +think I have any right to tell you; but, as I advised you to follow my +example, I must give you convincing proof that this example is a bad +one. Last evening, when Mr. Claxton came home, he looked unusually +serious. 'Is any thing wrong?' I asked of him, manifesting in my voice +and manner the concern I really felt. 'Yes,' said he, looking me +fixedly in the eyes—'there is something wrong. I came within an ace of +being protested to-day.' 'Indeed! How?' I exclaimed. 'Listen,' said he, +'and you shall hear; and while you hear, believe, for I solemnly +declare that every word I utter is the truth, and nothing but the +truth. I could not spare the cash when your new carpet and upholstery +bill came in, so I gave a note for the amount, which was over two +hundred dollars. The note was for six months, and fell due to-day. I +also gave a note for your new sofa, chairs, and French bedstead, +because I had no cash with which to pay the bill. It was two hundred +and fifty dollars, and the note given at four months. That also fell +due to-day. Now, apart from these, I had more than my hands full to +take up business paper, this being an unusually heavy day. At every +point where I could do so I borrowed; but at half-past two o'clock I +was still short the amount of these two notes. While in the utmost +doubt and perplexity as to what I should do in my difficulty, two notes +were handed in. One contained a dry goods bill which you had run up of +over a hundred and fifty dollars, and the other a shoe bill of +twenty-five. I cannot describe to you the paralyzing sense of +discouragement that instantly came over me. It is hopeless for me to +struggle on at such a disadvantage, said I to myself—utterly hopeless. +And I determined to give up the struggle—to let my notes lie over, and +thus end the unequal strife in which I was engaged; for, to this, I saw +it must come at last. Full twenty minutes went by, and I still sat in +this state of irresolution. Then, as a vivid perception of consequences +came to my mind, I aroused myself to make a last, desperate effort. +Hurriedly drawing a note at thirty days for five hundred dollars, I +took it to a money-lender, whom I knew I could tempt by the offer of a +large discount. He gave me for it a check on the bank in which my notes +were deposited, for four hundred and fifty dollars. Just as the clock +was striking three, I entered the banking-house.' +</P> + +<P> +"My husband paused. I saw by the workings of his face and by the large +beads of perspiration which stood upon his forehead, that he was indeed +in earnest. I never was so startled by any thing in my life. It seemed +for a time as if it were only a dream. I need not say how sincerely I +repented of what I had done, nor how I earnestly promised my husband +never again to contract a debt of even a dollar without his knowledge. +I hope," added Mrs. Claxton, "that you have not yet been influenced by +my advice and example; and I come thus early to speak in your ears a +word of caution. Pray do not breathe aught of what I have told you—it +might injure my husband—I only make the revelation as a matter of duty +to one I tried to lead astray." +</P> + +<P> +The thoughts of Mrs. Ellis did not run in a more peaceful channel after +the departure of her friend. But she resolved to confess every thing to +her husband, and promise to conform herself more to his wishes in the +future. +</P> + +<P> +"What," she said, "if he should be in like business difficulties with +Mr. Claxton? He has looked serious for a week past, and has remained at +home every evening during the time—a thing unusual. And I don't think +he has used liquor as freely as common. Something is the matter. Oh, I +wish I had not done that!" +</P> + +<P> +While such thoughts were passing through the mind of Mrs. Ellis, her +husband came home. She met him with an affectionate manner, which he +returned. But there was a cloud on his brow that even her smile could +not drive away. Even as she met him, words of confession were on the +tongue of Mrs. Ellis, but she shrank from giving them utterance. +</P> + +<P> +After tea she resolved to speak. But, when this set-time of +acknowledgment came, she was as little prepared for the task as before. +Mr. Ellis looked so troubled, that she could not find it in her heart +to add to the pressure on his mind an additional weight. And so the +evening passed, the secret of Mrs. Ellis remaining undivulged. And so, +day after day went on. +</P> + +<P> +At length, one morning, the new carpet was sent home and put down. It +was a beautiful carpet; but, as Mrs. Ellis stood looking upon it, after +the upholsterer had departed, she found none of the pleasure she +anticipated. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, why, why, why did I do this?" she murmured. "Why was I tempted to +such an act of folly?" +</P> + +<P> +Gradually the new carpet faded from the eyes of Mrs. Ellis, and she saw +only the troubled face of her husband. It was within an hour of +dinner-time, and in painful suspense she waited his arrival. Various +plans for subduing the excitement which she saw would be created in his +mind, and for reconciling him to the expense of the carpets, were +thought over by Mrs. Ellis: among those was a proposition that he +should give a note for the bill, which she would pay, when it matured, +out of savings from her weekly allowance of money. +</P> + +<P> +"I can and will do it," said Mrs. Ellis, resolutely: her thought dwelt +longer and longer on this suggestion. "I hope he will not be too angry +to listen to what I have to say, when he comes home and sees the +carpet. He's rather hasty sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +While in the midst of such thoughts, Mrs. Ellis, who had left the +parlour, heard the shutting of the street-door, and the tread of her +husband in the passage. Glancing at the timepiece on the mantel, she +saw that it was half an hour earlier than he usually came home. Eagerly +she bent her ear to listen. All was soon still. He had entered the +rooms below, or paused on the threshold. A few breathless moments +passed, then a smothered exclamation was heard, followed by two or +three heavy foot-falls and the jarring of the outer door. Mr. Ellis had +left the house! +</P> + +<P> +"Gone! What does it mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, striking her hands +together, while a strange uneasiness fell upon her heart. A long time +she sat listening for sounds of his return; but she waited in vain. It +was fully an hour past their usual time for dining, when she sat down +to the table with her children, but not to partake of food herself. +Leaving Mrs. Ellis to pass the remainder of that unhappy day with her +own troubled and upbraiding thoughts, we will return to her husband, +and see how it fares with him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. +</H3> + +<P> +FOR hours after his wife had sunk into the forgetfulness of sleep, +Ellis lay awake, pondering over the ways and means by which he was to +meet his engagements for the next day, which, exclusive of Carlton's +demand, were in the neighbourhood of a thousand dollars. During the +previous two weeks, he had paid a good deal of money, but he was really +but little better off therefor, the money so paid having been mainly +procured through temporary loans from business friends. Most of it he +had promised to return on the morrow. Earnestly as the mind of Ellis +dwelt on the subject, he was not able to devise the means of getting +safely through the next day. +</P> + +<P> +"And what if I do get over the difficult place?" was the desponding +conclusion of his mind—"ultimate failure is inevitable, unless a great +reduction can be made in expenses. At present, our living exceeds the +profits on my business. Ah! if I could only make Cara understand this! +She has been more considerate and wife-like of late; but I fear to say +one word about the embarrassed state of my affairs, lest the sunshine +of love be again darkened with clouds and storms." +</P> + +<P> +With such thoughts in his mind, Ellis fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +On the next morning, he repaired early to his place of business, in +order to have time fully to digest his plan of operations for the day. +He had many doubts as to his ability to get through, but was resolute +not to yield without a vigorous struggle. Of the amount to be paid, +only four hundred was for notes in bank. The rest was on borrowed money +account. Fully an hour and a half was spent in drawing off certain +accounts, and in determining the line of operations for the morning. On +receiving two hundred dollars for these accounts, Ellis thought he +might with safety calculate; and a lad was sent out to see to their +collection. Then he started forth himself. First in order, he deemed it +best to see if he could not get a little more time on some of his +borrowed money. This was a delicate operation, and its attempt could +only, he felt, be justified by the exigencies of the case. The largest +sum to be returned was three hundred dollars. He had borrowed it from a +merchant in good circumstances, who could at any time command his +thousands, and to whose credit there usually remained heavy balances in +bank. But he was exceedingly punctilious in all business matters. +</P> + +<P> +Both these facts Ellis knew. It would put the merchant to no +inconvenience whatever to continue the accommodation for ten days +longer; but the policy of asking this was felt to be a very +questionable one, as it would be most likely to create in his mind a +doubt of Ellis's standing, and a doubt in that quarter would be +injurious. Still, the case was so pressing, that Ellis determined to +see him. So, assuming a pleasant, partly unconcerned air, he called +upon the merchant. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Mr. A—," said he, in a cheerful tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, friend Ellis," returned the merchant, pushing his +spectacles above his forehead, and fixing his eyes upon the face of his +visitor, with a sharp, penetrating look which rather belied the smile +that played about his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see! Isn't it to-day that I am to return you the three hundred +dollars borrowed last week?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't remember, but can tell you in a moment," replied A—, +replacing his glasses, and taking from a pigeon-hole in the desk before +which he sat a small memorandum-book. After consulting this, he +replied— +</P> + +<P> +"Yes: you are right. It is to be returned to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"So I thought. Very well. I'll send you a check around during the +morning. That will answer, I presume?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, certainly—certainly." +</P> + +<P> +So far, nothing was gained. A hurried debate, as to the policy of +asking a few days more on the loan, took place in the mind of Ellis. He +then said— +</P> + +<P> +"If just the same to you, it will be more convenient for me to return +this money on the day after to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +There was a slight contraction of brow on the part of Mr. A—, who +replied, rather coldly— +</P> + +<P> +"I shall want it to-day, Mr. Ellis." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, very well—very well," said Ellis, hiding artfully his +disappointment. "It will be all the same. I will send you around a +check in a little while." +</P> + +<P> +As he left the store, A— said to himself— +</P> + +<P> +"Of all things, I like to see punctuality in the matter of engagements. +The man who promises to return in an hour the money he borrows from you +should keep his word to the minute." +</P> + +<P> +The failure to get a few days' extension of time on so important a sum +had the effect to dispirit Ellis a good deal. He left the store of the +merchant in a despondent mood, and was returning towards his own place +of business, when he met Wilkinson. Grasping the hand of the latter +with the eagerness of one who knows, in a great extremity, that he is +face to face with a real friend, he said— +</P> + +<P> +"You must help me to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see that it is possible, Ellis," was replied. "What amount do +you want?" +</P> + +<P> +"I must have a thousand dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"So much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But where the sum is to be obtained is more than I can divine." +</P> + +<P> +"Is all to go into bank?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Six hundred is for borrowed money." +</P> + +<P> +"To whom is the latter due?" +</P> + +<P> +"I must return three hundred to A—." +</P> + +<P> +"He can do without it for a few days longer." +</P> + +<P> +"I have just seen him; but he says it must be returned to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"He does?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. He wants to use it." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson stood thoughtfully for some time. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you return the sum in a week?" he then asked. +</P> + +<P> +"O yes; easily." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well I'll go and ask him to loan me three hundred for a week. +He'll do it, I know. You shall have the use of it for the time +specified." +</P> + +<P> +"If you can get me that sum, you will place me under an everlasting +obligation," said Ellis, with more feeling than he wished to display. +</P> + +<P> +Twenty minutes afterward the money was in his hands. It had been +obtained from A—, and during the morning returned to him in payment of +Ellis's loan. +</P> + +<P> +So much accomplished, Ellis turned his thoughts towards the ways and +means for raising the seven hundred dollars yet required for the day's +business. By twelve o'clock all of his borrowed money was returned; but +his notes still remained in bank. In view of the difficulties yet to be +surmounted, he felt that he had erred in not making it the first +business of the day to take up his notes, and thus get beyond the +danger of protest. But it was too late now for regrets to be of any +avail. Four hundred dollars must come from some quarter, or ruin was +certain. +</P> + +<P> +But from whence was aid to come? He had not spent an idle moment since +he came to his store in the morning, and had so fully passed over the +limits within which his resources lay, that little ground yet remained +to be broken, and the promise of that was small. +</P> + +<P> +While Ellis stood meditating, in much perplexity of mind, what step +next to take, a man entered his store, and, approaching him, read aloud +from a paper which he drew from his pocket, a summons to answer before +an alderman in the case of Carlton, who had brought separate suits on +his due-bills, each being for an amount less than one hundred dollars. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, I will attend to it," said Ellis in a voice of assumed +calmness, and the officer retired. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly seating himself in a chair that stood by a low writing-desk, the +unhappy man tried to compose his thoughts, in order that he might see +precisely in what position this new move would place him. He could +bring nothing in bar of Carlton's claim unless the plea of its being a +gambling debt were urged; and that would only ruin his credit in the +business community. A hearing of the case was to take place in a week, +when judgment would go against him, and then the quick work of an +execution would render the immediate payment of the five hundred +dollars necessary. All this Ellis revolved in his thoughts, and then +deliberately asked himself the question, if it were not better to give +up at once. For a brief space of time, in the exhausted state produced +by the un-equal struggle in which he was engaged, he felt like +abandoning every thing; but a too-vivid realization of the consequences +that would inevitably follow spurred his mind into a resolution to make +one more vigorous effort to overcome the remaining difficulties of the +day. With this new purpose, came a new suggestion of means, and he was +in the act of leaving his store to call upon a friend not before +thought of, when a carpet dealer, whom he knew very well, came in, and +presented a bill. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this?" asked Mr. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"The bill for your parlour carpets," was answered. +</P> + +<P> +"What parlour carpets? You are in an error. We have no new parlour +carpets. The bill is meant for some one else." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," returned the man, smiling. "The carpets were ordered two +weeks ago; and this morning they were put down by the upholsterer." +</P> + +<P> +"Who ordered them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Ellis." +</P> + +<P> +"She did!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and directed the bill sent in to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"What is the amount?" +</P> + +<P> +"One hundred and sixty-eight dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Ellis, controlling himself, "I will attend to it." +</P> + +<P> +The man retired, leaving the mind of Ellis in a complete sea of +agitation. +</P> + +<P> +"If this be so," he muttered in a low, angry voice, "then is all over! +To struggle against such odds is hopeless. But I cannot believe it. +There is—there must be an error. The carpets are not mine. He has +mistaken some other woman for my wife, and some other dwelling for +mine. Yes, yes, it must be so. Cara would never dare to do this! But +all doubt may be quickly settled." +</P> + +<P> +And with, this last sentence on his lips, Ellis left his store, and +walked with hurried steps homeward. Entering his house, he stood for a +moment or two in one of the parlour doors. A single glance sufficed. +Alas! it was but too true. +</P> + +<P> +"Mad woman!" he exclaimed, in a low, bitter tone. "Mad woman! You have +driven me over the precipice!" +</P> + +<P> +Turning quickly away, he left the house—to return to his store?—Alas! +no. With him the struggle was over. The manly spirit, that had, for +nearly two weeks, battled so bravely with difficulty without and +temptation within, yielded under this last assault. In less than an +hour, all sense of pain was lost in the stupor of inebriation! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX. +</H3> + +<P> +WE will not trace, minutely, the particulars attendant on the headlong +downward course of Henry Ellis. The causes leading thereto have been +fully set forth, and we need not refer back to them. Enough, that the +fall was complete. The wretched man appeared to lose all strength of +mind, all hope in life, all self-respect. Not even a feeble effort was +opposed to the down-rushing torrent of disaster that swept away every +vestige of his business. For more than a week he kept himself so +stupefied with brandy, that neither friends nor creditors could get +from him any intelligible statement in regard to his affairs. In the +wish of the latter for an assignment, he passively acquiesced, and +permitted all his effects to be taken from his hands. And so he was +thrown upon the world, with his family, helpless, penniless, crushed in +spirit, and weak as a child in the strong grasp of an over-mastering +appetite, which had long been gathering strength for his day of +weakness. +</P> + +<P> +Over the sad history of the succeeding five years let us draw a veil. +We have no heart to picture its suffering, its desolation, its +hopelessness. If, in the beginning, there was too much pride in the +heart of Mrs. Ellis, all was crushed out under the iron heel of grim +adversity. If she had once thought too much of herself, and too little +of her husband, a great change succeeded; for she clung to him in all +the cruel and disgusting forms his abandonment assumed, and, with a +self-sacrificing devotion, struggled with the fearful odds against her +to retain for her husband and children some little warmth in the humble +home where they were hidden from the world in which they once moved. +</P> + +<P> +From the drunkard, angels withdraw themselves, and evil spirits come +into nearer companionship; hence, the bestiality and cruelty of +drunkenness. The man, changing his internal associates, receives by +inflex a new order of influence, and passively acts therefrom. He +becomes, for the time, the human agent by which evil spirits effect +their wicked purposes; and it usually happens that those who are +nearest allied to him, and who have the first claims on him for +support, protection, and love, are they who feel the heaviest weight of +infernal malice. The husband and father too often becomes, in the hands +of his evil associates, the cruel persecutor of those he should love +and guard with the tenderest solicitude. So it was in the case of Henry +Ellis. His manly nature underwent a gradually progressing change, until +the image of God was wellnigh obliterated from his soul. After the +lapse of five miserable years, let us introduce him and his family once +more to the reader. +</P> + +<P> +Five years! What a work has been done in that time! Not in a pleasant +home, surrounded with every comfort, as we last saw them, will they be +found. Alas, no! +</P> + +<P> +It was late in the year. Frost had already done its work upon the +embrowned forests, and leaf by leaf the withered foliage had dropped +away or been swept in clouds before the autumnal winds. Feebler and +feebler grew, daily, the sun's planting rays, colder the air, and more +cheerless the aspect of nature. +</P> + +<P> +One evening,—it was late in November, and the day had been damp and +cold,—a woman, whose thin care-worn face and slender form marked her +as an invalid, or one whose spirits had been broken by trouble, was +busying herself in the preparation of supper. A girl, between twelve +and thirteen years of age, was trying to amuse a child two years old, +who, from some cause, was in a fretful humour; and a little girl in her +seventh year was occupied with a book, in which she was spelling out a +lesson that had been given by her mother. This was the family, or, +rather, a part of the family of Henry Ellis. Two members were absent, +the father and the oldest boy. The room was small, and meagerly +furnished, though every thing was clean and in order. In the centre of +the floor, extending, perhaps, over half thereof, was a piece of faded +carpet. On this a square, unpainted pine table stood, covered with a +clean cloth and a few dishes. Six common wooden chairs, one or two low +stools or benches, a stained work-stand without drawers, and a few +other necessary articles, including a bed in one corner, completed the +furniture of this apartment, which was used as kitchen and sitting-room +by the family, and, with a small room adjoining, constituted the entire +household facilities of the family. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry is late this evening," remarked Mrs. Ellis, as she laid the last +piece of toast she had been making on the dish standing near the fire. +"He ought to have been here half an hour ago." +</P> + +<P> +"And father is late too," said Kate, the oldest daughter, who was +engaged with the fretful child. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—he is late," returned Mrs. Ellis, as if speaking to herself. And +she sighed heavily. +</P> + +<P> +Just then the sound of feet was heard in the passage without. +</P> + +<P> +"There's Henry now," said Kate. +</P> + +<P> +And in a moment after the boy entered. His face did not wear the +cheerful expression with which he usually met the waiting ones at home. +His mother noticed the change; but asked no question then as to the +cause. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish father was home," said Mrs. Ellis. "Supper is all ready." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think it's any use to wait for him," returned Henry. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" asked the mother, looking with some surprise at her son, in +whose voice was a covert meaning. +</P> + +<P> +"Because he won't be home to supper." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you seen him, Henry?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ellis fixed her eyes earnestly upon her son. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, mother. I saw him go into a tavern as I was coming along. I went +in and tried to persuade him to come home with me. But he was angry +about something, and told me to go about my business. I then said—'Do, +father, come home with me,' and took hold of his arm, when he turned +quickly around, and slapped me in the face with the back of his hand." +</P> + +<P> +The boy, on saying this, burst into tears, and sobbed for some time +violently. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Henry! did he do that?" +</P> + +<P> +Such was the mother's exclamation. She tried to control her feelings, +but could not. In a moment or two, tears gushed over her face. +</P> + +<P> +The only one who appeared calm was Kate, Henry's oldest sister. She +uttered no expression of pain or surprise, but, after hearing what her +brother said, looked down upon the floor, and seemed lost in meditation. +</P> + +<P> +"My poor children!" such were the thoughts that passed through the mind +of Mrs. Ellis. "If I could only screen you from these dreadful +consequences! If I only were the sufferer, I could bear the burden +uncomplainingly. Ah! will this cup never be full? Is there no hope? How +earnestly I have sought to win him back again, Heaven only knows." +</P> + +<P> +From these reflections Mrs. Ellis was aroused by the voice of Kate, who +had arisen up and was taking from a nail in the wall her bonnet and an +old merino coat. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the tavern, Henry?" said she. +</P> + +<P> +"What tavern?" answered the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"The tavern where you saw father." +</P> + +<P> +"In Second street." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you wish to know?" inquired Mrs. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go for him. He'll come home for me." +</P> + +<P> +"No—no, Kate. Don't think of such a thing!" said Mrs. Ellis, speaking +from the impulse of the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"It won't be of any use," remarked Henry. "Besides, it's very dark out, +sister, and the tavern where I saw him is a long distance from here. +Indeed I wouldn't go, Kate. He isn't at all himself." +</P> + +<P> +The young girl was not in the least influenced by this opposition, but, +rather, strengthened in her purpose. She knew that the air was damp and +chilly, from an approaching easterly storm; and the thought of his +being exposed to cold and rain at night, in the streets, touched her +heart with a painful interest in her erring, debased, and fallen parent. +</P> + +<P> +"It will rain to-night," said she, looking at her brother. +</P> + +<P> +"I felt a fine mist in the driving wind just as I came near the door," +replied Henry. +</P> + +<P> +"If father is not himself, he may fall in the street, and perish in the +cold." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think there is any danger of that, sister. He will be home +after awhile. At any rate, there is little chance of your finding him, +for he won't be likely to remain long at the tavern where I left him." +</P> + +<P> +"If I can't find him, so much the worse," replied the girl, firmly. +"But, unless mother forbids my going, I must seek him and bring him +home." +</P> + +<P> +Kate turned her eyes full upon her mother's face, as she said this, +and, in an attitude of submission, awaited her reply. +</P> + +<P> +"I think," said Mrs. Ellis, after a long silence, "that little good +will come of this; yet, I cannot say no." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will find him and bring him home," was the animated response of +Kate. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not go alone," remarked Henry, taking up the cap he had a few +minutes before laid off. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait for supper. It is all ready," said Mrs. Ellis. "Don't go out +until you have eaten something." +</P> + +<P> +"No time is to be lost, mother," replied Kate. "And, then, I haven't +the least appetite." +</P> + +<P> +"But your brother has been working hard all day, and is, of course, +tired and hungry." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I forgot," said Kate. "But Henry needn't go with me. If he will +only tell me exactly where I can find father, that will be enough. I +think I'd better see him alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Food would choke me now." Henry's voice was husky and tremulous. +"Come, sister," he added, after a pause, "if this work is done at all, +it must be done quickly." +</P> + +<P> +Without a word more on either part, the brother and sister left the +room, and started on their errand. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI. +</H3> + +<P> +LATE in the afternoon of the day on which occurred the incidents +mentioned in the preceding chapter, Mr. Wilkinson, who had entirely +recovered from his embarrassed condition, and who was now a sober man +in every sense of the word, as well as a thrifty merchant, was standing +at one of the counters in his large, well filled store, when a +miserable looking creature entered and came back to where he stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-day, Mr. Wilkinson," said the new-comer. +</P> + +<P> +Surprise kept the merchant silent for some moments, when the other +said— +</P> + +<P> +"You don't know me, I presume." +</P> + +<P> +"Henry Ellis!" exclaimed Wilkinson. "Is it possible you have fallen so +low?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just as you see me," was replied. +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to be more of a man than this. You ought to have more +strength of character," said Wilkinson, giving utterance to the first +thought that came into his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; it is easy to talk," replied Ellis, with a slight impatience +of manner. "But you know my history as well almost as I know it myself. +I was driven to ruin." +</P> + +<P> +"How so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you ask the question?" +</P> + +<P> +"You refer to your wife?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I do. She drove me to destruction." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a hard saying, Mr. Ellis." +</P> + +<P> +"Yet true as that the sun shines. And she has had her reward!" +</P> + +<P> +This last sentence was uttered in a tone of self-satisfaction that +deeply pained Mr. Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw your wife this morning," he remarked, after a moment's silence. +</P> + +<P> +"You did! Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"I passed her in the street; and the sight of her made my heart ache. +Ah, my friend! if you have been wronged, deeply is the wrong repaid! +Such a wreck! I could scarcely believe my eyes. Ellis! I read at a +single glance her countenance, marred by long suffering, and found in +it only the sad evidences of patient endurance. She is changed. I am +bold to say that. If she erred, she has repented." +</P> + +<P> +"But not atoned for a wrong that is irreparable," said Ellis in a +dogged tone, while his heavy brows contracted. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! how changed you are, Ellis: once so kind-hearted, so forgiving and +forbearing!" +</P> + +<P> +"And what changed me? Answer me that, John Wilkinson! Yes, I am +changed—changed from a man into—into—yes, let me say the word—into +a devil! And who held the enchanter's wand? Who? The wife of my bosom!" +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson felt a shudder creeping along his nerves as he looked at the +excited man, and heard his words. +</P> + +<P> +"Cara never acts toward you, now, other than with kindness," said he. +</P> + +<P> +But Ellis made no answer to this. +</P> + +<P> +"Let the past suffice, my friend," added Wilkinson. "Both have suffered +enough. Resolve, in the strength of God and your own manhood, to rise +out of the horrible pit and miry clay into which you have fallen." +</P> + +<P> +"That is impossible. So we won't talk about it," said Ellis, +impatiently. "Lend me half a dollar, won't you?" +</P> + +<P> +The hand of Wilkinson went instinctively to his pocket. But he withdrew +it, without the coin he had designed, from the moment's impulse, to +give. Shaking his head, he replied to the application, +</P> + +<P> +"I can't give you money, Ellis." +</P> + +<P> +"You can't?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; for that would be no real kindness. But, if you will reform your +life; if you will abandon drink, and become a sober, industrious man, I +will pledge myself to procure you a good situation as clerk. In a few +years you may regain all that has been lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" muttered Ellis, grinding his teeth as he spoke. "All good talk!" +and, turning away, he passed from the store of his old friend. Without +a cent in his pocket, and burning with a desire for drink, he had +conquered all reluctance and shame, and applied, as we have seen, to an +old friend, for money. Two or three other ineffectual attempts were +made to get small sums, but they proved fruitless. For some time he +wandered about the streets; then he entered one of the lower class of +taverns, and boldly called for a glass of liquor. But the keeper of +this den, grown suspicious by experience, saw in the face or manner of +Ellis that he had no money, and coolly demanded pay before setting +forth his bottle. It was just at this untimely crisis that Henry came +in, and, taking hold of his father's arm, urged him to come home. The +cruel rebuff he received is known. +</P> + +<P> +The blow was no sooner given by Ellis than repented of; and this motion +of regret prompted him to express his sorrow for the hasty act, but +when he turned to speak to the lad, he was gone. Almost maddened by +thirst and excitement, the poor wretch caught up from the counter a +pitcher of ice water, and, placing it to his lips, took therefrom a +long deep draught. Then slowly turning away, he sought a chair in a far +corner of the room; where he seated himself, crossed his arms on a +table, and buried his face therein. +</P> + +<P> +The pure cold water allayed the fever that burned along the drunkard's +veins. Gradually a deep calm pervaded his mind, and then thought became +active amid thronging memories of the past. He had once loved his home +and his children; and the image of Henry, when a bright-eyed, +curly-headed, happy child, came up so vividly before him, that it was +only by an effort that he kept the tears from gushing over his face. +For years he had cherished, in mere self-justification, the bitterest +feeling towards his wife; and hundreds of times had he given expression +to these feelings in words that smote the heart of Cara with crushing +force. Only a little while before he had spoken of her, in the presence +of Wilkinson, in a hard and unforgiving spirit; but now he thought of +her more kindly. He remembered how patiently she had borne with him; +how uncomplainingly she had met and struggled with her hard lot; how +many times she had tried to smile upon him, even through tears that +could not be restrained. Never was he met, on his return home, with +coldness or neglect. Wife and children all sought his comfort; yet he +cared nothing for them, and even filled their paths through life with +thorns. And his boy, Henry, whom he had just repulsed in so cruel a +manner, to his labour was he indebted, mainly, for the food that was +daily set before him. How this thought smote him! How it filled his +heart with shame and repentance! +</P> + +<P> +Musing thus, the unhappy man remained, until, gradually, his thoughts +became confused. The temporary excitement of feeling died away, and +sleep overcame him. In his sleep he dreamed, and his dream was vivid as +reality. Not as of old did he find himself; but, in the vision that +came to him, he was still in bondage and degradation, with a horribly +distinct realization of his condition. His vile companions were around +him, but greatly changed; for they appeared more like monsters of evil +than men, and were malignant in their efforts to do harm. Against him +they seemed to feel an especial hatred. Some glared and gleamed upon +him with the fire of murder in their eyes; some pointed to a cheerless +apartment, in which he saw his wife and children cowering and shivering +over a few dying embers, and they said—"It is your work! It is your +work!" They were devils in distorted human shapes, and he was terribly +afraid. Suddenly he was set upon by one, who caught him by the throat +and dragged him into what seemed the cell of a prison, where he was +cast upon a heap of straw, and left shuddering with cold and fear. +Alone, for days and weeks he remained in this prison, until despair +seemed to dry up the very blood in his veins, and, after a desperate +struggle to break through the bars of his narrow house, he sank down +exhausted and ready to die. Then came a new horror. He had died, to all +outward appearance, and was in his coffin. He felt his body compressed, +and gasped and panted for air in his narrow house of boards. It was an +awful moment. Suddenly a voice came to his ear: "Father! father!" It +was the voice of his child—of Kate. How its tones thrilled through +him! How his heart leaped with the hope of deliverance! "Father! dear +father!"—The call was renewed, but he could make no answer, for his +tongue was powerless. Again and again the call was repeated, yet he +could utter no sound—could make no sign. Farther off, then, he heard +his name called. Horror! she had failed to discover him, and was about +departing. In the agony of the moment he awoke. There was a hand laid +gently upon him, and a voice said—"Father! dear father! come!" +</P> + +<P> +It was the voice of his child; the same voice that had penetrated his +dreaming ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Kate!" he exclaimed, eagerly; "is it indeed you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, father," she answered; "and won't you come home with me?" +</P> + +<P> +The wretched man did not answer in words but arose immediately and went +out with his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what a dream I had, Kate!" said Mr. Ellis, as he left the door of +the tavern; "and you came to me in my dream." +</P> + +<P> +His feelings were much excited, and he spoke with emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"Did I, father?" replied the girl. "And how did I come? As a good angel +to save you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Waking, you have come to me as such," answered the father after a +brief silence, speaking more calmly, and as if to himself. +</P> + +<P> +How wild a thrill shot through the frame of Kate at these words, so +full of meaning to her; but she dared not trust herself to make an +answer, lest she should do harm rather than good. And so they walked, +in silence, all the way home; Henry, who had accompanied his sister, +keeping a short distance behind them, so that his father had no +indication of his presence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII. +</H3> + +<P> +How the hearts of the mother and her two oldest children trembled with +hope and fear! A marked change was apparent in Mr. Ellis when he came +home with Kate. He was sober, and very serious, but said nothing; and +Mrs. Ellis deemed it prudent to say nothing to him. +</P> + +<P> +On the next morning, he did not rise early. Henry had eaten his +breakfast and was away to his work, and Kate had gone to market to get +something for dinner, when he got up and dressed himself. Mrs. Ellis +was ready for him with a good cup of coffee, a piece of hot toast, some +broiled steak, and a couple of eggs. She said little, but her tones +were subdued and very kind. Noticing that his hand trembled so that he +spilled his coffee in raising his cup to his lips, (his custom was to +get a glass of liquor before breakfast to steady his nerves,) she came +and stood beside him, saying, as she did so—"Let me hold your cup for +you." +</P> + +<P> +Ellis acquiesced; and so his wife held the cup to his lips while he +drank. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear! This is a dreadful state to be in Cara!" +</P> + +<P> +The exclamation was spontaneous. Had Ellis thought a moment, his pride +would have caused him to repress it. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ellis did not reply, for she was afraid to trust herself to speak, +lest her words or voice should express something that would check the +better feelings that were in the heart of her husband. But, ere she +could repress it, a tear fell upon his hand. Almost with a start, Ellis +turned and looked up into her face. It was calm, yet sorrowful. The +pale and wasted condition of that face had never so struck him before. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Cara," said he, dropping his knife and fork, "it is dreadful to +live in this way. Dreadful! dreadful!" +</P> + +<P> +The poor, almost heart-broken wife could command herself no longer; and +she laid her face down upon her husband and sobbed—the more +convulsively from her efforts to regain self-possession. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Henry!" she at length murmured, "if the past were only ours! If we +could but live over our lives, with some of the experience that living +gives, how differently should we act! But, surely, hope is not clean +gone for ever! Is there not yet a better and a brighter day for even +us?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is, Cara! There is!" replied Ellis, in tones of confidence. "It +has been a long, long night, Cara; a cold and cheerless night. But the +morning breaks. There is not much strength left in this poor arm," and +he extended his right hand, that trembled like an aspen leaf—"but it +can yet do something. It shall not be with us as it has been any +longer. In the sight of Heaven, and in the hope of strength from above, +I promise that, Cara. Will you help me to keep my promise?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—yes—yes," was the emphatic response. "If there is in me a +particle of strength, it is yours, and you may lean on it confidently. +Oh, Henry! trust in me. The lessons of the past have not been learned +in vain." +</P> + +<P> +"I am very weak, Cara; the pressure of a child's hand might throw me +over. Do not forget this. Never forget it! If you will keep close to my +side, if you will help me, and love me,"—his voice quivered, and he +paused, but regained himself in a few moments—"I think all will be +well with us again. God helping me, I will try." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my husband!" sobbed Mrs. Ellis, drawing her arms lovingly about +him—"it will be well with us, for God will help you, I will help you, +all will help you. Forget? Oh, no! I can never forget. Have we not all +been thoughtful of you, and kind to you in the night that is passing +away?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Cara, yes." +</P> + +<P> +"And will we not be kinder and more loving in the brighter future? We +will! we will, Henry! Oh! how my glad heart runs over!" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw Mr. Wilkinson yesterday," said Ellis, after both had grown +calmer; "and he said that he could and would get me a situation as +clerk. I am now going to see him, and, if he be as good as his word, +this desert place"—and he glanced about the room—"will soon brighten +as the rose." +</P> + +<P> +The entrance of Kate closed the interview. In a little while, Ellis, +after shaving himself, and in every possible way improving his +appearance, left the house and went direct to the store of Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry! Is it possible!" exclaimed the latter, in surprise, when Ellis +stood before him. +</P> + +<P> +"In my right mind again," was the calm, but firmly spoken answer. +</P> + +<P> +"How glad I am to hear you say so!" And Wilkinson grasped the hand of +his old friend, and shook it warmly. +</P> + +<P> +"You remember your promise of yesterday?" said Ellis. He spoke +seriously. +</P> + +<P> +"To get you a good situation?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I have not forgotten my word, Henry; and will keep it. You are a good +accountant?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am." +</P> + +<P> +"This morning my book-keeper notified me of his intention to leave as +soon as I could supply his place. If you will take the situation at +seven hundred and fifty dollars a year, it is open for you." +</P> + +<P> +"John Wilkinson!" exclaimed Ellis, seizing the hand of his friend, and +exhibiting much agitation. "Are you indeed in earnest?" +</P> + +<P> +"I never was more so in my life," was replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, indeed the day has broken!" said Ellis, with emotion. "When will +you want me to begin?" he asked after a short period of silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," replied Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, did you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I have work that needs attention at once. When will you come?" +</P> + +<P> +"A good beginning never can be made too early. Now." +</P> + +<P> +Wilkinson turned, and the two men walked back to a vacant desk. A +number of accounts and letters lay thereon, and, as Wilkinson began to +enter into some explanation in regard to them, Ellis took up a pen and +laid the point of it on a sheet of paper. The nervous tremor of his +hand showed him to be in no condition for the task upon which he was +about entering. Wilkinson comprehended this in a moment, and a fear +lest the drunkard's delirium should follow so sudden a withdrawal of +stimulant from the system of Ellis, sent a chill through his feelings. +Instead of putting him to the desk at once, he determined, on the +instant, to employ him at more active work about the store for a few +weeks, until, if he kept to his good resolution, some degree of +firmness was restored to his shattered nerves. In agreement with this +humane purpose he acted. +</P> + +<P> +With what trembling anxiety did Mrs. Ellis await the return of her +husband at dinner-time! The hours wore slowly away, and, at last, her +watchful ear caught the sound of his footsteps. She scarcely breathed +until the door opened. One glance sufficed. All was well. How glad was +the impulse with which her stilled heart went on again! Tears of joy +bedewed her face, when he related the good fortune that had attended +his call on Wilkinson. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," said he, when he had told her all, and glancing around the +room as he spoke. "This desert place shall blossom as the rose. I have +said it, and I will keep my word." +</P> + +<P> +In the evening, Henry and his father met, for the first time, face to +face, since they parted in anger on one side and grief on the other. +When Kate came home with the latter on the night previous, Henry had +managed to enter the house before them, and so kept out of his father's +way. Now, on coming in from his work, he found him already at home, and +so changed in appearance, that he gazed upon him with a surprise which +he could not at first conceal. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry, my son," said Mr. Ellis, in a kind, self-possessed tone of +voice, and he reached out his hand as he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +The boy took his father's hand, and looked earnestly into his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Henry, how long have you been with Mr. Wilson?" inquired Mr. Ellis. +</P> + +<P> +"Two years, sir," was answered. +</P> + +<P> +The father looked at the boy's hands, and sighed. They were hard and +discolored from labour. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell Mr. Wilson, in the morning," said he, "that I wish you to leave +him after this week." +</P> + +<P> +"Sir!" Henry looked surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him that I wish you to go to school for a year or two." +</P> + +<P> +"Father!" The blood flew suddenly to the lad's face. For a few moments +he looked at his father; then turning, he passed quickly into the +adjoining room. In the stillness that followed, were audible the sobs +that came from his overflowing heart. +</P> + +<P> +A week, a month, a year have passed, yet the promise of that happy time +is dimmed not by a single cloud. Firm in his better purpose and fully +sustained at home, Henry Ellis is walking steadily the path of safety. +Home is what it ever should have been, the pleasantest place in all the +world; for she who is its sunlight never meets him with a clouded face. +His desert has, indeed, blossomed as the rose. May the bloom and +fragrance thereof never fade nor lose its sweetness! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Wives, by T. S. 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S. Arthur + +Posting Date: August 18, 2009 [EBook #4621] +Release Date: November, 2003 +First Posted: February 20, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO WIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +THE TWO WIVES; + +OR, LOST AND WON. + + +BY + +T. S. ARTHUR. + + + +PHILADELPHIA: + +1851. + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +THE story of the "Two Wives; or, Lost and Won," is intended to show the +power of tender, earnest, self-forgetting love, in winning back from +the path of danger a husband whose steps have strayed, and who has +approached the very brink of ruin; and, by contrast, to exhibit the sad +consequences flowing from a want of these virtues under like +circumstances. + +This book is the third in the Series of "ARTHUR'S LIBRARY FOR THE +HOUSEHOLD." The fourth, which is nearly ready, will be called "THE WAYS +OF PROVIDENCE; OR, HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL." + + + + +THE TWO WIVES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"YOU are not going out, John?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, looking up from the +work she had just taken into her hands. There was a smile on her lips; +but her eyes told, plainly enough, that a cloud was upon her heart. + +Mrs. Wilkinson was sitting by a small work-table, in a neatly furnished +room. It was evening, and a shaded lamp burned upon the table. Mr. +Wilkinson, who had been reading, was standing on the floor, having +thrown down his book and risen up hastily, as if a sudden purpose had +been formed in his mind. + +"I shall only be gone a little while, dear," returned Mr. Wilkinson, a +slight air of impatience visible beneath his kind voice and manner. + +"Don't go, John," said Mrs. Wilkinson, still forcing a smile to her +countenance. "I always feel so lonely when you are away. We only have +our evenings to be together; and I cannot bear then to be robbed of +your company. Don't go out, John; that's a good, dear husband." + +And Mrs. Wilkinson, in the earnestness of her desire to keep her +husband at home, laid aside her sewing, and rising, approached and +leaned her hands upon his shoulder, looking up with an affectionate, +appealing expression into his face. + +"You're a dear, good girl, Mary," said Mr. Wilkinson, tenderly, and he +kissed the pure lips of his wife as he spoke. "I know it's wrong to +leave you alone here. But, I won't be gone more than half an hour. +Indeed I won't. See, now;" and he drew forth his watch; "it is just +eight o'clock, and I will be home again precisely at half-past eight, +to a minute." + +Mrs. Wilkinson made no answer; but her husband saw that tears were in +the eyes fixed so lovingly upon him. + +"Now don't, love," said he, tenderly, "make so much of just half an +hour's absence. I promised Elbridge that I would call around and see +him about a little matter of business, and I must keep my word. I had +forgotten the engagement until it crossed my mind while reading." + +"If you have an engagement." There was a certain emphasis in the words +of Mrs. Wilkinson that caused her husband to partly turn his face away. + +"I have, dear. But for that, I should not think of leaving you alone." + +Almost instinctively Mrs. Wilkinson withdrew the hands she had placed +upon the shoulder of her husband, and receded from him a step or two; +at the same time her face was bent downwards, and her eyes rested upon +the floor. + +For some moments Mr. Wilkinson stood as if in earnest debate with +himself; then he said, in a cheerful, lively tone-- + +"Good-by, love. I shall only be gone half an hour." And turning away, +left the room. He did not pause until he was in the street. Then a +spirit of irresolution came over him, and he said to himself, as he +moved slowly away, + +"It isn't kind in me to leave Mary alone in this way; I know it isn't. +But I want to see Elbridge; and, in fact, partly promised that I would +call upon him this evening. True, I can say all I wish to say to him in +the morning, and to quite as good purpose. But--" + +Wilkinson, whose steps had been growing more and more deliberate, +stopped. For some time he stood, in a thoughtful attitude--then slowly +returned. His hand was in his pocket, his dead-latch key between his +fingers, and his foot upon the marble sill of his door. And thus he +remained, in debate with himself, for as long a time as two or three +minutes. + +"Yes; I must see him! I had forgotten that," he exclaimed, in a low +tone, and suddenly stepped back from the door, and with a rapid pace +moved down the street. A walk of ten minutes brought him to the house +of Mr. Elbridge. But it so happened that this gentleman was not at home. + +"How soon do you expect him to return?" was inquired of the servant. + +"He may be here in half an hour; or not before ten o'clock," was the +reply. + +Wilkinson was disappointed. Leaving his name with the servant, and +saying that he would probably call again during the evening, he +descended the steps and walked away. He was moving in the direction of +his home, and had arrived within a block thereof when he stopped, +saying to himself as he did so-- + +"I must see Elbridge this evening. It is already nearly half an hour +since I left home, and I promised Mary that I would not remain away a +moment longer than that time. But, I did not think Elbridge would be +out. Poor Mary! She looks at me with such sad eyes, sometimes, that it +goes to my very heart. She cannot bear to have me out of her sight. Can +she doubt me in any thing? No; I will not believe that. She is a +loving, gentle-minded creature--and one of the best of wives. Ah me! I +wish I were more like her." + +Still Wilkinson remained standing, and in debate with himself. + +"I will go home," said he, at length, with emphasis, and walked quickly +onward. He was within a few doors of his own home, when his steps began +to linger again. He had come once more into a state of irresolution. + +"Perhaps Elbridge has returned." This thought made him stop again. "He +must have understood me that I would be around." + +Just at this moment the crying of a child was heard. + +"Is that Ella?" Wilkinson walked around a little way, until he came +nearly opposite his own house. Then he stopped to listen more +attentively. + +Yes. It was the grieving cry of his own sick babe. + +"Poor child!" he murmured. "I wonder what can ail her?" + +He looked up at the chamber windows. The curtains were drawn aside, and +he saw upon the ceiling of the room the shadow of some one moving to +and fro. He did not doubt that it was the shadow of his wife, as, with +their sick babe in her arms, she walked to and fro in the effort to +soothe it again to sleep. Had there been a doubt, it would have been +quickly dispelled, for there came to his ears the soft tones of a voice +he knew full well--came in tones of music, low and soothing, but with +most touching sweetness. It was the voice of his wife, and she sang the +air of the cradle-hymn with which he had been soothed to rest when he +lay an innocent babe in his mother's arms. + +The feelings of Wilkinson, a good deal excited by the struggle between +affection and duty on the one side, and appetite and inclination on the +other, were touched and softened by the incident, and he was about +entering his house when the approaching form of a man, a short distance +in advance, caught his eye, and he paused until he came up. + +"Elbridge! The very one I wished to see!" he exclaimed, in a low voice, +as he extended his hand and grasped that of his friend. "I've just been +to your house. Did you forget that I was to call around?" + +"I didn't understand you to say, certainly, that you would call, or I +should have made it a point to be at home. But no matter. All in good +time. I'm on my way home now, and you will please return with me." + +"I don't know about that," said Wilkinson, who could not forget his +promise to his wife. "I told Mary, when I went out, that I would only +be gone half an hour, and that time has expired already." + +"Oh, never mind," returned the other, lightly. "She'll forgive you, +I'll be bound. Tell her that you came home, in all obedience to her +wishes, but that I met you at your own door, and carried you off in +spite of yourself." + +And as Elbridge said this, he drew his arm within that of Wilkinson, +and the two men went chatting away. + +Elbridge was fond of good wine, and always kept a few choice bottles on +hand. Wilkinson knew this; and, if he had looked narrowly into his +heart on the present occasion, he would have discovered that the wine +of his friend had for him a stronger attraction than his company. + +As the latter had anticipated, wine and cigars were produced +immediately on their arrival at the house of Elbridge; and in the +exhilaration of the one and the fumes of the other, he soon forgot his +lonely, troubled wife and sick child at home. + +A friend or two dropped in, in the course of half an hour; and then a +second bottle of wine was uncorked, and glasses refilled with its +sparkling contents. + +The head of Wilkinson was not very strong. A single glass of wine +generally excited him, and two or three proved, always, more than he +could bear. It was so on this occasion; and when, at eleven o'clock, he +passed forth from the house of his friend, it was only by an effort +that he could walk steadily. The cool night air, as it breathed upon +his heated brow, partially sobered him, and his thoughts turned towards +his home. A sigh and the act of striking his hand upon his forehead +marked the effect of this transition of thought. + +"Poor Mary! I didn't mean to stay away so late. I meant to return in +half an hour," he muttered, half aloud. "But this is always the way. +I'm afraid I've taken too much of Elbridge's wine; a little affects me. +I wonder if Mary will notice it; I wouldn't have her to do so for the +world. Poor child! it would frighten her to death. I rather think I'd +better try to walk off the effects of what I've been drinking. It's +late, any how, and fifteen or twenty minutes will make but little +difference either way." + +As Wilkinson said this, he turned down a cross street which he happened +to be passing at the moment, and moved along with a quicker pace. +Gradually the confusion of his thoughts subsided. + +"I wish I had remained at home," he sighed, as the image of his wife +arose distinctly in his mind. "Poor Mary! I broke my word with her, +though I promised so faithfully. Oh, dear! this weakness on my part is +terrible. Why was I so anxious to see Elbridge? there was no real +engagement, and yet I told Mary there was. I would not have her know of +this deception for the world. I forgot about dear little Ella's being +so sick; what if we should lose that little angel? Oh! I could not bear +it!" + +Wilkinson stopped suddenly as this thought flashed over his mind. He +was soberer by far than when he left the house of Mr. Elbridge. + +"I'll go home at once." He turned and began quickly retracing his +steps. And now he remembered the moving shadow on the wall, as he +stood, nearly three hours before, in front of his house, debating with +himself whether to enter or no. He heard too, in imagination, the +plaintive cries of his sick child, and the soothing melody of its +mother's voice as she sought to hush into sleep its unquiet spirit. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +WILKINSON was nearly in front of his own door, when he was thus +familiarly accosted by a man named Ellis, who came leisurely walking +along with a lighted cigar in his mouth. + +"Hallo! is this you, Wilkinson? What in the name of wonder are you +doing out at such an hour?" + +"And suppose I were to ask you the same question?" inquired Wilkinson, +as he took the hand of the other, who was an old acquaintance. + +"It would be easily answered," was the unhesitating reply of Ellis, who +had been drinking rather freely. + +"Well, suppose I have the benefit of your answer." + +"You're quite welcome. I keep no secrets from an old friend, you see. +Can't you guess?" + +"I'm not good at guessing." + +"Had a little tiff with Cara," said Ellis in a half whisper, as he bent +to the ear of his companion. + +"Oh, no!" returned Wilkinson. + +"Fact. Cara's a dear, good soul, as you know; but she's a self-willed +little jade, and if I don't do just as she wants me to--if I don't walk +her chalk line--_presto!_ she goes off like a rocket. To-night, d'ye +see, I came home with the first volume of Prescott's new work on +Mexico--a perfect romance of a book, and wanted to read it aloud to +Cara. But no, she had something else in her head, and told me, up and +down, that she didn't want to hear any of my dull old histories. I got +mad, of course; I always get mad when she comes athwart my hawes in +this way. + +"'Dull old histories!' said I, indignantly. 'There's more true life and +real interest in this book than in all the Wandering Jews or Laura +Matilda novels that ever were written; and I wish you'd throw such +miserable trash into the fire, and read books from which to get some +intelligence and strength of mind.' Whew! The way she combed my hair +for me at this was curious. I am a philosopher, and on these occasions +generally repeat to myself the wise saw-- + + 'He that fights and runs away, + May live to fight another day.' + +So, deeming discretion the better part of valour, I retreated in +disorder." + +"That's bad," remarked Wilkinson, who knew something of the character +of his friend's wife. + +"I know it's bad; but, then, I can't help myself. Cara has such a queer +temper, I never know how to take her." + +"You ought to understand her peculiarities by this time, and bear with +them." + +"Bear with them! I'd like to see you have the trial for a while; your +wife is an angel. Ah, John! you're a lucky dog. If I had such a +sweet-tempered woman in my house, I would think it a very paradise." + +"Hush! hush! Harry; don't speak in that way. Few women possess so many +good qualities as Mrs. Ellis; and it is your duty to cherish and love +the good, and to bear with the rest." + +"Well preached; but, as I am to apply the discourse, and not you, I +must beg to be excused." + +"Good-night. Go home, kiss Cara, and forgive her," said Wilkinson; and +he made a motion to pass on, adding, as he did so, "I'm out much later +than usual, and am in a hurry to get back. Mary will be uneasy about +me." + +But Ellis caught hold of one of his arms with both hands, and held on +to him. + +"Can't let you go, Wilkinson" said he, firmly. "You're the man of all +others I want to see--been thinking about you all the evening; want to +have a long talk with you." + +"Any other time, but not now," replied Wilkinson. + +"Now, and no other time," persisted the other, clinging fast to his arm. + +"What do you wish to talk about?" said Wilkinson, ceasing his effort to +release himself from the firm grip of his friend. + +"About Cara," was answered. + +"Go home and make it up with her; that's the best way. She loves you, +and you love her; and your love will settle all differences. And +besides, Harry, you shouldn't talk about these things to other people. +The relation between man and wife is too sacred for this." + +"Do you think I talk in this way to everybody? No, indeed!" responded +Ellis, in a half-offended tone of voice. "But you're a particular +friend. You know Cara's peculiar temper, and can advise with me as a +friend. So come along, I want to have a talk with you." + +"Come where?" + +Ellis turned and pointed to a brilliant gas lamp in the next square, +that stood in front of a much frequented tavern. + +"No, no; I must go home." And Wilkinson tried to extricate himself from +the firm grasp of his friend. But the latter tightened his hold, as he +said-- + +"It's of no use. I shall not let you go. So come along with me to +Parker's. Over a couple of brandy toddies we will discuss this matter +of Cara's." + +A vigorous jerk from the hand of Ellis gave the body of Wilkinson a +motion in the direction of the tavern. Had his mind been perfectly +clear--had none of the effects of his wine-drinking at Elbridge's +remained, he would have resisted to the end this solicitation, at the +hour and under the circumstances. But his mind was not perfectly clear. +And so, a few steps being taken by compulsion, he moved on by a sort of +constrained volition. + +As mentioned above, Wilkinson had nearly reached his own door when he +encountered Ellis; was, in fact, so near, that he could see the light +shining from the chamber-window through which, some hours before, he +had marked on the wall the flitting shadow of his wife, as she walked +to and fro, seeking to soothe into slumber her sick and grieving child. +For nearly five minutes, he had stood talking with his friend, and the +sound of their voices might easily have been heard in his dwelling, if +one had been listening intently there. And one was listening with every +sense strung to the acutest perception. Just as Wilkinson moved away, +an observer would have seen the door of his house open, and a slender +female form bend forth, and look earnestly into the darkness. A moment +or two, she stood thus, and then stepped forth quickly, and leaning +upon the iron railing of the door steps, fixed eagerly her eyes upon +the slowly receding forms of the two men. + +"John! John!" she called, in half suppressed tones. + +But her voice did not reach the ear of her husband, whose form she well +knew, even in the obscurity of night. + +Gliding down the steps, Mrs. Wilkinson ran a few paces along the +pavement, but suddenly stopped as some thought passed through her mind; +and, turning, went back to the door she had left. There she stood +gazing after her husband, until she saw him enter the tavern mentioned +as being kept by a man named Parker, when, with a heavy, fluttering +sigh, she passed into the house, and ascended to the chamber from which +she had, a few minutes before, come down. + +It was past eleven o'clock. The two domestics had retired, and Mrs. +Wilkinson was alone with her sick child. Ella's moan of suffering came +on her ear the instant she re-entered the room, and she stepped quickly +to the crib, and bent over to look into its face. The cheeks of the +child were flushed with fever to a bright crimson, and she was moving +her head from side to side, and working her lips as if there was +something in her mouth. Slight twitching motions of the arms and hands +were also noticed by the mother. Her eyes were partly open. + +"Will Ella have a drink of water?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, placing her +hand under the child's head, and slightly raising it from the pillow. + +But Ella did not seem to hear. + +"Say--love, will you have some water?" + +There was no sign that her words reached the child's ears. + +A deeper shade of trouble than that which already rested on the +mother's face glanced over it. + +"Ella! Ella!" Mrs. Wilkinson slightly shook the child. + +The only response was the muttering of some incoherent words, and a +continued moaning as if pain were disturbing her sleep. + +The mother now bent low over her child, and eagerly marked the +expression of her face and the character of her breathing. Then she +laid a hand upon her cheek. Instantly it was withdrawn with a quick +start, but as quickly replaced again. + +"What a burning fever!" she murmured. Then she added, in a tone of +anxiety, + +"How strangely she works her mouth! I don't like this constant rolling +of her head. What can it mean? Ella! Ella!" + +And she shook the child again. + +"Want some water, love?" + +The mother's voice did not appear to reach the locked sense of hearing. + +Mrs. Wilkinson now lifted a glass of water from the bureau near by, and +raising the head of Ella with one hand, applied, with the other, the +water to her lips. About a table-spoonful was poured into her mouth. It +was not swallowed, but ran out upon the pillow. + +"Mercy! mercy! what can ail the child!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson, a +look of fear coming into her face. + +A little while she stood over her, and then leaving her place beside +the crib, she hurried out into the passage, and, pausing at the bottom +of the stairs leading to the room above, called several times-- + +"Anna! Anna! Anna!" + +But no answer came. The domestic thus summoned had fallen into her +first sound sleep, and the voice did not penetrate her ears. + +"Anna!" once more called Mrs. Wilkinson. + +There was no response, but the reverberation of her own voice returned +upon the oppressive silence. She now hurried back to her sick child, +whose low, troubled moaning had not been hushed for a moment. + +There was no apparent change. Ella lay with her half-opened eyes, +showing, by the white line, that the balls were turned up unnaturally; +with her crimsoned cheeks, and with the nervous motions of her lips and +slight twitchings of her hands, at first noticed with anxiety and alarm. + +Mrs. Wilkinson was but little familiar with sickness in children; and +knew not the signs of real danger--or, rather, what unusual signs such +as those now apparent in Ella really indicated. But she was +sufficiently alarmed, and stood over the child, with her eyes fixed +eagerly upon her. + +Again she tried to arouse her from so strange and unnatural a state, +but with as little effect as at first. + +"Oh, my husband!" she at length exclaimed, clasping her hands together, +and glancing upward, with tearful eyes, "why are you away from me now? +Oh, why did you break your promise to return hours and hours ago?" + +Then covering her face with her hands, she sobbed and wept, until, +startled by a sharp, unnatural cry from the lips of Ella, her attention +was once more fixed upon her suffering child. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"Now, what will you take?" said Henry Ellis, as he entered, with the +weak and yielding Wilkinson, the bar-room of Parker's tavern. + +"Any thing you choose to call for," replied Wilkinson, whose mind was +turning homeward, and who wished to be there. "In fact, I don't really +want any thing. Call for two glasses of cold water. These will leave +our heads clear." + +"Water! Ha! ha! That is a good one, Bill"--and Ellis spoke to the +bar-tender--"Mix us a couple of stiff brandy toddies." + +The bar-tender nodded and smiled his acceptance of the order, and the +two men retired to a table that stood in a remote part of the room, at +which they were soon served with the liquor. + +"Bill mixes the best brandy toddy I ever tasted. He knows his +business," said Ellis, as he put the glass to his lips. "Isn't it fine?" + +"It is very good," replied Wilkinson, as he sipped the tempting mixture. + +But his thoughts were turning homeward, and he scarcely perceived the +taste of what he drank. Suddenly, he pushed the glass from him, and, +making a motion to rise from the table, said-- + +"Indeed, Ellis, I must go home. My child is sick, and Mary will be +distressed at my absence. Come around to my store, to-morrow, and we +will talk this matter over. Neither you nor I are now in a fit state to +discuss so grave a matter. + +"Sit down, will you!" + +This was the reply of Ellis, as he caught quickly the arm of his +friend, and almost forced him, by main strength, to resume his seat. + +"There, now," he added, as Wilkinson resumed his seat. "Never put off +until to-morrow what can as well be done to-day. That is my motto. I +want to talk with you about Cara, and no time is so good as the +present." + +"Well, well," returned Wilkinson, impatiently. "What do you want to +say? Speak quickly, and to the point." + +"Just what I'm going to do. But, first, I must see the bottom of my +tumbler. There, now; come, you must do the same. Drink to good old +times, and eternal friendship--drink, my fast and faithful friend!" + +The warmth of the room and the quick effects of a strong glass of +brandy toddy were making rapid advances on Ellis's partial state of +inebriety. + +Wilkinson emptied his glass, and then said-- + +"Speak, now, I'm all attention." + +"Well, you see, Jack," and Ellis leaned over towards Wilkinson +familiarly, and rested his arm upon his knee. "You see, Jack, that +huzzy of mine--if I must call the dear girl by such a name--is leading +me the deuce of a life. Confound her pretty face! I love her, and would +do almost any thing to please her; but she won't be pleased at any +thing. She combs my head for me as regularly as the day comes." + +"Hush--hush! Don't talk so of Cara. Her temper may be a little +uncertain, but that is her weakness. She is your wife, and you must +bear with these things. It isn't manly in you to be vexed at every +trifle." + +"Trifle! Humph! I'd like you to have a week of my experience. You +wouldn't talk any more about trifles." + +"You should humour her a great deal, Harry. I am not so sure that you +are not quite as much to blame for these differences and fallings out +as she is." + +"I wasn't to blame to-night, I am sure. Didn't I bring home Prescott, +thinking that she would be delighted to have me sit the evening with +her and read so charming an author? But, at the very proposition, she +flared up, and said she didn't want to hear my musty old histories. +Humph! A nice way to make a man love his home. Better for her and me, +too, I'm thinking, that she had listened to the history, and kept her +husband by her side." + +"And for me, too," thought Wilkinson. "I should now, at least, be at +home with my loving-hearted wife. Ah, me!" + +"Now, what am I to do, Jack--say? Give me your advice." + +"The first thing for you to do is to go home, and to go at once. Come!" + +And Wilkinson made another effort to rise; but the hand of Ellis bore +him down. + +"Stay, stay!" he muttered, impatiently. "Now don't be in such a +confounded hurry. Can't you talk with an old friend for a minute or so? +Look here, I've been thinking--let me see--what was I going to say?" + +The mind of Ellis was growing more and more confused; nor was the head +of Wilkinson so clear as when he entered the bar-room. The strong glass +of brandy toddy was doing its work on both of them. + +"Let me see," went on Ellis, in a wandering way. "I was speaking of +Cara--oh, yes, of Cara. Bless her heart, but confound her crooked +temper! Now, what would you advise me to do, my old friend?" + +"Go home, I have said," replied Wilkinson. + +"And get my head combed with a three-legged stool? No, blast me if I +do! I've stayed out this long just to make her sensible of her +unkindness to one of the best of husbands--and I'm not going home until +I am dead drunk. I guess that'll bring her to her bearings. Ha! Don't +you think so, Jack?" + +"Good heavens!" was just at this instant exclaimed by one of the +inmates of the bar-room, in a low, startled tone of voice. + +"Your wife, as I live!" fell from the lips of Ellis, whose face was +turned towards the entrance of the bar-room. + +Wilkinson sprang to his feet. Just within the door stood a female form, +her head uncovered, her under person clad in a white wrapper, and her +face colourless as the dress she wore. There was a wild, frightened +look in her staring eyes. + +"Is Mr. Wilkinson here?" she asked, just as her husband's eyes rested +upon her, and her thrilling voice reached his ears. + +With a bound, Wilkinson was at her side. + +"Oh, John! John!" she cried, in a voice of anguish. "Come home! Come +quick! Our dear little Ella is dying!" + +An instant more, and, to the inmates of the bar-room, the curtain fell +upon that startling scene; for Wilkinson and his wife vanished almost +as suddenly as if they had sunk together through the floor. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +DURING the day on which our story opened, Henry Ellis had obtained from +a friend the first volume of Prescott's History of Mexico, then just +from the press. An hour's perusal of its fascinating pages awakened in +his mind a deep interest. + +"Just the book to read to Cara," said he to himself, closing the +volume, and laying it aside. "She's too much taken up with mere +fiction. But here is that truth which is stranger than fiction; and I +am sure she will soon get absorbed in the narrative." + +With his new book, and this pleasant thought in his mind, Ellis took +his way homeward, after the business of the day was over. As he walked +along, a friend overtook him, and said, familiarly, as he touched him +on the shoulder, + +"I'm glad to overhaul you so opportunely. Half a dozen times, to-day, I +have been on the eve of running round to see you, but as often was +prevented. All in good time yet, I hope. I want you to come over to my +room, this evening. There are to be three or four of our friends there, +and some good eating and drinking into the bargain." + +"A temptation certainly," replied Ellis. "No man likes good company +better than I do; but, I rather think I must forego the pleasure this +time." + +"Why do you say that?" + +"I've promised myself another pleasure." + +"Another engagement?" + +"Not exactly that. Barker has loaned me the first volume of Prescott's +Mexico; and I'm going to spend the evening in reading it to my wife." + +"Any other evening will do as well for that," returned the friend. "So +promise me to come around. I can't do without you." + +"Sorry to disappoint you," said Ellis, firmly. "But, when I once get my +mind fixed on a thing, I am hard to change." + +"Perhaps your wife may have some engagement on hand, for the evening, +or be disinclined for reading. What then?" + +"You will see me at your room," was the prompt answer of Ellis; and the +words were uttered with more feeling than he had intended to exhibit. +The very question brought unpleasant images before his mind. + +"I shall look for you," said the friend, whose name was Jerome. "Good +evening!" + +"Good evening! Say to your friends, if I should not be there, that I am +in better company." + +The two men parted, and Ellis kept on his way homeward. Not until the +suggestion of Jerome that his wife might be disinclined to hear him +read, did a remembrance of Cara's uncertain temper throw a shade across +his feelings. He sighed as he moved onward. + +"I wish she were kinder and more considerate," he said to himself. "I +know that I don't always do right; yet, I am not by any means so bad as +she sometimes makes me out. To any thing reasonable, I am always ready +to yield. But when she frowns if I light a cigar; and calls me a +tippler whenever she detects the smell of brandy and water, I grow +angry and stubborn. Ah, me!" + +Ellis sighed heavily. A little way he walked on, and then began +communing with himself. + +"I don't know"--he went on--"but, may be, I do take a little too much +sometimes. I rather think I must have been drinking too freely when I +came home last week: by the way Cara talked, and by the way she acted +for two or three days afterwards. There may be danger. Perhaps there +is. My head isn't very strong; and it doesn't take much to affect me. I +wish Cara wouldn't speak to me as she does sometimes. I can't bear it. +Twice within the last month, she has fairly driven me off to spend my +evening in a tavern, when I would much rather have been at home. Ah, +me! It's a great mistake. And Cara may find it out, some day, to her +sorrow. I like a glass of brandy, now and then; but I'm not quite so +far gone that I must have it whether or no. I'm foolish, I will own, to +mind her little, pettish, fretful humours. I ought to be more of a man +than I am. But, I didn't make myself, and can't help feeling annoyed, +and sometimes angry, when she is unkind and unreasonable. Going off to +a tavern don't mend the matter, I'll admit; but, when I leave the +house, alone, after nightfall, and in a bad humour, it is the most +natural thing in the world for me to seek the pleasant company of some +of my old friends--and I generally know where to find them." + +Such was the state of mind in which Ellis returned home. + +A word or two will give the reader a better idea of the relation which +Henry Ellis and his wife bore to each other and society. They had been +married about six years, and had three children, the oldest a boy, and +the other two girls. Ellis kept a retail dry-goods store, in a small +way. His capital was limited, and his annual profits, therefore, but +light. The consequence was, that, in all his domestic arrangements, the +utmost frugality had to be observed. He was a man of strict probity, +with some ambition to get ahead in the world. These made him careful +and economical in his expenditures, both at home and in the management +of his business. As a man, he was social in his feelings, but inclined +to be domestic. While unmarried, he had lived rather a gay life, and +formed a pretty large acquaintance among young men. His associations +led him into the pretty free use of intoxicating drinks; but the +thought of becoming a slave of a vicious appetite never once crossed +his mind with its warning shadow. + +The first trial of Henry Ellis's married life was the imperative +necessity that required him to lay a restraining hand upon his wife's +disposition to spend money more freely than was justified by their +circumstances. He had indulged her for the period of a whole year, and +the result was so heavy a balance against his expense account, that he +became anxious and troubled. There must be a change, or his business +would be crippled, and ultimate ruin follow. As gently as he could, +Ellis brought the attention of his wife to this matter. But, she could +not comprehend, to its full extent, the point he urged. It then became +necessary for Ellis to hold the purse-strings more tightly than he had +formerly done. This fretted the mind of his wife, and often led her, in +the warmth of the moment of disappointment, to utter unkind +expressions. These hurt Ellis; and, sometimes, made him angry. The +cloud upon Cara's brow, consequent upon these occasional +misunderstandings, was generally so unpleasant to Ellis, whose heart +was ever wooing the sunshine, let the rays come through almost any +medium, that he would spend his evenings abroad. Temptation, as a +natural consequence, was in his way. His convivial character made him +seek the company of those who do not always walk the safest paths. How +anxious should be the wife of such a husband to keep him at home; how +light the task would have been for Cara. Alas! that she was so selfish, +so self-willed--so blind! The scene that occurred on the evening of +Ellis's return home with the book he wished to read for his wife, will +give a fair view of Mrs. Ellis's manner of reacting upon her husband; +and his mode of treating her on such occasions. + +It has been seen in what state of feeling the husband returned home. +Remembrances of the past brought some natural misgivings to his mind. +His face, therefore, wore rather a more subdued expression than usual. +Still, he was in a tolerably cheerful frame of mind--in fact, he was +never moody. To his great relief, Cara met him with a smile, and seemed +to be in an unusually good humour. Their sweet babe was lying asleep on +her lap; and his other two children were playing about the room. +Instantly the sunshine fell warmly again on the heart of Ellis. He +kissed mother and children fervently, and with a deep sense of love. + +"I called to see the bride this afternoon," said Mrs. Ellis, soon after +her husband came in. + +"Ah, did you?" he answered. "At her new home?" + +"Yes." + +"She is well and happy, of course?" + +"Oh, yes; happy as the day is long. How could she help being so in such +a little paradise?" + +"Love makes every spot a paradise," said Ellis. + +"Beg your pardon," replied the wife, with some change in her tone of +voice. "I'm no believer in that doctrine. I want something more than +love. External things are of account in the matter; and of very +considerable account." + +"They have every thing very handsome, of course," said Ellis; who was +generally wise enough not to enter into a discussion with his wife on +subjects of this kind. + +"Oh, perfect!" replied his wife, "perfect! I never saw a house +furnished with so much taste. I declare it has put me half out of +conceit with things at home. Oh, dear! how common every thing did look +when I returned." + +"You must remember that our furniture has been in use for about six +years," said Ellis; "and, moreover, that it was less costly than your +friend's, in the beginning. Her husband and your's are in different +circumstances." + +"I know all about that," was returned, with a toss of the head. "I know +that we are dreadfully poor, and can hardly get bread for our children." + +"We are certainly not able to furnish as handsomely as Mr. and Mrs. +Beaumont. There is no denying that, Cara. Still, we are able to have +every real comfort of life; and therewith let us try to be content. To +desire what we cannot possess, will only make us unhappy." + +"You needn't preach to me," retorted Mrs. Ellis, her face slightly +flushing. "When I want to hear a sermon, I'll go to church." + +Mr. Ellis made no answer, but, lifting his babe from its mother's lap, +commenced tossing it in the air and singing a pleasant nursery ditty. +Caroline sat in a moody state of mind for some minutes, and then left +the room to give some directions about tea. On her return, Ellis said, +in as cheerful a voice as if no unpleasant incident had transpired, + +"Oh! I had forgotten to say, Cara, that Mr. Hemming and his wife have +returned from Boston. They will be around to see us some evening this +week." + +"Hum-m--well." This was the cold, moody response of Mrs. Ellis. + +"Mr. Hemming says that his wife's health is much better than it was." + +"Does he?" very coldly uttered. + +"He seemed very cheerful." + +Mrs. Ellis made no comment upon this remark of her husband, and the +latter said nothing more. + +Tea was soon announced, and the husband and wife went, with their two +oldest children, to partake of their evening meal. A cloud still hung +over Caroline's features. Try as Ellis would to feel indifferent to his +wife's unhappy state of mind, his sensitiveness to the fact became more +and more painful every moment. The interest at first felt in his +children, gradually died away, and, by the time supper was over, he was +in a moody and fretted state, yet had he manfully striven to keep his +mind evenly balanced. + +On returning to the sitting-room, the sight of the book he had brought +home caused Ellis to make a strong effort to regain his +self-possession. He had set his heart on reading that book to Cara, +because he was sure she would get interested therein; and he hoped, by +introducing this better class of reading, to awaken a healthier +appetite for mental food than she now possessed. So he occupied himself +with a newspaper, while his wife undressed the children and put them to +bed. It seemed to him a long time before she was ready to sit down with +her sewing at the table, upon which the soft, pleasant light of their +shaded lamp was falling. At last she came, with her small work-basket +in her mind. Topmost of all its contents was a French novel. When Ellis +saw this, there came doubts and misgivings across his heart. + +"Cara," said he quickly, and in a tone of forced cheerfulness, taking +up, at the same time, his volume of Prescott,--"I brought this book +home on purpose to read aloud. I dipped into it, to-day, and found it +so exceedingly interesting, that I deferred the pleasure of its perusal +until I could share it with you." + +Now, under all the circumstances, it cost Ellis considerable effort to +appear cheerful and interested, while saying this. + +"What book is it?" returned Cara, in a chilling tone, while her eyes +were fixed upon her husband's face, with any thing but a look of love. + +"The first volume of Prescott's History of Mexico, one of the most +charming"-- + +"Pho! I don't want to hear your dull old histories!" said Cara, with a +contemptuous toss of the head. + +"Dull old histories!" retorted Ellis, whose patience was now gone. +"Dull old histories! You don't know what you are talking about. There's +more real interest in this book than in all the French novels that ever +were invented to turn silly women's heads." + +Of course, Mrs. Ellis "fired up" at this. She was just at the right +point of ignition to blaze out at a single breath of reproof. We will +not repeat the cutting language she used to her husband. Enough, that, +in the midst of the storm that followed, Ellis started up, and bowing, +with mock ceremony, said-- + +"I wish you good evening, madam. And may I see you in a better humour +when we meet again." + +A moment afterwards, and Caroline was alone with her own perturbed +feelings and unpleasant, self-rebuking thoughts. Still, she could not +help muttering, as a kind of justification of her own conduct-- + +"A perfect Hotspur! It's rather hard that a woman can't speak to her +husband, but he must fling himself off in this way. Why didn't he read +his history, if it was so very interesting, and let me alone. I don't +care about such things, and he knows it." + +After this, Mrs. Ellis fell into a state of deep and gloomy abstraction +of mind. Many images of the past came up to view, and, among them, some +that it was by no means pleasant to look upon. This was not the first +time that her husband had gone off in a pet; but in no instance had he +come home with a mind as clear as when he left her. A deep sigh heaved +the wife's bosom as she remembered this; and, for some moments, she +suffered from keen self-reproaches. But, an accusing spirit quickly +obliterated this impression. In her heart she wrote many bitter things +against her husband, and magnified habits and peculiarities into +serious faults. + +Poor, unhappy wife! How little did she comprehend the fact that her +husband's feet were near the brink of a precipice, and that a fearful +abyss of ruin was below; else would she have drawn him lovingly back, +instead of driving him onward to destruction. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +ELLIS, excited and angry, not only left his wife's presence, but the +house. Repulsed by one pole, he felt the quick attraction of another. +Not a moment did he hesitate, on gaining the street, but turned his +steps toward the room of Jerome, where a party of gay young men were to +assemble for purposes of conviviality. + +We will not follow him thither, nor describe the manner of his +reception. We will not picture the scene of revelry, nor record the +coarse jests that some of the less thoughtful of the company ventured +to make on the appearance of Ellis in their midst--for, to most of his +friends, it was no secret that his wife's uncertain temper often caused +him to leave his home in search of more congenial companionship. +Enough, that at eleven o'clock, Ellis left the house of Jerome, much +excited by drink. + +The pure, cool night air, as it bathed the heated temples of Henry +Ellis, so far sobered him by the time he reached his own door, that a +distant remembrance of what had occurred early in the evening was +present to his thoughts; and, still beyond this, a remembrance of how +he had been received on returning at a late hour in times gone by. His +hand was in his pocket, in search of his dead-latch key, when he +suddenly retreated from the door, muttering to himself-- + +"I'm not going to stand a curtain lecture! There now! I'll wait until +she's asleep." + +Saying which, he drew a cigar and match-box from his pocket, and +lighting the former, placed it between his lips, and moved leisurely +down the street. + +The meeting with Wilkinson has already been described. + +Scarcely less startled was Ellis at the sudden apparition of Mrs. +Wilkinson than her husband had been. He remained only a few moments +after they retired. Then he turned his steps again homeward, with a +clearer head and heavier heart than when he refused to enter, in fear +of what he called a "curtain lecture." + +Many painful thoughts flitted through his mind as he moved along with a +quick pace. + +"I wish Cara understood me better, or that I had more patience with +her," he said to himself. "This getting angry with her, and going off +to drinking parties and taverns is a bad remedy for the evil, I will +confess. It is wrong in me, I know. Very wrong. But I can't bear to be +snapped, and snubbed up, and lectured in season and out of season. I'm +only flesh and blood. Oh dear! I'm afraid evil will come of it in the +end. Poor Wilkinson! What a shock the appearance of his wife must have +given him! It set every nerve in my body to quivering. And it was all +my fault that he wasn't at home with his watching wife and sick child. +Ah me! How one wrong follows another!" + +Ellis had reached his own door. Taking out his night-key, he applied it +to the latch; but the door did not open. It had been locked. + +"Locked out, ha!" he ejaculated quickly; and with a feeling of anger. +His hand was instantly on the bell-pull, and he jerked it three or four +times vigorously; the loud and continued ringing of the bell sounding +in his ears where he stood on the doorstep without. A little while he +waited, and then the ringing was renewed, and with a more prolonged +violence than at first. Then he listened, bending his ear close to the +door. But he could detect no movement in the house. + +"Confound it!" came sharp and impatiently from his lips. "If I thought +this was designed, I'd--" + +He checked himself, for just at that instant he saw a faint glimmer of +light through the glass over the door. Then he perceived the distant +shuffle of feet along the passage floor. There was a fumbling at the +key and bolts, and then the half-asleep and half-awake servant admitted +him. + +"I didn't know you was out, sir," said the servant, "or I wouldn't have +locked the door when I went to bed." + +Ellis made no reply, but entered and ascended to his chamber. Cara was +in bed and asleep, or apparently so. Her husband did not fail to +observe a certain unsteady motion of the lashes that lay over her +closed eyes; and he was not far wrong in his impression that she was +awake, and had heard his repeated ringing for admission. His belief +that such was the case did not lessen the angry feelings produced by +the fact of having the key of his own door turned upon him. + +But slumber soon locked his senses into oblivion, and he did not awake +until the sun was an hour above the horizon. + +The moment Mrs. Wilkinson emerged, with her husband, from the bar-room +of Parker's tavern, she fled along the street like a swift gliding +spirit, far outstripping in speed her thoroughly sobered and alarmed +husband, who hurried after her with rapid steps. The door of the house +had been left open when she came forth in the anguish of her wild alarm +to summon her husband, and she re-entered and flew up-stairs without +the pause of an instant. Wilkinson was but a moment or two later in +reaching the house, and in gaining their chamber. The sight that met +his eyes sent the blood coldly to his heart. The mother had already +snatched the child from the crib in which she had left her, and was +standing with her close to the lamp, the light from which fell strongly +upon her infantile face, that was fearfully distorted. The eyes were +open and rolled up, until the entire pupil was hidden. The lips were +white with their firm compression; and yet they had a quick nervous +motion. + +"Oh, John! John! what is the matter?" cried Mrs. Wilkinson, as she +looked first upon the face of her child, and then into that of her +husband, with a most anxious and imploring glance. "Is she dying?" + +"No, dear, I think not," returned Wilkinson, with a composure of voice +that belied the agitation of his feelings. + +"Oh! what is the matter? Yes! Yes! I'm sure she's dying. Oh! run quick! +quick! for the doctor." + +"First," said Wilkinson, who was becoming, every moment, more +self-possessed, and who now saw that the child, who was teething, had +been thrown into spasms, "let us do what we can for her. She is in +convulsions, and we must get her into a bath of hot water as quickly as +possible. I will call up Anna. Don't be alarmed," he added, in a +soothing voice: "there is no immediate danger." + +"Are you sure, John? Are you sure? Oh! I'm afraid she is dying! My +precious, precious babe!" And the mother clasped her child passionately +to her bosom. + +In the course of ten or fifteen minutes, a vessel of hot water was +ready, and into this the still writhing form of the convulsed child was +placed. Then Wilkinson hurried off for their physician. Half an hour +afterwards he returned with him. The good effects of the hot-bath were +already perceptible. The face of the child had resumed its placid +sweetness of expression, and there was but slight convulsive twitching +in the limbs. The doctor remained with them, applying, from time to +time, appropriate remedies, until all the painful signs which +occasioned so much alarm had vanished, and then left, promising to call +early on the next morning. + +It was past one o'clock. The physician had left, and the domestics +retired to their own apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson were alone with +their still unconscious child, that lay in a deep, unnatural slumber. +They were standing, side by side, and bending over the bed on which +little Ella lay. Wilkinson had drawn his arm around his wife, and she +had laid her head upon his shoulder. Each heard the beating of the +other's heart, as thus they stood, silent, yet with troubled thoughts +and oppressed feelings. + +A tear fell upon the hand of Wilkinson, and the warm touch, coming as +it did in that moment of intense excitement, caused a quick thrill to +pass through his nerves; and he started involuntarily. Words of +confession and promises for the future were on his tongue; but, their +utterance, just at that moment, seemed untimely, and he merely answered +the mute appeal of tears with a fervent, heart-warm kiss, that, if the +power of his will could have gone with it, would have filled the heart +of his wife with joy unspeakable. Scarcely had his lips touched hers, +ere she started up, and flung her arms around his neck, sobbing-- + +"Oh, my husband! My husband!" + +If she had designed to say more, utterance failed, or was checked; for +she hid her face on his bosom, and wept like a heart-broken child. + +How sincere was Wilkinson's repentance for past errors in that solemn +hour! and how fervent was the promise of future amendment! + +"I were worse than an evil spirit, to lay grief upon that gentle heart, +or to make of those loving eyes a fountain of tears!" + +Such was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, and he meant all that he +said. + +"God bless you, dearest!" he murmured in her ear.--"God bless you, and +take this shadow quickly from your heart! Believe me, Mary, that no act +of mine will ever dim its bright surface again." + +Mrs. Wilkinson slowly raised her pale, tear-moistened face, and fixed, +for a few moments, her eyes in those of her husband's. There was more +of confidence and hope in them than pages of written language could +express. Then her face was again hid on his bosom; while his arm +clasped her slender form with a more earnest pressure. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +MORNING found little Ella, though much exhausted by the severe struggle +through which she had passed, so far restored that her parents ceased +to feel that anxiety with which for hours, as they hung over her, their +hearts had been painfully oppressed. + +It could not but be that a shadow would rest on the gentle face of Mrs. +Wilkinson, as she met her husband at the breakfast table; for it was +impossible to obliterate the memory of such a night of trial and alarm +as the one through which she had just passed. And yet, with a strong +effort, she strove to appear cheerful, and when she spoke to her +husband, it was with a forced smile and a tone of tenderness that +touched and subdued his feelings; for he well understood that, in a +certain sense, she was merely acting. + +But few words passed between them during the brief morning meal. As the +hour was later than usual, Wilkinson found it necessary to hurry off to +his place of business; so, rising before his wife left the table, he +kissed her pale lips, and, without venturing to make a remark, left the +room. + +The door had scarcely closed upon him, ere a tear stole out from the +sad eyes of Mrs. Wilkinson. A few moments she sat in statue-like +stillness, then there was a quick glancing of her eye upwards, while +the motion of her lips showed that she asked strength for herself, or +protection for one whom she loved better than herself. + +It was a regular custom with Wilkinson to stop at a drinking-house on +his way to his store, and get a glass of brandy. This was an afternoon +as well as a morning custom, which had been continued so long that it +was now a habit. Yet he was not aware of this fact, and, if he had +thought about the custom, would have regarded it as one easily +abandoned. He had a glimpse of his error on the present occasion. + +To do a thing by habit is to do it without reflection; and herein lies +the dangerous power of habit; for, when we act from confirmed habit, it +is without thought as to the good or evil to result from our action. +Thus had Wilkinson been acting for months as regards his regular glass +of brandy in the morning and afternoon, while passing from his dwelling +to his store. Not until now was he in the least conscious that habit +was gaining an undue power over him. + +As the eyes of Wilkinson rested upon the form of a certain elegant +coloured glass lamp standing in front of a well-known drinking-house, +he was conscious of a desire for his accustomed draught of brandy and +water; but, at the same instant, there came a remembrance of the +painful occurrences of the evening previous, and he said to +himself--"One such lesson ought to make me hate brandy, and every thing +else that can rob me of a true regard for the happiness of Mary." + +Yet, even as he said this, habit, disturbed in the stronghold of its +power, aroused itself, and furnished him with an argument that +instantly broke down his forming resolution. This argument was his loss +of rest, the consequent debility arising therefrom, and the actual need +of his system for something stimulating, in order to enable him to +enter properly upon the business of the day. + +So habit triumphed. Wilkinson, without even pausing at the door, +entered the drinking-house and obtained his accustomed glass of brandy. + +"I feel a hundred per cent. better," said he, as he emerged from the +bar-room and took his way to his store. "That was just what my system +wanted." + +Yet, if he felt, for a little while, better as regarded his bodily +sensations, the act did not leave him more comfortable in mind. His +instinctive consciousness of having done wrong in yielding to the +desire for brandy, troubled him. + +"I shall have to break up this habit entirely," he remarked to himself +during the morning, as his thought returned, again and again, to the +subject. "I don't believe I'm in any particular danger; but, then, it +troubles Mary; and I can't bear to see her troubled." + +While he thus communed with himself, his friend Ellis dropped in. + +"I meant to have called earlier," said Ellis, "to ask about your sick +child, but was prevented by a customer. She is better, I hope?" + +"Oh, yes, much better, thank you." + +"What was the matter?" inquired Ellis. + +"She is teething, and was thrown into convulsions." + +"Ah! yes. Well, I never was so startled in my life as by the appearance +of Mrs. Wilkinson. And the child is better?" + +"When I came away this morning, I left her sleeping calmly and sweetly; +and, what is more, the points of two teeth had made their way through +the red and swollen gums." + +"All right, then. But how is Mary?" + +"Not very well, of course. How could she be, after such a night of +anxiety and alarm? The fact is, Harry, I was to blame for having left +her alone during the evening, knowing, as I did, that Ella was not very +well." + +Ellis shrugged his shoulders, as he replied--"Not much excuse for you, +I must admit. I only wish the attraction at my home was as strong as it +is at yours: Parker's would not see me often. As for you, my old +friend, if I speak what I think, I must say that your inclination to go +out in the evening needs correcting. I spend most of my evenings from +home, because home is made unpleasant; you leave your wife, because a +love of conviviality and gay company entices you away. Such company I +know to be dangerous, and especially so for you. There now, as a +friend, I have talked out plainly. What do you think of it? Ain't I +right?" + +"I don't know," replied Wilkinson, musingly. "Perhaps you are. I have +thought as much, sometimes, myself." + +"I know I'm right," said Ellis, positively. "So take a friend's advice, +and never go out after sundown, except in company with your wife." + +There was a change from gravity to mock seriousness in the voice of +Ellis as he closed this sentence. Wilkinson compressed his lips and +shook his head. + +"Can't always be tied to my wife's apron-string. Oh, no! haven't come +to that." + +"With such a wife, and your temperament, it is the best place for you," +said Ellis, laughing. + +"May be it is; but, for all that, I like good company too well to spend +all my time with her." + +"Isn't she good company?" + +"Oh, yes; but, then, variety is the very spice of life, you know." + +"True enough. Well, we'll not quarrel about the matter. Come! let's go +and take a drink; I'm as dry as a fish." + +"I don't care if I do," was the instinctive reply of Wilkinson, who +took up his hat as he spoke. + +The two men left the store, and were, a little while after, taking a +lunch at a public house, and chatting over their brandy and water. + +At the usual dinner hour, Wilkinson returned home. He did not fully +understand the expression of his wife's face, as she looked at him on +his entrance: it was a look of anxious inquiry. She sat with Ella upon +her lap: the child was sleeping. + +"How is our little pet?" he asked, as he bent over, first kissing his +wife, and then touching his lips lightly to the babe's forehead. + +"She's been in a heavy sleep for most of the time since morning," +replied Mrs. Wilkinson, turning her face aside, so that her husband +could not see its changed expression. + +Mr. Wilkinson's habitual use of brandy had long been a source of +trouble to his wife. In reviewing the painful incidents of the previous +evening, a hope had sprung up in her heart that the effect would be to +awaken his mind to a sense of his danger, cause him to reflect, and +lead to a change of habit. Alas! how like a fairy frost-work fabric +melted this hope away, as the strong breath of her husband fell upon +her face. She turned away and sighed--sighed in her spirit, but not +audibly; for, even in her pain and disappointment, active love prompted +to concealment, lest the shadow that came over her should repel the one +she so earnestly sought to win from his path of danger. + +Ah, who can tell the effort it cost that true-hearted wife to call up +the smile with which, scarcely a moment afterwards, she looked into her +husband's face! + +"It is no worse, if no better," was her sustaining thought; and she +leaned upon it, fragile reed as it was. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"COME home early, dear," said Mrs. Wilkinson, resting her hand upon her +husband, and looking into his face with a loving smile. "The time seems +so long when you are away!" + +"Does it?" returned Wilkinson, and he kissed his wife. Yet, did not the +tenderness of tone with which he spoke, nor the act of love which +accompanied it, hide from the quick perception of Mary the fact that +her husband's thoughts were elsewhere. + +"Oh, yes," she replied. "I count the hours when you are absent. You'll +be home early to tea?" + +"Certainly I will. There now, let your heart be at rest." + +And Wilkinson retired. This was after dinner, on the day that succeeded +the opening of our story. + +As in the morning, he found it the most natural thing in the world to +call in at a certain drinking house and get his accustomed glass of +brandy. As he entered the door of the bar-room, a man named Carlton +stepped forward to meet him, with extended hand. He was an old +acquaintance, with whom Wilkinson had often passed an agreeable +hour,--one of your bar-room loungers, known as good fellows, who, while +they exhibit no apparent means of support, generally have money to +spend, and plenty of time on their hands. + +"Glad to see you, Wilkinson; 'pon my soul! Where have you kept yourself +for this month of Sundays?" + +Such was the familiar greeting of Carlton. + +"And it does one's eyes good to look upon your pleasant face," returned +Wilkinson, as he grasped the other's hand. "Where have you kept +yourself?" + +"Oh, I'm always on hand," said Carlton, gayly. "It's you who are shut +up, and hid away from the pure air and bright sunshine in a gloomy +store, delving like a mole in the dark. The fact is, old fellow! you +are killing yourself. Turning gray, as I live!" + +And he touched, with his fingers, the locks of Wilkinson, in which a +few gray lines were visible. + +"Bad! bad!" he went on, shaking his head. "And you are growing as thin +as a lath. When did you ride out?" + +"Oh, not for two months past. I've been too closely occupied with +business." + +"Business!" there was a slight air of contempt in Carlton's voice and +manner. "I hate to hear this everlasting cant, if I must so call it, +about business; as if there were nothing else in the world to think or +care about. Men bury themselves between four brick walls, and toil from +morning until night, like prison-slaves; and if you talk to them about +an hour's recreation for body and mind, all you can get out of them +is--'Business! business!' Pah! I'm out of all patience with it. Life +was made for enjoyment as well as toil. But come, what'll you drink? +I've preached to you until I'm as dry as a chip." + +The two men stepped to the bar and drank. As they turned away, Carlton +drew his arm within that of Wilkinson, saying, as he did so-- + +"As it is an age since I saw you, I must prolong the pleasure of this +meeting. Your work is done for the day, of course." + +"No, I can't just say that it is." + +"Well, I can then. If you've been immuring yourself, as you have on +your own confession, for some two months, or more, an afternoon with +good company is indispensable. So, consider this a holiday, and think +no more of bags, boxes, cash-book, or ledger. I bought a splendid +trotter yesterday, and am going to try his speed. You are a first-rate +judge of horse-flesh, and I want your opinion. So, consider yourself +engaged for a flying trip to Mount Airy." + +"You are a tempter," said Wilkinson, laughing. + +"Oh, no. A friend, who will give health to your veins, and life to your +spirit." + +"Let me see," said Wilkinson, now turning his thoughts upon his +business--"if there isn't something special that requires my attention. +Yes," he added, after thinking for a few moments--"a customer promised +to be in after dinner. He is from the country, and bought a good bill +last season. You will have to excuse me, Carlton. I'll go with you +to-morrow." + +"Indeed, and I shall do no such thing," was promptly answered. "Let +your customers call in the morning--always the best time for business. +Men don't buy in the afternoon." + +"My experience says differently." + +"A fig for your experience! No, no, my good friend. You're booked for a +ride with me this very afternoon; so let your business and customers +take care of themselves. Health is better than dollars; and length of +days than great possessions. There's wisdom in miniature for you. +Wouldn't I make a capital preacher, ha?" + +"But Carlton"-- + +"But me no buts, my hearty!" and Carlton slapped Wilkinson on the +shoulder as he spoke, in a familiar manner. "You're my prisoner for the +rest of the day. Do you understand that?" + +"You've bought a fast trotter, have you?" said Wilkinson, after a brief +but hurried self-communion, the end of which was a determination to +take the afternoon for pleasure, and let his customer call in the +morning. + +"I have; and the prettiest animal your eyes ever looked upon." + +"Fleet as an arrow?" + +"Ay; as the very wind. But you shall have a taste of his quality. So +come along. Time passes." + +The two men left the tavern, and went to the stable where Carlton's new +horse was kept. The animal was soon in harness. + +Four hours afterwards, the last rays of the setting sun came through +the windows of a room, in which were seated, at a table, Carlton and +Wilkinson. Liquor and glasses were on the table, and cards in the hands +of the men. Wilkinson appeared excited, but Carlton was calm and +self-possessed. The former had been drinking freely; but the latter +exhibited not the smallest sign of inebriation. A single five-dollar +bill lay beside Wilkinson; a dozen bills and two gold coins were beside +the other. They were playing for the last stake. Nervously did +Wilkinson lay card after card upon the table, while, with the most +perfect coolness, his adversary played his hand, a certainty of winning +apparent in every motion. And he did win. + +"Curse my luck!" exclaimed Wilkinson, grinding his teeth together, as +the last five-dollar bill he had with him passed into the hands of his +very particular friend. + +There was more than "luck" against him, if he had but known it. + +"The fortune of war," smilingly replied the winner. "The race is not +always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, you know. You played +well--very well; never better within my knowledge. But, as you say, +luck was against you. And, by the way, what a curious and uncertain +thing this luck is! I've seen men lose at every turn of the card, until +they had parted with thousands; and then, on a borrowed dollar, +perhaps, start again, and not only get every thing back, but break +their antagonists. This is an every-day occurrence, in fact." + +Wilkinson had risen from the table, and was pacing the room in a +fretful, impatient manner. Suddenly he stopped. A light flashed over +his face. Then, sitting down, he snatched up a pen, and writing on a +slip of paper--"Due Andrew Carlton $20," signed it with his name. + +Carlton saw every letter and word as they left the pen, and ere the +last flourish was made to the signature, had selected four five-dollar +bills from the pile beside him. Simultaneously with the motion of +Wilkinson's hand, in pushing to him this memorandum of debt, was the +motion of his hand in furnishing the sum required. + +"Not the man to be frightened at a little adverse fortune, I see," +remarked the cunning tempter. "Well, I do like a man who never can +acknowledge himself beaten. The timid and easily discouraged are soon +left far behind in the world's race--and they deserve to be." + +Wilkinson did not reply. Another deal was made, and again the two men +bent over the table in their unequal contest. + +In less than half an hour, the money obtained from Carlton had gone +back to him. + +By this time twilight had fallen. + +"Nearly eight o'clock, as I live!" muttered Wilkinson. He had drawn +forth his watch. "I had no idea of this. And we are ten miles from the +city!" + +A thought of his anxiously waiting wife flitted across his mind. He +remembered her last pleading injunction for him to come home early, and +the promise he had given. Alas! like so many more of his promises to +her, made to be broken. + +"Shall we return now; or order supper here?" said Carlton, in his bland +way. + +"I must go back immediately," replied Wilkinson. "It is an hour later +than I supposed. I was to have been home early this evening." + +"It is too late now to join your family at tea. They have given you out +before this. So, I think we'd better order supper here. The moon is +full, and it will be almost as clear as daylight; and much pleasanter +riding, for the dew will keep down the dust. What say you?" + +The end was, Wilkinson yielded. + +"Not down in the mouth, because of this little run of ill-luck?" said +Carlton, in a bantering way, as he saw a cloud settling over the face +of his victim. + +Lights had been brought in, and the two men still remained seated by +the table at which they had been playing, awaiting the preparation of +supper. + +"I'm never down in the mouth," replied Wilkinson, forcing a smile to +his countenance. "Better luck next time, has always been my motto." + +"And it will carry you safely through the world. Try another glass of +brandy." + +"No--I've taken enough already." + +"It isn't every man who knows when he has enough," returned the other. +"I've often wished that I knew exactly the right gauge." + +And, as Carlton spoke, he poured some brandy into a glass, and, adding +a little water, affected to take a deep draught thereof; but, though +the glass was held long to his mouth, only a small portion of the +contents passed his lips. In replacing the tumbler on the table, he +managed to give it a position behind the water-pitcher where the eye of +Wilkinson could not rest upon it. He need hardly have taken this +trouble, for his companion was too much absorbed in his own thoughts to +notice a matter like this. + +"They're a long time in getting supper," remarked Carlton, in a +well-affected tone of impatience. "What is the time now?" + +Wilkinson drew forth his watch, and, after glancing upon the face, +replied-- + +"Ten minutes after eight." + +"We shall have it pretty soon now, I suppose. They don't understand the +double quick time movement out here." + +As Carlton said this, his eyes rested, with more than a mere passing +interest, on the gold lever that Wilkinson, instead of returning to his +pocket, retained in one hand, while with the other he toyed with the +key and chain in a half-abstracted manner. + +For the space of nearly a minute, neither of the men spoke, but the +thought of each was at the same point. + +"That's a beautiful watch," at length Carlton ventured to say. There +was a well disguised indifference in his tones. + +"It ought to be," was the reply of Wilkinson. + +"What did it cost you?" + +"One hundred and forty dollars." + +"Is it a good time-keeper?" + +"First-rate. It hasn't varied a minute in six months." + +"Just such a watch as I would like to own. I've had terrible bad luck +with watches." + +This was a kind of feeler. + +No reply was made by Wilkinson, although an offer to sell trembled on +his tongue. He still kept the watch in his hand, and toyed with the key +and chain, as before, in an absent manner. + +"Could you be tempted to sell?" finally asked Carlton. + +"I don't know. Perhaps I might,"--said Wilkinson. He drew his breath +deeply as he spoke. + +"Or, perhaps you would trade?" and Carlton now produced his gold lever. +"Mine is a very good watch, though not so valuable as yours. It keeps +fair time, however. I paid a hundred dollars for it three or four years +ago." + +A mutual examination of watches took place. + +"Well--what do you say to a trade?" + +The servant appeared at this juncture, and announced supper. The two +watches were returned to their respective places of deposit, and the +two men proceeded to the dining-room. Here the traffic, just begun, was +renewed and completed. The watches were exchanged, and Wilkinson +received sixty dollars "boot." + +"Shall I order the horse brought out?" asked Carlton, as they arose, +about half an hour afterwards, from the supper-table. + +"Yes; if you please." + +This was not said with much promptness of tone; a fact instantly noted +by the ear of Carlton. + +"Well, I'm ready. Come--let's have a drink before we go!" + +The two men stepped to the bar and drank. Then they lingered, each with +a lighted cigar, and finally withdrew--to proceed to the city? No. To +return to their room up-stairs, and renew their unequal contest. The +sixty dollars which Wilkinson had received were staked, and soon passed +over to his adversary. Rendered, now, desperate by his losses and the +brandy which inflamed his brain, he borrowed, once more, on his +due-bill--this time to the amount of several hundred dollars. His +ill-success continued. + +It was nearly eleven o'clock, when Wilkinson started up from the table, +exclaiming, as he threw the cards upon the floor-- + +"Fool! fool! fool! One step more, and I am ruined. Carlton!" And he +fixed his eyes almost fiercely upon his companion. + +"Carlton! I thought you my friend, but find, when it is almost too late +to profit by the discovery, that you are a tempter. Ay! and worse than +a tempter. Pure air and the bright sunshine! Is this your health for +mind and body? Oh! weak, weak, unstable one that I am! Poor Mary!" This +was said in a low, mournful, and scarcely audible voice. "Thus has my +promise to you vanished into thin air!" + +As Wilkinson said this, he turned away and left the room. Carlton was +in no hurry to follow. When, at length, he came down, and made inquiry +for the one he had dealt by so treacherously, the man, who was shutting +the windows of the bar-room, and about locking up for the night, +replied that he had not seen him. + +"Not seen him?" he asked, in a tone of surprise. + +"No, sir. He didn't come in here." + +The hostler was aroused from his sleeping position on a bench in the +corner, and directed by Carlton to bring out his buggy. During the time +he was away, the latter made a hurried search in and around the house. +Not finding the object thereof, he muttered, in an under tone, a few +wicked oaths; then, jumping into his vehicle, he put whip to his horse, +and dashed off towards the city. He had Wilkinson's due-bills in his +pocket for various sums, amounting, in all, to nearly two thousand +dollars! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +ALMOST motionless, with her sleeping babe upon her lap, sat Mrs. +Wilkinson for nearly half an hour after her husband left the house. She +saw nothing that was around her--heard nothing--felt nothing. Not even +the breathings of her sleeping infant reached her ear; nor was she +conscious of the pressure of its body against her own. Fixed in a +dreamy, inward gaze were her eyes; and her soul withdrew itself from +the portal at which, a little while before, it hearkened into the world +of nature. At last there came a motion of the eyelids--a quivering +motion--then they closed, slowly, over the blue orbs beneath; and soon +after a tear trembled out to the light from behind the barriers that +sought to retain them. A deep, fluttering sigh succeeded to this sign +of feeling. Then her lips parted, and she spoke audibly to herself. + +"Oh, that I knew how to win him back from the path of danger! He does +not love his home; and yet how have I striven to make it attractive! +How much have I denied myself! and how much yielded to and thought of +him! He is always kind to me; and he--yes--I know he loves me; but--ah!" + +The low voice trembled back sighing into silence. Still, for a long +time, the unhappy wife sat almost as motionless as if in sleep. Then, +as some thought grew active towards a purpose in her mind, she arose, +and laying Ella on the bed, began busying herself in some household +duties. + +The afternoon passed slowly away, yet not for a moment was the thought +of her husband absent from the mind of Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"What ought I to do? How shall I make his home sufficiently attractive?" + +This was her over and over again repeated question; and her thoughts +bent themselves eagerly for some answer upon which her heart might rest +with even a small degree of hope. + +The prolonged, intense anxiety and alarm of the previous night, added +to bodily fatigue and loss of rest, were not without their effect upon +Mrs. Wilkinson. Early in the day she suffered from lassitude and a +sense of exhaustion; and, after dinner, a slight headache was added; +this increased hourly, and by four o'clock was almost blinding in its +violence. Still, she tried to forget herself, and what she suffered in +thinking about and devising some means of saving her husband from the +dangers that lay hidden from his own view about his footsteps. + +"If I could only add some new attraction to his home!" she murmured to +herself, over and over again. + +Sometimes she would hold her temples with both her hands, in the vain +effort to still, by pressure, the throbbing arteries within, while she +continued to think of her husband. + +As tea-time drew near, Mrs. Wilkinson left Ella in the care of a +domestic, and went into the kitchen to prepare some delicacy for the +evening meal of which she knew her husband was fond; this engaged her +for half an hour, and the effort increased the pain in her aching head. + +The usual time at which Mr. Wilkinson came home arrived, and his wife, +who had returned to her chamber, sat with her babe on her bosom, +listening for the well-known welcome sound of her husband's footsteps +in the passage below. Time glided by, yet she waited and listened in +vain; and to the pleasant thoughts of the influence her love was to +throw around him on that very evening, to keep him at home, began to +succeed a fear, which made her heart faint, that he would not come home +at all; or, at least, not until a late hour. + +The sun went down, and stealthily the sober twilight began to fall, +bringing with it shadows and forebodings for the heart of the anxious +wife. + +How vainly she waited and watched! The twilight was lost in darkness, +and yet her eagerly listening ear failed to note the well-known sound +of her husband's footfall on the pavement, as she stood, listening at +the open window. + +"Oh! what can keep him so long away!" + +How often did these words come sighing from her lips, yet there was no +answer. Alas! how to the very winds were flung the pleasant hopes she +had cherished--cherished with a sense of fear and trembling--during the +afternoon. + +Night closed in, and the time wore on steadily, minute by minute, and +hour by hour, until the poor wife was almost wild with suspense and +anxiety. The dainties she had so thoughtfully and lovingly prepared for +her husband remained untasted, and had now become cold and +unpalatable--were, in fact, forgotten. Food she had not, herself, +tasted. Once or twice a servant had come to know if she would have tea +served; but she merely answered--"Not until Mr. Wilkinson returns." + +Nine--ten--eleven o'clock; still Mrs. Wilkinson was alone. Sometimes +she moved restlessly about her chamber; or wandered, like a perturbed +spirit, from room to room; and, sometimes in mere exhaustion, would +drop into a chair or sink across the bed, and sit or lie as motionless +as if in a profound sleep. + +Ah! could her husband have looked in upon her, but for a few moments; +could he have seen the anguish of her pale face; the fixed and dreamy +expression of her tearful eyes; the grieving arch of the lips he +loved--could he have seen and comprehended all she suffered and all she +feared, it must have won him back from his selfish folly. And how many +wives have suffered all this, and more! How many still suffer! Errant +husband, pause, look upon the picture we have presented, and think of +the many, many heart-aches you have given the tender, long-suffering, +loving one who clings to you yet so closely, and who, for your sake, +would even lay down, if needful, her very life. + +Happily for Mrs. Wilkinson, her child lay in a sound sleep; for, with +the appearance of the edges of two teeth through her red and swollen +gums, the feverish excitement of her system yielded to a healthy +reaction. + +Twelve o'clock was rung out clearly upon the hushed air of midnight; +and yet the poor wife was alone. One o'clock found her in a state of +agonized alarm, standing at the open street-door, and hearkening, +eagerly, first in one direction and then in another; yet all in +vain--for the absent one came not. + +It was nearly two o'clock, and Mrs. Wilkinson, in the impotence of her +prolonged and intense anxiety and fear, had thrown herself, with a +groan, across her bed, when a sound in the street caught her ear. +Instantly she started up, while a thrill ran through every nerve. Feet +were on the door-steps; a key was in the lock--a moment more, and the +door opened and shut, and a familiar tread that made her heart leap +echoed along the passage. Her first impulse was to fly to meet the +comer, but a hand seemed to hold her back; and so, half reclining, she +awaited, with her heart beating violently, the appearance of him whose +strange absence had cost her so many hours of bitter anguish. A moment +or two more, and then an exclamation of surprise and almost terror, +fell from her lips. And well might she be startled at the appearance of +her husband. + +Pale, haggard, covered with dust, and with large drops of perspiration +on his face, Wilkinson stood before his wife. With a grieving look he +gazed upon her for some moments, but did not speak. + +"My husband!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson as soon as she could recover +herself; and, as she uttered the words, she threw her arms around him, +and buried her weeping face on his bosom. + +But Wilkinson tried to disengage her arms, saying, as he did so-- + +"Not this!--not this, Mary! I am unworthy of even your feeblest regard. +Speak to me coldly, harshly, angrily, if you will. That I deserve--but +nothing of kindness, nothing of love. Oh, that I were dead!" + +"My husband! my husband! you are dearer to me than life!" was whispered +in reply, as Mary clung to him more closely. + +Such evidences of love melted the strong man's heart. He tried to brace +himself up against what, in his pride, he felt to be a weakness, but +failed, and leaning his face downward until it rested upon the head of +his wife, sobbed aloud. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +WILKINSON, on leaving the presence of the man who, under the guise of +friendship, had so basely led him astray, and robbed him--it was +robbery, in fact, for Carlton had not only enticed his victim to drink +until his mind was confused, but had played against him with trick and +false dealing--passed, not by the bar-room of the hotel, but through +one of the passages, into the open air, and with hurried steps, and +mind all in a whirl of excitement, started on foot for home. He was not +in a state to consider exactly what he was doing--he did not reflect +that he was at least ten miles from the city, and that it would take +him hours to walk that distance. His predominant feeling was a desire +to escape from the presence of the man who had so basely betrayed and +almost ruined him. + +It was a calm, clear, summer night; and the full moon, which had +reached the zenith, shone with an unusual radiance. Not a leaf moved on +the forest trees, for even the zephyrs were asleep. All was stillness +and tranquil beauty. + +Yet nature did not mirror herself on the feelings of Wilkinson, for +their surface was in wild commotion. The unhappy man was conscious only +of the folly he had committed and the wrong he had sustained; and +thought only of his culpable weakness in having been drawn, by a +specious villain, to the very verge of ruin. + +Onward he strode, toward the city, with rapid pace, and soon his +thoughts began to go forward towards his home. + +"Poor Mary!" he sighed, as the image of his wife, when she said to +him--"I count the hours when you are away," arose before his eyes. +Then, as the image grew more and more distinct, his hands were clenched +tightly, and he murmured through his shut teeth-- + +"Wretch! cruel wretch, that I am! I shall break her heart! Oh, why did +I not resist this temptation? Why was I so thoughtless of the best, the +truest, the most loving friend I ever knew or ever can know--my Mary!" + +Rapid as his steps had been from the first, the thought of his wife +caused Wilkinson to increase his pace, and he moved along, the only +passenger at that hour upon the road, at almost a running speed. Soon +the perspiration was gushing freely from every pore, and this, in a +short time, relieved the still confused pressure on the brain of the +alcohol which had been taken so freely into his system. Thoroughly +sobered was he, ere he had passed over half the distance; and the +clearer his mind became, the more troubled grew his feelings. + +"What," he repeated to himself, over and over, "what if our dear Ella +should be in convulsions again?" + +So great was the anguish of the unhappy man, that he was all +unconscious of bodily fatigue. He was nearly half way to the city when +overtaken by Carlton. The latter called to him three or four times, and +invited him to get up and ride; but Wilkinson strode on, without so +much as uttering a word in reply, or seeming to hear what was said to +him. So Carlton, finding that his proffer was disregarded, dashed ahead +and was soon out of sight. + +At what hour Wilkinson reached his home, and how he was received, has +already been seen. + +Too heavy a pressure lay on the mind of the unhappy man, as he met his +wife at the breakfast table on the next morning, for him even to make +an effort at external cheerfulness. There was not only the remembrance +of his broken promise, and the anguish she must have suffered in +consequence of his absence for half the night--how visible, alas! was +the effect written on her pale face, and eyes still red and swollen +from excessive tears--but the remembrance, also, that he had permitted +himself, while under the influence of drink, to lose some two thousand +dollars at the gaming table! What would he not endure to keep that +blasting fact from the knowledge of his single-hearted, upright +companion? He a gambler! How sick at heart the thought made him feel, +when that thought came into the presence of his wife! + +Few words passed between Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, but the manner of each +was subdued, gentle, and even affectionate. They parted, after the +morning meal, in silence; Wilkinson to repair to his place of business, +his wife to busy herself in household duties, and await with trembling +anxiety the return of her husband at the regular dinner hour. + +This time, Wilkinson did not, as usual, drop in at a certain +drinking-house that was in his way, but kept on direct to his store. +The reason of this omission of his habitual glass of brandy was not, we +are compelled to say, from a purpose in his mind to abandon the +dangerous practice, but to avoid encountering the man Carlton, who +might happen to be there. But he was not to keep clear of him in this +way. Oh, no. Carlton held his due-bills for "debts of honour," calling +for various sums, amounting in all, as we have before said, to about +two thousand dollars, and he was not a person at all likely to forget +this fact. Of this Wilkinson was made sensible, about an hour after +appearing at his store. He was at his desk musing over certain results +figured out on a sheet of paper that lay before him, and which had +reference to payments to be made during the next three or four weeks, +when he heard his name mentioned, and, turning, saw a stranger +addressing one of his clerks, who had just pointed to where he was +sitting. The man, with his unpleasant eyes fixed upon Wilkinson, came, +with firm yet deliberate steps, back to his desk. + +"Mr. Wilkinson, I believe?" said he. + +"That is my name." Wilkinson tried to feel self-possessed and +indifferent. But that was impossible, for he had an instinctive +knowledge of the purport of the visit. + +The man thrust his hand into a deep inside pocket, and abstracted +therefrom a huge pocket-book. He did not search long in the +compartments of this for what he wanted, but drew directly therefrom +sundry small, variously shaped pieces of paper, much blotted and +scrawled over in a hurried hand. Each of these bore the signature of +Wilkinson, and words declaring himself indebted in a certain sum to +Andrew Carlton. + +"I am desired to collect these," said the man coldly. + +Much as Wilkinson had thought, in anticipation of this particular +crisis, he was yet undecided as to what he should do. He had been made +the victim of a specious scoundrel--a wolf who had come to him in +sheep's clothing. Running back his thoughts, as distinctly as it was +possible for him to do, to the occurrences of the previous night, he +remembered much that fully satisfied him that Carlton had played +against him most unfairly; he not only induced him to drink until his +mind was confused, but had taken advantage of this confused state, to +cheat in the grossest manner. Some moments passed ere he replied to the +application; then he said-- + +"I'm not prepared to do any thing with this matter just now." + +"My directions are to collect these bills," was the simple reply, made +in a tone that expressed even more than the words. + +"You may find that more difficult than you imagine," replied Wilkinson, +with some impatience. + +"No--no--we never have much difficulty in collecting debts of this +kind." There was a meaning emphasis on the last two words, which +Wilkinson understood but too well. Still he made answer, + +"You may find it a little harder in the present case than you imagine. +I never received value for these tokens of indebtedness." + +"You must have been a precious fool to have given them then," was +promptly returned, with a curling lip, and in a tone of contempt. "They +represent, I presume, debts of honour?" + +"There was precious little honour in the transaction," said Wilkinson, +who, stung by the manner and words of the collector, lost his +self-possessions. "If ever a man was cheated, I was." + +"Say that to Mr. Carlton himself; it is out of place with me. As I +remarked a little while ago, my business is to collect the sums called +for by these due-bills. Are you prepared to settle them?" + +"No," was the decisive answer. + +"Perhaps," said the collector, who had his part to play, and who, +understanding it thoroughly, showed no inclination to go off in a huff; +"you do not clearly understand your position, nor the consequences +likely to follow the answer just given; that is, if you adhere to your +determination not to settle these due-bills." + +"You'll make the effort to collect by law, I presume?" + +"Of course we will." + +"And get nothing. The law will not recognise a debt of this kind." + +"How is the law to come at the nature of the debt?" + +"I will"--Wilkinson stopped suddenly. + +"Will you?" quickly chimed in the collector. "Then you are a bolder, or +rather, more reckless man than I took you for. Your family, friends, +creditors, and mercantile associates will be edified, no doubt, when it +comes to light on the trial, under your own statement, that you have +been losing large sums of money at the gaming table--over two thousand +dollars in a single night." + +A strong exclamation came from the lips of Wilkinson, who saw the trap +into which he had fallen, and from which there was, evidently, no safe +mode of escape. + +"It is impossible for me to pay two thousand dollars now," said he, +after a long, agitated silence, during which he saw, more clearly than +before, the unhappy position in which he was placed. "It will be ruin +anyhow; and if loss of credit and character are to come, it might as +well come with the most in hand I can retain." + +"You are the best judge of that," said the collector, coldly, turning +partly away as he spoke. + +"Tell Carlton that I would like to see him." + +"He left the city this morning," replied the collector. + +"Left the city?" + +"Yes, sir; and you will perceive that all of these due-bills have been +endorsed to me, and are, consequently, my property, for which I have +paid a valuable consideration. They are, therefore, legal claims +against you in the fullest sense, and I am not the man to waive my +rights, or to be thwarted in my purposes. Are you prepared to settle?" + +"Not to-day, at least." + +"I am not disposed to be too hard with you," said the man, slightly +softening in his tone; "and will say at a word what I will do, and all +I will do. You can take up five hundred of these bills to-day, five +hundred in one week, and the balance in equal sums at two and three +weeks. I yield this much; but, understand me, it is all I yield, and +you need not ask for any further consideration. + +"Well, sir, what do you say?" Full five minutes after the collector had +given his ultimatum, he thus broke in upon the perplexed and undecided +silence of the unhappy victim of his own weakness and folly. "Am I to +receive five hundred dollars now, or am I not?" + +"Call in an hour, and I will be prepared to give an answer," said +Wilkinson. + +"Very well. I'll be here in one hour to a minute," and the man +consulted his watch. + +And to a minute was he there. + +"Well, sir, have you decided this matter?" said he, on confronting +Wilkinson an hour later. He spoke with the air of one who felt +indifferent as to which way the decision had been made. Without +replying, Wilkinson took from under a paper weight on his desk a check +for five hundred dollars, and presented it to the collector. + +"All right," was the satisfied remark of the latter as he read the face +of the check; and, immediately producing his large pocket-book, drew +forth Wilkinson's due-bills, and selecting one for three hundred and +one for two hundred dollars, placed them in his hands. + +"On this day one week I will be here again," said the man, +impressively, and, turning away, left the store. + +The moment he was out of sight, Wilkinson tore the due-bills he had +cancelled into a score of pieces, and, as he scattered them on the +floor, said to himself--"Perish, sad evidences of my miserable folly! +The lesson would be salutary, were it not received at too heavy a cost. +Can I recover from this? Alas! I fear not. Fifteen hundred more to be +abstracted from my business, and in three weeks! How can it possibly be +done?" + +To a certain extent, the lesson was salutary. During the next three +weeks, Wilkinson, who felt a nervous reluctance to enter a +drinking-house lest he should meet Carlton, kept away from such places, +and therefore drank but little during the time; nor did he once go out +in the evening, except in company with his wife, who was studious, all +the time, in the science of making home happy. But it was impossible +for her to chase away the shadow that rested upon her husband's brow. + +Promptly, on a certain day in each week of that period, came the man +who held the due-bills given to Carlton, leaving Wilkinson five hundred +dollars poorer with each visitation--poorer, unhappier, and more +discouraged in regard to his business, which was scarcely stanch enough +to bear the sudden withdrawal of so much money. + +Under such circumstances it was impossible for Wilkinson to appear +otherwise than troubled. To divine the cause of this trouble soon +became the central purpose in the mind of his wife. To all her +questions on the subject, he gave evasive answers; still she gathered +enough to satisfy her that every thing was not right in regard to his +business. Assuming this to be the case, she began to think over the +ways and means of reducing their range of expenses, which were in the +neighbourhood of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. The result will +appear. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +THE morning of the day came on which Wilkinson had to make his last +payment on account of the due-bills given to Carlton. He had nothing in +bank, and there were few borrowing resources not already used to the +utmost limit. At ten o'clock he went out to see what could be done in +the way of effecting further temporary loans among business friends. +His success was not very great, for at twelve o'clock he returned with +only two hundred dollars. Carlton's agent had called twice during the +time, and came in a few minutes afterwards. + +"You're too soon for me," said Wilkinson, with not a very cheerful or +welcome expression of countenance. + +"It's past twelve," returned the man. + +"All the same if it were past three. I haven't the money." + +The collector's brow lowered heavily. + +"How soon will you have it?" + +"Can't tell," replied Wilkinson, fretfully. + +"That kind of answer don't just suit me," said the man, with some +appearance of anger. "I've been remarkable easy with you, and now"-- + +"Easy!" sharply ejaculated Wilkinson. "Yes; as the angler who plays his +trout. You've already received fifteen hundred dollars of the sum out +of which I was swindled, and with that I should think both you and your +principal might be content. Go back to him, and say that he is about +placing on the camel's back the pound that may break it." + +"I have before told you," was replied, "that Mr. Carlton has no longer +any control in this matter. It is I who hold your obligations; they +have been endorsed to me, and for a valuable consideration; and be +assured that I shall exact the whole bond." + +"If," said Wilkinson, after some moments' reflection, and speaking in a +changed voice and with much deliberation, "if you will take my note of +hand for the amount of your due-bills, at six months from to-day, I +will give it; if not"-- + +"Preposterous!" returned the man, interrupting him. + +"If not," continued Wilkinson, "you can fall back upon the law. It has +its delays and chances; and I am more than half inclined to the belief +that I was a fool not to have left this matter for a legal decision in +the beginning. I should have gained time at least." + +"If you are so anxious to get into court, you can be gratified," was +answered. + +"Very well; seek your redress in law," said Wilkinson, angrily. +"Occasionally, gamblers and pickpockets get to the end of their rope; +and, perhaps, it may turn out so in this instance. My only regret now +is, that I didn't let the matter go to court in the beginning." + +The man turned off hastily, but paused ere he reached the door, stood +musing for a while, and then came slowly back. + +"Give me your note at sixty days," said he. + +"No, sir," was the firm reply of Wilkinson. "I offered my note at six +months. For not a day less will I give it; and I don't care three +coppers whether you take it or no. I had about as lief test the matter +in a court of justice as not." + +The man again made a feint to retire, but again returned. + +"Say three months, then." + +"It is useless to chaffer with me, sir." Wilkinson spoke sternly. "I +have said what I will do, and I will do nothing else. Even that offer I +shall withdraw if not accepted now." + +The man seemed thrown quite aback by the prompt and decisive manner of +Wilkinson, and, after some hesitation and grumbling, finally consented +to yield up the balance of the due-bills for a note payable in six +months. + +"Saved as by fire!" Such was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, as +the collector left the store. "I stagger already under the extra weight +of fifteen hundred dollars. Five hundred added now would come nigh to +crushing me. Ah! how dearly have I paid for my folly!" + +While he still sat musing at his desk, his friend Ellis came in, +looking quite sober. + +"I know you've been pretty hard run for the last week or ten days," +said he, "but can't you strain a point and help me a little? I've been +running about all the morning, and am still two hundred dollars short +of the amount to be paid in bank to-day." + +"Fortunately," replied Wilkinson, "I have just the sum you need." + +"How long can you spare it?" + +"Until day after to-morrow." + +"You shall have it then, without fail." + +The money was counted out and handed to Ellis, who, as he received it, +said in a desponding voice-- + +"Unless a man is so fortunate as to be born with a silver spoon in his +mouth, he finds nothing but up-hill work in this troublesome world. I +declare! I'm almost discouraged. I can feel myself going behindhand, +instead of advancing." + +"Don't say that. You're only in a desponding mood," replied Wilkinson, +repressing his own gloomy feelings, and trying to speak encouragingly. + +"I wish it were only imagination. It is now nearly ten years since I +was married, and though my business, at the time, was good, and paying +a fair profit on the light capital invested, it has, instead of getting +more prosperous, become, little and by little, embarrassed, until +now--I speak this confidently, and to one whom I know to be a +friend--were every thing closed up, I doubt if I should be worth five +hundred dollars." + +"Not so bad as that. You are only in a gloomy state of mind." + +"I wish it were only nervous despondency, my friend. But it is not so. +All the while I am conscious of a retrograde instead of an advance +movement." + +"There must be a cause for this," said Wilkinson. + +"Of course. There is no effect without a cause." + +"Do you know what it is?" + +"Yes." + +"A knowledge of our disease is said to be half the cure." + +"It has not proved so in my case." + +"What is the difficulty?" + +"My expenses are too high." + +"Your store expenses?" + +"No, my family expenses." + +"Then you ought to reduce them." + +"That is easily said; but, in my case, not so easily done. I cannot +make my wife comprehend the necessity of retrenchment." + +"If you were to explain the whole matter to her, calmly and clearly, I +am certain you would not find her unreasonable. Her stake in this +matter is equal to yours." + +"Oh, dear! Haven't I tried, over and over again?" + +"If Cara will not hear reason, and join with you in prudent reforms, +then it is your duty to make them yourself. What are your annual +expenses?" + +"I am ashamed to say." + +"Fifteen hundred dollars?" + +"They have never fallen below that since we were married, and, for the +last three years, have reached the sum of two thousand dollars. This +year they will even exceed that." + +Wilkinson shook his head. + +"Too much! too much!" + +"I know it is. A man in my circumstances has no right to expend even +half that sum. Why, five hundred dollars a year less in our expenses +since we were married would have left me a capital of five thousand +dollars in my business." + +"And placed you now on the sure road to fortune." + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Take my advice, and give to Cara a full statement of your affairs. Do +it at once--this very day. It has been put off too long already. Let +there be no reserve--no holding back--no concealment. Do it calmly, +mildly, yet earnestly, and my word for it, she will join you, heart and +hand, in any measure of reform and safety that you may propose. She +were less than a woman, a wife, and a mother, not to do so. You wrong +her by doubt." + +"Perhaps I do," said Ellis in reply. "Perhaps I have never managed her +rightly. I know that I am quick to get out of patience with her, if she +oppose my wishes too strongly. But I will try and overcome this. There +is too much at stake just now." + +The two men parted. Henry Ellis pondered all day over the present state +of his affairs, and the absolute necessity there was for a reduction of +his expenses. The house in which he lived cost four hundred and fifty +dollars a year. Two hundred dollars could easily be saved, he thought, +by taking a smaller house, where, if they were only willing to think +so, they might be just as comfortable as they now were. Beyond this +reduction in rent, Ellis did not see clearly how to proceed. The rest +would have mainly to depend upon his wife, who had almost the entire +charge of the home department, including the expenditures made on +account thereof. + +The earnestness with which Ellis pondered these things lifted his +thoughts so much above the sensual plane where they too often rested, +that he felt not the desire for stimulating drink returning at certain +hours, but passed through the whole of the afternoon without either +thinking of or tasting his usual glass of brandy and water. On coming +home to his family in the evening, his mind was as clear as a bell. +This, unhappily, was not always the case. + +And now for the task of making Cara comprehend the real state of his +affairs; and to produce in her a cheerful, loving, earnest co-operation +in the work of salutary reform. But how to begin? What first to say? +How to disarm her opposition in the outset? These were the questions +over which Ellis pondered. And the difficulty loomed up larger and +larger the nearer he approached it. He felt too serious; and was +conscious of this. + +Unhappily, Cara's brow was somewhat clouded. Ellis approached her with +attempts at cheerful conversation; but she was not in the mood to feel +interested in any of the topics he introduced. The tea hour passed with +little of favourable promise. The toast was badly made, and the +chocolate not half boiled. Mrs. Ellis was annoyed, and scolded the +cook, in the presence of her husband, soundly; thus depriving him of +the little appetite with which he had come to the table. Gradually the +unhappy man felt his patience and forbearance leaving him; and more +than once he said to himself-- + +"It will be worse than useless to talk to her. She will throw back my +words upon me, in the beginning, as she has so often done before." + +Tea over, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis returned with their children to the +sitting-room. The former felt an almost irrepressible desire for the +cigar, which habit had rendered so nearly indispensable; but he denied +himself the indulgence, lest Cara should make it the occasion of some +annoying remark. So he took up a newspaper, and occupied himself +therewith, until his wife had undressed and put their two oldest +children to bed. As she returned from the adjoining room, where they +slept, Ellis looked earnestly into her face, to see what hope there was +for him in its expression. Her lips were drawn closely together, her +brows slightly contracted, and her countenance had a fretful, +discontented expression. He sighed inwardly, and resumed the perusal of +his newspaper; or, rather, affected to resume it, for the words that +met his eyes conveyed to his mind no intelligible ideas. + +Mrs. Ellis took her work-basket, and commenced sewing, while her +husband continued to hold the newspaper before his face. After some ten +minutes of silence, the latter made a remark, as a kind of feeler. This +was replied to with what sounded more like a grunt than a vocal +expression. + +"Cara," at length said Ellis, forcing himself to the unpleasant work on +hand, "I would like to have a little plain talk with you about my +affairs." He tried, in saying this, to seem not to be very serious; but +his feelings, which had for some time been on the rack, were too +painfully excited to admit of this. He both looked and expressed, in +the tones of his voice, the trouble he felt. + +Now, just at the moment Ellis said this, his wife was on the eve of +making the announcement, in rather a peremptory and dogmatic way, that +if he didn't give her the money to buy new parlour carpets, for which +she had been asking as much as a year past, she would go and order +them, and have the bill sent in to him. All day this subject had been +in her mind, and she had argued herself into the belief that her +husband was perfectly able, not only to afford her new carpets, but +also new parlour furniture; and that his unwillingness to do so arose +from a penurious spirit. Such being her state of mind, she was not +prepared to see in the words, voice, and look of her husband the real +truth that it was so important for her to know. From the beginning of +their married life, she had been disposed to spend freely, and he to +restrain her. In consequence, there was a kind of feud between them; +and now she regarded his words as coming from a desire on his part to +make her believe that he was poorer, in the matter of this world's +goods, than was really the case. Her reply, therefore, rather pettishly +uttered, was-- + +"Oh! I've heard enough about your affairs. No doubt you are on the +verge of bankruptcy. A man who indulges his family to the extent that +you do must expect shipwreck with every coming gale." + +The change of countenance and exclamation with which this heartless +retort was made startled even Cara. Rising quickly to his feet, and +flinging upon his wife a look of reproach, Ellis left the room. A +moment or two afterwards, the street-door shut after him with a heavy +jar. + +It was past midnight when he came home, and then he was stupid from +drink. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +HOW different was it with Wilkinson, when he returned to his wife on +the same evening, in a most gloomy, troubled, and desponding state of +mind! A review of his affairs had brought little, if any thing, to +encourage him. This dead loss of two thousand dollars was more, he +felt, than he could bear. Ere this came upon him, there was often great +difficulty in making his payments. How should he be able to make them +now, with such an extra weight to carry? The thought completely +disheartened him. + +"I, too, ought to retrench," said he, mentally, his thoughts recurring +to the interview which had taken place between him and Ellis. "In fact, +I don't see what else is to save me. But how can I ask Mary to give up +her present style of living? How can I ask her to move into a smaller +house? to relinquish one of her domestics, and in other respects to +deny herself, when the necessity for so doing is wholly chargeable to +my folly? It is no use; I can't do it. Every change--every step +downwards, would rebuke me. No--no. Upon Mary must not rest the evil +consequences of my insane conduct. Let me, alone, suffer." + +But how, alone, was he to bear, without sinking beneath the weight, the +pressure that was upon him? + +With the usual glad smile and heart-warm kiss Wilkinson was greeted on +his return home. + +"God bless you, Mary!" said he, with much feeling, as he returned his +wife's salutation. + +Mrs. Wilkinson saw that her husband was inwardly moved to a degree that +was unusual. She did not remark thereon, but her manner was gentle, and +her tones lower and tenderer than usual, when she spoke to him. But few +words passed between them, until the bell rang for tea. While sitting +at the table, the voice of Ella was heard, crying. + +"Agnes!" called Mrs. Wilkinson, going to the head of the stairs that +led down into the kitchen--"I wish you would go up to Ella, she is +awake." + +The girl answered that she would do as desired, and Mrs. Wilkinson +returned to her place at the table. + +"Where is Anna?" asked Mr. Wilkinson. + +Mrs. Wilkinson smiled cheerfully, as she replied, + +"Her month was up to-day, and I concluded to let her go." + +"What!" Wilkinson spoke in a quick surprised voice. + +"She was little more than a fifth wheel to our coach," was replied; +"and fifth wheels can easily be dispensed with." + +"But who is to take care of Ella? Who is to do the chamber work? Not +you!" + +"Don't be troubled about that, my good husband!" was answered with a +smile. "Leave all to me. I am the housekeeper." + +"You are not strong enough, Mary. You will injure your health." + +"My health is more likely to suffer from lack, than from excess of +effort. The truth is, I want more exercise than I have been in the +habit of taking." + +"But the confinement, Mary. Don't you see that the arrangement you +propose will tie you down to the house? Indeed, I can't think of it." + +"I shall not be confined in-doors any more than I am now. Agnes will +take care of the baby whenever I wish to go out." + +"There is too much work in this house, Mary'" said Mr. Wilkinson, in a +decided way. "You cannot get along with but a single domestic." + +"There are only you, and Ella, and I!" Mrs. Wilkinson leaned towards +her husband, and looked earnestly into his face. There was an +expression on her countenance that was full of meaning; yet its import +he did not understand. + +"Only you, and Ella, and I?" said he. + +"Yes; only we three. Now, I have been wondering all day, John, whether +there was any real necessity for just we three having so large a house +to live in. I don't think there is. It is an expense for nothing, and +makes work for nothing." + +"How you talk, Mary!" + +"Don't I talk like a sensible woman?" said the young wife, smiling. + +"We can't go into a smaller house, dear." + +"And why not, pray?" + +"Our position in society"-- + +Mr. Wilkinson did not finish the sentence; for he knew that argument +would be lost on his wife. + +"We are not rich," said Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"No one knows that better than myself," replied the husband, with more +feeling than he meant to exhibit. + +"And, if the truth were known, are living at an expense beyond what we +can afford. Speak out plainly, dear, and say if this is not the case." + +"I shouldn't just like to say that," returned Wilkinson; yet his tone +of voice belied his words. + +"It is just as I supposed," said Mrs. Wilkinson, growing more serious. +"Why have you not confided in me? Why have you not spoken freely to me +on this subject, John? Am I not your wife? And am I not ready to bear +all things and to suffer all things for your sake?" + +"You are too serious Mary,--too serious by far. I have not said that +there was any thing wrong in my circumstances. I have not said that it +was necessary to reduce our expenses." + +"No matter, dear. We are, by living in our present style, expending +several hundred dollars a year more than is necessary. This is useless. +Do you not say so yourself?" + +"It is certainly useless to spend more than is necessary to secure +comfort." + +"And wrong to spend more than we can afford?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Then let us take a smaller house, John, by all means. I shall feel so +much better contented." + +It was some time before Wilkinson replied. When he did so, he spoke +with unusual emotion. + +"Ah, my dear wife!" said he, leaning towards her and grasping her hand; +"you know not how great a load you have taken from my heart. The change +you suggest is necessary; yet I never could have urged it; never could +have asked you to give up this for an humbler dwelling. How much rather +would I elevate you to a palace!" + +"My husband! Why, why have you concealed this from me? It was not true +kindness," said Mrs. Wilkinson, in a slightly chiding voice. "It is my +province to stand, sustainingly, by your side; not to hang upon you, a +dead weight." + +But we will not repeat all that was said. Enough that, ere the evening, +spent in earnest conversation, closed, all the preliminaries of an +early removal and reduction of expenses were settled, and, when +Wilkinson retired for the night, it was in a hopeful spirit. Light had +broken through a rift in the dark cloud which had so suddenly loomed +up; and he saw, clearly, the way of escape from the evil that +threatened to overwhelm him. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +TWELVE o'clock of the day on which Ellis was to return the two hundred +dollars borrowed of Wilkinson came, and yet he did not appear at the +store of the latter, who had several payments to make, and depended on +receiving the amount due from his friend. + +"Has Mr. Ellis been here?" asked Wilkinson of his clerk, coming in +about noon from a rather fruitless effort to obtain money. + +The clerk replied in the negative. + +"Nor sent over his check for two hundred dollars?" + +"No, sir." + +"Step down to his store, then, if you please, and say to him from me +that he mustn't forget the sum to be returned to-day, as I have two +notes yet in bank. Say also, that if he has any thing over, I shall be +glad to have the use of it." + +The clerk departed on his errand. In due time he returned, but with no +money in his possession. + +"Did you see Mr. Ellis?" asked Wilkinson. + +"No, sir," was replied. "He hasn't been at the store to-day." + +"Not to-day!" + +"No, sir." + +"What's the matter? Is he sick?" + +"His clerk didn't say." + +Taking up his hat, Wilkinson left his store hurriedly. In a few minutes +he entered that of his friend. + +"Where is Mr. Ellis?" he inquired. + +"I don't know, sir," was answered by the clerk. + +"Has he been here this morning?" + +"No, sir." + +"He must be sick. Have you sent to his house to make inquiry?" + +"Not yet. I have expected him all the morning." + +"He was here yesterday?" + +"Not until late in the afternoon." + +"Indeed! Did he complain of not being well?" + +"No, sir. But he didn't look very well." + +There was something in the manner of the clerk which Wilkinson did not +understand clearly at first. But all at once it flashed upon his mind +that Ellis might, in consequence of some trouble with his wife, have +suddenly abandoned himself to drink. With this thought came the +remembrance of what had passed between them two days before; and this +but confirmed his first impression. + +"If Mr. Ellis comes in," said he, after some moments of hurried +thought, "tell him that I would like to see him." + +The clerk promised to do so. + +"Hadn't you better send to his house?" suggested Wilkinson, as he +turned to leave the store. "He may be sick." + +"I will do so," replied the clerk, and Wilkinson retired, feeling by no +means comfortable. By this time it was nearly one o'clock, and six or +seven hundred dollars were yet required to make him safe for that day's +payments. The failure of Ellis to keep his promise laid upon him an +additional burden, and gradually caused a feeling of despondency to +creep in upon him. Instead of making a new and more earnest effort to +raise the money, he went back to his store, and remained there for +nearly half an hour, in a brooding, disheartened state of mind. A +glance at the clock, with the minute-hand alarmingly near the figure 2, +startled him at length from his dreaming inactivity; and he went forth +again to raise, if possible, the money needed to keep his name from +commercial dishonour. He was successful; but there were only fifteen +minutes in his favour when the exact sum he needed was made up, and his +notes taken out of bank. + +Two o'clock was Mr. Wilkinson's dinner hour, and he had always, before, +so arranged his bank business as to have his notes taken up long enough +before that time to be ready to leave promptly for home. But for the +failure of Ellis to keep his promise, it would have been so on this day. + +"It's hardly worth while to go home now," said he, as he closed his +cash and bill books, after making some required entries therein. "Mary +has given me over long ago. And, besides, I don't feel in the mood of +mind to see her just now. I can't look cheerful, to save me; and I have +already called too many shadows to her face to darken it with any more. +By evening I will recover myself, and then can meet her with a brighter +countenance. No, I won't go home now. I'll stop around to Elder's, and +get a cut of roast beef." + +Wilkinson had taken up his hat, and was moving down the store, when a +suggestion that came to his mind made him pause. It was this: + +"But is not Mary waiting for me, and will not my absence for the whole +day cause her intense anxiety and alarm? I ought to go home." + +And now began an argument in his thoughts. The fact was, a sense of +exhaustion of body and depression of spirits had followed the effort +and trouble of the day, and Wilkinson felt a much stronger desire for +something stimulating to drink than he did for food. Elder's was a +drinking as well as an eating-house; and in deciding to go there, +instead of returning home, the real influence, although he did not +perceive it to be so, was the craving felt for a glass of brandy. And +now came the conflict between appetite and an instinctive sense of what +was due both to himself and his wife. + +"It will only put her to trouble if I go home now." Thus he sought to +justify himself in doing what his better sense clearly condemned as +wrong. + +"It will rather relieve her from trouble," was quickly answered to this. + +For a little while Wilkinson stood undecided, then slowly retired to a +remote part of the store, took off his hat, and sat down to debate the +point at issue in his mind more coolly. + +"I will go home early," said he to himself. + +"Why not go home now?" was instantly replied. + +"It is too late; Mary has given me up long ago." + +"She will be extremely anxious." + +"I can explain all." + +"Better do it now than two or three hours later: poor Mary has suffered +enough already." + +This last suggestion caused the image of his wife to come up before the +mind of Wilkinson very distinctly. He saw, now, her smile of winning +love; now, the sad drooping of her countenance, as he turned to leave +her alone for an evening; now, the glance of anxiety and fear with +which she so often greeted his return; and now, her pale, +grief-stricken face, after some one of his too many lapses from the +right way. And, in imagination, his thoughts went to his home in the +present moment. What did he see? A waiting, anxious, troubled wife, now +sitting with fixed and dreamy eyes; now moving about with restless +steps; and now standing at the street-door, eagerly straining her eyes +to see in the distance his approaching form. With such images of his +wife came no repulsive thought to the mind of Wilkinson. Ever loving, +tender, patient, forbearing, and true-hearted had Mary been. Not once +in the whole of their married life had she jarred the chord that bound +them together, with a touch of discord. He could only think of her, +therefore, with love, and a feeling of attraction; and this it was that +saved him in the present hour. Starting up suddenly, he said, "I will +go home: why have I hesitated an instant? My poor Mary! Heaven knows +you have already suffered enough through my short-comings and +wanderings from the way of right and duty. I am walking a narrow path, +with destruction on either hand: if I get over safely, it will be +through you as my sustaining angel." + +A skilful limner, at least in this instance, was the imagination of +Wilkinson. Much as it had been pictured to his thoughts was the scene +at home. Poor Mary! with what trembling anxiety did she wait and hope +for her husband's coming, after the usual hour for his return had +passed. Now she sat motionless, gazing on some painful image that was +presented to her mind; now she moved about the room from an unquietness +of spirit that would not let her be still; and now she bent her ear +towards the street, and listened almost breathlessly for the sound of +her husband's footsteps. Thus the time passed from two until three +o'clock, the dinner yet unserved. + +"Oh, what can keep him away so long?" + +How many, many times was this spoken audibly! Now her heart beat with a +quick, panting motion, as the thought of some accident to her husband +flitted through the mind of Mrs. Wilkinson; now its irregular motion +subsided, and it lay almost still, with a heavy pressure; for the fear +lest he had again been tempted from the path of sobriety came with its +deep and oppressive shadow. + +And thus the lingering moments passed. Three o'clock came, and yet Mr. +Wilkinson was absent. + +"I can bear this suspense no longer," said the unhappy wife. "Something +has happened." + +And as she said this, she went quickly into her chamber to put into +execution some suddenly-formed resolution. Opening a wardrobe, she took +therefrom her bonnet and a shawl. But, ere she had thrown the latter +around her shoulders, she paused, with the words on her lips-- + +"If business should have detained him at his store, how will my +appearance there affect him? I must think of that. I do not want him to +feel that I have lost confidence in him." + +While Mrs. Wilkinson stood, thus musing, her ear caught the sound of +her husband's key in the lock of the street-door. How quickly were her +bonnet and shawl returned to their places! How instant and eager were +her efforts to suppress all signs of anxiety at the prolonged absence! + +"He must not see that I have been over-anxious," she murmured. + +The street-door closed; Mr. Wilkinson's well-known tread sounded along +the passage and up the stairway. With what an eager discrimination was +the ear of his wife bent towards him for a sign that would indicate the +condition in which he returned to her! How breathless was her suspense! +A few moments, and the door of her room opened. + +"Why, John!" said she, with a pleasant smile, and a tone so well +disguised that it betrayed little of the sea of agitation below--"what +has kept you so late? I was really afraid something had happened. Have +you been sick; or did business detain you?" + +"It was business, dear," replied Mr. Wilkinson, as he took the hand +which Mary placed within his. The low, nervous tremour of that hand he +instantly perceived, and as instantly comprehended its meaning. She had +been deeply anxious, but was now seeking to conceal this from him. He +understood it all, and was touched by the fact. + +"I ought to have sent you word," said he, as he kissed her with more +than usual tenderness of manner. "It was wrong in me. But I've been +very hard put to it to take up my notes, and didn't succeed until near +the closing of bank hours. I loaned Ellis some money, which he was to +return to me to-day; but his failing to do so put me to a good deal of +inconvenience." + +"Oh, I'm sorry," was the sympathizing response. "But how came Mr. Ellis +to disappoint you?" + +"I don't exactly know. He hasn't been at his store to-day." + +"Is he sick?" + +"Worse, I'm afraid." + +"How, worse?" + +"His habits have not been very good of late." + +"Oh! how sad! His poor wife!" + +This was an almost involuntary utterance on the part of Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"Her poor husband, rather say," was the reply. "The fact is, if Ellis +goes to ruin, it will be his wife's fault. She has no sympathy with +him, no affectionate consideration for him. A thoroughly selfish woman, +she merely regards the gratification of her own desires, and is ever +making home repulsive, instead of attractive." + +"You must be mistaken." + +"No. Ellis often complains to me of her conduct." + +"Why, John! I can scarcely credit such a thing." + +"Doubtless it is hard for _you_ to imagine any woman guilty of such +unwifelike conduct. Yet such is the case. Many a night has Ellis spent +at a tavern, which, but for Cara's unamiable temper, would have been +spent at home." + +"Ah! she will have her reward," sighed Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"And you yours," was the involuntary but silent ejaculation of +Wilkinson. + +Ere further remark was made, the dinner-bell rang, and Mr. Wilkinson +and his wife repaired to the dining-room. + +It was not possible for the former to endure the pressure that was on +his feelings without letting the fact of its existence betray itself in +his countenance; and Mary, whose eyes were scarcely a moment from her +husband's face, soon saw that his mind was ill at ease. + +"How much did Mr. Ellis borrow of you?" she asked, soon after they had +taken their places at the table. + +"Two hundred dollars," was replied. + +"No more?" The mind of Mrs. Wilkinson was evidently relieved, at +knowing the smallness of the sum. + +"True, it isn't much," said Wilkinson. "But even a small sum is of +great importance when we have a good deal to pay, and just lack that +amount, after gathering in all our available resources. And that was +just my position to-day." "Why didn't you call on me?" Mary smiled, +with evident meaning as she said this. + +"On you!" Wilkinson looked at her with a slight air of surprise. + +"Yes, on me. I think I could have made you up that sum." + +"You!" + +A bright gleam went over the face of Mrs. Wilkinson, as she saw the +surprise of her husband. + +"Yes, me. Why not? You have always been liberal in your supplies of +money, and it is by no means wonderful that I should have saved a +little. The fact is, John, I've never spent my entire income; I always +made it a point of conscience to keep as far below it as possible." + +"Mary!" Beyond this simple ejaculation, Wilkinson could not go, but +sat, with his eyes fixed wonderingly on the face of his wife. + +"It is true, dear," she answered, in her loving gentle way. "I haven't +counted up lately; but, if I do not err, I have twice the sum you +needed to-day; and, what is more, the whole is at your service. So +don't let this matter of Ellis's failure to return you the sum +borrowed, trouble you in the least. If it never comes back to you, the +loss will be made up in another quarter." + +It was some moments before Wilkinson could make any answer. At last, +dropping the knife and fork which he held in his hands, he started from +his place, and coming round to where his wife sat, drew his arms around +her, and as he pressed his lips to hers, said with an unsteady voice-- + +"God bless you, Mary! You are an angel!" + +Had she not her reward in that happy moment? Who will say nay? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +ON the morning that followed the fruitless attempt of Henry Ellis to +make his wife comprehend the necessity that existed for an immediate +reduction in their household expenditures, he did not get up until +nearly ten o'clock. For at least an hour before rising, he was awake, +suffering in both body and mind; for the night's debauch had left him, +as was usually the case, with a most violent headache. During all the +time he heard, at intervals, the voice of Cara in the adjoining, +talking to or scolding at the children; but not once during the time +did she come into the chamber where he lay. He felt it as a total want +of interest or affection on her part. He had done wrong; he felt that; +yet, at the same time, he also felt that Cara had her share of the +blame to bear. If she had only manifested some feeling for him, some +interest in him, he would have been softened; but, as she did not, by +keeping entirely away, show that she thought or cared for him, the pure +waters of right feeling, that were gushing up in his mind, were touched +with the gall of bitterness. + +Rising at length, Ellis began dressing himself, purposely making +sufficient noise to reach the ears of his wife. But she did not make +her appearance. + +Two doors led from the chamber in which he was. One communicated with +the adjoining room, used as a nursery, and the other with the passage. +After Ellis had dressed and shaved himself, he was, for a short time, +undecided whether to enter the nursery, in which were his wife and +children, or to pass through the other door, and leave the house +without seeing them. + +"I shall only get my feelings hurt," said he, as he stood debating the +point. "It's a poor compensation for trouble and the lack of domestic +harmony, to get drunk, I know; and I ought to be, and am, ashamed of my +own folly. Oh dear! what is to become of me? Why will not Cara see the +evil consequences of the way she acts upon her husband? If I go to +destruction, and the chances are against me, the sin will mainly rest +upon her. Yet why should I say this? Am I not man enough to keep sober? +Yes"--thus he went on talking to himself--"but if she will not act in +some sort of unity with me, I shall be ruined in my business. It will +never do to maintain our present expensive mode of living; and she will +never hear to a change." + +Just at this moment an angry exclamation from the lips of Mrs. Ellis +came sharply on the ears of her husband, followed by the whipping and +crying of one of the children, who had, as far as Ellis could gather, +from what was said, overset his mother's work-basket. + +"No use for me to go in there," muttered the unhappy man. "I shall only +increase the storm; and I've had storms enough!" + +So he went from the chamber by way of the passage, descended to the +entry below, and, taking up his hat, left the house. + +Now, of all things in the world, in the peculiar state of body and mind +in which Ellis then was, did he want a good strong cup of coffee at his +own table, and a kind, forbearing, loving wife to set it before him. +These would have given to his body and to his mind just what both +needed, for the trials and temptations of the day; and they would have +saved him, at least for the day, perhaps for life; for the pivot upon +which the whole of a man's future destiny turns is often small, and +scarcely noticed. + +As Ellis stepped from his door, and received the fresh air upon his +face and in his lungs, he was instantly conscious of a want in his +system, and a craving for something to supply that want. Having taken +no breakfast, the feeling was not to be wondered at. Ellis understood +its meaning, in part, and took the nearest way to an eating-house where +he ordered something to eat. For him, it was the most natural thing in +the world, under the circumstances, to call for something at the bar +while his breakfast was preparing. He felt better after taking a glass +of brandy. + +Ellis had finished his breakfast, and was standing at the bar with a +second glass of liquor in his hand, when he was accosted in a familiar +manner by the same individual who had lured Wilkinson to the +gaming-table. + +"Ah, my boy! how are you?" said Carlton, grasping the hand of Ellis and +shaking it heartily. + +"Glad to see you, 'pon my word! Where do you keep yourself?" + +"You'll generally find me at my store during business hours," replied +Ellis. + +"What do you call business hours?" was asked by Carlton. + +"From eight or nine in the morning until six or seven in the evening." + +"Yes--yes--yes! With you as with every other 'business' man I know. +Business every thing--living nothing. You'll get rich, I suppose; but, +by the time your sixty or a hundred thousand dollars are safely +invested in real estate or good securities, health will have departed, +never to return." + +"Not so bad as that, I presume," returned Ellis. + +"How can it be otherwise? The human body is not made of iron and steel; +and, if it were, it would never stand the usage it receives from some +men, you among the number. For what are the pure air and bright +sunshine made? To be enjoyed only by the birds and beasts? Man is +surely entitled to his share; and if he neglects to take it, he does so +to his own injury. You don't look well. In fact, I never saw you look +worse; and I noticed, when I took your hand, that it was hot. Now, my +good fellow! this is little better than suicide on your part; and if I +do not mistake, you are too good a Christian to be guilty of +self-murder. Why don't you ride out and take the air? You ought to do +this daily." + +"Too expensive a pleasure for me," said Ellis. "In the first place, +with me time is money, and, in the second place, I have no golden +mint-drops to exchange for fast horses." + +"I have a fine animal at your service," replied the tempter. "Happy to +let you use him at any time." + +"Much obliged for the offer; and when I can run away from business for +a few hours, will avail myself of it." + +"What do you say to a ride this morning? I'm going a few miles over +into Jersey, and should like your company above all things." + +"I hardly think I can leave the store to-day," replied Ellis. "Let me +see: have I any thing in the way of a note to take up? I believe not." + +"You say yes, then?" + +"I don't know about that. It doesn't just seem right." + +"Nonsense! It is wonderful how this business atmosphere does affect a +man's perceptions! He can see nothing but the dollar. Every thing is +brought down to a money valuation." + +We will not trace the argument further. Enough that the tempter was +successful, and that Ellis, instead of going to his store, rode out +with Carlton. + +He was not, of course, home at his usual dinner-hour. It was between +three and four o'clock when he appeared at his place of business, the +worse for his absence, in almost every sense of the word. He had been +drinking, until he was half stupid, and was a loser at the gaming-table +of nearly six hundred dollars. A feeble effort was made by him to go +into an examination of the business of the day; but he found it +impossible to fix his mind thereon, and so gave up the attempt. He +remained at his store until ready to close up for the day, and then +turned his steps homeward. + +By this time he was a good deal sobered, and sadder for his sobriety; +for, as his mind became clearer, he remembered, with more vividness, +the events of the day, and particularly the fact of having lost several +hundred dollars to his pretended friend, Carlton. + +"Whither am I going? Where is this to end?" was his shuddering +ejaculation, as the imminent peril of his position most vividly +presented itself. + +How hopelessly he wended his reluctant way homeward! There was nothing +to lean upon there. No strength of ever-enduring love, to be, as it +were, a second self to him in his weakness. No outstretched arm to drag +him, with something of super-human power, out of the miry pit into +which he had fallen; but, instead, an indignant hand to thrust him +farther in. + +"God help me!" he sighed, in the very bitterness of a hopeless spirit; +"for there is no aid in man." + +Ah! if, in his weakness, he had only leaned, in true dependence, on Him +he thus asked to help him; if he had but resisted the motions of evil +in himself, as sins against his Maker, and resisted them in a +determined spirit, he need not have fallen; strength would, assuredly, +have been given. + +The nearer Ellis drew to his home, the more unhappy he felt at the +thought of meeting his wife. After having left the house without seeing +her in the morning, and then remaining from home all day, he had no +hope of a kind reception. + +"It's no use!" he muttered to himself, stopping suddenly, when within a +square of his house. "I can't meet Cara; she will look coldly at me, or +frown, or speak cutting words; and I'm in no state of mind to bear any +thing patiently just now. I've done wrong, I know--very wrong; but I +don't want it thrown into my face. Oh, dear! I am beset within and +without, behind and before and there is little hope for me." + +Overcoming this state of indecision, Ellis forced himself to go home. +On entering the presence of his wife, he made a strong effort to +compose himself, and, when he met Cara, he spoke to her in a cheerful +tone of voice. How great an effort it cost him to do this, considering +all the circumstances by which he was surrounded, the reader may easily +imagine. And what was his reception? + +"Found your way home at last!" + +These were the words with which Cara received her husband; and they +were spoken in a sharp, deriding tone of voice. The day's doubt, +suspense, and suffering, had not quieted the evil spirit in her heart. +She was angry with her husband, and could not restrain its expression. + +A bitter retort trembled on the tongue of Ellis; but he checked its +utterance, and, turning from his wife, took one of his children in his +arms. The sphere of innocence that surrounded the spirit of that child +penetrated his heart, and touched his feelings with an emotion of +tenderness. + +"Oh, wretched man that I am!" he sighed, in the bitterness of a +repentant and self-upbraiding spirit. "So much dependent on me, and yet +as weak as a reed swaying in the wind." + +How much that weak, tempted, suffering man, just trembling on the brink +of destruction, needed a true-hearted, forbearing, long-suffering wife! +Such a one might--yes, would--have saved him. By the strong cords of +love she would have held him to her side. + +Several times Ellis tried to interest Cara in conversation; but to +every remark she replied only in monosyllables. In fact she was angry +with him, and, not feeling kindly, she would not speak kindly. All day +she had suffered deeply on his account. A thousand fears had harassed +her mind. She had even repented of her unkindness towards him, and +resolved to be more forbearing in the future. For more than an hour she +kept the table waiting at dinner time, and was so troubled at his +absence, that she felt no inclination to touch food. + +"I'm afraid I am not patient enough with him," she sighed, as better +feelings warmed in her heart. "I was always a little irritable. But I +will try to do better. If he were not so close about money, I could be +more patient." + +While such thoughts were passing through the mind of Mrs. Ellis, a +particular friend, named Mrs. Claxton, called to see her. + +"Why, bless me, Cara! what's the matter?" exclaimed this lady, as she +took the hand of Mrs. Ellis. "You look dreadful. Haven't been sick, I +hope?" + +"No, not sick in body," was replied. + +"Sick in mind. The worst kind of sickness. No serious trouble, I hope?" + +There was a free, off-hand, yet insinuating manner about Mrs. Claxton, +that, while it won the confidence of a certain class of minds, repulsed +others. Mrs. Ellis, who had no great skill in reading character, +belonged to the former class; and Mrs. Claxton was, therefore as just +said, a particular friend, and in a certain sense a confidante. + +"The old trouble," replied Mrs. Ellis to the closing question of her +friend. + +"With your husband?" + +"Yes. He pinches me in money matters so closely, and grumbles so +eternally at what he calls my extravagance, that I'm out of all +patience. Last evening, just as I was about telling him that he must +give me new parlour carpets, he, divining, I verily believe, my +thoughts, cut off every thing, by saying, in a voice as solemn as the +grave--'Cara, I would like to have a little plain talk with you about +my affairs.' I flared right up. I couldn't have helped it, if I'd died +for it the next minute." + +"Well; what then?" + +"Oh! the old story. Of course he got angry, and went off like a streak +of lightning. I cried half the evening, and then went to bed. I don't +know how late it was when he came home. This morning, when I got up, he +was sleeping as heavy as a log. It was near ten o'clock when I heard +him moving about in our chamber, but I did not go in. He had got +himself into a huff, and I was determined to let him get himself out of +it. Just as I supposed he would come into the nursery, where I was +sitting with the children, awaiting his lordship's pleasure to appear +for breakfast, he opens the door into the passage, and walks himself +off." + +"Without his breakfast?" + +"Yes, indeed. And I've seen nothing of him since." + +"That's bad," said the friend. "A little tiff now and then is all well +enough in its place. But this is too serious." + +"So I feel it. Yet what am I to do?" + +"You will have to manage better than this." + +"Manage?" + +"Yes. I never have scenes of this kind with my husband." + +"He's not so close with you as Henry is with me. He isn't so mean, if I +must speak plainly, in money matters." + +"Well, I don't know about that. He isn't perfect by many degrees. One +of his faults, from the beginning, has been a disposition to dole out +my allowance of money with a very sparing hand. I bore this for some +years, but it fretted me; and was the source of occasional +misunderstandings that were very unpleasant." + +Mrs. Claxton paused. + +"Well; what remedy did you apply?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"A very simple one. I took what he was pleased to give me, and if it +didn't hold out, I bought what I needed, and had the bills sent in to +the store." + +"Capital!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "Just what I have been thinking of. +And it worked well?" + +"To a charm." + +"What did Mr. Claxton say when the bills came in?" + +"He looked grave, and said I would ruin him; but, of course, paid them." + +"Is that the way you got your new carpets?" + +"Yes." + +"And your new blinds?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I declare! But doesn't Mr. Claxton diminish your allowances of +money?" + +"Yes, but his credit is as good as his money. I never pay for dry +goods, shoes, or groceries. The bills are all sent in to him." + +"And he never grumbles?" + +"I can't just say that. It isn't a week since he assured me, with the +most solemn face in the world, that if I didn't manage to keep the +family on less than I did, he would certainly be ruined in his +business." + +"The old story." + +"Yes. I've heard it so often, that it goes in at one ear and out at the +other." + +"So have I. But I like your plan amazingly, and mean to adopt it. In +fact, something of the kind was running through my head yesterday." + +"Do so; and you will save yourself a world of petty troubles. I find +that it works just right." + +This advice of her friend Mrs. Ellis pondered all the afternoon, and, +after viewing the matter on all sides, deliberately concluded to act in +like manner. Yet, for all this, she could not conquer a certain angry +feeling that rankled towards her husband, and, in spite of sundry half +formed resolutions to meet him, when he returned, in a kind manner, her +reception of him was such as the reader has seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +THE turning-point with Ellis had nearly come. It required, +comparatively, little beyond the weight of a feather to give +preponderance to the scale of evil influences. Cara's reception, as +shown in the last chapter, was no worse than he had anticipated, yet it +hurt him none the less; for unkind words from her were always felt as +blows, and coldness as the pressure upon his heart of an icy hand. In +the love of his children, who were very fond of him, he sought a kind +of refuge. Henry, his oldest child, was a bright, intelligent boy +between eight and nine years of age; and Kate, between six and seven, +was a sweet-tempered, affectionate little girl, who scarcely ever left +her father's side when he was in the house. + +At the tea-table, only the children's voices were heard: they seemed +not to perceive the coldness that separated their parents. After +supper, Mr. Ellis went up into the nursery with Henry and Kate, and was +chatting pleasantly with them, when their mother, who had remained +behind to give some directions to a servant, came into the room. + +"Come!" said she, in rather a sharp voice, as she entered, "it is time +you were in bed." + +"Papa is telling us a story," returned Kate, in a pleading tone: "just +let us wait until he is done." + +"I've got no time to wait for stories. Come!" said the mother, +imperatively. + +"Papa will soon be done," spoke up Henry. + +"It's early yet, mother," said Ellis; "let them sit up a little while. +I'm away all day, and don't see much of them." + +"I want them to go to bed now," was the emphatic answer. "It's their +bed-time, and I wish them out of the way, so that I can go to work. If +you'd had their noise and confusion about you all day, as I have, you'd +be glad to see them in their beds." + +"You'll have to go," said Mr. Ellis, in a tone of disappointment that +he could not conceal. "But get up early to-morrow morning, and I will +tell you the rest of the story. Don't cry, dear!" And Mr. Ellis kissed +tenderly his little girl, in whose eyes the tears were already starting. + +Slowly, and with sad faces, the children turned to obey their mother, +who, not for a moment relenting, spoke to them sharply for their lack +of prompt obedience. They went crying up-stairs, and she scolding. + +The moment the door of the nursery closed upon the retiring forms of +the children, Mr. Ellis started to his feet with an impatient +exclamation, and commenced pacing the room with rapid steps. + +"Temptations without and storms within," said he, bitterly. "Oh, that I +had the refuge of a quiet home, and the sustaining heart and wise +counsels of a loving wife!" + +By the time Mrs. Ellis had undressed the children and got them snugly +in bed, her excited feelings were, in a measure, calmed; and from +calmer feelings flowed the natural result--clearer thoughts. Then came +the conviction of having done wrong, and regret for a hasty and unkind +act. + +"He sees but little of them, it is true," she murmured, "and I might +have let them remain up a little while longer, I'm too thoughtless, +sometimes; but I get so tired of their noise and confusion, which is +kept up all day long." + +And then she sighed. + +Slowly, and with gentler feelings, Mrs. Ellis went down-stairs. Better +thoughts were in her mind, and she was inwardly resolving to act +towards her husband in a different spirit from that just manifested. On +entering the nursery, where she had left him, she was not a little +disappointed to find that he was not there. + +"It isn't possible that he has gone out!" was her instant mental +ejaculation; and she passed quickly into the adjoining chamber to see +if he were there. It was empty. + +For some time Mrs. Ellis stood in deep abstraction of mind; then, as a +sigh heaved her bosom, she moved from the chamber and went down-stairs. +A glance at the hat-stand confirmed her fears; her husband had left the +house. + +"Ah, me!" she sighed. "It is hard to know how to get along with him. If +every thing isn't just to suit his fancy, off he goes. I might humour +him more than I do, but it isn't in me to humour any one. And for a man +to want to be humoured! Oh, dear! oh, dear! this is a wretched way to +live; it will kill me in the end. These men expect their own way in +every thing, and if they don't get it, then there is trouble. I'm not +fit to be Henry's wife. He ought to have married a woman with less +independence of spirit; one who would have been the mere creature of +his whims and fancies." + +Mrs. Ellis, with a troubled heart, went up to the room where so many of +her lonely evening hours were spent. Taking her work-basket, she tried +to sew; but her thoughts troubled her so, that she finally sought +refuge therefrom in the pages of an exciting romance. + +The realizing power of imagination in Ellis was very strong. While he +paced the floor after his wife and children had left the room, there +came to him such a vivid picture of the coldness and reserve that must +mark the hours of that evening, if they were passed with Cara, that he +turned from it with a sickening sense of pain. Under the impulse of +that feeling he left the house, but with no purpose as to where he was +going. + +For as long, perhaps, as half an hour, Ellis walked the street, his +mind, during most of the time, pondering the events of the day. His +absence from business was so much lost, and would throw double burdens +on the morrow, for, besides the sum of two hundred dollars to be +returned to Wilkinson, he had a hundred to make up for another friend +who had accommodated him. But where was the money to come from? In the +matter of borrowing, Ellis had never done much, and his resources in +that line were small. His losses at the gaming-table added so much to +the weight of discouragement under which he suffered! + +"You play well." Frequently had the artful tempter, Carlton, lured his +victim on by this and other similar expressions, during the time he had +him in his power; and thus flattered, Ellis continued at cards until +repeated losses had so far sobered him as to give sufficient mental +resolution to enable him to stop. + +Now, these expressions returned to his mind, and their effect upon him +was manifested in the thought,-- + +"If I hadn't been drinking, he would have found in me a different +antagonist altogether." + +It was an easy transition from this state of mind to another. It was +almost natural for the wish to try his luck again at cards to be +formed; particularly as he was in great need of money, and saw no +legitimate means of getting the needed supply. + +The frequency with which Ellis had spent his evenings abroad made him +acquainted with many phases of city life hidden from ordinary +observers. Idle curiosity had more than once led him to visit certain +gambling-houses on a mere tour of observation; and, during these +visits, he had each time been tempted to try a game or two, in which +cases little had been lost or won. The motive for winning did not then +exist in tempting strength; and, besides, Ellis was naturally a +cautious man. Now, however, the motive did exist. + +"Yes, I do play well," said he, mentally answering the remembered +compliment of Carlton, "and but for your stealing away my brains with +liquor, you would have found me a different kind of antagonist." + +Ellis had fifty dollars in his pocket. This sum was the amount of the +day's sales of goods in his store. Instead of leaving the money in his +fire-closet, he had taken it with him, a sort of dim idea being in his +mind that, possibly, it might be wanted for some such purpose as now +contemplated. So he was all prepared for a trial of his skill; and the +trial was made. To one of the haunts of iniquity before visited in mere +reprehensible curiosity, he now repaired with the deliberate purpose of +winning money to make up for losses already sustained, and to provide +for the next day's payments. He went in with fifty dollars in his +pocket-book; at twelve o'clock he left the place perfectly sober, and +the winner of three hundred dollars. Though often urged to drink, he +had, knowing his weakness, firmly declined in every instance. + +Cara, he found, as usual on returning home late at night, asleep. He +sought his pillow without disturbing her, and lay for a long time with +his thoughts busy among golden fancies. In a few hours he had won three +hundred dollars, and that from a player of no common skill. + +"Yes, yes, Carlton said true. I play well." Over and over did Ellis +repeat this, as he lay with his mind too much excited for sleep. + +Wearied nature yielded at last. His dreams repeated the incidents of +the evening, and reconstructed them into new and varied forms. When he +awoke, at day-dawn, from his restless slumber, it took but a short time +for his thoughts to arrange themselves into a purpose, and that purpose +was to seek out Carlton as the first business of the day, and win back +the evidence of debt that he had against him. + +The meeting of Ellis and his wife at the breakfast-table had less of +coldness and reserve in it than their meeting at tea-time. No reference +was made to the previous evening, nor to the fact of his having +remained out to a late hour. + +It was the intention of Ellis, on leaving his house after breakfast, to +repair to his store and make some preliminary arrangements for the day +before hunting up Carlton; but on his way thither, his appetite +constrained him to enter a certain drinking-house just for a single +glass of brandy to give his nerves their proper tension. + +"Ah! how are you, my boy?" exclaimed Carlton, who was there before him, +advancing as he spoke, and offering his hand in his usual frank way. + +"Glad to meet you!" returned Ellis. "Just the man I wished to see. Take +a drink?" + +"I don't care if I do." + +And the two men moved up to the bar. When they turned away, Carlton +drew his arm familiarly within that of Ellis, and bending close to his +ear, said--"You wish to take up your due-bills, I presume? + +"You guess my wishes precisely," was the answer. + +"Well, I shall be pleased to have you cancel them. Are you prepared to +do it this morning?" + +"I am--in the way they were created." + +A gleam of satisfaction lit up the gambler's face, which was partly +turned from Ellis; but he shrugged his shoulders, and said, in an +altered voice--"I'm most afraid to try you again." + +"We're pretty well matched, I know," said the victim. "If you decline, +of course the matter ends." + +"I never like to be bantered," returned Carlton. "If a man were to dare +me to jump from the housetop, it would be as much as I could do to +restrain myself." + +"I've got three hundred in my pocket," said Ellis, "and I'm prepared to +see the last dollar of it." + +"Good stuff in you, my boy!" and Carlton laid his hand upon his +shoulder in a familiar way. "It would hardly be fair not to give you a +chance to get back where you were. So here's for you, win or lose, sink +or swim." + +And the two men left the tavern together. We need not follow them, nor +describe the contest that ensued. The result has already been +anticipated by the reader. A few hours sufficed to strip Ellis of his +three hundred dollars, and increase his debts to the gambler nearly +double the former amount. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +MRS. ELLIS knew, by the appearance of her husband, that he had not been +drinking on the night previous, late as he had remained away. This took +a weight from her feelings, and relieved her mind from self-upbraidings +that would have haunted her all the day. After breakfast her mind began +to ponder what Mrs. Claxton had said on the day previous, and the more +she thought of her advice and example, the more she felt inclined to +adopt a similar course of action. On new Brussels carpets she had, long +ago, set her heart, and already worried her husband about them past +endurance. To obtain his consent to the purchase, she felt to be +hopeless. + +"I must get them in this way, or not at all. So much is clear." Thus +she communed with herself. "He's able enough to pay the bill; if I had +any doubts of that, the matter would be settled; but I have none." + +With the prospect of getting the long coveted carpets, came an +increased desire for their possession. + +In imagination Mrs. Ellis saw them already on the floor. For some hours +there was a struggle in her mind. Then the tempter triumphed. She +dressed herself, and went out for the purpose of making a selection. +From this moment she did not hesitate. Calling at a well-known carpet +warehouse, she made her selection, and directed the bill, after the +carpet was made and put down, to be sent in to her husband. The price +of the carpet she chose was two dollars and a quarter a yard; and the +whole bill, including that of the upholsterer, would reach a hundred +and sixty dollars. + +When Mrs. Ellis returned home, after having consummated her purpose, +the thought of her beautiful carpet gave her far less pleasure than she +had anticipated. In every wrong act lies its own punishment. Uneasiness +of mind follows as a sure consequence. From the idea of her beautiful +parlours, her mind would constantly turn to her husband. + +"What _will_ he say?" + +Ah! if she could only have answered that question satisfactorily! + +"I will be so good, I will disarm him with kindness. I will humour him +in every thing. I will not give him a chance to be angry." + +For a while this idea pleased the mind of Mrs. Ellis. But it only +brought a temporary respite to the uneasiness produced by her wrong act. + +"I'll tell him just what I have done," said she to herself, as the +dinner hour approached, and Cara began to look for her husband's +return. "He might as well know it now, as in a week; and, besides, it +will give him time to prepare for the bill. Yes, that is what I will +do." + +Still, her mind felt troubled. The act was done, and no way of retreat +remained open. The consequences must be met. + +The hour for Mr. Ellis to return home at length arrived, and his wife +waited his coming with a feeling of troubled suspense such as she had +rarely, if ever, before experienced. Smiles, ready to be forced to her +countenance, were wreathing themselves in her imagination. She meant to +be "_so_ good," so loving, so considerate. A particular dish of which +he was so fond had been ordered,--it was a month since it had graced +their table. + +But time moved on. It was thirty minutes past the dinner hour, and he +was still away. At last Mrs. Ellis gave him up. A full hour had +elapsed, and there was little probability of his return before the +close of business for the day. So she sat down with her children to eat +the meal which long delay had spoiled, and for which she had now but +little appetite. + +Wearily passed the afternoon, and, as the usual time for Ellis's +appearance drew near, his wife began to look for his coming with +feelings of unusual concern. Not concern for him, but for herself. She +had pretty well made up her mind to inform him of what she had done, +but shrank from the scene which she had every reason to believe would +follow. + +The twilight had just begun to fall, and Mrs. Ellis, with her babe in +her arms, was sitting in one of the parlours, waiting for and thinking +of her husband, when she heard his key in the door. He came in, and +moving along the entry with a quicker step than usual, went up-stairs. +Supposing that, not finding her above, he would come down to the +parlours, Mrs. Ellis waited nearly five minutes. Then she followed him +up-stairs. Not finding him in the nursery, she passed into their +chamber. Here she found him, lying across the bed, on which he had, +evidently, thrown himself under some strong excitement, or abandonment, +of feeling, for his head was not upon a pillow, and he lay perfectly +motionless, as if unconscious of her presence. + +"Henry!" She called his name, but he made no answer, nor gave even a +sign. + +"Henry! Are you sick?" + +There was a slight movement of his body, but no reply. + +"Henry! Henry!" Mrs. Ellis spoke in tones of anxiety, as she laid her +hand upon him. "Speak! What is the matter? Are you sick?" + +A long deep sigh was the only answer. + +"Why don't you speak, Henry?" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "You frighten me +dreadfully." + +"Don't trouble me just now, if you please," said the wretched man, in a +low, half-whispering voice. + +"But what ails you, Henry? Are you sick?" + +"Yes." + +"How? Where? What can I do for you?" + +"Nothing!" was faintly murmured. + +By this time, Cara began to feel really alarmed. Leaving the room +hurriedly, she gave the babe she held in her arms to one of her +domestics, and then returned. Bending, now, over her husband, she took +one of his hands, and clasping it tightly, said, in a voice of earnest +affection that went to the heart of Ellis with electric quickness-- + +"Do, Henry, say what ails you! Can't I get something for you?" + +"I'll feel better in a little while," whispered Ellis. + +"Let me send for the doctor." + +"Oh, no! no! I'm not so sick as that," was answered. "I only feel a +little faint, not having taken any dinner." + +"Why did you go without a meal? It is not right to do so. I waited for +you so long, and was so disappointed that you did not come." + +There was more of tenderness and wife-like interest in Cara's words and +manner than had been manifested for a long time, and the feelings of +Ellis were touched thereby. Partly raising himself on his elbow, he +replied-- + +"I know it isn't right; but I was so much engaged!" + +The twilight pervading the room was too feeble to give Mrs. Ellis a +distinct view of her husband's countenance. Its true expression, +therefore, was veiled. + +"You feel better now, do you?" she inquired tenderly. + +"Yes, dear," he answered, slightly pressing the hand she had laid in +his. + +"I will order tea on the table immediately." + +And Mrs. Ellis left the room. When she returned, he had risen from the +bed, and was sitting in a large chair near one of the windows. + +"Are you better, dear?" tenderly inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"Yes, a good deal better," was answered. And the words were truly +spoken; for this unlooked-for, kind, even tender reception, had wrought +an almost instantaneous change. He had come home with a feeling of +despair tugging at his heart. Nothing appeared before him but ruin. Now +the light of hope, feeble though were the rays, came glimmering across +the darkness of his spirit. + +"I am glad to hear it!" was the warm response of Cara. "Oh! it is so +wrong for you to neglect your meals. You confine yourself too closely +to business. I wanted you to come home to-day particularly, for I had +prepared for you, just in the way you like it, such a nice dish of +maccaroni." + +"It was very thoughtful in you, dear. I wish I had been at home to +enjoy it with you." + +Tea being announced, Mrs. Ellis arose and said: + +"Come; supper is on the table. You must break your long fast." + +"First let me wash my hands and face," returned Ellis, who wished to +gain time, as well as use all the means, to restore his countenance to +a better expression than it wore, ere meeting Cara under the glare of +strong lamp light. + +A basin was filled for him by his wife, and, after washing his hands +and face, he left the chamber with her, and went to the dining-room. +Here Cara got a distinct view of her husband's countenance. Many lines +of the passion and suffering written there during that, to him, +ever-to-be-remembered day, were still visible, and, as Cara read them +without comprehending their import, a vague fear came hovering over her +heart. Instantly her thoughts turned to what she had been doing, and +most sincerely did she repent of the act. + +"I will confess it to him, this very night," such was her mental +resolution,--"and promise, hereafter never to do aught against his +wishes." + +Notwithstanding Ellis had taken no dinner, he had little appetite for +his evening meal; and the concern of his wife was increased on +observing that he merely tasted his food and sipped his tea. + +The more than ordinary trouble evinced, as well in the whole manner of +Ellis as in the expression of his face and in the tones of his voice, +oppressed the heart of Cara. She felt that something more than usual +must have occurred to disturb him. Could it be possible that any thing +was wrong in his business? The thought caused a low thrill to tremble +along her nerves. He had frequently spoken of his affairs as not very +prosperous; was always, in fact, making a "sort of a poor mouth." But +all this she had understood as meant for effect--as a cover for his +opposition to her wish to spend. What if it were all as he had +represented? + +Such thoughts could not but sober the mind of Mrs. Ellis, and caused +her manner towards her husband to assume an air of tenderness and +concern to which it had too long been a stranger. How quickly was this +felt by Ellis! How gratefully did his heart respond to his wife's +gentler touches on its tensely strung chords! + +That evening Henry Ellis spent at home. Not much conversation passed +between him and his wife; for the mind of each was too heavily burdened +with thoughts of its own to leave room for an interchange of ideas. But +the manner of Cara towards her husband was subdued, and even tender; +and he felt it as the grateful earth feels the strength-giving +impression of the gentle rain. Leaving the past, to the future both +their thoughts turned; and both strengthened themselves in good +resolutions. + +Cara resolved to be a better wife--to be more considerate and more +yielding towards her husband. And Ellis resolved to abandon, at every +sacrifice the vicious habits he had indulged,--habits which, within a +day or two, had led him aside from the path of safety, and conducted +him to the brink of a precipice, from which he now started back with a +thrilling sense of fear. + +More than twenty times during that evening was Cara on the eve of +telling her husband about the carpet. But she shrank from the +confession. + +"In the morning I will do it," was her final conclusion; thus putting +off the evil hour. But morning found her no better prepared for the +task. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +ALL through the night, the mind of Ellis was haunted with troubled +dreams; but, on waking, he felt calm, and good purposes were in his +heart. The manner of Cara still being tender and considerate, he went +forth feeling the strength of her love, and resolving, for her sake, +and the sake of his children, to free himself from his present +entanglements, cost what it would. + +Seven hundred dollars was the sum he had lost at the gaming-table and +for over five hundred of this, Carlton held his obligations, payable on +demand. Besides this, he owed on account of temporary loans, from +business friends, about an equal amount. Moreover, on that day, a note +of three hundred dollars fell due; and in the coming ten days, about a +thousand dollars had to be paid into bank. The aggregate of all these +obligations, to be met within two weeks, was two thousand three hundred +dollars. + +As Ellis looked at this formidable amount, and calculated his +resources, he felt, for a time, utterly discouraged. But a reaction +from this state of feeling came, and he set his mind vigorously to work +in devising means for the pressing emergency. + +"There is one thing certain," said he to himself, as he pondered the +matter. "Carlton will have to wait. So there are five hundred dollars +pushed ahead. I received no value in the case, and shall not hurry +myself to make payment." + +Even while Ellis thus spoke, a man called and presented the due-bills +he had given to the gambler. + +"I can't take these up now," was the prompt reply. + +"My directions are to collect them forthwith," said the man. + +"Mr. Carlton will have to wait my convenience." Ellis spoke with +considerable irritation of manner. + +"Shall I say so to him?" was asked, in a tone that involved a warning +of consequences. + +"You can say to him what you please," answered Ellis, sharply. + +"Oh! very well!" + +The man turned away, and walked towards the door. He paused, however, +after going a short distance; stood, as if reflecting, for some +moments, and, then came back. + +"You had better think over this a little;" said he, in a conciliatory +voice. "The debt is, I need not remind you, one of _honour_; and it is +neither wise nor safe for a man of business to let such a debt be +handed over for legal collection. You understand, I presume?" + +The suggestion caused Ellis to start, involuntarily. He saw, at a +glance, the dangerous position in which he stood. Only by retaining a +fair credit would it be possible for him to surmount his present +difficulties; and his credit would be instantly blasted if a suit were +brought against him by a man he had now good reasons to believe was +known in the community as a gambler. + +"You understand me?" repeated the collector, in a tone of marked +significance. + +Ellis tried to regain his self-possession, and affect indifference. But +his feelings were poorly disguised. + +"Just say to Mr. Carlton," he replied, "that it is not my purpose to +give him any trouble about this matter. I will take up the due-bills. +But I have some heavy payments to make, and cannot do it just now." + +"When will it be done?" + +"That I am unable, just now, to say." + +"Can't you give me a part of the money today?" + +Ellis shook his head. + +"I have notes in bank, and they must take the precedence of all other +payments." + +"To-morrow, then?" + +"I have five hundred dollars to pay to-morrow." + +The man's countenance began to lower. + +"Just go to Mr. Carlton, if you please, and tell him what I say. He's a +man of common sense;--he will listen to reason." + +"My orders to collect were imperative," persisted the man. + +"Tell him that you can't collect to-day. That I must and will have +time. There now! Go! I've something else to do besides arguing this +matter fruitlessly." + +The collector turned off with an angry, threatening look. A few minutes +after he was gone, and ere the mind of Ellis had recovered its balance, +a customer called in and paid a bill of a hundred dollars. This +awakened a feeling of confidence; and, in a hopeful spirit, Ellis went +forth to make arrangements for the balance of what was wanted for the +day. He found no difficulty in procuring the sum he needed, which was +four hundred dollars. After taking up his note, he called upon his +friend Wilkinson with the two hundred dollars he had failed to return +the day before, when, after apologizing for his neglect, he asked him +how he would be off in regard to money matters during the ensuing two +weeks. + +"Tight as a drum," was answered. + +"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Ellis, showing more disappointment +than he wished to appear; "for I have made some calculation on you. I +have nearly two thousand dollars to take care of in the next ten days." + +"I wish I could help you. But, indeed, I can not," said Wilkinson, +looking serious. "I have been a good deal crowded of late, and shall +have my hands full, and more than full for some time to come. I never +knew money so tight as it is just now." + +"Nor I neither. Well, I suppose we shall get through somehow. But I +must own that things look dark." + +"The darkest hour is just before the break of day," said Wilkinson, +with an earnestness that expressed his faith in what he said. His faith +was born of a resolution to separate himself from all dangerous +companionship and habits, and a deeply felt conviction of the +all-sustaining strength of his wife's self-denying affection. + +"Yes--yes--so the proverb says, and so the poet sings," returned Ellis, +thoughtfully. "This seems to be my darkest hour. God grant it be only +the precursor of day!" + +"Amen!" The solemn response of Wilkinson was involuntary. + +"And so you can't help me?" said Ellis, recovering himself, and +speaking in a more cheerful voice. + +"Indeed I cannot." + +"Well, help will come, I suppose. There is nothing like trying. So good +morning. Time is too precious to waste just now." + +Between the store of Wilkinson and that of Ellis was a refectory, where +the latter often repaired for a lunch and something to drink about +eleven or twelve o'clock. It was now twelve, and, as Ellis had taken +only a light breakfast, and omitted his morning dram, he felt both +hungry and dry. Almost as a matter of course, he was about entering +this drinking-house, when, as he stepped on the threshold, his eyes +rested on the form of Carlton, standing by the bar with a glass in his +hand. Quickly he turned away, and kept on to his store, where he +quenched his thirst with a copious draught of ice-water. Not a drop of +liquor had passed his lips when he went home at dinner-time. And he was +as free from its influence when he joined his family at the close of +day. Cara received him with the kindness and consideration that were so +grateful to his feelings; and he spent the evening, safe from all +dangers, at home. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"WILL you have the money now, dear?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, as she arose, +with her husband, from the dinner-table, on the day she announced to +him the fact that she had saved a few hundred dollars, out of the +amount given her for the expenses of the family. + +"No, not to-day," replied Wilkinson. "In fact, Mary," he added, "I +don't feel just right about taking your money; and I think I must +manage to get along without it." + +"John!" Mrs. Wilkinson seemed hurt by her husband's words. + +"It is yours, Mary," was replied with much tenderness of manner. "You +have saved it for some particular purpose, and I shall not feel happy +to let it go back again and become absorbed in my business." + +"Have we divided interests, John?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, in a low, +serious voice, as she clung to her husband's arm, and looked steadily +into his face. + +"I hope not, Mary." + +"Am I not your wife?" + +"Yes, yes; and one of the best of wives." + +"And do I not love you?" + +"Never for a single moment has a doubt of your love been whispered in +my heart." + +"Such a whisper would have wronged me. Yes, my husband, I do love you, +and as my very life." + +Wilkinson bent down and pressed his lips to hers. + +"Love ever seeks to bless its object," continued Mary, "and finds, in +doing so, its purest delight. Do you think I could use the money I +have, in any way that would bring me so much pleasure as by placing it +in your hands? Surely your heart says no." + +"I will take it, dear," said Wilkinson, after a slight pause. His voice +was unsteady as he spoke; "and you will have your reward," he added, in +tones filled with a prophecy for the future. + +"Never--never--never shall act of mine bring a shadow to that dear +face!" was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, as, with an impulse of +affection he could not restrain, he threw his arms around his wife and +hugged her to his bosom. + +"Bless you! Bless you, Mary!" came, almost sobbing, from his +overflowing heart. + +On his way to his store, that afternoon, Wilkinson felt the old desire +to stop and get his usual glass of brandy, and he was actually about to +enter a drinking-house, when the image of his wife came so distinctly +before his mind, that it seemed almost like a personal presence. He saw +a shadow upon her face, and the dimness of tears was in her tender blue +eyes. + +"No!" said he resolutely, and with an audible expression, and quickly +passed on. + +How his bosom rose and fell, with a panting motion, as if from some +strong physical effort. + +"What an escape! It was the very path of danger!" such were his +thoughts. "To venture into that path again were the folly of a madman. +No, Mary, no! Your love shall draw me back with its strong attraction. +A new light seems breaking all around me. I see as I never saw before. +There is the broad way to destruction, and here winds the narrow but +pleasant path of safety. Ruined hopes, broken hearts, and sad wrecks of +humanity are scattered thickly along the first, but heavenly +confidence, joyful hearts, and man, with the light of celestial truth +upon his upturned face, is to be found in the other. Shall I hesitate +in which to walk? No!" + +With a quicker and more elastic step Wilkinson pursued his way, and +reached his store just as a customer from the country, who had been +waiting for him, was leaving. + +"Just in time," said the latter. "I've been waiting for you over half +an hour." + +"I dined later to-day than usual," returned Wilkinson. + +"I wanted to settle my bill, but there were two or three items which +your clerk could not explain. So I concluded to let the matter stand +over until I was in the city again, which will be in the course of a +few weeks. However, as you are here, we will arrange it now." + +So the two men walked back to the desk upon which lay Wilkinson's +account books. The customer's bill was referred to, and one or two +slight discrepancies reconciled. The amount of it was nearly two +hundred dollars. + +"You will take off five per cent. for cash, I presume?" + +"Certainly," replied Wilkinson. + +The money was paid down. + +"So much for not stopping on the way to business for a glass of brandy." + +This thought was spontaneous in the mind of Wilkinson. After his +customer had left, he fell into a musing state, in which many thoughts +were presented, that, from the pain and self-condemnation they +occasioned, he tried to push from his mind. But he was not able to do +this. Much of the history of his daily life for the past few years +presented itself, and, in reviewing it, many things stood out in bold +relief, which were before regarded as of little moment. Not until now +did he clearly see the dangerous position in which he stood. + +"So near the brink of ruin!" he sighed. "I knew the path to be a +dangerous one; I knew that other feet had slipped; but felt secure in +my own strength. Ah! that strength was weakness itself. I a drunkard!" +He shuddered as the thought presented itself. "And Mary, the hopeless, +brokenhearted wife of one lost to every ennobling sentiment of the +human mind! It is awful to think of it!" + +Wilkinson was deeply disturbed. For some time longer his mind dwelt on +this theme: then, in the depths of his own thoughts, and in the +presence of Heaven, he resolved to be in safety, by avoiding the path +of danger; to put forever from his lips the cup from which he had so +often drank confusion. + +Suddenly he appeared to be lifted above the level he had occupied, into +a region whose atmosphere was purer, and to a position from which he +saw things in new relations. It was only then that he fully +comprehended the real danger from which he had escaped. + +"And my wife has saved me!" was the involuntary acknowledgment of his +heart. + +The rest of the afternoon was spent by Wilkinson in a careful +investigation of his affairs. He ascertained the entire amount he would +have to pay in the coming six months, and also his probable resources +during the time. The result was very discouraging. But for the sum lost +to Carlton he would have seen all clear; but the abstraction of so much +lessened his available means, and would so clog the wheels of his +business as to make all progress exceedingly difficult. + +There was a shadow on the brow of Wilkinson when he met his wife that +evening, and she saw it the moment he came in, notwithstanding his +effort to seem cheerful. This shadow fell upon her heart, but she did +not permit its reproduction on her countenance. + +After tea, Mary was busied for a short time in getting little Ella to +sleep. When she returned, at length, to their sitting-room, she had a +small package in her hand, which, with a smiling face, she laid upon +the table at which her husband sat reading. + +"What is that, dear?" he asked, lifting his eyes to her face. + +"We shall soon see," was answered, and Mrs. Wilkinson commenced opening +the package. In a moment or two, five or six rolls of coin were +produced, nicely enveloped in paper. + +"This is my sub-treasury," said she, with a smile. "I took an account +of the deposits to-day, and find just five hundred and fifty dollars. +So, even if Mr. Ellis should fail to return the two hundred dollars he +borrowed, you will still be three hundred and fifty dollars better off +than you thought you were. So push every gloomy thought from your +heart. All will come out right in the end." + +Wilkinson looked at the money like one who could scarcely believe the +evidence of his senses. + +"This for the present," said Mrs. Wilkinson, leaning towards her +husband, and fixing her gentle, yet earnest, loving eyes upon his face. +"This for the present. And now let me give you my plans for the future. +Your business is to earn money, and mine to expend so much of it as +domestic comfort and well-being requires. Thus far I believe the +expenditure has not been in a just ratio to the earnings. Speak out +plainly, dear husband! and say if I am not right." + +Wilkinson sat silent, gradually withdrawing his eyes from those of his +wife, and letting them fall to the floor. + +"Yes, I am right," said the latter, after a pause. "And such being the +case, you have become pressed for money to conduct your business. A +change, then, is required. We must lessen our expenses. And now listen +to what I have to propose. I went this afternoon to see Mrs. Capron, +and she says, that if we will furnish our own room, she will board us +and a nurse for ten dollars a week." + +"Board us!" + +"Yes, dear. Won't it be much better for us to take boarding for two or +three years, until we can afford to keep a house?" + +"But our furniture, Mary? What is to be done with that?" + +"All provided for," said Mrs. Wilkinson, with sparkling eyes, and a +countenance flushed with the excitement she felt. "We will have a sale." + +"A sale!" + +"Yes, a sale. And this will give you more money. We will live at half +the present cost, and you will get back into your business at least a +thousand dollars that never should have been taken from it." + +"But the sacrifice, Mary!" said Wilkinson, as if seeking an argument +against his wife. + +"Did you never hear of such a thing," she replied, "as throwing over a +part of the cargo to save the ship?" + +"Bless you! Bless you, Mary!" exclaimed Wilkinson, in a broken voice, +as he hid his face upon his wife's bosom. "You have, indeed, saved me +from shipwreck, body and soul, just as I was about to be thrown upon +the breakers! Heaven will reward your devoted love, your tenderness, +your long-suffering and patient forbearance. Thank God for such a wife!" + +And the whole frame of the strong man quivered. + +It was many minutes before either of them spoke; then Mr. Wilkinson +lifted his face, and said calmly-- + +"Yes, Mary, we will do as you propose; for you have spoken wisely. I +will need every dollar in my business that I can get. And now let me +say a few words more. In times past I have not been as kind to you--as +considerate--" + +"Dear husband! let the past be as if it had not been. You were always +kind, gentle, loving"-- + +"Let me speak what is in my mind. I wish to give it utterance," +interrupted Wilkinson. "In times past, I have too often sought +companionship from home, and such companionship has ever been dangerous +and debasing. I have this day resolved to correct that error; and I +will keep my resolution. Henceforth, home shall be to me the dearest +place. And there is one more thing I wish to say"-- + +The voice of Wilkinson changed its expression, while a slight flush +came into his face. + +"There is one habit that I have indulged, and which I feel to be an +exceedingly dangerous one. That habit I have solemnly promised, in the +sight of Heaven, to correct. I will no longer put to my lips the cup of +confusion." + +Wilkinson was not prepared for the effect these words had upon his +wife, who, instantly uttering a cry of joy, flung herself into her +husband's arms, sobbing-- + +"Oh! I am the happiest woman alive this day!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +TO Ellis the trials of the next two weeks were of the severest +character. Yet, he kept himself away from drinking-houses, and +struggled manfully to retain his feet under him. In this he was only +sustained by the kindness of his wife's manner, and the interest she +seemed to feel in him. Had she acted towards him with her usual want of +affectionate consideration, he would have fallen under the heavy +burdens that rested upon him. Scarcely a day passed in which he was not +visited by Carlton's agent, and fretted almost past endurance by his +importunities. But he steadily refused to take up any of the due-bills; +at the same time that he promised to cancel them at some future period. +This did not, of course, suit the gambler, who sent threats of an +immediate resort to legal proceedings. + +Of all this Cara knew nothing; yet she could not help seeing that her +husband was troubled, and this caused her to muse on what she had done +with increasing uneasiness. She no longer took any pleasure in the +thoughts of new parlour carpets. But it was too late, now, to retrace +her steps of error. The carpets were already in the hands of the +upholsterers, and a few days would see them on the floor. + +"I must tell him about them," said Cara to herself, about a week after +her act of folly, as she sat, towards the close of day, brooding over +what she had done. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed. In a few days +the carpets will be sent home, and then"-- + +A slight inward shudder was felt by Cara, as she paused, with the +sentence unfinished. + +"But I'm foolish," she added, recovering herself, "very foolish. Why +need I be so afraid of Henry? I have some freedom of action left--some +right of choice. These were not all yielded in our marriage. His will +was not made the imperative law of all my actions. No--no. And here +lies the ground of difference between us. The fact is, he is to blame +for this very thing, for he drove me to it." + +But such thoughts did not satisfy the mind of Mrs. Ellis, nor remove +the sense of wrong that oppressed her spirit. So, in a little while, +she came back to her resolution to tell her husband, on that very +evening, all about what she had done. This was her state of mind, when +her friend Mrs. Claxton called in. After the first pleasant greeting, +the lady, assuming a slight gravity of manner, said-- + +"Do you know, Mrs. Ellis, that I've thought a good deal about the +matter we talked of the last time I saw you?" + +"To what do you allude?" asked Cara. + +"To running up bills without your husband's knowledge. All men are not +alike, and Mr. Ellis might not take it so easily as Mr. Claxton has +done. The fact is, I have been checked off a little, so to speak, +within a day or two, and it has rather set me to thinking" + +"In what way?" inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"I will tell you--but, remember, this is in the strictest confidence. +It might injure my husband's business if it got out. In fact, I don't +think I have any right to tell you; but, as I advised you to follow my +example, I must give you convincing proof that this example is a bad +one. Last evening, when Mr. Claxton came home, he looked unusually +serious. 'Is any thing wrong?' I asked of him, manifesting in my voice +and manner the concern I really felt. 'Yes,' said he, looking me +fixedly in the eyes--'there is something wrong. I came within an ace of +being protested to-day.' 'Indeed! How?' I exclaimed. 'Listen,' said he, +'and you shall hear; and while you hear, believe, for I solemnly +declare that every word I utter is the truth, and nothing but the +truth. I could not spare the cash when your new carpet and upholstery +bill came in, so I gave a note for the amount, which was over two +hundred dollars. The note was for six months, and fell due to-day. I +also gave a note for your new sofa, chairs, and French bedstead, +because I had no cash with which to pay the bill. It was two hundred +and fifty dollars, and the note given at four months. That also fell +due to-day. Now, apart from these, I had more than my hands full to +take up business paper, this being an unusually heavy day. At every +point where I could do so I borrowed; but at half-past two o'clock I +was still short the amount of these two notes. While in the utmost +doubt and perplexity as to what I should do in my difficulty, two notes +were handed in. One contained a dry goods bill which you had run up of +over a hundred and fifty dollars, and the other a shoe bill of +twenty-five. I cannot describe to you the paralyzing sense of +discouragement that instantly came over me. It is hopeless for me to +struggle on at such a disadvantage, said I to myself--utterly hopeless. +And I determined to give up the struggle--to let my notes lie over, and +thus end the unequal strife in which I was engaged; for, to this, I saw +it must come at last. Full twenty minutes went by, and I still sat in +this state of irresolution. Then, as a vivid perception of consequences +came to my mind, I aroused myself to make a last, desperate effort. +Hurriedly drawing a note at thirty days for five hundred dollars, I +took it to a money-lender, whom I knew I could tempt by the offer of a +large discount. He gave me for it a check on the bank in which my notes +were deposited, for four hundred and fifty dollars. Just as the clock +was striking three, I entered the banking-house.' + +"My husband paused. I saw by the workings of his face and by the large +beads of perspiration which stood upon his forehead, that he was indeed +in earnest. I never was so startled by any thing in my life. It seemed +for a time as if it were only a dream. I need not say how sincerely I +repented of what I had done, nor how I earnestly promised my husband +never again to contract a debt of even a dollar without his knowledge. +I hope," added Mrs. Claxton, "that you have not yet been influenced by +my advice and example; and I come thus early to speak in your ears a +word of caution. Pray do not breathe aught of what I have told you--it +might injure my husband--I only make the revelation as a matter of duty +to one I tried to lead astray." + +The thoughts of Mrs. Ellis did not run in a more peaceful channel after +the departure of her friend. But she resolved to confess every thing to +her husband, and promise to conform herself more to his wishes in the +future. + +"What," she said, "if he should be in like business difficulties with +Mr. Claxton? He has looked serious for a week past, and has remained at +home every evening during the time--a thing unusual. And I don't think +he has used liquor as freely as common. Something is the matter. Oh, I +wish I had not done that!" + +While such thoughts were passing through the mind of Mrs. Ellis, her +husband came home. She met him with an affectionate manner, which he +returned. But there was a cloud on his brow that even her smile could +not drive away. Even as she met him, words of confession were on the +tongue of Mrs. Ellis, but she shrank from giving them utterance. + +After tea she resolved to speak. But, when this set-time of +acknowledgment came, she was as little prepared for the task as before. +Mr. Ellis looked so troubled, that she could not find it in her heart +to add to the pressure on his mind an additional weight. And so the +evening passed, the secret of Mrs. Ellis remaining undivulged. And so, +day after day went on. + +At length, one morning, the new carpet was sent home and put down. It +was a beautiful carpet; but, as Mrs. Ellis stood looking upon it, after +the upholsterer had departed, she found none of the pleasure she +anticipated. + +"Oh, why, why, why did I do this?" she murmured. "Why was I tempted to +such an act of folly?" + +Gradually the new carpet faded from the eyes of Mrs. Ellis, and she saw +only the troubled face of her husband. It was within an hour of +dinner-time, and in painful suspense she waited his arrival. Various +plans for subduing the excitement which she saw would be created in his +mind, and for reconciling him to the expense of the carpets, were +thought over by Mrs. Ellis: among those was a proposition that he +should give a note for the bill, which she would pay, when it matured, +out of savings from her weekly allowance of money. + +"I can and will do it," said Mrs. Ellis, resolutely: her thought dwelt +longer and longer on this suggestion. "I hope he will not be too angry +to listen to what I have to say, when he comes home and sees the +carpet. He's rather hasty sometimes." + +While in the midst of such thoughts, Mrs. Ellis, who had left the +parlour, heard the shutting of the street-door, and the tread of her +husband in the passage. Glancing at the timepiece on the mantel, she +saw that it was half an hour earlier than he usually came home. Eagerly +she bent her ear to listen. All was soon still. He had entered the +rooms below, or paused on the threshold. A few breathless moments +passed, then a smothered exclamation was heard, followed by two or +three heavy foot-falls and the jarring of the outer door. Mr. Ellis had +left the house! + +"Gone! What does it mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, striking her hands +together, while a strange uneasiness fell upon her heart. A long time +she sat listening for sounds of his return; but she waited in vain. It +was fully an hour past their usual time for dining, when she sat down +to the table with her children, but not to partake of food herself. +Leaving Mrs. Ellis to pass the remainder of that unhappy day with her +own troubled and upbraiding thoughts, we will return to her husband, +and see how it fares with him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +FOR hours after his wife had sunk into the forgetfulness of sleep, +Ellis lay awake, pondering over the ways and means by which he was to +meet his engagements for the next day, which, exclusive of Carlton's +demand, were in the neighbourhood of a thousand dollars. During the +previous two weeks, he had paid a good deal of money, but he was really +but little better off therefor, the money so paid having been mainly +procured through temporary loans from business friends. Most of it he +had promised to return on the morrow. Earnestly as the mind of Ellis +dwelt on the subject, he was not able to devise the means of getting +safely through the next day. + +"And what if I do get over the difficult place?" was the desponding +conclusion of his mind--"ultimate failure is inevitable, unless a great +reduction can be made in expenses. At present, our living exceeds the +profits on my business. Ah! if I could only make Cara understand this! +She has been more considerate and wife-like of late; but I fear to say +one word about the embarrassed state of my affairs, lest the sunshine +of love be again darkened with clouds and storms." + +With such thoughts in his mind, Ellis fell asleep. + +On the next morning, he repaired early to his place of business, in +order to have time fully to digest his plan of operations for the day. +He had many doubts as to his ability to get through, but was resolute +not to yield without a vigorous struggle. Of the amount to be paid, +only four hundred was for notes in bank. The rest was on borrowed money +account. Fully an hour and a half was spent in drawing off certain +accounts, and in determining the line of operations for the morning. On +receiving two hundred dollars for these accounts, Ellis thought he +might with safety calculate; and a lad was sent out to see to their +collection. Then he started forth himself. First in order, he deemed it +best to see if he could not get a little more time on some of his +borrowed money. This was a delicate operation, and its attempt could +only, he felt, be justified by the exigencies of the case. The largest +sum to be returned was three hundred dollars. He had borrowed it from a +merchant in good circumstances, who could at any time command his +thousands, and to whose credit there usually remained heavy balances in +bank. But he was exceedingly punctilious in all business matters. + +Both these facts Ellis knew. It would put the merchant to no +inconvenience whatever to continue the accommodation for ten days +longer; but the policy of asking this was felt to be a very +questionable one, as it would be most likely to create in his mind a +doubt of Ellis's standing, and a doubt in that quarter would be +injurious. Still, the case was so pressing, that Ellis determined to +see him. So, assuming a pleasant, partly unconcerned air, he called +upon the merchant. + +"Good morning, Mr. A--," said he, in a cheerful tone. + +"Good morning, friend Ellis," returned the merchant, pushing his +spectacles above his forehead, and fixing his eyes upon the face of his +visitor, with a sharp, penetrating look which rather belied the smile +that played about his lips. + +"Let me see! Isn't it to-day that I am to return you the three hundred +dollars borrowed last week?" + +"I don't remember, but can tell you in a moment," replied A--, +replacing his glasses, and taking from a pigeon-hole in the desk before +which he sat a small memorandum-book. After consulting this, he +replied-- + +"Yes: you are right. It is to be returned to-day." + +"So I thought. Very well. I'll send you a check around during the +morning. That will answer, I presume?" + +"Oh, certainly--certainly." + +So far, nothing was gained. A hurried debate, as to the policy of +asking a few days more on the loan, took place in the mind of Ellis. He +then said-- + +"If just the same to you, it will be more convenient for me to return +this money on the day after to-morrow." + +There was a slight contraction of brow on the part of Mr. A--, who +replied, rather coldly-- + +"I shall want it to-day, Mr. Ellis." + +"Oh, very well--very well," said Ellis, hiding artfully his +disappointment. "It will be all the same. I will send you around a +check in a little while." + +As he left the store, A-- said to himself-- + +"Of all things, I like to see punctuality in the matter of engagements. +The man who promises to return in an hour the money he borrows from you +should keep his word to the minute." + +The failure to get a few days' extension of time on so important a sum +had the effect to dispirit Ellis a good deal. He left the store of the +merchant in a despondent mood, and was returning towards his own place +of business, when he met Wilkinson. Grasping the hand of the latter +with the eagerness of one who knows, in a great extremity, that he is +face to face with a real friend, he said-- + +"You must help me to-day." + +"I don't see that it is possible, Ellis," was replied. "What amount do +you want?" + +"I must have a thousand dollars." + +"So much?" + +"Yes. But where the sum is to be obtained is more than I can divine." + +"Is all to go into bank?" + +"No. Six hundred is for borrowed money." + +"To whom is the latter due?" + +"I must return three hundred to A--." + +"He can do without it for a few days longer." + +"I have just seen him; but he says it must be returned to-day." + +"He does?" + +"Yes. He wants to use it." + +Wilkinson stood thoughtfully for some time. + +"Can you return the sum in a week?" he then asked. + +"O yes; easily." + +"Very well I'll go and ask him to loan me three hundred for a week. +He'll do it, I know. You shall have the use of it for the time +specified." + +"If you can get me that sum, you will place me under an everlasting +obligation," said Ellis, with more feeling than he wished to display. + +Twenty minutes afterward the money was in his hands. It had been +obtained from A--, and during the morning returned to him in payment of +Ellis's loan. + +So much accomplished, Ellis turned his thoughts towards the ways and +means for raising the seven hundred dollars yet required for the day's +business. By twelve o'clock all of his borrowed money was returned; but +his notes still remained in bank. In view of the difficulties yet to be +surmounted, he felt that he had erred in not making it the first +business of the day to take up his notes, and thus get beyond the +danger of protest. But it was too late now for regrets to be of any +avail. Four hundred dollars must come from some quarter, or ruin was +certain. + +But from whence was aid to come? He had not spent an idle moment since +he came to his store in the morning, and had so fully passed over the +limits within which his resources lay, that little ground yet remained +to be broken, and the promise of that was small. + +While Ellis stood meditating, in much perplexity of mind, what step +next to take, a man entered his store, and, approaching him, read aloud +from a paper which he drew from his pocket, a summons to answer before +an alderman in the case of Carlton, who had brought separate suits on +his due-bills, each being for an amount less than one hundred dollars. + +"Very well, I will attend to it," said Ellis in a voice of assumed +calmness, and the officer retired. + +Slowly seating himself in a chair that stood by a low writing-desk, the +unhappy man tried to compose his thoughts, in order that he might see +precisely in what position this new move would place him. He could +bring nothing in bar of Carlton's claim unless the plea of its being a +gambling debt were urged; and that would only ruin his credit in the +business community. A hearing of the case was to take place in a week, +when judgment would go against him, and then the quick work of an +execution would render the immediate payment of the five hundred +dollars necessary. All this Ellis revolved in his thoughts, and then +deliberately asked himself the question, if it were not better to give +up at once. For a brief space of time, in the exhausted state produced +by the un-equal struggle in which he was engaged, he felt like +abandoning every thing; but a too-vivid realization of the consequences +that would inevitably follow spurred his mind into a resolution to make +one more vigorous effort to overcome the remaining difficulties of the +day. With this new purpose, came a new suggestion of means, and he was +in the act of leaving his store to call upon a friend not before +thought of, when a carpet dealer, whom he knew very well, came in, and +presented a bill. + +"What is this?" asked Mr. Ellis. + +"The bill for your parlour carpets," was answered. + +"What parlour carpets? You are in an error. We have no new parlour +carpets. The bill is meant for some one else." + +"Oh, no," returned the man, smiling. "The carpets were ordered two +weeks ago; and this morning they were put down by the upholsterer." + +"Who ordered them?" + +"Mrs. Ellis." + +"She did!" + +"Yes; and directed the bill sent in to you?" + +"What is the amount?" + +"One hundred and sixty-eight dollars." + +"Very well," said Ellis, controlling himself, "I will attend to it." + +The man retired, leaving the mind of Ellis in a complete sea of +agitation. + +"If this be so," he muttered in a low, angry voice, "then is all over! +To struggle against such odds is hopeless. But I cannot believe it. +There is--there must be an error. The carpets are not mine. He has +mistaken some other woman for my wife, and some other dwelling for +mine. Yes, yes, it must be so. Cara would never dare to do this! But +all doubt may be quickly settled." + +And with, this last sentence on his lips, Ellis left his store, and +walked with hurried steps homeward. Entering his house, he stood for a +moment or two in one of the parlour doors. A single glance sufficed. +Alas! it was but too true. + +"Mad woman!" he exclaimed, in a low, bitter tone. "Mad woman! You have +driven me over the precipice!" + +Turning quickly away, he left the house--to return to his store?--Alas! +no. With him the struggle was over. The manly spirit, that had, for +nearly two weeks, battled so bravely with difficulty without and +temptation within, yielded under this last assault. In less than an +hour, all sense of pain was lost in the stupor of inebriation! + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +WE will not trace, minutely, the particulars attendant on the headlong +downward course of Henry Ellis. The causes leading thereto have been +fully set forth, and we need not refer back to them. Enough, that the +fall was complete. The wretched man appeared to lose all strength of +mind, all hope in life, all self-respect. Not even a feeble effort was +opposed to the down-rushing torrent of disaster that swept away every +vestige of his business. For more than a week he kept himself so +stupefied with brandy, that neither friends nor creditors could get +from him any intelligible statement in regard to his affairs. In the +wish of the latter for an assignment, he passively acquiesced, and +permitted all his effects to be taken from his hands. And so he was +thrown upon the world, with his family, helpless, penniless, crushed in +spirit, and weak as a child in the strong grasp of an over-mastering +appetite, which had long been gathering strength for his day of +weakness. + +Over the sad history of the succeeding five years let us draw a veil. +We have no heart to picture its suffering, its desolation, its +hopelessness. If, in the beginning, there was too much pride in the +heart of Mrs. Ellis, all was crushed out under the iron heel of grim +adversity. If she had once thought too much of herself, and too little +of her husband, a great change succeeded; for she clung to him in all +the cruel and disgusting forms his abandonment assumed, and, with a +self-sacrificing devotion, struggled with the fearful odds against her +to retain for her husband and children some little warmth in the humble +home where they were hidden from the world in which they once moved. + +From the drunkard, angels withdraw themselves, and evil spirits come +into nearer companionship; hence, the bestiality and cruelty of +drunkenness. The man, changing his internal associates, receives by +inflex a new order of influence, and passively acts therefrom. He +becomes, for the time, the human agent by which evil spirits effect +their wicked purposes; and it usually happens that those who are +nearest allied to him, and who have the first claims on him for +support, protection, and love, are they who feel the heaviest weight of +infernal malice. The husband and father too often becomes, in the hands +of his evil associates, the cruel persecutor of those he should love +and guard with the tenderest solicitude. So it was in the case of Henry +Ellis. His manly nature underwent a gradually progressing change, until +the image of God was wellnigh obliterated from his soul. After the +lapse of five miserable years, let us introduce him and his family once +more to the reader. + +Five years! What a work has been done in that time! Not in a pleasant +home, surrounded with every comfort, as we last saw them, will they be +found. Alas, no! + +It was late in the year. Frost had already done its work upon the +embrowned forests, and leaf by leaf the withered foliage had dropped +away or been swept in clouds before the autumnal winds. Feebler and +feebler grew, daily, the sun's planting rays, colder the air, and more +cheerless the aspect of nature. + +One evening,--it was late in November, and the day had been damp and +cold,--a woman, whose thin care-worn face and slender form marked her +as an invalid, or one whose spirits had been broken by trouble, was +busying herself in the preparation of supper. A girl, between twelve +and thirteen years of age, was trying to amuse a child two years old, +who, from some cause, was in a fretful humour; and a little girl in her +seventh year was occupied with a book, in which she was spelling out a +lesson that had been given by her mother. This was the family, or, +rather, a part of the family of Henry Ellis. Two members were absent, +the father and the oldest boy. The room was small, and meagerly +furnished, though every thing was clean and in order. In the centre of +the floor, extending, perhaps, over half thereof, was a piece of faded +carpet. On this a square, unpainted pine table stood, covered with a +clean cloth and a few dishes. Six common wooden chairs, one or two low +stools or benches, a stained work-stand without drawers, and a few +other necessary articles, including a bed in one corner, completed the +furniture of this apartment, which was used as kitchen and sitting-room +by the family, and, with a small room adjoining, constituted the entire +household facilities of the family. + +"Henry is late this evening," remarked Mrs. Ellis, as she laid the last +piece of toast she had been making on the dish standing near the fire. +"He ought to have been here half an hour ago." + +"And father is late too," said Kate, the oldest daughter, who was +engaged with the fretful child. + +"Yes--he is late," returned Mrs. Ellis, as if speaking to herself. And +she sighed heavily. + +Just then the sound of feet was heard in the passage without. + +"There's Henry now," said Kate. + +And in a moment after the boy entered. His face did not wear the +cheerful expression with which he usually met the waiting ones at home. +His mother noticed the change; but asked no question then as to the +cause. + +"I wish father was home," said Mrs. Ellis. "Supper is all ready." + +"I don't think it's any use to wait for him," returned Henry. + +"Why not?" asked the mother, looking with some surprise at her son, in +whose voice was a covert meaning. + +"Because he won't be home to supper." + +"Have you seen him, Henry?" + +Mrs. Ellis fixed her eyes earnestly upon her son. + +"Yes, mother. I saw him go into a tavern as I was coming along. I went +in and tried to persuade him to come home with me. But he was angry +about something, and told me to go about my business. I then said--'Do, +father, come home with me,' and took hold of his arm, when he turned +quickly around, and slapped me in the face with the back of his hand." + +The boy, on saying this, burst into tears, and sobbed for some time +violently. + +"Oh, Henry! did he do that?" + +Such was the mother's exclamation. She tried to control her feelings, +but could not. In a moment or two, tears gushed over her face. + +The only one who appeared calm was Kate, Henry's oldest sister. She +uttered no expression of pain or surprise, but, after hearing what her +brother said, looked down upon the floor, and seemed lost in meditation. + +"My poor children!" such were the thoughts that passed through the mind +of Mrs. Ellis. "If I could only screen you from these dreadful +consequences! If I only were the sufferer, I could bear the burden +uncomplainingly. Ah! will this cup never be full? Is there no hope? How +earnestly I have sought to win him back again, Heaven only knows." + +From these reflections Mrs. Ellis was aroused by the voice of Kate, who +had arisen up and was taking from a nail in the wall her bonnet and an +old merino coat. + +"Where is the tavern, Henry?" said she. + +"What tavern?" answered the boy. + +"The tavern where you saw father." + +"In Second street." + +"Why do you wish to know?" inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"I will go for him. He'll come home for me." + +"No--no, Kate. Don't think of such a thing!" said Mrs. Ellis, speaking +from the impulse of the moment. + +"It won't be of any use," remarked Henry. "Besides, it's very dark out, +sister, and the tavern where I saw him is a long distance from here. +Indeed I wouldn't go, Kate. He isn't at all himself." + +The young girl was not in the least influenced by this opposition, but, +rather, strengthened in her purpose. She knew that the air was damp and +chilly, from an approaching easterly storm; and the thought of his +being exposed to cold and rain at night, in the streets, touched her +heart with a painful interest in her erring, debased, and fallen parent. + +"It will rain to-night," said she, looking at her brother. + +"I felt a fine mist in the driving wind just as I came near the door," +replied Henry. + +"If father is not himself, he may fall in the street, and perish in the +cold." + +"I don't think there is any danger of that, sister. He will be home +after awhile. At any rate, there is little chance of your finding him, +for he won't be likely to remain long at the tavern where I left him." + +"If I can't find him, so much the worse," replied the girl, firmly. +"But, unless mother forbids my going, I must seek him and bring him +home." + +Kate turned her eyes full upon her mother's face, as she said this, +and, in an attitude of submission, awaited her reply. + +"I think," said Mrs. Ellis, after a long silence, "that little good +will come of this; yet, I cannot say no." + +"Then I will find him and bring him home," was the animated response of +Kate. + +"You must not go alone," remarked Henry, taking up the cap he had a few +minutes before laid off. + +"Wait for supper. It is all ready," said Mrs. Ellis. "Don't go out +until you have eaten something." + +"No time is to be lost, mother," replied Kate. "And, then, I haven't +the least appetite." + +"But your brother has been working hard all day, and is, of course, +tired and hungry." + +"Oh, I forgot," said Kate. "But Henry needn't go with me. If he will +only tell me exactly where I can find father, that will be enough. I +think I'd better see him alone." + +"Food would choke me now." Henry's voice was husky and tremulous. +"Come, sister," he added, after a pause, "if this work is done at all, +it must be done quickly." + +Without a word more on either part, the brother and sister left the +room, and started on their errand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +LATE in the afternoon of the day on which occurred the incidents +mentioned in the preceding chapter, Mr. Wilkinson, who had entirely +recovered from his embarrassed condition, and who was now a sober man +in every sense of the word, as well as a thrifty merchant, was standing +at one of the counters in his large, well filled store, when a +miserable looking creature entered and came back to where he stood. + +"Good-day, Mr. Wilkinson," said the new-comer. + +Surprise kept the merchant silent for some moments, when the other +said-- + +"You don't know me, I presume." + +"Henry Ellis!" exclaimed Wilkinson. "Is it possible you have fallen so +low?" + +"Just as you see me," was replied. + +"You ought to be more of a man than this. You ought to have more +strength of character," said Wilkinson, giving utterance to the first +thought that came into his mind. + +"Oh, yes; it is easy to talk," replied Ellis, with a slight impatience +of manner. "But you know my history as well almost as I know it myself. +I was driven to ruin." + +"How so?" + +"Why do you ask the question?" + +"You refer to your wife?" + +"Of course I do. She drove me to destruction." + +"That is a hard saying, Mr. Ellis." + +"Yet true as that the sun shines. And she has had her reward!" + +This last sentence was uttered in a tone of self-satisfaction that +deeply pained Mr. Wilkinson. + +"I saw your wife this morning," he remarked, after a moment's silence. + +"You did! Where?" + +"I passed her in the street; and the sight of her made my heart ache. +Ah, my friend! if you have been wronged, deeply is the wrong repaid! +Such a wreck! I could scarcely believe my eyes. Ellis! I read at a +single glance her countenance, marred by long suffering, and found in +it only the sad evidences of patient endurance. She is changed. I am +bold to say that. If she erred, she has repented." + +"But not atoned for a wrong that is irreparable," said Ellis in a +dogged tone, while his heavy brows contracted. + +"Ah! how changed you are, Ellis: once so kind-hearted, so forgiving and +forbearing!" + +"And what changed me? Answer me that, John Wilkinson! Yes, I am +changed--changed from a man into--into--yes, let me say the word--into +a devil! And who held the enchanter's wand? Who? The wife of my bosom!" + +Wilkinson felt a shudder creeping along his nerves as he looked at the +excited man, and heard his words. + +"Cara never acts toward you, now, other than with kindness," said he. + +But Ellis made no answer to this. + +"Let the past suffice, my friend," added Wilkinson. "Both have suffered +enough. Resolve, in the strength of God and your own manhood, to rise +out of the horrible pit and miry clay into which you have fallen." + +"That is impossible. So we won't talk about it," said Ellis, +impatiently. "Lend me half a dollar, won't you?" + +The hand of Wilkinson went instinctively to his pocket. But he withdrew +it, without the coin he had designed, from the moment's impulse, to +give. Shaking his head, he replied to the application, + +"I can't give you money, Ellis." + +"You can't?" + +"No; for that would be no real kindness. But, if you will reform your +life; if you will abandon drink, and become a sober, industrious man, I +will pledge myself to procure you a good situation as clerk. In a few +years you may regain all that has been lost." + +"Bah!" muttered Ellis, grinding his teeth as he spoke. "All good talk!" +and, turning away, he passed from the store of his old friend. Without +a cent in his pocket, and burning with a desire for drink, he had +conquered all reluctance and shame, and applied, as we have seen, to an +old friend, for money. Two or three other ineffectual attempts were +made to get small sums, but they proved fruitless. For some time he +wandered about the streets; then he entered one of the lower class of +taverns, and boldly called for a glass of liquor. But the keeper of +this den, grown suspicious by experience, saw in the face or manner of +Ellis that he had no money, and coolly demanded pay before setting +forth his bottle. It was just at this untimely crisis that Henry came +in, and, taking hold of his father's arm, urged him to come home. The +cruel rebuff he received is known. + +The blow was no sooner given by Ellis than repented of; and this motion +of regret prompted him to express his sorrow for the hasty act, but +when he turned to speak to the lad, he was gone. Almost maddened by +thirst and excitement, the poor wretch caught up from the counter a +pitcher of ice water, and, placing it to his lips, took therefrom a +long deep draught. Then slowly turning away, he sought a chair in a far +corner of the room; where he seated himself, crossed his arms on a +table, and buried his face therein. + +The pure cold water allayed the fever that burned along the drunkard's +veins. Gradually a deep calm pervaded his mind, and then thought became +active amid thronging memories of the past. He had once loved his home +and his children; and the image of Henry, when a bright-eyed, +curly-headed, happy child, came up so vividly before him, that it was +only by an effort that he kept the tears from gushing over his face. +For years he had cherished, in mere self-justification, the bitterest +feeling towards his wife; and hundreds of times had he given expression +to these feelings in words that smote the heart of Cara with crushing +force. Only a little while before he had spoken of her, in the presence +of Wilkinson, in a hard and unforgiving spirit; but now he thought of +her more kindly. He remembered how patiently she had borne with him; +how uncomplainingly she had met and struggled with her hard lot; how +many times she had tried to smile upon him, even through tears that +could not be restrained. Never was he met, on his return home, with +coldness or neglect. Wife and children all sought his comfort; yet he +cared nothing for them, and even filled their paths through life with +thorns. And his boy, Henry, whom he had just repulsed in so cruel a +manner, to his labour was he indebted, mainly, for the food that was +daily set before him. How this thought smote him! How it filled his +heart with shame and repentance! + +Musing thus, the unhappy man remained, until, gradually, his thoughts +became confused. The temporary excitement of feeling died away, and +sleep overcame him. In his sleep he dreamed, and his dream was vivid as +reality. Not as of old did he find himself; but, in the vision that +came to him, he was still in bondage and degradation, with a horribly +distinct realization of his condition. His vile companions were around +him, but greatly changed; for they appeared more like monsters of evil +than men, and were malignant in their efforts to do harm. Against him +they seemed to feel an especial hatred. Some glared and gleamed upon +him with the fire of murder in their eyes; some pointed to a cheerless +apartment, in which he saw his wife and children cowering and shivering +over a few dying embers, and they said--"It is your work! It is your +work!" They were devils in distorted human shapes, and he was terribly +afraid. Suddenly he was set upon by one, who caught him by the throat +and dragged him into what seemed the cell of a prison, where he was +cast upon a heap of straw, and left shuddering with cold and fear. +Alone, for days and weeks he remained in this prison, until despair +seemed to dry up the very blood in his veins, and, after a desperate +struggle to break through the bars of his narrow house, he sank down +exhausted and ready to die. Then came a new horror. He had died, to all +outward appearance, and was in his coffin. He felt his body compressed, +and gasped and panted for air in his narrow house of boards. It was an +awful moment. Suddenly a voice came to his ear: "Father! father!" It +was the voice of his child--of Kate. How its tones thrilled through +him! How his heart leaped with the hope of deliverance! "Father! dear +father!"--The call was renewed, but he could make no answer, for his +tongue was powerless. Again and again the call was repeated, yet he +could utter no sound--could make no sign. Farther off, then, he heard +his name called. Horror! she had failed to discover him, and was about +departing. In the agony of the moment he awoke. There was a hand laid +gently upon him, and a voice said--"Father! dear father! come!" + +It was the voice of his child; the same voice that had penetrated his +dreaming ear. + +"Oh, Kate!" he exclaimed, eagerly; "is it indeed you?" + +"Yes, father," she answered; "and won't you come home with me?" + +The wretched man did not answer in words but arose immediately and went +out with his daughter. + +"Oh, what a dream I had, Kate!" said Mr. Ellis, as he left the door of +the tavern; "and you came to me in my dream." + +His feelings were much excited, and he spoke with emotion. + +"Did I, father?" replied the girl. "And how did I come? As a good angel +to save you?" + +"Waking, you have come to me as such," answered the father after a +brief silence, speaking more calmly, and as if to himself. + +How wild a thrill shot through the frame of Kate at these words, so +full of meaning to her; but she dared not trust herself to make an +answer, lest she should do harm rather than good. And so they walked, +in silence, all the way home; Henry, who had accompanied his sister, +keeping a short distance behind them, so that his father had no +indication of his presence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +How the hearts of the mother and her two oldest children trembled with +hope and fear! A marked change was apparent in Mr. Ellis when he came +home with Kate. He was sober, and very serious, but said nothing; and +Mrs. Ellis deemed it prudent to say nothing to him. + +On the next morning, he did not rise early. Henry had eaten his +breakfast and was away to his work, and Kate had gone to market to get +something for dinner, when he got up and dressed himself. Mrs. Ellis +was ready for him with a good cup of coffee, a piece of hot toast, some +broiled steak, and a couple of eggs. She said little, but her tones +were subdued and very kind. Noticing that his hand trembled so that he +spilled his coffee in raising his cup to his lips, (his custom was to +get a glass of liquor before breakfast to steady his nerves,) she came +and stood beside him, saying, as she did so--"Let me hold your cup for +you." + +Ellis acquiesced; and so his wife held the cup to his lips while he +drank. + +"Oh, dear! This is a dreadful state to be in Cara!" + +The exclamation was spontaneous. Had Ellis thought a moment, his pride +would have caused him to repress it. + +Mrs. Ellis did not reply, for she was afraid to trust herself to speak, +lest her words or voice should express something that would check the +better feelings that were in the heart of her husband. But, ere she +could repress it, a tear fell upon his hand. Almost with a start, Ellis +turned and looked up into her face. It was calm, yet sorrowful. The +pale and wasted condition of that face had never so struck him before. + +"Ah, Cara," said he, dropping his knife and fork, "it is dreadful to +live in this way. Dreadful! dreadful!" + +The poor, almost heart-broken wife could command herself no longer; and +she laid her face down upon her husband and sobbed--the more +convulsively from her efforts to regain self-possession. + +"Oh, Henry!" she at length murmured, "if the past were only ours! If we +could but live over our lives, with some of the experience that living +gives, how differently should we act! But, surely, hope is not clean +gone for ever! Is there not yet a better and a brighter day for even +us?" + +"There is, Cara! There is!" replied Ellis, in tones of confidence. "It +has been a long, long night, Cara; a cold and cheerless night. But the +morning breaks. There is not much strength left in this poor arm," and +he extended his right hand, that trembled like an aspen leaf--"but it +can yet do something. It shall not be with us as it has been any +longer. In the sight of Heaven, and in the hope of strength from above, +I promise that, Cara. Will you help me to keep my promise?" + +"Yes--yes--yes," was the emphatic response. "If there is in me a +particle of strength, it is yours, and you may lean on it confidently. +Oh, Henry! trust in me. The lessons of the past have not been learned +in vain." + +"I am very weak, Cara; the pressure of a child's hand might throw me +over. Do not forget this. Never forget it! If you will keep close to my +side, if you will help me, and love me,"--his voice quivered, and he +paused, but regained himself in a few moments--"I think all will be +well with us again. God helping me, I will try." + +"Oh, my husband!" sobbed Mrs. Ellis, drawing her arms lovingly about +him--"it will be well with us, for God will help you, I will help you, +all will help you. Forget? Oh, no! I can never forget. Have we not all +been thoughtful of you, and kind to you in the night that is passing +away?" + +"Yes, Cara, yes." + +"And will we not be kinder and more loving in the brighter future? We +will! we will, Henry! Oh! how my glad heart runs over!" + +"I saw Mr. Wilkinson yesterday," said Ellis, after both had grown +calmer; "and he said that he could and would get me a situation as +clerk. I am now going to see him, and, if he be as good as his word, +this desert place"--and he glanced about the room--"will soon brighten +as the rose." + +The entrance of Kate closed the interview. In a little while, Ellis, +after shaving himself, and in every possible way improving his +appearance, left the house and went direct to the store of Wilkinson. + +"Henry! Is it possible!" exclaimed the latter, in surprise, when Ellis +stood before him. + +"In my right mind again," was the calm, but firmly spoken answer. + +"How glad I am to hear you say so!" And Wilkinson grasped the hand of +his old friend, and shook it warmly. + +"You remember your promise of yesterday?" said Ellis. He spoke +seriously. + +"To get you a good situation?" + +"Yes." + +"I have not forgotten my word, Henry; and will keep it. You are a good +accountant?" + +"I am." + +"This morning my book-keeper notified me of his intention to leave as +soon as I could supply his place. If you will take the situation at +seven hundred and fifty dollars a year, it is open for you." + +"John Wilkinson!" exclaimed Ellis, seizing the hand of his friend, and +exhibiting much agitation. "Are you indeed in earnest?" + +"I never was more so in my life," was replied. + +"Then, indeed the day has broken!" said Ellis, with emotion. "When will +you want me to begin?" he asked after a short period of silence. + +"Now," replied Wilkinson. + +"Now, did you say?" + +"Yes. I have work that needs attention at once. When will you come?" + +"A good beginning never can be made too early. Now." + +Wilkinson turned, and the two men walked back to a vacant desk. A +number of accounts and letters lay thereon, and, as Wilkinson began to +enter into some explanation in regard to them, Ellis took up a pen and +laid the point of it on a sheet of paper. The nervous tremor of his +hand showed him to be in no condition for the task upon which he was +about entering. Wilkinson comprehended this in a moment, and a fear +lest the drunkard's delirium should follow so sudden a withdrawal of +stimulant from the system of Ellis, sent a chill through his feelings. +Instead of putting him to the desk at once, he determined, on the +instant, to employ him at more active work about the store for a few +weeks, until, if he kept to his good resolution, some degree of +firmness was restored to his shattered nerves. In agreement with this +humane purpose he acted. + +With what trembling anxiety did Mrs. Ellis await the return of her +husband at dinner-time! The hours wore slowly away, and, at last, her +watchful ear caught the sound of his footsteps. She scarcely breathed +until the door opened. One glance sufficed. All was well. How glad was +the impulse with which her stilled heart went on again! Tears of joy +bedewed her face, when he related the good fortune that had attended +his call on Wilkinson. + +"Yes, yes," said he, when he had told her all, and glancing around the +room as he spoke. "This desert place shall blossom as the rose. I have +said it, and I will keep my word." + +In the evening, Henry and his father met, for the first time, face to +face, since they parted in anger on one side and grief on the other. +When Kate came home with the latter on the night previous, Henry had +managed to enter the house before them, and so kept out of his father's +way. Now, on coming in from his work, he found him already at home, and +so changed in appearance, that he gazed upon him with a surprise which +he could not at first conceal. + +"Henry, my son," said Mr. Ellis, in a kind, self-possessed tone of +voice, and he reached out his hand as he spoke. + +The boy took his father's hand, and looked earnestly into his face. + +"Henry, how long have you been with Mr. Wilson?" inquired Mr. Ellis. + +"Two years, sir," was answered. + +The father looked at the boy's hands, and sighed. They were hard and +discolored from labour. + +"Tell Mr. Wilson, in the morning," said he, "that I wish you to leave +him after this week." + +"Sir!" Henry looked surprised. + +"Tell him that I wish you to go to school for a year or two." + +"Father!" The blood flew suddenly to the lad's face. For a few moments +he looked at his father; then turning, he passed quickly into the +adjoining room. In the stillness that followed, were audible the sobs +that came from his overflowing heart. + +A week, a month, a year have passed, yet the promise of that happy time +is dimmed not by a single cloud. Firm in his better purpose and fully +sustained at home, Henry Ellis is walking steadily the path of safety. +Home is what it ever should have been, the pleasantest place in all the +world; for she who is its sunlight never meets him with a clouded face. +His desert has, indeed, blossomed as the rose. May the bloom and +fragrance thereof never fade nor lose its sweetness! + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Wives, by T. S. Arthur + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO WIVES *** + +***** This file should be named 4621.txt or 4621.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/2/4621/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo. 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Arthur + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4621] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 20, 2002] + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Two Wives, by T.S. Arthur +****This file should be named twwvs10.txt or twwvs10.zip**** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, twwvs11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, twwvs10a.txt + +This etext was created by Charles Aldarondo (Aldarondo@yahoo.com) + + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep etexts in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +The "legal small print" and other information about this book +may now be found at the end of this file. Please read this +important information, as it gives you specific rights and +tells you about restrictions in how the file may be used. + + + + + + + + + + +THE TWO WIVES; + +OR, LOST AND WON. + +BY T. S. ARTHUR. + +PHILADELPHIA: + +1851. + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + + + + +THE story of the "Two Wives; or, Lost and Won," is intended to show +the power of tender, earnest, self-forgetting love, in winning back +from the path of danger a husband whose steps have strayed, and who +has approached the very brink of ruin; and, by contrast, to exhibit +the sad consequences flowing from a want of these virtues under like +circumstances. + +This book is the third in the Series of "ARTHUR'S LIBRARY FOR THE +HOUSEHOLD." The fourth, which is nearly ready, will be called "THE +WAYS OF PROVIDENCE; OR, HE DOETH ALL THINGS WELL." + + + + + +THE TWO WIVES. + +CHAPTER I. + + + + + +"YOU are not going out, John?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, looking up from +the work she had just taken into her hands. There was a smile on her +lips; but her eyes told, plainly enough, that a cloud was upon her +heart. + +Mrs. Wilkinson was sitting by a small work-table, in a neatly +furnished room. It was evening, and a shaded lamp burned upon the +table. Mr. Wilkinson, who had been reading, was standing on the +floor, having thrown down his book and risen up hastily, as if a +sudden purpose had been formed in his mind. + +"I shall only be gone a little while, dear," returned Mr. Wilkinson, +a slight air of impatience visible beneath his kind voice and +manner. + +"Don't go, John," said Mrs. Wilkinson, still forcing a smile to her +countenance. "I always feel so lonely when you are away. We only +have our evenings to be together; and I cannot bear then to be +robbed of your company. Don't go out, John; that's a good, dear +husband." + +And Mrs. Wilkinson, in the earnestness of her desire to keep her +husband at home, laid aside her sewing, and rising, approached and +leaned her hands upon his shoulder, looking up with an affectionate, +appealing expression into his face. + +"You're a dear, good girl, Mary," said Mr. Wilkinson, tenderly, and +he kissed the pure lips of his wife as he spoke. "I know it's wrong +to leave you alone here. But, I won't be gone more than half an +hour. Indeed I won't. See, now;" and he drew forth his watch; "it is +just eight o'clock, and I will be home again precisely at half-past +eight, to a minute." + +Mrs. Wilkinson made no answer; but her husband saw that tears were +in the eyes fixed so lovingly upon him. + +"Now don't, love," said he, tenderly, "make so much of just half an +hour's absence. I promised Elbridge that I would call around and see +him about a little matter of business, and I must keep my word. I +had forgotten the engagement until it crossed my mind while +reading." + +"If you have an engagement." There was a certain emphasis in the +words of Mrs. Wilkinson that caused her husband to partly turn his +face away. + +"I have, dear. But for that, I should not think of leaving you +alone." + +Almost instinctively Mrs. Wilkinson withdrew the hands she had +placed upon the shoulder of her husband, and receded from him a step +or two; at the same time her face was bent downwards, and her eyes +rested upon the floor. + +For some moments Mr. Wilkinson stood as if in earnest debate with +himself; then he said, in a cheerful, lively tone-- + +"Good-by, love. I shall only be gone half an hour." And turning +away, left the room. He did not pause until he was in the street. +Then a spirit of irresolution came over him, and he said to himself, +as he moved slowly away, + +"It isn't kind in me to leave Mary alone in this way; I know it +isn't. But I want to see Elbridge; and, in fact, partly promised +that I would call upon him this evening. True, I can say all I wish +to say to him in the morning, and to quite as good purpose. But--" + +Wilkinson, whose steps had been growing more and more deliberate, +stopped. For some time he stood, in a thoughtful attitude--then +slowly returned. His hand was in his pocket, his dead-latch key +between his fingers, and his foot upon the marble sill of his door. +And thus he remained, in debate with himself, for as long a time as +two or three minutes. + +"Yes; I must see him! I had forgotten that," he exclaimed, in a low +tone, and suddenly stepped back from the door, and with a rapid pace +moved down the street. A walk of ten minutes brought him to the +house of Mr. Elbridge. But it so happened that this gentleman was +not at home. + +"How soon do you expect him to return?" was inquired of the servant. + +"He may be here in half an hour; or not before ten o'clock," was the +reply. + +Wilkinson was disappointed. Leaving his name with the servant, and +saying that he would probably call again during the evening, he +descended the steps and walked away. He was moving in the direction +of his home, and had arrived within a block thereof when he stopped, +saying to himself as he did so-- + +"I must see Elbridge this evening. It is already nearly half an hour +since I left home, and I promised Mary that I would not remain away +a moment longer than that time. But, I did not think Elbridge would +be out. Poor Mary! She looks at me with such sad eyes, sometimes, +that it goes to my very heart. She cannot bear to have me out of her +sight. Can she doubt me in any thing? No; I will not believe that. +She is a loving, gentle-minded creature--and one of the best of +wives. Ah me! I wish I were more like her." + +Still Wilkinson remained standing, and in debate with himself. + +"I will go home," said he, at length, with emphasis, and walked +quickly onward. He was within a few doors of his own home, when his +steps began to linger again. He had come once more into a state of +irresolution. + +"Perhaps Elbridge has returned." This thought made him stop again. +"He must have understood me that I would be around." + +Just at this moment the crying of a child was heard. + +"Is that Ella?" Wilkinson walked around a little way, until he came +nearly opposite his own house. Then he stopped to listen more +attentively. + +Yes. It was the grieving cry of his own sick babe. + +"Poor child!" he murmured. "I wonder what can ail her?" + +He looked up at the chamber windows. The curtains were drawn aside, +and he saw upon the ceiling of the room the shadow of some one +moving to and fro. He did not doubt that it was the shadow of his +wife, as, with their sick babe in her arms, she walked to and fro in +the effort to soothe it again to sleep. Had there been a doubt, it +would have been quickly dispelled, for there came to his ears the +soft tones of a voice he knew full well--came in tones of music, low +and soothing, but with most touching sweetness. It was the voice of +his wife, and she sang the air of the cradle-hymn with which he had +been soothed to rest when he lay an innocent babe in his mother's +arms. + +The feelings of Wilkinson, a good deal excited by the struggle +between affection and duty on the one side, and appetite and +inclination on the other, were touched and softened by the incident, +and he was about entering his house when the approaching form of a +man, a short distance in advance, caught his eye, and he paused +until he came up. + +"Elbridge! The very one I wished to see!" he exclaimed, in a low +voice, as he extended his hand and grasped that of his friend. "I've +just been to your house. Did you forget that I was to call around?" + +"I didn't understand you to say, certainly, that you would call, or +I should have made it a point to be at home. But no matter. All in +good time. I'm on my way home now, and you will please return with +me." + +"I don't know about that," said Wilkinson, who could not forget his +promise to his wife. "I told Mary, when I went out, that I would +only be gone half an hour, and that time has expired already." + +"Oh, never mind," returned the other, lightly. "She'll forgive you, +I'll be bound. Tell her that you came home, in all obedience to her +wishes, but that I met you at your own door, and carried you off in +spite of yourself." + +And as Elbridge said this, he drew his arm within that of Wilkinson, +and the two men went chatting away. + +Elbridge was fond of good wine, and always kept a few choice bottles +on hand. Wilkinson knew this; and, if he had looked narrowly into +his heart on the present occasion, he would have discovered that the +wine of his friend had for him a stronger attraction than his +company. + +As the latter had anticipated, wine and cigars were produced +immediately on their arrival at the house of Elbridge; and in the +exhilaration of the one and the fumes of the other, he soon forgot +his lonely, troubled wife and sick child at home. + +A friend or two dropped in, in the course of half an hour; and then +a second bottle of wine was uncorked, and glasses refilled with its +sparkling contents. + +The head of Wilkinson was not very strong. A single glass of wine +generally excited him, and two or three proved, always, more than he +could bear. It was so on this occasion; and when, at eleven o'clock, +he passed forth from the house of his friend, it was only by an +effort that he could walk steadily. The cool night air, as it +breathed upon his heated brow, partially sobered him, and his +thoughts turned towards his home. A sigh and the act of striking his +hand upon his forehead marked the effect of this transition of +thought. + +"Poor Mary! I didn't mean to stay away so late. I meant to return in +half an hour," he muttered, half aloud. "But this is always the way. +I'm afraid I've taken too much of Elbridge's wine; a little affects +me. I wonder if Mary will notice it; I wouldn't have her to do so +for the world. Poor child! it would frighten her to death. I rather +think I'd better try to walk off the effects of what I've been +drinking. It's late, any how, and fifteen or twenty minutes will +make but little difference either way." + +As Wilkinson said this, he turned down a cross street which he +happened to be passing at the moment, and moved along with a quicker +pace. Gradually the confusion of his thoughts subsided. + +"I wish I had remained at home," he sighed, as the image of his wife +arose distinctly in his mind. "Poor Mary! I broke my word with her, +though I promised so faithfully. Oh, dear! this weakness on my part +is terrible. Why was I so anxious to see Elbridge? there was no real +engagement, and yet I told Mary there was. I would not have her know +of this deception for the world. I forgot about dear little Ella's +being so sick; what if we should lose that little angel? Oh! I could +not bear it!" + +Wilkinson stopped suddenly as this thought flashed over his mind. He +was soberer by far than when he left the house of Mr. Elbridge. + +"I'll go home at once." He turned and began quickly retracing his +steps. And now he remembered the moving shadow on the wall, as he +stood, nearly three hours before, in front of his house, debating +with himself whether to enter or no. He heard too, in imagination, +the plaintive cries of his sick child, and the soothing melody of +its mother's voice as she sought to hush into sleep its unquiet +spirit. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + + + +WILKINSON was nearly in front of his own door, when he was thus +familiarly accosted by a man named Ellis, who came leisurely walking +along with a lighted cigar in his mouth. + +"Hallo! is this you, Wilkinson? What in the name of wonder are you +doing out at such an hour?" + +"And suppose I were to ask you the same question?" inquired +Wilkinson, as he took the hand of the other, who was an old +acquaintance. + +"It would be easily answered," was the unhesitating reply of Ellis, +who had been drinking rather freely. + +"Well, suppose I have the benefit of your answer." + +"You're quite welcome. I keep no secrets from an old friend, you +see. Can't you guess?" + +"I'm not good at guessing." + +"Had a little tiff with Cara," said Ellis in a half whisper, as he +bent to the ear of his companion. + +"Oh, no!" returned Wilkinson. + +"Fact. Cara's a dear, good soul, as you know; but she's a +self-willed little jade, and if I don't do just as she wants me +to--if I don't walk her chalk line--_presto!_ she goes off like a +rocket. To-night, d'ye see, I came home with the first volume of +Prescott's new work on Mexico--a perfect romance of a book, and +wanted to read it aloud to Cara. But no, she had something else in +her head, and told me, up and down, that she didn't want to hear any +of my dull old histories. I got mad, of course; I always get mad +when she comes athwart my hawes in this way. + +"'Dull old histories!' said I, indignantly. 'There's more true life +and real interest in this book than in all the Wandering Jews or +Laura Matilda novels that ever were written; and I wish you'd throw +such miserable trash into the fire, and read books from which to get +some intelligence and strength of mind.' Whew! The way she combed my +hair for me at this was curious. I am a philosopher, and on these +occasions generally repeat to myself the wise saw-- + + 'He that fights and runs away, + May live to fight another day.' + +So, deeming discretion the better part of valour, I retreated in +disorder." + +"That's bad," remarked Wilkinson, who knew something of the +character of his friend's wife. + +"I know it's bad; but, then, I can't help myself. Cara has such a +queer temper, I never know how to take her." + +"You ought to understand her peculiarities by this time, and bear +with them." + +"Bear with them! I'd like to see you have the trial for a while; +your wife is an angel. Ah, John! you're a lucky dog. If I had such a +sweet-tempered woman in my house, I would think it a very paradise." + +"Hush! hush! Harry; don't speak in that way. Few women possess so +many good qualities as Mrs. Ellis; and it is your duty to cherish +and love the good, and to bear with the rest." + +"Well preached; but, as I am to apply the discourse, and not you, I +must beg to be excused." + +"Good-night. Go home, kiss Cara, and forgive her," said Wilkinson; +and he made a motion to pass on, adding, as he did so, "I'm out much +later than usual, and am in a hurry to get back. Mary will be uneasy +about me." + +But Ellis caught hold of one of his arms with both hands, and held +on to him. + +"Can't let you go, Wilkinson" said he, firmly. You're the man of all +others I want to see--been thinking about you all the evening; want +to have a long talk with you." + +"Any other time, but not now," replied Wilkinson. + +"Now, and no other time," persisted the other, clinging fast to his +arm. + +"What do you wish to talk about?" said Wilkinson, ceasing his effort +to release himself from the firm grip of his friend. + +"About Cara," was answered. + +"Go home and make it up with her; that's the best way. She loves +you, and you love her; and your love will settle all differences. +And besides, Harry, you shouldn't talk about these things to other +people. The relation between man and wife is too sacred for this." + +"Do you think I talk in this way to everybody? No, indeed!" +responded Ellis, in a half-offended tone of voice. "But you're a +particular friend. You know Cara's peculiar temper, and can advise +with me as a friend. So come along, I want to have a talk with you." + +"Come where?" + +Ellis turned and pointed to a brilliant gas lamp in the next square, +that stood in front of a much frequented tavern. + +"No, no; I must go home." And Wilkinson tried to extricate himself +from the firm grasp of his friend. But the latter tightened his +hold, as he said-- + +"It's of no use. I shall not let you go. So come along with me to +Parker's. Over a couple of brandy toddies we will discuss this +matter of Cara's." + +A vigorous jerk from the hand of Ellis gave the body of Wilkinson a +motion in the direction of the tavern. Had his mind been perfectly +clear--had none of the effects of his wine-drinking at Elbridge's +remained, he would have resisted to the end this solicitation, at +the hour and under the circumstances. But his mind was not perfectly +clear. And so, a few steps being taken by compulsion, he moved on by +a sort of constrained volition. + +As mentioned above, Wilkinson had nearly reached his own door when +he encountered Ellis; was, in fact, so near, that he could see the +light shining from the chamber-window through which, some hours +before, he had marked on the wall the flitting shadow of his wife, +as she walked to and fro, seeking to soothe into slumber her sick +and grieving child. For nearly five minutes, he had stood talking +with his friend, and the sound of their voices might easily have +been heard in his dwelling, if one had been listening intently +there. And one was listening with every sense strung to the acutest +perception. Just as Wilkinson moved away, an observer would have +seen the door of his house open, and a slender female form bend +forth, and look earnestly into the darkness. A moment or two, she +stood thus, and then stepped forth quickly, and leaning upon the +iron railing of the door steps, fixed eagerly her eyes upon the +slowly receding forms of the two men. + +"John! John!" she called, in half suppressed tones. + +But her voice did not reach the ear of her husband, whose form she +well knew, even in the obscurity of night. + +Gliding down the steps, Mrs. Wilkinson ran a few paces along the +pavement, but suddenly stopped as some thought passed through her +mind; and, turning, went back to the door she had left. There she +stood gazing after her husband, until she saw him enter the tavern +mentioned as being kept by a man named Parker, when, with a heavy, +fluttering sigh, she passed into the house, and ascended to the +chamber from which she had, a few minutes before, come down. + +It was past eleven o'clock. The two domestics had retired, and Mrs. +Wilkinson was alone with her sick child. Ella's moan of suffering +came on her ear the instant she re-entered the room, and she stepped +quickly to the crib, and bent over to look into its face. The cheeks +of the child were flushed with fever to a bright crimson, and she +was moving her head from side to side, and working her lips as if +there was something in her mouth. Slight twitching motions of the +arms and hands were also noticed by the mother. Her eyes were partly +open. + +"Will Ella have a drink of water?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, placing her +hand under the child's head, and slightly raising it from the +pillow. + +But Ella did not seem to hear. + +"Say--love, will you have some water?" + +There was no sign that her words reached the child's ears. + +A deeper shade of trouble than that which already rested on the +mother's face glanced over it. + +"Ella! Ella!" Mrs. Wilkinson slightly shook the child. + +The only response was the muttering of some incoherent words, and a +continued moaning as if pain were disturbing her sleep. + +The mother now bent low over her child, and eagerly marked the +expression of her face and the character of her breathing. Then she +laid a hand upon her cheek. Instantly it was withdrawn with a quick +start, but as quickly replaced again. + +"What a burning fever!" she murmured. Then she added, in a tone of +anxiety, + +"How strangely she works her mouth! I don't like this constant +rolling of her head. What can it mean? Ella! Ella!" + +And she shook the child again. + +"Want some water, love?" + +The mother's voice did not appear to reach the locked sense of +hearing. + +Mrs. Wilkinson now lifted a glass of water from the bureau near by, +and raising the head of Ella with one hand, applied, with the other, +the water to her lips. About a table-spoonful was poured into her +mouth. It was not swallowed, but ran out upon the pillow. + +"Mercy! mercy! what can ail the child!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson, a +look of fear coming into her face. + +A little while she stood over her, and then leaving her place beside +the crib, she hurried out into the passage, and, pausing at the +bottom of the stairs leading to the room above, called several +times-- + +"Anna! Anna! Anna!" + +But no answer came. The domestic thus summoned had fallen into her +first sound sleep, and the voice did not penetrate her ears. + +"Anna!" once more called Mrs. Wilkinson. + +There was no response, but the reverberation of her own voice +returned upon the oppressive silence. She now hurried back to her +sick child, whose low, troubled moaning had not been hushed for a +moment. + +There was no apparent change. Ella lay with her half-opened eyes, +showing, by the white line, that the balls were turned up +unnaturally; with her crimsoned cheeks, and with the nervous motions +of her lips and slight twitchings of her hands, at first noticed +with anxiety and alarm. + +Mrs. Wilkinson was but little familiar with sickness in children; +and knew not the signs of real danger--or, rather, what unusual +signs such as those now apparent in Ella really indicated. But she +was sufficiently alarmed, and stood over the child, with her eyes +fixed eagerly upon her. + +Again she tried to arouse her from so strange and unnatural a state, +but with as little effect as at first. + +"Oh, my husband!" she at length exclaimed, clasping her hands +together, and glancing upward, with tearful eyes, "why are you away +from me now? Oh, why did you break your promise to return hours and +hours ago?" + +Then covering her face with her hands, she sobbed and wept, until, +startled by a sharp, unnatural cry from the lips of Ella, her +attention was once more fixed upon her suffering child. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + + + +"Now, what will you take?" said Henry Ellis, as he entered, with the +weak and yielding Wilkinson, the bar-room of Parker's tavern. + +"Any thing you choose to call for," replied Wilkinson, whose mind +was turning homeward, and who wished to be there. "In fact, I don't +really want any thing. Call for two glasses of cold water. These +will leave our heads clear." + +"Water! Ha! ha! That is a good one, Bill"--and Ellis spoke to the +bar-tender--"Mix us a couple of stiff brandy toddies." + +The bar-tender nodded and smiled his acceptance of the order, and +the two men retired to a table that stood in a remote part of the +room, at which they were soon served with the liquor. + +"Bill mixes the best brandy toddy I ever tasted. He knows his +business," said Ellis, as he put the glass to his lips. "Isn't it +fine?" + +"It is very good," replied Wilkinson, as he sipped the tempting +mixture. + +But his thoughts were turning homeward, and he scarcely perceived +the taste of what he drank. Suddenly, he pushed the glass from him, +and, making a motion to rise from the table, said-- + +"Indeed, Ellis, I must go home. My child is sick, and Mary will be +distressed at my absence. Come around to my store, to-morrow, and we +will talk this matter over. Neither you nor I are now in a fit state +to discuss so grave a matter. + +" Sit down, will you!" + +This was the reply of Ellis, as he caught quickly the arm of his +friend, and almost forced him, by main strength, to resume his seat. + +"There, now," he added, as Wilkinson resumed his seat. "Never put +off until to-morrow what can as well be done to-day. That is my +motto. I want to talk with you about Cara, and no time is so good as +the present." + +"Well, well," returned Wilkinson, impatiently. "What do you want to +say? Speak quickly, and to the point." + +"Just what I'm going to do. But, first, I must see the bottom of my +tumbler. There, now; come, you must do the same. Drink to good old +times, and eternal friendship--drink, my fast and faithful friend!" + +The warmth of the room and the quick effects of a strong glass of +brandy toddy were making rapid advances on Ellis's partial state of +inebriety. + +Wilkinson emptied his glass, and then said-- + +"Speak, now, I'm all attention." + +"Well, you see, Jack," and Ellis leaned over towards Wilkinson +familiarly, and rested his arm upon his knee. You see, Jack, that +huzzy of mine--if I must call the dear girl by such a name--is +leading me the deuce of a life. Confound her pretty face! I love +her, and would do almost any thing to please her; but she won't be +pleased at any thing. She combs my head for me as regularly as the +day comes." + +"Hush--hush! Don't talk so of Cara. Her temper may be a little +uncertain, but that is her weakness. She is your wife, and you must +bear with these things. It isn't manly in you to be vexed at every +trifle." + +Trifle! Humph! I'd like you to have a week of my experience. You +wouldn't talk any more about trifles." + +"You should humour her a great deal, Harry. I am not so sure that +you are not quite as much to blame for these differences and +fallings out as she is." + +" I wasn't to blame to-night, I am sure. Didn't I bring home +Prescott, thinking that she would be delighted to have me sit the +evening with her and read so charming an author? But, at the very +proposition, she flared up, and said she didn't want to hear my +musty old histories. Humph! A nice way to make a man love his home. +Better for her and me, too, I'm thinking, that she had listened to +the history, and kept her husband by her side." + +"And for me, too," thought Wilkinson. "I should now, at least, be at +home with my loving-hearted wife. Ah, me!" + +"Now, what am I to do, Jack--say? Give me your advice." + +"The first thing for you to do is to go home, and to go at once. +Come!" + +And Wilkinson made another effort to rise; but the hand of Ellis +bore him down. + +"Stay, stay!" he muttered, impatiently. "Now don't be in such a +confounded hurry. Can't you talk with an old friend for a minute or +so? Look here, I've been thinking--let me see--what was I going to +say?" + +The mind of Ellis was growing more and more confused; nor was the +head of Wilkinson so clear as when he entered the bar-room. The +strong glass of brandy toddy was doing its work on both of them. + +"Let me see," went on Ellis, in a wandering way. I was speaking of +Cara--oh, yes, of Cara. Bless her heart, but confound her crooked +temper! Now, what would you advise me to do, my old friend?" + +"Go home, I have said," replied Wilkinson. + +"And get my head combed with a three-legged stool? No, blast me if I +do! I've stayed out this long just to make her sensible of her +unkindness to one of the best of husbands--and I'm not going home +until I am dead drunk. I guess that'll bring her to her bearings. +Ha! Don't you think so, Jack?" + +"Good heavens!" was just at this instant exclaimed by one of the +inmates of the bar-room, in a low, startled tone of voice. + +"Your wife, as I live!" fell from the lips of Ellis, whose face was +turned towards the entrance of the bar-room. + +Wilkinson sprang to his feet. Just within the door stood a female +form, her head uncovered, her under person clad in a white wrapper, +and her face colourless as the dress she wore. There was a wild, +frightened look in her staring eyes. + +"Is Mr. Wilkinson here?" she asked, just as her husband's eyes +rested upon her, and her thrilling voice reached his ears. + +With a bound, Wilkinson was at her side. + +"Oh, John! John!" she cried, in a voice of anguish. "Come home! Come +quick! Our dear little Ella is dying!" + +An instant more, and, to the inmates of the bar-room, the curtain +fell upon that startling scene; for Wilkinson and his wife vanished +almost as suddenly as if they had sunk together through the floor. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + + + +DURING the day on which our story opened, Henry Ellis had obtained +from a friend the first volume of Prescott's History of Mexico, then +just from the press. An hour's perusal of its fascinating pages +awakened in his mind a deep interest. + +"Just the book to read to Cara," said he to himself, closing the +volume, and laying it aside. "She's too much taken up with mere +fiction. But here is that truth which is stranger than fiction; and +I am sure she will soon get absorbed in the narrative." + +With his new book, and this pleasant thought in his mind, Ellis took +his way homeward, after the business of the day was over. As he +walked along, a friend overtook him, and said, familiarly, as he +touched him on the shoulder, + +"I'm glad to overhaul you so opportunely. Half a dozen times, +to-day, I have been on the eve of running round to see you, but as +often was prevented. All in good time yet, I hope. I want you to +come over to my room, this evening. There are to be three or four of +our friends there, and some good eating and drinking into the +bargain." + +"A temptation certainly," replied Ellis. "No man likes good company +better than I do; but, I rather think I must forego the pleasure +this time." + +"Why do you say that?" + +I've promised myself another pleasure." + +"Another engagement?" + +"Not exactly that. Barker has loaned me the first volume of +Prescott's Mexico; and I'm going to spend the evening in reading it +to my wife." + +"Any other evening will do as well for that," returned the friend. +"So promise me to come around. I can't do without you." + +"Sorry to disappoint you," said Ellis, firmly. "But, when I once get +my mind fixed on a thing, I am hard to change." + +"Perhaps your wife may have some engagement on hand, for the +evening, or be disinclined for reading. What then?" + +"You will see me at your room," was the prompt answer of Ellis; and +the words were uttered with more feeling than he had intended to +exhibit. The very question brought unpleasant images before his +mind. + +"I shall look for you," said the friend, whose name was Jerome. Good +evening!" + +"Good evening! Say to your friends, if I should not be there, that I +am in better company." + +The two men parted, and Ellis kept on his way homeward. Not until +the suggestion of Jerome that his wife might be disinclined to hear +him read, did a remembrance of Cara's uncertain temper throw a shade +across his feelings. He sighed as he moved onward. + +"I wish she were kinder and more considerate," he said to himself. +"I know that I don't always do right; yet, I am not by any means so +bad as she sometimes makes me out. To any thing reasonable, I am +always ready to yield. But when she frowns if I light a cigar; and +calls me a tippler whenever she detects the smell of brandy and +water, I grow angry and stubborn. Ah, me!" + +Ellis sighed heavily. A little way he walked on, and then began +communing with himself. + +"I don't know"--he went on--"but, may be, I do take a little too +much sometimes. I rather think I must have been drinking too freely +when I came home last week: by the way Cara talked, and by the way +she acted for two or three days afterwards. There may be danger. +Perhaps there is. My head isn't very strong; and it doesn't take +much to affect me. I wish Cara wouldn't speak to me as she does +sometimes. I can't bear it. Twice within the last month, she has +fairly driven me off to spend my evening in a tavern, when I would +much rather have been at home. Ah, me! It's a great mistake. And +Cara may find it out, some day, to her sorrow. I like a glass of +brandy, now and then; but I'm not quite so far gone that I must have +it whether or no. I'm foolish, I will own, to mind her little, +pettish, fretful humours. I ought to be more of a man than I am. +But, I didn't make myself, and can't help feeling annoyed, and +sometimes angry, when she is unkind and unreasonable. Going off to a +tavern don't mend the matter, I'll admit; but, when I leave the +house, alone, after nightfall, and in a bad humour, it is the most +natural thing in the world for me to seek the pleasant company of +some of my old friends--and I generally know where to find them." + +Such was the state of mind in which Ellis returned home. + +A word or two will give the reader a better idea of the relation +which Henry Ellis and his wife bore to each other and society. They +had been married about six years, and had three children, the oldest +a boy, and the other two girls. Ellis kept a retail dry-goods store, +in a small way. His capital was limited, and his annual profits, +therefore, but light. The consequence was, that, in all his domestic +arrangements, the utmost frugality had to be observed. He was a man +of strict probity, with some ambition to get ahead in the world. +These made him careful and economical in his expenditures, both at +home and in the management of his business. As a man, he was social +in his feelings, but inclined to be domestic. While unmarried, he +had lived rather a gay life, and formed a pretty large acquaintance +among young men. His associations led him into the pretty free use +of intoxicating drinks; but the thought of becoming a slave of a +vicious appetite never once crossed his mind with its warning +shadow. + +The first trial of Henry Ellis's married life was the imperative +necessity that required him to lay a restraining hand upon his +wife's disposition to spend money more freely than was justified by +their circumstances. He had indulged her for the period of a whole +year, and the result was so heavy a balance against his expense +account, that he became anxious and troubled. There must be a +change, or his business would be crippled, and ultimate ruin follow. +As gently as he could, Ellis brought the attention of his wife to +this matter. But, she could not comprehend, to its full extent, the +point he urged. It then became necessary for Ellis to hold the +purse-strings more tightly than he had formerly done. This fretted +the mind of his wife, and often led her, in the warmth of the moment +of disappointment, to utter unkind expressions. These hurt Ellis; +and, sometimes, made him angry. The cloud upon Cara's brow, +consequent upon these occasional misunderstandings, was generally so +unpleasant to Ellis, whose heart was ever wooing the sunshine, let +the rays come through almost any medium, that he would spend his +evenings abroad. Temptation, as a natural consequence, was in his +way. His convivial character made him seek the company of those who +do not always walk the safest paths. How anxious should be the wife +of such a husband to keep him at home; how light the task would have +been for Cara. Alas! that she was so selfish, so self-willed--so +blind! The scene that occurred on the evening of Ellis's return home +with the book he wished to read for his wife, will give a fair view +of Mrs. Ellis's manner of reacting upon her husband; and his mode of +treating her on such occasions. + +It has been seen in what state of feeling the husband returned home. +Remembrances of the past brought some natural misgivings to his +mind. His face, therefore, wore rather a more subdued expression +than usual. Still, he was in a tolerably cheerful frame of mind--in +fact, he was never moody. To his great relief, Cara met him with a +smile, and seemed to be in an unusually good humour. Their sweet +babe was lying asleep on her lap; and his other two children were +playing about the room. Instantly the sunshine fell warmly again on +the heart of Ellis. He kissed mother and children fervently, and +with a deep sense of love. + +"I called to see the bride this afternoon," said Mrs. Ellis, soon +after her husband came in. + +"Ah, did you?" he answered. "At her new home?" + +"Yes." + +"She is well and happy, of course?" + +"Oh, yes; happy as the day is long. How could she help being so in +such a little paradise?" + +"Love makes every spot a paradise," said Ellis. + +"Beg your pardon," replied the wife, with some change in her tone of +voice. "I'm no believer in that doctrine. I want something more than +love. External things are of account in the matter; and of very +considerable account." + +"They have every thing very handsome, of course," said Ellis; who +was generally wise enough not to enter into a discussion with his +wife on subjects of this kind. + +"Oh, perfect!" replied his wife, "perfect! I never saw a house +furnished with so much taste. I declare it has put me half out of +conceit with things at home. Oh, dear! how common every thing did +look when I returned." + +"You must remember that our furniture has been in use for about six +years," said Ellis; "and, moreover, that it was less costly than +your friend's, in the beginning. Her husband and your's are in +different circumstances." + +"I know all about that," was returned, with a toss of the head. "I +know that we are dreadfully poor, and can hardly get bread for our +children." + +"We are certainly not able to furnish as handsomely as Mr. and Mrs. +Beaumont. There is no denying that, Cara. Still, we are able to have +every real comfort of life; and therewith let us try to be content. +To desire what we cannot possess, will only make us unhappy." + +"You needn't preach to me," retorted Mrs. Ellis, her face slightly +flushing. "When I want to hear a sermon, I'll go to church." + +Mr. Ellis made no answer, but, lifting his babe from its mother's +lap, commenced tossing it in the air and singing a pleasant nursery +ditty. Caroline sat in a moody state of mind for some minutes, and +then left the room to give some directions about tea. On her return, +Ellis said, in as cheerful a voice as if no unpleasant incident had +transpired, + +"Oh! I had forgotten to say, Cara, that Mr. Hemming and his wife +have returned from Boston. They will be around to see us some +evening this week." + +"Hum-m--well." This was the cold, moody response of Mrs. Ellis. + +"Mr. Hemming says that his wife's health is much better than it +was." + +"Does he?" very coldly uttered. + +"He seemed very cheerful." + +Mrs. Ellis made no comment upon this remark of her husband, and the +latter said nothing more. + +Tea was soon announced, and the husband and wife went, with their +two oldest children, to partake of their evening meal. A cloud still +hung over Caroline's features. Try as Ellis would to feel +indifferent to his wife's unhappy state of mind, his sensitiveness +to the fact became more and more painful every moment. The interest +at first felt in his children, gradually died away, and, by the time +supper was over, he was in a moody and fretted state, yet had he +manfully striven to keep his mind evenly balanced. + +On returning to the sitting-room, the sight of the book he had +brought home caused Ellis to make a strong effort to regain his +self-possession. He had set his heart on reading that book to Cara, +because he was sure she would get interested therein; and he hoped, +by introducing this better class of reading, to awaken a healthier +appetite for mental food than she now possessed. So he occupied +himself with a newspaper, while his wife undressed the children and +put them to bed. It seemed to him a long time before she was ready +to sit down with her sewing at the table, upon which the soft, +pleasant light of their shaded lamp was falling. At last she came, +with her small work-basket in her mind. Topmost of all its contents +was a French novel. When Ellis saw this, there came doubts and +misgivings across his heart. + +"Cara," said he quickly, and in a tone of forced cheerfulness, +taking up, at the same time, his volume of Prescott,--"I brought +this book home on purpose to read aloud. I dipped into it, to-day, +and found it so exceedingly interesting, that I deferred the +pleasure of its perusal until I could share it with you." + +Now, under all the circumstances, it cost Ellis considerable effort +to appear cheerful and interested, while saying this. + +"What book is it?" returned Cara, in a chilling tone, while her eyes +were fixed upon her husband's face, with any thing but a look of +love. + +"The first volume of Prescott's History of Mexico, one of the most +charming"-- + +"Pho! I don't want to hear your dull old histories!" said Cara, with +a contemptuous toss of the head. + +"Dull old histories!" retorted Ellis, whose patience was now +gone. "Dull old histories! You don't know what you are talking about. +There's more real interest in this book than in all the French +novels that ever were invented to turn silly women's heads." + +Of course, Mrs. Ellis "fired up" at this. She was just at the right +point of ignition to blaze out at a single breath of reproof. We +will not repeat the cutting language she used to her husband. +Enough, that, in the midst of the storm that followed, Ellis started +up, and bowing, with mock ceremony, said-- + +"I wish you good evening, madam. And may I see you in a better +humour when we meet again." + +A moment afterwards, and Caroline was alone with her own perturbed +feelings and unpleasant, self-rebuking thoughts. Still, she could +not help muttering, as a kind of justification of her own conduct-- + +"A perfect Hotspur! It's rather hard that a woman can't speak to her +husband, but he must fling himself off in this way. Why didn't he +read his history, if it was so very interesting, and let me alone. I +don't care about such things, and he knows it." + +After this, Mrs. Ellis fell into a state of deep and gloomy +abstraction of mind. Many images of the past came up to view, and, +among them, some that it was by no means pleasant to look upon. This +was not the first time that her husband had gone off in a pet; but +in no instance had he come home with a mind as clear as when he left +her. A deep sigh heaved the wife's bosom as she remembered this; +and, for some moments, she suffered from keen self-reproaches. But, +an accusing spirit quickly obliterated this impression. In her heart +she wrote many bitter things against her husband, and magnified +habits and peculiarities into serious faults. + +Poor, unhappy wife! How little did she comprehend the fact that her +husband's feet were near the brink of a precipice, and that a +fearful abyss of ruin was below; else would she have drawn him +lovingly back, instead of driving him onward to destruction. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + + + +ELLIS, excited and angry, not only left his wife's presence, but the +house. Repulsed by one pole, he felt the quick attraction of +another. Not a moment did he hesitate, on gaining the street, but +turned his steps toward the room of Jerome, where a party of gay +young men were to assemble for purposes of conviviality. + +We will not follow him thither, nor describe the manner of his +reception. We will not picture the scene of revelry, nor record the +coarse jests that some of the less thoughtful of the company +ventured to make on the appearance of Ellis in their midst--for, to +most of his friends, it was no secret that his wife's uncertain +temper often caused him to leave his home in search of more +congenial companionship. Enough, that at eleven o'clock, Ellis left +the house of Jerome, much excited by drink. + +The pure, cool night air, as it bathed the heated temples of Henry +Ellis, so far sobered him by the time he reached his own door, that +a distant remembrance of what had occurred early in the evening was +present to his thoughts; and, still beyond this, a remembrance of +how he had been received on returning at a late hour in times gone +by. His hand was in his pocket, in search of his dead-latch key, +when he suddenly retreated from the door, muttering to himself-- + +"I'm not going to stand a curtain lecture! There now! I'll wait +until she's asleep." + +Saying which, he drew a cigar and match-box from his pocket, and +lighting the former, placed it between his lips, and moved leisurely +down the street. + +The meeting with Wilkinson has already been described. + +Scarcely less startled was Ellis at the sudden apparition of Mrs. +Wilkinson than her husband had been. He remained only a few moments +after they retired. Then he turned his steps again homeward, with a +clearer head and heavier heart than when he refused to enter, in +fear of what he called a "curtain lecture." + +Many painful thoughts flitted through his mind as he moved along +with a quick pace. + +"I wish Cara understood me better, or that I had more patience with +her," he said to himself. "This getting angry with her, and going +off to drinking parties and taverns is a bad remedy for the evil, I +will confess. It is wrong in me, I know. Very wrong. But I can't +bear to be snapped, and snubbed up, and lectured in season and out +of season. I'm only flesh and blood. Oh dear! I'm afraid evil will +come of it in the end. Poor Wilkinson! What a shock the appearance +of his wife must have given him! It set every nerve in my body to +quivering. And it was all my fault that he wasn't at home with his +watching wife and sick child. Ah me! How one wrong follows another!" + +Ellis had reached his own door. Taking out his night-key, he applied +it to the latch; but the door did not open. It had been locked. + +"Locked out, ha!" he ejaculated quickly; and with a feeling of +anger. His hand was instantly on the bell-pull, and he jerked it +three or four times vigorously; the loud and continued ringing of +the bell sounding in his ears where he stood on the doorstep +without. A little while he waited, and then the ringing was renewed, +and with a more prolonged violence than at first. Then he listened, +bending his ear close to the door. But he could detect no movement +in the house. + +"Confound it!" came sharp and impatiently from his lips. "If I +thought this was designed, I'd--" + +He checked himself, for just at that instant he saw a faint glimmer +of light through the glass over the door. Then he perceived the +distant shuffle of feet along the passage floor. There was a +fumbling at the key and bolts, and then the half-asleep and +half-awake servant admitted him. + +"I didn't know you was out, sir," said the servant, "or I wouldn't +have locked the door when I went to bed." + +Ellis made no reply, but entered and ascended to his chamber. Cara +was in bed and asleep, or apparently so. Her husband did not fail to +observe a certain unsteady motion of the lashes that lay over her +closed eyes; and he was not far wrong in his impression that she was +awake, and had heard his repeated ringing for admission. His belief +that such was the case did not lessen the angry feelings produced by +the fact of having the key of his own door turned upon him. + +But slumber soon locked his senses into oblivion, and he did not +awake until the sun was an hour above the horizon. + +The moment Mrs. Wilkinson emerged, with her husband, from the +bar-room of Parker's tavern, she fled along the street like a swift +gliding spirit, far outstripping in speed her thoroughly sobered and +alarmed husband, who hurried after her with rapid steps. The door of +the house had been left open when she came forth in the anguish of +her wild alarm to summon her husband, and she re-entered and flew +up-stairs without the pause of an instant. Wilkinson was but a +moment or two later in reaching the house, and in gaining their +chamber. The sight that met his eyes sent the blood coldly to his +heart. The mother had already snatched the child from the crib in +which she had left her, and was standing with her close to the lamp, +the light from which fell strongly upon her infantile face, that was +fearfully distorted. The eyes were open and rolled up, until the +entire pupil was hidden. The lips were white with their firm +compression; and yet they had a quick nervous motion. + +"Oh, John! John! what is the matter?" cried Mrs. Wilkinson, as she +looked first upon the face of her child, and then into that of her +husband, with a most anxious and imploring glance. "Is she dying?" + +"No, dear, I think not," returned Wilkinson, with a composure of +voice that belied the agitation of his feelings. + +"Oh! what is the matter? Yes! Yes! I'm sure she's dying. Oh! run +quick! quick! for the doctor." + +"First," said Wilkinson, who was becoming, every moment, more +self-possessed, and who now saw that the child, who was teething, +had been thrown into spasms, "let us do what we can for her. She is +in convulsions, and we must get her into a bath of hot water as +quickly as possible. I will call up Anna. Don't be alarmed," he +added, in a soothing voice: "there is no immediate danger." + +"Are you sure, John? Are you sure? Oh! I'm afraid she is dying! My +precious, precious babe!" And the mother clasped her child +passionately to her bosom. + +In the course of ten or fifteen minutes, a vessel of hot water was +ready, and into this the still writhing form of the convulsed child +was placed. Then Wilkinson hurried off for their physician. Half an +hour afterwards he returned with him. The good effects of the +hot-bath were already perceptible. The face of the child had resumed +its placid sweetness of expression, and there was but slight +convulsive twitching in the limbs. The doctor remained with them, +applying, from time to time, appropriate remedies, until all the +painful signs which occasioned so much alarm had vanished, and then +left, promising to call early on the next morning. + +It was past one o'clock. The physician had left, and the domestics +retired to their own apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson were alone +with their still unconscious child, that lay in a deep, unnatural +slumber. They were standing, side by side, and bending over the bed +on which little Ella lay. Wilkinson had drawn his arm around his +wife, and she had laid her head upon his shoulder. Each heard the +beating of the other's heart, as thus they stood, silent, yet with +troubled thoughts and oppressed feelings. + +A tear fell upon the hand of Wilkinson, and the warm touch, coming +as it did in that moment of intense excitement, caused a quick +thrill to pass through his nerves; and he started involuntarily. +Words of confession and promises for the future were on his tongue; +but, their utterance, just at that moment, seemed untimely, and he +merely answered the mute appeal of tears with a fervent, heart-warm +kiss, that, if the power of his will could have gone with it, would +have filled the heart of his wife with joy unspeakable. Scarcely had +his lips touched hers, ere she started up, and flung her arms around +his neck, sobbing-- + +"Oh, my husband! My husband!" + +If she had designed to say more, utterance failed, or was checked; +for she hid her face on his bosom, and wept like a heart-broken +child. + +How sincere was Wilkinson's repentance for past errors in that +solemn hour! and how fervent was the promise of future amendment! + +"I were worse than an evil spirit, to lay grief upon that gentle +heart, or to make of those loving eyes a fountain of tears!" + +Such was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, and he meant all that +he said. + +"God bless you, dearest!" he murmured in her ear.--"God bless you, +and take this shadow quickly from your heart! Believe me, Mary, that +no act of mine will ever dim its bright surface again." + +Mrs. Wilkinson slowly raised her pale, tear-moistened face, and +fixed, for a few moments, her eyes in those of her husband's. There +was more of confidence and hope in them than pages of written +language could express. Then her face was again hid on his bosom; +while his arm clasped her slender form with a more earnest pressure. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + + + +MORNING found little Ella, though much exhausted by the severe +struggle through which she had passed, so far restored that her +parents ceased to feel that anxiety with which for hours, as they +hung over her, their hearts had been painfully oppressed. + +It could not but be that a shadow would rest on the gentle face of +Mrs. Wilkinson, as she met her husband at the breakfast table; for +it was impossible to obliterate the memory of such a night of trial +and alarm as the one through which she had just passed. And yet, +with a strong effort, she strove to appear cheerful, and when she +spoke to her husband, it was with a forced smile and a tone of +tenderness that touched and subdued his feelings; for he well +understood that, in a certain sense, she was merely acting. + +But few words passed between them during the brief morning meal. As +the hour was later than usual, Wilkinson found it necessary to hurry +off to his place of business; so, rising before his wife left the +table, he kissed her pale lips, and, without venturing to make a +remark, left the room. + +The door had scarcely closed upon him, ere a tear stole out from the +sad eyes of Mrs. Wilkinson. A few moments she sat in statue-like +stillness, then there was a quick glancing of her eye upwards, while +the motion of her lips showed that she asked strength for herself, +or protection for one whom she loved better than herself. + +It was a regular custom with Wilkinson to stop at a drinking-house +on his way to his store, and get a glass of brandy. This was an +afternoon as well as a morning custom, which had been continued so +long that it was now a habit. Yet he was not aware of this fact, +and, if he had thought about the custom, would have regarded it as +one easily abandoned. He had a glimpse of his error on the present +occasion. + +To do a thing by habit is to do it without reflection; and herein +lies the dangerous power of habit; for, when we act from confirmed +habit, it is without thought as to the good or evil to result from +our action. Thus had Wilkinson been acting for months as regards his +regular glass of brandy in the morning and afternoon, while passing +from his dwelling to his store. Not until now was he in the least +conscious that habit was gaining an undue power over him. + +As the eyes of Wilkinson rested upon the form of a certain elegant +coloured glass lamp standing in front of a well-known +drinking-house, he was conscious of a desire for his accustomed +draught of brandy and water; but, at the same instant, there came a +remembrance of the painful occurrences of the evening previous, and +he said to himself--"One such lesson ought to make me hate brandy, +and every thing else that can rob me of a true regard for the +happiness of Mary." + +Yet, even as he said this, habit, disturbed in the stronghold of its +power, aroused itself, and furnished him with an argument that +instantly broke down his forming resolution. This argument was his +loss of rest, the consequent debility arising therefrom, and the +actual need of his system for something stimulating, in order to +enable him to enter properly upon the business of the day. + +So habit triumphed. Wilkinson, without even pausing at the door, +entered the drinking-house and obtained his accustomed glass of +brandy. + +"I feel a hundred per cent. better," said he, as he emerged from the +bar-room and took his way to his store. "That was just what my +system wanted." + +Yet, if he felt, for a little while, better as regarded his bodily +sensations, the act did not leave him more comfortable in mind. His +instinctive consciousness of having done wrong in yielding to the +desire for brandy, troubled him. + +"I shall have to break up this habit entirely," he remarked to +himself during the morning, as his thought returned, again and +again, to the subject. "I don't believe I'm in any particular +danger; but, then, it troubles Mary; and I can't bear to see her +troubled." + +While he thus communed with himself, his friend Ellis dropped in. + +I meant to have called earlier," said Ellis, "to ask about your sick +child, but was prevented by a customer. She is better, I hope?" + +"Oh, yes, much better, thank you." + +"What was the matter?" inquired Ellis. + +"She is teething, and was thrown into convulsions." + +"Ah! yes. Well, I never was so startled in my life as by the +appearance of Mrs. Wilkinson. And the child is better?" + +"When I came away this morning, I left her sleeping calmly and +sweetly; and, what is more, the points of two teeth had made their +way through the red and swollen gums." + +"All right, then. But how is Mary?" + +"Not very well, of course. How could she be, after such a night of +anxiety and alarm? The fact is, Harry, I was to blame for having +left her alone during the evening, knowing, as I did, that Ella was +not very well." + +Ellis shrugged his shoulders, as he replied--"Not much excuse for +you, I must admit. I only wish the attraction at my home was as +strong as it is at yours: Parker's would not see me often. As for +you, my old friend, if I speak what I think, I must say that your +inclination to go out in the evening needs correcting. I spend most +of my evenings from home, because home is made unpleasant; you leave +your wife, because a love of conviviality and gay company entices +you away. Such company I know to be dangerous, and especially so for +you. There now, as a friend, I have talked out plainly. What do you +think of it? Ain't I right?" + +"I don't know," replied Wilkinson, musingly. "Perhaps you are. I +have thought as much, sometimes, myself." + +"I know I'm right," said Ellis, positively. "So take a friend's +advice, and never go out after sundown, except in company with your +wife." + +There was a change from gravity to mock seriousness in the voice of +Ellis as he closed this sentence. Wilkinson compressed his lips and +shook his head. + +"Can't always be tied to my wife's apron-string. Oh, no! haven't +come to that." + +"With such a wife, and your temperament, it is the best place for +you," said Ellis, laughing. + +"May be it is; but, for all that, I like good company too well to +spend all my time with her." + +"Isn't she good company?" + +"Oh, yes; but, then, variety is the very spice of life, you know." + +"True enough. Well, we'll not quarrel about the matter. Come! let's +go and take a drink; I'm as dry as a fish." + +"I don't care if I do," was the instinctive reply of Wilkinson, who +took up his hat as he spoke. + +The two men left the store, and were, a little while after, taking a +lunch at a public house, and chatting over their brandy and water. + +At the usual dinner hour, Wilkinson returned home. He did not fully +understand the expression of his wife's face, as she looked at him +on his entrance: it was a look of anxious inquiry. She sat with Ella +upon her lap: the child was sleeping. + +"How is our little pet?" he asked, as he bent over, first kissing +his wife, and then touching his lips lightly to the babe's forehead. + +"She's been in a heavy sleep for most of the time since morning," +replied Mrs. Wilkinson, turning her face aside, so that her husband +could not see its changed expression. + +Mr. Wilkinson's habitual use of brandy had long been a source of +trouble to his wife. In reviewing the painful incidents of the +previous evening, a hope had sprung up in her heart that the effect +would be to awaken his mind to a sense of his danger, cause him to +reflect, and lead to a change of habit. Alas! how like a fairy +frost-work fabric melted this hope away, as the strong breath of her +husband fell upon her face. She turned away and sighed--sighed in +her spirit, but not audibly; for, even in her pain and +disappointment, active love prompted to concealment, lest the shadow +that came over her should repel the one she so earnestly sought to +win from his path of danger. + +Ah, who can tell the effort it cost that true-hearted wife to call +up the smile with which, scarcely a moment afterwards, she looked +into her husband's face! + +"It is no worse, if no better," was her sustaining thought; and she +leaned upon it, fragile reed as it was. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + + + +"COME home early, dear," said Mrs. Wilkinson, resting her hand upon +her husband, and looking into his face with a loving smile. "The +time seems so long when you are away!" + +"Does it?" returned Wilkinson, and he kissed his wife. Yet, did not +the tenderness of tone with which he spoke, nor the act of love +which accompanied it, hide from the quick perception of Mary the +fact that her husband's thoughts were elsewhere. + +"Oh, yes," she replied. "I count the hours when you are absent. +You'll be home early to tea?" + +"Certainly I will. There now, let your heart be at rest." + +And Wilkinson retired. This was after dinner, on the day that +succeeded the opening of our story. + +As in the morning, he found it the most natural thing in the world +to call in at a certain drinking house and get his accustomed glass +of brandy. As he entered the door of the bar-room, a man named +Carlton stepped forward to meet him, with extended hand. He was an +old acquaintance, with whom Wilkinson had often passed an agreeable +hour,--one of your bar-room loungers, known as good fellows, who, +while they exhibit no apparent means of support, generally have +money to spend, and plenty of time on their hands. + +"Glad to see you, Wilkinson; 'pon my soul! Where have you kept +yourself for this month of Sundays?" + +Such was the familiar greeting of Carlton. + +"And it does one's eyes good to look upon your pleasant face," +returned Wilkinson, as he grasped the other's hand. "Where have you +kept yourself?" + +"Oh, I'm always on hand," said Carlton, gayly. "It's you who are +shut up, and hid away from the pure air and bright sunshine in a +gloomy store, delving like a mole in the dark. The fact is, old +fellow! you are killing yourself. Turning gray, as I live!" + +And he touched, with his fingers, the locks of Wilkinson, in which a +few gray lines were visible. + +"Bad! bad!" he went on, shaking his head. "And you are growing as +thin as a lath. When did you ride out?" + +"Oh, not for two months past. I've been too closely occupied with +business." + +"Business!" there was a slight air of contempt in Carlton's voice +and manner. "I hate to hear this everlasting cant, if I must so call +it, about business; as if there were nothing else in the world to +think or care about. Men bury themselves between four brick walls, +and toil from morning until night, like prison-slaves; and if you +talk to them about an hour's recreation for body and mind, all you +can get out of them is--'Business! business!' Pah! I'm out of all +patience with it. Life was made for enjoyment as well as toil. But +come, what'll you drink? I've preached to you until I'm as dry as a +chip." + +The two men stepped to the bar and drank. As they turned away, +Carlton drew his arm within that of Wilkinson, saying, as he did +so-- + +"As it is an age since I saw you, I must prolong the pleasure of +this meeting. Your work is done for the day, of course." + +"No, I can't just say that it is." + +"Well, I can then. If you've been immuring yourself, as you have on +your own confession, for some two months, or more, an afternoon with +good company is indispensable. So, consider this a holiday, and +think no more of bags, boxes, cash-book, or ledger. I bought a +splendid trotter yesterday, and am going to try his speed. You are a +first-rate judge of horse-flesh, and I want your opinion. So, +consider yourself engaged for a flying trip to Mount Airy." + +"You are a tempter," said Wilkinson, laughing. + +"Oh, no. A friend, who will give health to your veins, and life to +your spirit." + +"Let me see," said Wilkinson, now turning his thoughts upon his +business--"if there isn't something special that requires my +attention. Yes," he added, after thinking for a few moments--"a +customer promised to be in after dinner. He is from the country, and +bought a good bill last season. You will have to excuse me, Carlton. +I'll go with you to-morrow." + +"Indeed, and I shall do no such thing," was promptly answered. "Let +your customers call in the morning--always the best time for +business. Men don't buy in the afternoon." + +"My experience says differently." + +"A fig for your experience! No, no, my good friend. You're booked +for a ride with me this very afternoon; so let your business and +customers take care of themselves. Health is better than dollars; +and length of days than great possessions. There's wisdom in +miniature for you. Wouldn't I make a capital preacher, ha?" + +"But Carlton"-- + +"But me no buts, my hearty!" and Carlton slapped Wilkinson on the +shoulder as he spoke, in a familiar manner. "You're my prisoner for +the rest of the day. Do you understand that?" + +"You've bought a fast trotter, have you?" said Wilkinson, after a +brief but hurried self-communion, the end of which was a +determination to take the afternoon for pleasure, and let his +customer call in the morning. + +"I have; and the prettiest animal your eyes ever looked upon." + +"Fleet as an arrow?" + +"Ay; as the very wind. But you shall have a taste of his quality. So +come along. Time passes." + +The two men left the tavern, and went to the stable where Carlton's +new horse was kept. The animal was soon in harness. + +Four hours afterwards, the last rays of the setting sun came through +the windows of a room, in which were seated, at a table, Carlton and +Wilkinson. Liquor and glasses were on the table, and cards in the +hands of the men. Wilkinson appeared excited, but Carlton was calm +and self-possessed. The former had been drinking freely; but the +latter exhibited not the smallest sign of inebriation. A single +five-dollar bill lay beside Wilkinson; a dozen bills and two gold +coins were beside the other. They were playing for the last stake. +Nervously did Wilkinson lay card after card upon the table, while, +with the most perfect coolness, his adversary played his hand, a +certainty of winning apparent in every motion. And he did win. + +"Curse my luck!" exclaimed Wilkinson, grinding his teeth together, +as the last five-dollar bill he had with him passed into the hands +of his very particular friend. + +There was more than "luck" against him, if he had but known it. + +"The fortune of war," smilingly replied the winner. "The race is not +always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, you know. You +played well--very well; never better within my knowledge. But, as +you say, luck was against you. And, by the way, what a curious and +uncertain thing this luck is! I've seen men lose at every turn of +the card, until they had parted with thousands; and then, on a +borrowed dollar, perhaps, start again, and not only get every thing +back, but break their antagonists. This is an every-day occurrence, +in fact." + +Wilkinson had risen from the table, and was pacing the room in a +fretful, impatient manner. Suddenly he stopped. A light flashed over +his face. Then, sitting down, he snatched up a pen, and writing on a +slip of paper--"Due Andrew Carlton $20," signed it with his name. + +Carlton saw every letter and word as they left the pen, and ere the +last flourish was made to the signature, had selected four +five-dollar bills from the pile beside him. Simultaneously with the +motion of Wilkinson's hand, in pushing to him this memorandum of +debt, was the motion of his hand in furnishing the sum required. + +"Not the man to be frightened at a little adverse fortune, I see," +remarked the cunning tempter. "Well, I do like a man who never can +acknowledge himself beaten. The timid and easily discouraged are +soon left far behind in the world's race--and they deserve to be." + +Wilkinson did not reply. Another deal was made, and again the two +men bent over the table in their unequal contest. + +In less than half an hour, the money obtained from Carlton had gone +back to him. + +By this time twilight had fallen. + +"Nearly eight o'clock, as I live!" muttered Wilkinson. He had drawn +forth his watch. "I had no idea of this. And we are ten miles from +the city!" + +A thought of his anxiously waiting wife flitted across his mind. He +remembered her last pleading injunction for him to come home early, +and the promise he had given. Alas! like so many more of his +promises to her, made to be broken. + +"Shall we return now; or order supper here?" said Carlton, in his +bland way. + +"I must go back immediately," replied Wilkinson. "It is an hour +later than I supposed. I was to have been home early this evening." + +"It is too late now to join your family at tea. They have given you +out before this. So, I think we'd better order supper here. The moon +is full, and it will be almost as clear as daylight; and much +pleasanter riding, for the dew will keep down the dust. What say +you?" + +The end was, Wilkinson yielded. + +"Not down in the mouth, because of this little run of ill-luck?" +said Carlton, in a bantering way, as he saw a cloud settling over +the face of his victim. + +Lights had been brought in, and the two men still remained seated by +the table at which they had been playing, awaiting the preparation +of supper. + +I'm never down in the mouth," replied Wilkinson, forcing a smile to +his countenance. "Better luck next time, has always been my motto." + +"And it will carry you safely through the world. Try another glass +of brandy." + +"No--I've taken enough already." + +"It isn't every man who knows when he has enough," returned the +other. "I've often wished that I knew exactly the right guage." + +And, as Carlton spoke, he poured some brandy into a glass, and, +adding a little water, affected to take a deep draught thereof; but, +though the glass was held long to his mouth, only a small portion of +the contents passed his lips. In replacing the tumbler on the table, +he managed to give it a position behind the water-pitcher where the +eye of Wilkinson could not rest upon it. He need hardly have taken +this trouble, for his companion was too much absorbed in his own +thoughts to notice a matter like this. + +"They're a long time in getting supper," remarked Carlton, in a +well-affected tone of impatience. "What is the time now?" + +Wilkinson drew forth his watch, and, after glancing upon the face, +replied-- + +"Ten minutes after eight." + +"We shall have it pretty soon now, I suppose. They don't understand +the double quick time movement out here." + +As Carlton said this, his eyes rested, with more than a mere passing +interest, on the gold lever that Wilkinson, instead of returning to +his pocket, retained in one hand, while with the other he toyed with +the key and chain in a half-abstracted manner. + +For the space of nearly a minute, neither of the men spoke, but the +thought of each was at the same point. + +"That's a beautiful watch," at length Carlton ventured to say. There +was a well disguised indifference in his tones. + +"It ought to be," was the reply of Wilkinson. + +"What did it cost you?" + +"One hundred and forty dollars." + +"Is it a good time-keeper?" + +"First-rate. It hasn't varied a minute in six months." + +"Just such a watch as I would like to own. I've had terrible bad +luck with watches." + +This was a kind of feeler. + +No reply was made by Wilkinson, although an offer to sell trembled +on his tongue. He still kept the watch in his hand, and toyed with +the key and chain, as before, in an absent manner. + +"Could you be tempted to sell?" finally asked Carlton. + +"I don't know. Perhaps I might,"--said Wilkinson. He drew his breath +deeply as he spoke. + +"Or, perhaps you would trade?" and Carlton now produced his gold +lever. "Mine is a very good watch, though not so valuable as yours. +It keeps fair time, however. I paid a hundred dollars for it three +or four years ago." + +A mutual examination of watches took place. + +"Well--what do you say to a trade?" + +The servant appeared at this juncture, and announced supper. The two +watches were returned to their respective places of deposit, and the +two men proceeded to the dining-room. Here the traffic, just begun, +was renewed and completed. The watches were exchanged, and Wilkinson +received sixty dollars "boot." + +"Shall I order the horse brought out?" asked Carlton, as they arose, +about half an hour afterwards, from the supper-table. + +"Yes; if you please." + +This was not said with much promptness of tone; a fact instantly +noted by the ear of Carlton. + +"Well, I'm ready. Come--let's have a drink before we go!" + +The two men stepped to the bar and drank. Then they lingered, each +with a lighted cigar, and finally withdrew--to proceed to the city? +No. To return to their room up-stairs, and renew their unequal +contest. The sixty dollars which Wilkinson had received were staked, +and soon passed over to his adversary. Rendered, now, desperate by +his losses and the brandy which inflamed his brain, he borrowed, +once more, on his due-bill--this time to the amount of several +hundred dollars. His ill-success continued. + +It was nearly eleven o'clock, when Wilkinson started up from the +table, exclaiming, as he threw the cards upon the floor-- + +"Fool! fool! fool! One step more, and I am ruined. Carlton!" And he +fixed his eyes almost fiercely upon his companion. + +"Carlton! I thought you my friend, but find, when it is almost too +late to profit by the discovery, that you are a tempter. Ay! and +worse than a tempter. Pure air and the bright sunshine! Is this your +health for mind and body? Oh! weak, weak, unstable one that I am! +Poor Mary!" This was said in a low, mournful, and scarcely audible +voice. "Thus has my promise to you vanished into thin air!" + +As Wilkinson said this, he turned away and left the room. Carlton +was in no hurry to follow. When, at length, he came down, and made +inquiry for the one he had dealt by so treacherously, the man, who +was shutting the windows of the bar-room, and about locking up for +the night, replied that he had not seen him. + +"Not seen him?" he asked, in a tone of surprise. + +"No, sir. He didn't come in here." + +The hostler was aroused from his sleeping position on a bench in the +corner, and directed by Carlton to bring out his buggy. During the +time he was away, the latter made a hurried search in and around the +house. Not finding the object thereof, he muttered, in an under +tone, a few wicked oaths; then, jumping into his vehicle, he put +whip to his horse, and dashed off towards the city. He had +Wilkinson's due-bills in his pocket for various sums, amounting, in +all, to nearly two thousand dollars! + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + + + +ALMOST motionless, with her sleeping babe upon her lap, sat Mrs. +Wilkinson for nearly half an hour after her husband left the house. +She saw nothing that was around her--heard nothing--felt nothing. +Not even the breathings of her sleeping infant reached her ear; nor +was she conscious of the pressure of its body against her own. Fixed +in a dreamy, inward gaze were her eyes; and her soul withdrew itself +from the portal at which, a little while before, it hearkened into +the world of nature. At last there came a motion of the eyelids--a +quivering motion--then they closed, slowly, over the blue orbs +beneath; and soon after a tear trembled out to the light from behind +the barriers that sought to retain them. A deep, fluttering sigh +succeeded to this sign of feeling. Then her lips parted, and she +spoke audibly to herself. + +"Oh, that I knew how to win him back from the path of danger! He +does not love his home; and yet how have I striven to make it +attractive! How much have I denied myself! and how much yielded to +and thought of him! He is always kind to me; and he--yes--I know he +loves me; but--ah!" + +The low voice trembled back sighing into silence. Still, for a long +time, the unhappy wife sat almost as motionless as if in sleep. +Then, as some thought grew active towards a purpose in her mind, she +arose, and laying Ella on the bed, began busying herself in some +household duties. + +The afternoon passed slowly away, yet not for a moment was the +thought of her husband absent from the mind of Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"What ought I to do? How shall I make his home sufficiently +attractive?" + +This was her over and over again repeated question; and her thoughts +bent themselves eagerly for some answer upon which her heart might +rest with even a small degree of hope. + +The prolonged, intense anxiety and alarm of the previous night, +added to bodily fatigue and loss of rest, were not without their +effect upon Mrs. Wilkinson. Early in the day she suffered from +lassitude and a sense of exhaustion; and, after dinner, a slight +headache was added; this increased hourly, and by four o'clock was +almost blinding in its violence. Still, she tried to forget herself, +and what she suffered in thinking about and devising some means of +saving her husband from the dangers that lay hidden from his own +view about his footsteps. + +"If I could only add some new attraction to his home!" she murmured +to herself, over and over again. + +Sometimes she would hold her temples with both her hands, in the +vain effort to still, by pressure, the throbbing arteries within, +while she continued to think of her husband. + +As tea-time drew near, Mrs. Wilkinson left Ella in the care of a +domestic, and went into the kitchen to prepare some delicacy for the +evening meal of which she knew her husband was fond; this engaged +her for half an hour, and the effort increased the pain in her +aching head. + +The usual time at which Mr. Wilkinson came home arrived, and his +wife, who had returned to her chamber, sat with her babe on her +bosom, listening for the well-known welcome sound of her husband's +footsteps in the passage below. Time glided by, yet she waited and +listened in vain; and to the pleasant thoughts of the influence her +love was to throw around him on that very evening, to keep him at +home, began to succeed a fear, which made her heart faint, that he +would not come home at all; or, at least, not until a late hour. + +The sun went down, and stealthily the sober twilight began to fall, +bringing with it shadows and forebodings for the heart of the +anxious wife. + +How vainly she waited and watched! The twilight was lost in +darkness, and yet her eagerly listening ear failed to note the +well-known sound of her husband's footfall on the pavement, as she +stood, listening at the open window. + +"Oh! what can keep him so long away!" + +How often did these words come sighing from her lips, yet there was +no answer. Alas! how to the very winds were flung the pleasant hopes +she had cherished--cherished with a sense of fear and +trembling--during the afternoon. + +Night closed in, and the time wore on steadily, minute by minute, +and hour by hour, until the poor wife was almost wild with suspense +and anxiety. The dainties she had so thoughtfully and lovingly +prepared for her husband remained untasted, and had now become cold +and unpalatable--were, in fact, forgotten. Food she had not, +herself, tasted. Once or twice a servant had come to know if she +would have tea served; but she merely answered--"Not until Mr. +Wilkinson returns." + +Nine--ten--eleven o'clock; still Mrs. Wilkinson was alone. Sometimes +she moved restlessly about her chamber; or wandered, like a +perturbed spirit, from room to room; and, sometimes in mere +exhaustion, would drop into a chair or sink across the bed, and sit +or lie as motionless as if in a profound sleep. + +Ah! could her husband have looked in upon her, but for a few +moments; could he have seen the anguish of her pale face; the fixed +and dreamy expression of her tearful eyes; the grieving arch of the +lips he loved--could he have seen and comprehended all she suffered +and all she feared, it must have won him back from his selfish +folly. And how many wives have suffered all this, and more! How many +still suffer! Errant husband, pause, look upon the picture we have +presented, and think of the many, many heart-aches you have given +the tender, long-suffering, loving one who clings to you yet so +closely, and who, for your sake, would even lay down, if needful, +her very life. + +Happily for Mrs. Wilkinson, her child lay in a sound sleep; for, +with the appearance of the edges of two teeth through her red and +swollen gums, the feverish excitement of her system yielded to a +healthy reaction. + +Twelve o'clock was rung out clearly upon the hushed air of midnight; +and yet the poor wife was alone. One o'clock found her in a state of +agonized alarm, standing at the open street-door, and hearkening, +eagerly, first in one direction and then in another; yet all in +vain--for the absent one came not. + +It was nearly two o'clock, and Mrs. Wilkinson, in the impotence of +her prolonged and intense anxiety and fear, had thrown herself, with +a groan, across her bed, when a sound in the street caught her ear. +Instantly she started up, while a thrill ran through every nerve. +Feet were on the door-steps; a key was in the lock--a moment more, +and the door opened and shut, and a familiar tread that made her +heart leap echoed along the passage. Her first impulse was to fly to +meet the comer, but a hand seemed to hold her back; and so, half +reclining, she awaited, with her heart beating violently, the +appearance of him whose strange absence had cost her so many hours +of bitter anguish. A moment or two more, and then an exclamation of +surprise and almost terror, fell from her lips. And well might she +be startled at the appearance of her husband. + +Pale, haggard, covered with dust, and with large drops of +perspiration on his face, Wilkinson stood before his wife. With a +grieving look he gazed upon her for some moments, but did not speak. + +"My husband!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson as soon as she could recover +herself; and, as she uttered the words, she threw her arms around +him, and buried her weeping face on his bosom. + +But Wilkinson tried to disengage her arms, saying, as he did so-- + +"Not this!--not this, Mary! I am unworthy of even your feeblest +regard. Speak to me coldly, harshly, angrily, if you will. That I +deserve--but nothing of kindness, nothing of love. Oh, that I were +dead!" + +"My husband! my husband! you are dearer to me than life!" was +whispered in reply, as Mary clung to him more closely. + +Such evidences of love melted the strong man's heart. He tried to +brace himself up against what, in his pride, he felt to be a +weakness, but failed, and leaning his face downward until it rested +upon the head of his wife, sobbed aloud. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + + + +WILKINSON, on leaving the presence of the man who, under the guise +of friendship, had so basely led him astray, and robbed him--it was +robbery, in fact, for Carlton had not only enticed his victim to +drink until his mind was confused, but had played against him with +trick and false dealing--passed, not by the bar-room of the hotel, +but through one of the passages, into the open air, and with hurried +steps, and mind all in a whirl of excitement, started on foot for +home. He was not in a state to consider exactly what he was +doing--he did not reflect that he was at least ten miles from the +city, and that it would take him hours to walk that distance. His +predominant feeling was a desire to escape from the presence of the +man who had so basely betrayed and almost ruined him. + +It was a calm, clear, summer night; and the full moon, which had +reached the zenith, shone with an unusual radiance. Not a leaf moved +on the forest trees, for even the zephyrs were asleep. All was +stillness and tranquil beauty. + +Yet nature did not mirror herself on the feelings of Wilkinson, for +their surface was in wild commotion. The unhappy man was conscious +only of the folly he had committed and the wrong he had sustained; +and thought only of his culpable weakness in having been drawn, by a +specious villain, to the very verge of ruin. + +Onward he strode, toward the city, with rapid pace, and soon his +thoughts began to go forward towards his home. + +"Poor Mary!" he sighed, as the image of his wife, when she said to +him--"I count the hours when you are away," arose before his eyes. +Then, as the image grew more and more distinct, his hands were +clenched tightly, and he murmured through his shut teeth-- + +"Wretch! cruel wretch, that I am! I shall break her heart! Oh, why +did I not resist this temptation? Why was I so thoughtless of the +best, the truest, the most loving friend I ever knew or ever can +know--my Mary!" + +Rapid as his steps had been from the first, the thought of his wife +caused Wilkinson to increase his pace, and he moved along, the only +passenger at that hour upon the road, at almost a running speed. +Soon the perspiration was gushing freely from every pore, and this, +in a short time, relieved the still confused pressure on the brain +of the alcohol which had been taken so freely into his system. +Thoroughly sobered was he, ere he had passed over half the distance; +and the clearer his mind became, the more troubled grew his +feelings. + +"What," he repeated to himself, over and over, "what if our dear +Ella should be in convulsions again?" + +So great was the anguish of the unhappy man, that he was all +unconscious of bodily fatigue. He was nearly half way to the city +when overtaken by Carlton. The latter called to him three or four +times, and invited him to get up and ride; but Wilkinson strode on, +without so much as uttering a word in reply, or seeming to hear what +was said to him. So Carlton, finding that his proffer was +disregarded, dashed ahead and was soon out of sight. + +At what hour Wilkinson reached his home, and how he was received, +has already been seen. + +Too heavy a pressure lay on the mind of the unhappy man, as he met +his wife at the breakfast table on the next morning, for him even to +make an effort at external cheerfulness. There was not only the +remembrance of his broken promise, and the anguish she must have +suffered in consequence of his absence for half the night--how +visible, alas! was the effect written on her pale face, and eyes +still red and swollen from excessive tears--but the remembrance, +also, that he had permitted himself, while under the influence of +drink, to lose some two thousand dollars at the gaming table! What +would he not endure to keep that blasting fact from the knowledge of +his single-hearted, upright companion? He a gambler! How sick at +heart the thought made him feel, when that thought came into the +presence of his wife! + +Few words passed between Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, but the manner of +each was subdued, gentle, and even affectionate. They parted, after +the morning meal, in silence; Wilkinson to repair to his place of +business, his wife to busy herself in household duties, and await +with trembling anxiety the return of her husband at the regular +dinner hour. + +This time, Wilkinson did not, as usual, drop in at a certain +drinking-house that was in his way, but kept on direct to his store. +The reason of this omission of his habitual glass of brandy was not, +we are compelled to say, from a purpose in his mind to abandon the +dangerous practice, but to avoid encountering the man Carlton, who +might happen to be there. But he was not to keep clear of him in +this way. Oh, no. Carlton held his due-bills for "debts of honour," +calling for various sums, amounting in all, as we have before said, +to about two thousand dollars, and he was not a person at all likely +to forget this fact. Of this Wilkinson was made sensible, about an +hour after appearing at his store. He was at his desk musing over +certain results figured out on a sheet of paper that lay before him, +and which had reference to payments to be made during the next three +or four weeks, when he heard his name mentioned, and, turning, saw a +stranger addressing one of his clerks, who had just pointed to where +he was sitting. The man, with his unpleasant eyes fixed upon +Wilkinson, came, with firm yet deliberate steps, back to his desk. + +"Mr. Wilkinson, I believe?" said he. + +"That is my name." Wilkinson tried to feel self-possessed and +indifferent. But that was impossible, for he had an instinctive +knowledge of the purport of the visit. + +The man thrust his hand into a deep inside pocket, and abstracted +therefrom a huge pocket-book. He did not search long in the +compartments of this for what he wanted, but drew directly therefrom +sundry small, variously shaped pieces of paper, much blotted and +scrawled over in a hurried hand. Each of these bore the signature of +Wilkinson, and words declaring himself indebted in a certain sum to +Andrew Carlton. + +"I am desired to collect these," said the man coldly. + +Much as Wilkinson had thought, in anticipation of this particular +crisis, he was yet undecided as to what he should do. He had been +made the victim of a specious scoundrel--a wolf who had come to him +in sheep's clothing. Running back his thoughts, as distinctly as it +was possible for him to do, to the occurrences of the previous +night, he remembered much that fully satisfied him that Carlton had +played against him most unfairly; he not only induced him to drink +until his mind was confused, but had taken advantage of this +confused state, to cheat in the grossest manner. Some moments passed +ere he replied to the application; then he said-- + +"I'm not prepared to do any thing with this matter just now." + +"My directions are to collect these bills," was the simple reply, +made in a tone that expressed even more than the words. + +"You may find that more difficult than you imagine," replied +Wilkinson, with some impatience. + +"No--no--we never have much difficulty in collecting debts of this +kind." There was a meaning emphasis on the last two words, which +Wilkinson understood but too well. Still he made answer, + +"You may find it a little harder in the present case than you +imagine. I never received value for these tokens of indebtedness." + +"You must have been a precious fool to have given them then," was +promptly returned, with a curling lip, and in a tone of contempt. +"They represent, I presume, debts of honour?" + +"There was precious little honour in the transaction," said +Wilkinson, who, stung by the manner and words of the collector, lost +his self-possessions. "If ever a man was cheated, I was." + +"Say that to Mr. Carlton himself; it is out of place with me. As I +remarked a little while ago, my business is to collect the sums +called for by these due-bills. Are you prepared to settle them?" + +"No," was the decisive answer. + +"Perhaps," said the collector, who had his part to play, and who, +understanding it thoroughly, showed no inclination to go off in a +huff; "you do not clearly understand your position, nor the +consequences likely to follow the answer just given; that is, if you +adhere to your determination not to settle these due-bills." + +"You'll make the effort to collect by law, I presume?" + +"Of course we will." + +"And get nothing. The law will not recognise a debt of this kind." + +"How is the law to come at the nature of the debt?" + +"I will"--Wilkinson stopped suddenly. + +"Will you?" quickly chimed in the collector. "Then you are a bolder, +or rather, more reckless man than I took you for. Your family, +friends, creditors, and mercantile associates will be edified, no +doubt, when it comes to light on the trial, under your own +statement, that you have been losing large sums of money at the +gaming table--over two thousand dollars in a single night." + +A strong exclamation came from the lips of Wilkinson, who saw the +trap into which he had fallen, and from which there was, evidently, +no safe mode of escape. + +"It is impossible for me to pay two thousand dollars now," said he, +after a long, agitated silence, during which he saw, more clearly +than before, the unhappy position in which he was placed. "It will +be ruin anyhow; and if loss of credit and character are to come, it +might as well come with the most in hand I can retain." + +"You are the best judge of that," said the collector, coldly, +turning partly away as he spoke. + +"Tell Carlton that I would like to see him." + +"He left the city this morning," replied the collector. + +"Left the city?" + +"Yes, sir; and you will perceive that all of these due-bills have +been endorsed to me, and are, consequently, my property, for which I +have paid a valuable consideration. They are, therefore, legal +claims against you in the fullest sense, and I am not the man to +waive my rights, or to be thwarted in my purposes. Are you prepared +to settle?" + +"Not to-day, at least." + +"I am not disposed to be too hard with you," said the man, slightly +softening in his tone; "and will say at a word what I will do, and +all I will do. You can take up five hundred of these bills to-day, +five hundred in one week, and the balance in equal sums at two and +three weeks. I yield this much; but, understand me, it is all I +yield, and you need not ask for any further consideration. + +"Well, sir, what do you say?" Full five minutes after the collector +had given his ultimatum, he thus broke in upon the perplexed and +undecided silence of the unhappy victim of his own weakness and +folly. "Am I to receive five hundred dollars now, or am I not?" + +"Call in an hour, and I will be prepared to give an answer," said +Wilkinson. + +"Very well. I'll be here in one hour to a minute," and the man +consulted his watch. + +And to a minute was he there. + +"Well, sir, have you decided this matter?" said he, on confronting +Wilkinson an hour later. He spoke with the air of one who felt +indifferent as to which way the decision had been made. Without +replying, Wilkinson took from under a paper weight on his desk a +check for five hundred dollars, and presented it to the collector. + +"All right," was the satisfied remark of the latter as he read the +face of the check; and, immediately producing his large pocket-book, +drew forth Wilkinson's due-bills, and selecting one for three +hundred and one for two hundred dollars, placed them in his hands. + +"On this day one week I will be here again," said the man, +impressively, and, turning away, left the store. + +The moment he was out of sight, Wilkinson tore the due-bills he had +cancelled into a score of pieces, and, as he scattered them on the +floor, said to himself--"Perish, sad evidences of my miserable +folly! The lesson would be salutary, were it not received at too +heavy a cost. Can I recover from this? Alas! I fear not. Fifteen +hundred more to be abstracted from my business, and in three weeks! +How can it possibly be done?" + +To a certain extent, the lesson was salutary. During the next three +weeks, Wilkinson, who felt a nervous reluctance to enter a +drinking-house lest he should meet Carlton, kept away from such +places, and therefore drank but little during the time; nor did he +once go out in the evening, except in company with his wife, who was +studious, all the time, in the science of making home happy. But it +was impossible for her to chase away the shadow that rested upon her +husband's brow. + +Promptly, on a certain day in each week of that period, came the man +who held the due-bills given to Carlton, leaving Wilkinson five +hundred dollars poorer with each visitation--poorer, unhappier, and +more discouraged in regard to his business, which was scarcely +stanch enough to bear the sudden withdrawal of so much money. + +Under such circumstances it was impossible for Wilkinson to appear +otherwise than troubled. To divine the cause of this trouble soon +became the central purpose in the mind of his wife. To all her +questions on the subject, he gave evasive answers; still she +gathered enough to satisfy her that every thing was not right in +regard to his business. Assuming this to be the case, she began to +think over the ways and means of reducing their range of expenses, +which were in the neighbourhood of fifteen hundred dollars per +annum. The result will appear. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + + + +THE morning of the day came on which Wilkinson had to make his last +payment on account of the due-bills given to Carlton. He had nothing +in bank, and there were few borrowing resources not already used to +the utmost limit. At ten o'clock he went out to see what could be +done in the way of effecting further temporary loans among business +friends. His success was not very great, for at twelve o'clock he +returned with only two hundred dollars. Carlton's agent had called +twice during the time, and came in a few minutes afterwards. + +"You're too soon for me," said Wilkinson, with not a very cheerful +or welcome expression of countenance. + +"It's past twelve," returned the man. + +"All the same if it were past three. I haven't the money." + +The collector's brow lowered heavily. + +"How soon will you have it?" + +"Can't tell," replied Wilkinson, fretfully. + +"That kind of answer don't just suit me," said the man, with some +appearance of anger. "I've been remarkable easy with you, and now"-- + +"Easy!" sharply ejaculated Wilkinson. "Yes; as the angler who plays +his trout. You've already received fifteen hundred dollars of the +sum out of which I was swindled, and with that I should think both +you and your principal might be content. Go back to him, and say +that he is about placing on the camel's back the pound that may +break it." + +"I have before told you," was replied, "that Mr. Carlton has no +longer any control in this matter. It is I who hold your +obligations; they have been endorsed to me, and for a valuable +consideration; and be assured that I shall exact the whole bond." + +"If," said Wilkinson, after some moments' reflection, and speaking +in a changed voice and with much deliberation, "if you will take my +note of hand for the amount of your due-bills, at six months from +to-day, I will give it; if not"-- + +"Preposterous!" returned the man, interrupting him. + +"If not," continued Wilkinson, "you can fall back upon the law. It +has its delays and chances; and I am more than half inclined to the +belief that I was a fool not to have left this matter for a legal +decision in the beginning. I should have gained time at least." + +"If you are so anxious to get into court, you can be gratified," was +answered. + +"Very well; seek your redress in law," said Wilkinson, angrily. +"Occasionally, gamblers and pickpockets get to the end of their +rope; and, perhaps, it may turn out so in this instance. My only +regret now is, that I didn't let the matter go to court in the +beginning." + +The man turned off hastily, but paused ere he reached the door, +stood musing for a while, and then came slowly back. + +"Give me your note at sixty days," said he. + +"No, sir," was the firm reply of Wilkinson. "I offered my note at six +months. For not a day less will I give it; and I don't care three +coppers whether you take it or no. I had about as lief test the +matter in a court of justice as not." + +The man again made a feint to retire, but again returned. + +"Say three months, then." + +"It is useless to chaffer with me, sir." Wilkinson spoke sternly. "I +have said what I will do, and I will do nothing else. Even that +offer I shall withdraw if not accepted now." + +The man seemed thrown quite aback by the prompt and decisive manner +of Wilkinson, and, after some hesitation and grumbling, finally +consented to yield up the balance of the due-bills for a note +payable in six months. + +"Saved as by fire!" Such was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, as +the collector left the store. "I stagger already under the extra +weight of fifteen hundred dollars. Five hundred added now would come +nigh to crushing me. Ah! how dearly have I paid for my folly!" + +While he still sat musing at his desk, his friend Ellis came in, +looking quite sober. + +"I know you've been pretty hard run for the last week or ten days," +said he, "but can't you strain a point and help me a little? I've +been running about all the morning, and am still two hundred dollars +short of the amount to be paid in bank to-day." + +"Fortunately," replied Wilkinson, "I have just the sum you need." + +"How long can you spare it?" + +"Until day after to-morrow." + +"You shall have it then, without fail." + +The money was counted out and handed to Ellis, who, as he received +it, said in a desponding voice-- + +"Unless a man is so fortunate as to be born with a silver spoon in +his mouth, he finds nothing but up-hill work in this troublesome +world. I declare! I'm almost discouraged. I can feel myself going +behindhand, instead of advancing." + +"Don't say that. You're only in a desponding mood," replied +Wilkinson, repressing his own gloomy feelings, and trying to speak +encouragingly. + +"I wish it were only imagination. It is now nearly ten years since I +was married, and though my business, at the time, was good, and +paying a fair profit on the light capital invested, it has, instead +of getting more prosperous, become, little and by little, +embarrassed, until now--I speak this confidently, and to one whom I +know to be a friend--were every thing closed up, I doubt if I should +be worth five hundred dollars." + +"Not so bad as that. You are only in a gloomy state of mind." + +"I wish it were only nervous despondency, my friend. But it is not +so. All the while I am conscious of a retrograde instead of an +advance movement." + +"There must be a cause for this," said Wilkinson. + +"Of course. There is no effect without a cause." + +"Do you know what it is?" + +"Yes." + +"A knowledge of our disease is said to be half the cure." + +"It has not proved so in my case." + +"What is the difficulty?" + +"My expenses are too high." + +"Your store expenses?" + +"No, my family expenses." + +"Then you ought to reduce them." + +"That is easily said; but, in my case, not so easily done. I cannot +make my wife comprehend the necessity of retrenchment." + +"If you were to explain the whole matter to her, calmly and clearly, +I am certain you would not find her unreasonable. Her stake in this +matter is equal to yours." + +"Oh, dear! Haven't I tried, over and over again?" + +"If Cara will not hear reason, and join with you in prudent reforms, +then it is your duty to make them yourself. What are your annual +expenses?" + +"I am ashamed to say." + +"Fifteen hundred dollars?" + +"They have never fallen below that since we were married, and, for +the last three years, have reached the sum of two thousand dollars. +This year they will even exceed that." + +Wilkinson shook his head. + +"Too much! too much!" + +"I know it is. A man in my circumstances has no right to expend even +half that sum. Why, five hundred dollars a year less in our expenses +since we were married would have left me a capital of five thousand +dollars in my business." + +"And placed you now on the sure road to fortune." + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Take my advice, and give to Cara a full statement of your affairs. +Do it at once--this very day. It has been put off too long already. +Let there be no reserve--no holding back--no concealment. Do it +calmly, mildly, yet earnestly, and my word for it, she will join +you, heart and hand, in any measure of reform and safety that you +may propose. She were less than a woman, a wife, and a mother, not +to do so. You wrong her by doubt." + +"Perhaps I do," said Ellis in reply. "Perhaps I have never managed +her rightly. I know that I am quick to get out of patience with her, +if she oppose my wishes too strongly. But I will try and overcome +this. There is too much at stake just now." + +The two men parted. Henry Ellis pondered all day over the present +state of his affairs, and the absolute necessity there was for a +reduction of his expenses. The house in which he lived cost four +hundred and fifty dollars a year. Two hundred dollars could easily +be saved, he thought, by taking a smaller house, where, if they were +only willing to think so, they might be just as comfortable as they +now were. Beyond this reduction in rent, Ellis did not see clearly +how to proceed. The rest would have mainly to depend upon his wife, +who had almost the entire charge of the home department, including +the expenditures made on account thereof. + +The earnestness with which Ellis pondered these things lifted his +thoughts so much above the sensual plane where they too often +rested, that he felt not the desire for stimulating drink returning +at certain hours, but passed through the whole of the afternoon +without either thinking of or tasting his usual glass of brandy and +water. On coming home to his family in the evening, his mind was as +clear as a bell. This, unhappily, was not always the case. + +And now for the task of making Cara comprehend the real state of his +affairs; and to produce in her a cheerful, loving, earnest +co-operation in the work of salutary reform. But how to begin? What +first to say? How to disarm her opposition in the outset? These were +the questions over which Ellis pondered. And the difficulty loomed +up larger and larger the nearer he approached it. He felt too +serious; and was conscious of this. + +Unhappily, Cara's brow was somewhat clouded. Ellis approached her +with attempts at cheerful conversation; but she was not in the mood +to feel interested in any of the topics he introduced. The tea hour +passed with little of favourable promise. The toast was badly made, +and the chocolate not half boiled. Mrs. Ellis was annoyed, and +scolded the cook, in the presence of her husband, soundly; thus +depriving him of the little appetite with which he had come to the +table. Gradually the unhappy man felt his patience and forbearance +leaving him; and more than once he said to himself-- + +"It will be worse than useless to talk to her. She will throw back +my words upon me, in the beginning, as she has so often done +before." + +Tea over, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis returned with their children to the +sitting-room. The former felt an almost irrepressible desire for the +cigar, which habit had rendered so nearly indispensable; but he +denied himself the indulgence, lest Cara should make it the occasion +of some annoying remark. So he took up a newspaper, and occupied +himself therewith, until his wife had undressed and put their two +oldest children to bed. As she returned from the adjoining room, +where they slept, Ellis looked earnestly into her face, to see what +hope there was for him in its expression. Her lips were drawn +closely together, her brows slightly contracted, and her countenance +had a fretful, discontented expression. He sighed inwardly, and +resumed the perusal of his newspaper; or, rather, affected to resume +it, for the words that met his eyes conveyed to his mind no +intelligible ideas. + +Mrs. Ellis took her work-basket, and commenced sewing, while her +husband continued to hold the newspaper before his face. After some +ten minutes of silence, the latter made a remark, as a kind of +feeler. This was replied to with what sounded more like a grunt than +a vocal expression. + +"Cara," at length said Ellis, forcing himself to the unpleasant work +on hand, "I would like to have a little plain talk with you about my +affairs." He tried, in saying this, to seem not to be very serious; +but his feelings, which had for some time been on the rack, were too +painfully excited to admit of this. He both looked and expressed, in +the tones of his voice, the trouble he felt. + +Now, just at the moment Ellis said this, his wife was on the eve of +making the announcement, in rather a peremptory and dogmatic way, +that if he didn't give her the money to buy new parlour carpets, for +which she had been asking as much as a year past, she would go and +order them, and have the bill sent in to him. All day this subject +had been in her mind, and she had argued herself into the belief +that her husband was perfectly able, not only to afford her new +carpets, but also new parlour furniture; and that his unwillingness +to do so arose from a penurious spirit. Such being her state of +mind, she was not prepared to see in the words, voice, and look of +her husband the real truth that it was so important for her to know. +From the beginning of their married life, she had been disposed to +spend freely, and he to restrain her. In consequence, there was a +kind of feud between them; and now she regarded his words as coming +from a desire on his part to make her believe that he was poorer, in +the matter of this world's goods, than was really the case. Her +reply, therefore, rather pettishly uttered, was-- + +"Oh! I've heard enough about your affairs. No doubt you are on the +verge of bankruptcy. A man who indulges his family to the extent +that you do must expect shipwreck with every coming gale." + +The change of countenance and exclamation with which this heartless +retort was made startled even Cara. Rising quickly to his feet, and +flinging upon his wife a look of reproach, Ellis left the room. A +moment or two afterwards, the street-door shut after him with a +heavy jar. + +It was past midnight when he came home, and then he was stupid from +drink. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + + + +HOW different was it with Wilkinson, when he returned to his wife on +the same evening, in a most gloomy, troubled, and desponding state +of mind! A review of his affairs had brought little, if any thing, +to encourage him. This dead loss of two thousand dollars was more, +he felt, than he could bear. Ere this came upon him, there was often +great difficulty in making his payments. How should he be able to +make them now, with such an extra weight to carry? The thought +completely disheartened him. + +"I, too, ought to retrench," said he, mentally, his thoughts +recurring to the interview which had taken place between him and +Ellis. "In fact, I don't see what else is to save me. But how can I +ask Mary to give up her present style of living? How can I ask her +to move into a smaller house? to relinquish one of her domestics, +and in other respects to deny herself, when the necessity for so +doing is wholly chargeable to my folly? It is no use; I can't do it. +Every change--every step downwards, would rebuke me. No--no. Upon +Mary must not rest the evil consequences of my insane conduct. Let +me, alone, suffer." + +But how, alone, was he to bear, without sinking beneath the weight, +the pressure that was upon him? + +With the usual glad smile and heart-warm kiss Wilkinson was greeted +on his return home. + +"God bless you, Mary!" said he, with much feeling, as he returned +his wife's salutation. + +Mrs. Wilkinson saw that her husband was inwardly moved to a degree +that was unusual. She did not remark thereon, but her manner was +gentle, and her tones lower and tenderer than usual, when she spoke +to him. But few words passed between them, until the bell rang for +tea. While sitting at the table, the voice of Ella was heard, +crying. + +"Agnes!" called Mrs. Wilkinson, going to the head of the stairs that +led down into the kitchen--"I wish you would go up to Ella, she is +awake." + +The girl answered that she would do as desired, and Mrs. Wilkinson +returned to her place at the table. + +"Where is Anna?" asked Mr. Wilkinson. + +Mrs. Wilkinson smiled cheerfully, as she replied, + +"Her month was up to-day, and I concluded to let her go." + +"What!" Wilkinson spoke in a quick surprised voice. + +"She was little more than a fifth wheel to our coach," was replied; +"and fifth wheels can easily be dispensed with." + +"But who is to take care of Ella? Who is to do the chamber work? Not +you!" + +"Don't be troubled about that, my good husband!" was answered with a +smile. "Leave all to me. I am the housekeeper." + +"You are not strong enough, Mary. You will injure your health." + +"My health is more likely to suffer from lack, than from excess of +effort. The truth is, I want more exercise than I have been in the +habit of taking." + +"But the confinement, Mary. Don't you see that the arrangement you +propose will tie you down to the house? Indeed, I can't think of +it." + +"I shall not be confined in-doors any more than I am now. Agnes will +take care of the baby whenever I wish to go out." + +"There is too much work in this house, Mary'" said Mr. Wilkinson, in +a decided way. "You cannot get along with but a single domestic." + +"There are only you, and Ella, and I!" Mrs. Wilkinson leaned towards +her husband, and looked earnestly into his face. There was an +expression on her countenance that was full of meaning; yet its +import he did not understand. + +"Only you, and Ella, and I?" said he. + +"Yes; only we three. Now, I have been wondering all day, John, +whether there was any real necessity for just we three having so +large a house to live in. I don't think there is. It is an expense +for nothing, and makes work for nothing." + +"How you talk, Mary!" + +"Don't I talk like a sensible woman?" said the young wife, smiling. + +"We can't go into a smaller house, dear." + +"And why not, pray?" + +"Our position in society"-- + +Mr. Wilkinson did not finish the sentence; for he knew that argument +would be lost on his wife. + +"We are not rich," said Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"No one knows that better than myself," replied the husband, with +more feeling than he meant to exhibit. + +"And, if the truth were known, are living at an expense beyond what +we can afford. Speak out plainly, dear, and say if this is not the +case." + +"I shouldn't just like to say that," returned Wilkinson; yet his +tone of voice belied his words. + +"It is just as I supposed," said Mrs. Wilkinson, growing more +serious. "Why have you not confided in me? Why have you not spoken +freely to me on this subject, John? Am I not your wife? And am I not +ready to bear all things and to suffer all things for your sake?" + +"You are too serious Mary,--too serious by far. I have not said that +there was any thing wrong in my circumstances. I have not said that +it was necessary to reduce our expenses." + +"No matter, dear. We are, by living in our present style, expending +several hundred dollars a year more than is necessary. This is +useless. Do you not say so yourself?" + +It is certainly useless to spend more than is necessary to secure +comfort." + +"And wrong to spend more than we can afford?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Then let us take a smaller house, John, by all means. I shall feel +so much better contented." + +It was some time before Wilkinson replied. When he did so, he spoke +with unusual emotion. + +"Ah, my dear wife!" said he, leaning towards her and grasping her +hand; "you know not how great a load you have taken from my heart. +The change you suggest is necessary; yet I never could have urged +it; never could have asked you to give up this for an humbler +dwelling. How much rather would I elevate you to a palace!" + +"My husband! Why, why have you concealed this from me? It was not +true kindness," said Mrs. Wilkinson, in a slightly chiding voice. +"It is my province to stand, sustainingly, by your side; not to hang +upon you, a dead weight." + +But we will not repeat all that was said. Enough that, ere the +evening, spent in earnest conversation, closed, all the +preliminaries of an early removal and reduction of expenses were +settled, and, when Wilkinson retired for the night, it was in a +hopeful spirit. Light had broken through a rift in the dark cloud +which had so suddenly loomed up; and he saw, clearly, the way of +escape from the evil that threatened to overwhelm him. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + + + + +TWELVE o'clock of the day on which Ellis was to return the two +hundred dollars borrowed of Wilkinson came, and yet he did not +appear at the store of the latter, who had several payments to make, +and depended on receiving the amount due from his friend. + +"Has Mr. Ellis been here?" asked Wilkinson of his clerk, coming in +about noon from a rather fruitless effort to obtain money. + +The clerk replied in the negative. + +"Nor sent over his check for two hundred dollars?" + +"No, sir." + +"Step down to his store, then, if you please, and say to him from me +that he mustn't forget the sum to be returned to-day, as I have two +notes yet in bank. Say also, that if he has any thing over, I shall +be glad to have the use of it." + +The clerk departed on his errand. In due time he returned, but with +no money in his possession. + +"Did you see Mr. Ellis?" asked Wilkinson. + +"No, sir," was replied. "He hasn't been at the store to-day." + +"Not to-day!" + +"No, sir." + +"What's the matter? Is he sick?" + +"His clerk didn't say." + +Taking up his hat, Wilkinson left his store hurriedly. In a few +minutes he entered that of his friend. + +"Where is Mr. Ellis?" he inquired. + +"I don't know, sir," was answered by the clerk. + +"Has he been here this morning?" + +"No, sir." + +"He must be sick. Have you sent to his house to make inquiry?" + +"Not yet. I have expected him all the morning." + +"He was here yesterday?" + +"Not until late in the afternoon." + +"Indeed! Did he complain of not being well?" + +"No, sir. But he didn't look very well." + +There was something in the manner of the clerk which Wilkinson did +not understand clearly at first. But all at once it flashed upon his +mind that Ellis might, in consequence of some trouble with his wife, +have suddenly abandoned himself to drink. With this thought came the +remembrance of what had passed between them two days before; and +this but confirmed his first impression. + +"If Mr. Ellis comes in," said he, after some moments of hurried +thought, "tell him that I would like to see him." + +The clerk promised to do so. + +"Hadn't you better send to his house?" suggested Wilkinson, as he +turned to leave the store. "He may be sick." + +"I will do so," replied the clerk, and Wilkinson retired, feeling by +no means comfortable. By this time it was nearly one o'clock, and +six or seven hundred dollars were yet required to make him safe for +that day's payments. The failure of Ellis to keep his promise laid +upon him an additional burden, and gradually caused a feeling of +despondency to creep in upon him. Instead of making a new and more +earnest effort to raise the money, he went back to his store, and +remained there for nearly half an hour, in a brooding, disheartened +state of mind. A glance at the clock, with the minute-hand +alarmingly near the figure 2, startled him at length from his +dreaming inactivity; and he went forth again to raise, if possible, +the money needed to keep his name from commercial dishonour. He was +successful; but there were only fifteen minutes in his favour when +the exact sum he needed was made up, and his notes taken out of +bank. + +Two o'clock was Mr. Wilkinson's dinner hour, and he had always, +before, so arranged his bank business as to have his notes taken up +long enough before that time to be ready to leave promptly for home. +But for the failure of Ellis to keep his promise, it would have been +so on this day. + +"It's hardly worth while to go home now," said he, as he closed his +cash and bill books, after making some required entries therein. +"Mary has given me over long ago. And, besides, I don't feel in the +mood of mind to see her just now. I can't look cheerful, to save me; +and I have already called too many shadows to her face to darken it +with any more. By evening I will recover myself, and then can meet +her with a brighter countenance. No, I won't go home now. I'll stop +around to Elder's, and get a cut of roast beef." + +Wilkinson had taken up his hat, and was moving down the store, when +a suggestion that came to his mind made him pause. It was this: + +"But is not Mary waiting for me, and will not my absence for the +whole day cause her intense anxiety and alarm? I ought to go home." + +And now began an argument in his thoughts. The fact was, a sense of +exhaustion of body and depression of spirits had followed the effort +and trouble of the day, and Wilkinson felt a much stronger desire +for something stimulating to drink than he did for food. Elder's was +a drinking as well as an eating-house; and in deciding to go there, +instead of returning home, the real influence, although he did not +perceive it to be so, was the craving felt for a glass of brandy. +And now came the conflict between appetite and an instinctive sense +of what was due both to himself and his wife. + +"It will only put her to trouble if I go home now." Thus he sought +to justify himself in doing what his better sense clearly condemned +as wrong. + +"It will rather relieve her from trouble," was quickly answered to +this. + +For a little while Wilkinson stood undecided, then slowly retired to +a remote part of the store, took off his hat, and sat down to debate +the point at issue in his mind more coolly. + +"I will go home early," said he to himself. + +"Why not go home now?" was instantly replied. + +"It is too late; Mary has given me up long ago." + +"She will be extremely anxious." + +"I can explain all." + +"Better do it now than two or three hours later: poor Mary has +suffered enough already." + +This last suggestion caused the image of his wife to come up before +the mind of Wilkinson very distinctly. He saw, now, her smile of +winning love; now, the sad drooping of her countenance, as he turned +to leave her alone for an evening; now, the glance of anxiety and +fear with which she so often greeted his return; and now, her pale, +grief-stricken face, after some one of his too many lapses from the +right way. And, in imagination, his thoughts went to his home in the +present moment. What did he see? A waiting, anxious, troubled wife, +now sitting with fixed and dreamy eyes; now moving about with +restless steps; and now standing at the street-door, eagerly +straining her eyes to see in the distance his approaching form. With +such images of his wife came no repulsive thought to the mind of +Wilkinson. Ever loving, tender, patient, forbearing, and +true-hearted had Mary been. Not once in the whole of their married +life had she jarred the chord that bound them together, with a touch +of discord. He could only think of her, therefore, with love, and a +feeling of attraction; and this it was that saved him in the present +hour. Starting up suddenly, he said, "I will go home: why have I +hesitated an instant? My poor Mary! Heaven knows you have already +suffered enough through my short-comings and wanderings from the way +of right and duty. I am walking a narrow path, with destruction on +either hand: if I get over safely, it will be through you as my +sustaining angel." + +A skilful limner, at least in this instance, was the imagination of +Wilkinson. Much as it had been pictured to his thoughts was the +scene at home. Poor Mary! with what trembling anxiety did she wait +and hope for her husband's coming, after the usual hour for his +return had passed. Now she sat motionless, gazing on some painful +image that was presented to her mind; now she moved about the room +from an unquietness of spirit that would not let her be still; and +now she bent her ear towards the street, and listened almost +breathlessly for the sound of her husband's footsteps. Thus the time +passed from two until three o'clock, the dinner yet unserved. + +"Oh, what can keep him away so long?" + +How many, many times was this spoken audibly! Now her heart beat +with a quick, panting motion, as the thought of some accident to her +husband flitted through the mind of Mrs. Wilkinson; now its +irregular motion subsided, and it lay almost still, with a heavy +pressure; for the fear lest he had again been tempted from the path +of sobriety came with its deep and oppressive shadow. + +And thus the lingering moments passed. Three o'clock came, and yet +Mr. Wilkinson was absent. + +"I can bear this suspense no longer," said the unhappy wife. +"Something has happened." + +And as she said this, she went quickly into her chamber to put into +execution some suddenly-formed resolution. Opening a wardrobe, she +took therefrom her bonnet and a shawl. But, ere she had thrown the +latter around her shoulders, she paused, with the words on her +lips-- + +"If business should have detained him at his store, how will my +appearance there affect him? I must think of that. I do not want him +to feel that I have lost confidence in him." + +While Mrs. Wilkinson stood, thus musing, her ear caught the sound of +her husband's key in the lock of the street-door. How quickly were +her bonnet and shawl returned to their places! How instant and eager +were her efforts to suppress all signs of anxiety at the prolonged +absence! + +"He must not see that I have been over-anxious," she murmured. + +The street-door closed; Mr. Wilkinson's well-known tread sounded +along the passage and up the stairway. With what an eager +discrimination was the ear of his wife bent towards him for a sign +that would indicate the condition in which he returned to her! How +breathless was her suspense! A few moments, and the door of her room +opened. + +"Why, John!" said she, with a pleasant smile, and a tone so well +disguised that it betrayed little of the sea of agitation +below--"what has kept you so late? I was really afraid something had +happened. Have you been sick; or did business detain you?" + +"It was business, dear," replied Mr. Wilkinson, as he took the hand +which Mary placed within his. The low, nervous tremour of that hand +he instantly perceived, and as instantly comprehended its meaning. +She had been deeply anxious, but was now seeking to conceal this +from him. He understood it all, and was touched by the fact. + +"I ought to have sent you word," said he, as he kissed her with more +than usual tenderness of manner. "It was wrong in me. But I've been +very hard put to it to take up my notes, and didn't succeed until +near the closing of bank hours. I loaned Ellis some money, which he +was to return to me to-day; but his failing to do so put me to a +good deal of inconvenience." + +"Oh, I'm sorry," was the sympathizing response. "But how came Mr. +Ellis to disappoint you?" + +"I don't exactly know. He hasn't been at his store to-day." + +"Is he sick?" + +"Worse, I'm afraid." + +"How, worse?" + +"His habits have not been very good of late." + +"Oh! how sad! His poor wife!" + +This was an almost involuntary utterance on the part of Mrs. +Wilkinson. + +"Her poor husband, rather say," was the reply. "The fact is, if +Ellis goes to ruin, it will be his wife's fault. She has no sympathy +with him, no affectionate consideration for him. A thoroughly +selfish woman, she merely regards the gratification of her own +desires, and is ever making home repulsive, instead of attractive." + +"You must be mistaken." + +"No. Ellis often complains to me of her conduct." + +"Why, John! I can scarcely credit such a thing." + +"Doubtless it is hard for _you_ to imagine any woman guilty of such +unwifelike conduct. Yet such is the case. Many a night has Ellis +spent at a tavern, which, but for Cara's unamiable temper, would +have been spent at home." + +"Ah! she will have her reward," sighed Mrs. Wilkinson. + +"And you yours," was the involuntary but silent ejaculation of +Wilkinson. + +Ere further remark was made, the dinner-bell rang, and Mr. Wilkinson +and his wife repaired to the dining-room. + +It was not possible for the former to endure the pressure that was +on his feelings without letting the fact of its existence betray +itself in his countenance; and Mary, whose eyes were scarcely a +moment from her husband's face, soon saw that his mind was ill at +ease. + +"How much did Mr. Ellis borrow of you?" she asked, soon after they +had taken their places at the table. + +"Two hundred dollars," was replied. + +"No more?" The mind of Mrs. Wilkinson was evidently relieved, at +knowing the smallness of the sum. + +"True, it isn't much," said Wilkinson. "But even a small sum is of +great importance when we have a good deal to pay, and just lack that +amount, after gathering in all our available resources. And that was +just my position to-day." Why didn't you call on me?" Mary smiled, +with evident meaning as she said this. + +"On you!" Wilkinson looked at her with a slight air of surprise. + +"Yes, on me. I think I could have made you up that sum." + +"You!" + +A bright gleam went over the face of Mrs. Wilkinson, as she saw the +surprise of her husband. + +"Yes, me. Why not? You have always been liberal in your supplies of +money, and it is by no means wonderful that I should have saved a +little. The fact is, John, I've never spent my entire income; I +always made it a point of conscience to keep as far below it as +possible." + +"Mary!" Beyond this simple ejaculation, Wilkinson could not go, but +sat, with his eyes fixed wonderingly on the face of his wife. + +"It is true, dear," she answered, in her loving gentle way. "I +haven't counted up lately; but, if I do not err, I have twice the +sum you needed to-day; and, what is more, the whole is at your +service. So don't let this matter of Ellis's failure to return you +the sum borrowed, trouble you in the least. If it never comes back +to you, the loss will be made up in another quarter." + +It was some moments before Wilkinson could make any answer. At last, +dropping the knife and fork which he held in his hands, he started +from his place, and coming round to where his wife sat, drew his +arms around her, and as he pressed his lips to hers, said with an +unsteady voice-- + +"God bless you, Mary! You are an angel!" + +Had she not her reward in that happy moment? Who will say nay? + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + + + + +ON the morning that followed the fruitless attempt of Henry Ellis to +make his wife comprehend the necessity that existed for an immediate +reduction in their household expenditures, he did not get up until +nearly ten o'clock. For at least an hour before rising, he was +awake, suffering in both body and mind; for the night's debauch had +left him, as was usually the case, with a most violent headache. +During all the time he heard, at intervals, the voice of Cara in the +adjoining, talking to or scolding at the children; but not once +during the time did she come into the chamber where he lay. He felt +it as a total want of interest or affection on her part. He had done +wrong; he felt that; yet, at the same time, he also felt that Cara +had her share of the blame to bear. If she had only manifested some +feeling for him, some interest in him, he would have been softened; +but, as she did not, by keeping entirely away, show that she thought +or cared for him, the pure waters of right feeling, that were +gushing up in his mind, were touched with the gall of bitterness. + +Rising at length, Ellis began dressing himself, purposely making +sufficient noise to reach the ears of his wife. But she did not make +her appearance. + +Two doors led from the chamber in which he was. One communicated +with the adjoining room, used as a nursery, and the other with the +passage. After Ellis had dressed and shaved himself, he was, for a +short time, undecided whether to enter the nursery, in which were +his wife and children, or to pass through the other door, and leave +the house without seeing them. + +"I shall only get my feelings hurt," said he, as he stood debating +the point. "It's a poor compensation for trouble and the lack of +domestic harmony, to get drunk, I know; and I ought to be, and am, +ashamed of my own folly. Oh dear! what is to become of me? Why will +not Cara see the evil consequences of the way she acts upon her +husband? If I go to destruction, and the chances are against me, the +sin will mainly rest upon her. Yet why should I say this? Am I not +man enough to keep sober? Yes"--thus he went on talking to +himself--"but if she will not act in some sort of unity with me, I +shall be ruined in my business. It will never do to maintain our +present expensive mode of living; and she will never hear to a +change." + +Just at this moment an angry exclamation from the lips of Mrs. Ellis +came sharply on the ears of her husband, followed by the whipping +and crying of one of the children, who had, as far as Ellis could +gather, from what was said, overset his mother's work-basket. + +"No use for me to go in there," muttered the unhappy man. "I shall +only increase the storm; and I've had storms enough!" + +So he went from the chamber by way of the passage, descended to the +entry below, and, taking up his hat, left the house. + +Now, of all things in the world, in the peculiar state of body and +mind in which Ellis then was, did he want a good strong cup of +coffee at his own table, and a kind, forbearing, loving wife to set +it before him. These would have given to his body and to his mind +just what both needed, for the trials and temptations of the day; +and they would have saved him, at least for the day, perhaps for +life; for the pivot upon which the whole of a man's future destiny +turns is often small, and scarcely noticed. + +As Ellis stepped from his door, and received the fresh air upon his +face and in his lungs, he was instantly conscious of a want in his +system, and a craving for something to supply that want. Having +taken no breakfast, the feeling was not to be wondered at. Ellis +understood its meaning, in part, and took the nearest way to an +eating-house where he ordered something to eat. For him, it was the +most natural thing in the world, under the circumstances, to call +for something at the bar while his breakfast was preparing. He felt +better after taking a glass of brandy. + +Ellis had finished his breakfast, and was standing at the bar with a +second glass of liquor in his hand, when he was accosted in a +familiar manner by the same individual who had lured Wilkinson to +the gaming-table. + +"Ah, my boy! how are you?" said Carlton, grasping the hand of Ellis +and shaking it heartily. + +"Glad to see you, 'pon my word! Where do you keep yourself?" + +"You'll generally find me at my store during business hours," +replied Ellis. + +"What do you call business hours?" was asked by Carlton. + +"From eight or nine in the morning until six or seven in the +evening." + +"Yes--yes--yes! With you as with every other 'business' man I know. +Business every thing--living nothing. You'll get rich, I suppose; +but, by the time your sixty or a hundred thousand dollars are safely +invested in real estate or good securities, health will have +departed, never to return." + +"Not so bad as that, I presume," returned Ellis. + +"How can it be otherwise? The human body is not made of iron and +steel; and, if it were, it would never stand the usage it receives +from some men, you among the number. For what are the pure air and +bright sunshine made? To be enjoyed only by the birds and beasts? +Man is surely entitled to his share; and if he neglects to take it, +he does so to his own injury. You don't look well. In fact, I never +saw you look worse; and I noticed, when I took your hand, that it +was hot. Now, my good fellow! this is little better than suicide on +your part; and if I do not mistake, you are too good a Christian to +be guilty of self-murder. Why don't you ride out and take the air? +You ought to do this daily." + +"Too expensive a pleasure for me," said Ellis. "In the first place, +with me time is money, and, in the second place, I have no golden +mint-drops to exchange for fast horses." + +"I have a fine animal at your service," replied the tempter. "Happy +to let you use him at any time." + +"Much obliged for the offer; and when I can run away from business +for a few hours, will avail myself of it." + +"What do you say to a ride this morning? I'm going a few miles over +into Jersey, and should like your company above all things." + +"I hardly think I can leave the store to-day," replied Ellis. "Let +me see: have I any thing in the way of a note to take up? I believe +not." + +"You say yes, then?" + +"I don't know about that. It doesn't just seem right." + +"Nonsense! It is wonderful how this business atmosphere does affect +a man's perceptions! He can see nothing but the dollar. Every thing +is brought down to a money valuation." + +We will not trace the argument further. Enough that the tempter was +successful, and that Ellis, instead of going to his store, rode out +with Carlton. + +He was not, of course, home at his usual dinner-hour. It was between +three and four o'clock when he appeared at his place of business, +the worse for his absence, in almost every sense of the word. He had +been drinking, until he was half stupid, and was a loser at the +gaming-table of nearly six hundred dollars. A feeble effort was made +by him to go into an examination of the business of the day; but he +found it impossible to fix his mind thereon, and so gave up the +attempt. He remained at his store until ready to close up for the +day, and then turned his steps homeward. + +By this time he was a good deal sobered, and sadder for his +sobriety; for, as his mind became clearer, he remembered, with more +vividness, the events of the day, and particularly the fact of +having lost several hundred dollars to his pretended friend, +Carlton. + +"Whither am I going? Where is this to end?" was his shuddering +ejaculation, as the imminent peril of his position most vividly +presented itself. + +How hopelessly he wended his reluctant way homeward! There was +nothing to lean upon there. No strength of ever-enduring love, to +be, as it were, a second self to him in his weakness. No +outstretched arm to drag him, with something of super-human power, +out of the miry pit into which he had fallen; but, instead, an +indignant hand to thrust him farther in. + +"God help me!" he sighed, in the very bitterness of a hopeless +spirit; "for there is no aid in man." + +Ah! if, in his weakness, he had only leaned, in true dependence, on +Him he thus asked to help him; if he had but resisted the motions of +evil in himself, as sins against his Maker, and resisted them in a +determined spirit, he need not have fallen; strength would, +assuredly, have been given. + +The nearer Ellis drew to his home, the more unhappy he felt at the +thought of meeting his wife. After having left the house without +seeing her in the morning, and then remaining from home all day, he +had no hope of a kind reception. + +"It's no use!" he muttered to himself, stopping suddenly, when +within a square of his house. "I can't meet Cara; she will look +coldly at me, or frown, or speak cutting words; and I'm in no state +of mind to bear any thing patiently just now. I've done wrong, I +know--very wrong; but I don't want it thrown into my face. Oh, dear! +I am beset within and without, behind and before and there is little +hope for me." + +Overcoming this state of indecision, Ellis forced himself to go +home. On entering the presence of his wife, he made a strong effort +to compose himself, and, when he met Cara, he spoke to her in a +cheerful tone of voice. How great an effort it cost him to do this, +considering all the circumstances by which he was surrounded, the +reader may easily imagine. And what was his reception? + +"Found your way home at last!" + +These were the words with which Cara received her husband; and they +were spoken in a sharp, deriding tone of voice. The day's doubt, +suspense, and suffering, had not quieted the evil spirit in her +heart. She was angry with her husband, and could not restrain its +expression. + +A bitter retort trembled on the tongue of Ellis; but he checked its +utterance, and, turning from his wife, took one of his children in +his arms. The sphere of innocence that surrounded the spirit of that +child penetrated his heart, and touched his feelings with an emotion +of tenderness. + +"Oh, wretched man that I am!" he sighed, in the bitterness of a +repentant and self-upbraiding spirit. "So much dependent on me, and +yet as weak as a reed swaying in the wind." + +How much that weak, tempted, suffering man, just trembling on the +brink of destruction, needed a true-hearted, forbearing, +long-suffering wife! Such a one might--yes, would--have saved him. +By the strong cords of love she would have held him to her side. + +Several times Ellis tried to interest Cara in conversation; but to +every remark she replied only in monosyllables. In fact she was +angry with him, and, not feeling kindly, she would not speak kindly. +All day she had suffered deeply on his account. A thousand fears had +harassed her mind. She had even repented of her unkindness towards +him, and resolved to be more forbearing in the future. For more than +an hour she kept the table waiting at dinner time, and was so +troubled at his absence, that she felt no inclination to touch food. + +"I'm afraid I am not patient enough with him," she sighed, as better +feelings warmed in her heart. "I was always a little irritable. But +I will try to do better. If he were not so close about money, I +could be more patient." + +While such thoughts were passing through the mind of Mrs. Ellis, a +particular friend, named Mrs. Claxton, called to see her. + +"Why, bless me, Cara! what's the matter?" exclaimed this lady, as +she took the hand of Mrs. Ellis. "You look dreadful. Haven't been +sick, I hope?" + +"No, not sick in body," was replied. + +"Sick in mind. The worst kind of sickness. No serious trouble, I +hope?" + +There was a free, off-hand, yet insinuating manner about Mrs. +Claxton, that, while it won the confidence of a certain class of +minds, repulsed others. Mrs. Ellis, who had no great skill in +reading character, belonged to the former class; and Mrs. Claxton +was, therefore as just said, a particular friend, and in a certain +sense a confidante. + +"The old trouble," replied Mrs. Ellis to the closing question of her +friend. + +"With your husband?" + +"Yes. He pinches me in money matters so closely, and grumbles so +eternally at what he calls my extravagance, that I'm out of all +patience. Last evening, just as I was about telling him that he must +give me new parlour carpets, he, divining, I verily believe, my +thoughts, cut off every thing, by saying, in a voice as solemn as +the grave--'Cara, I would like to have a little plain talk with you +about my affairs.' I flared right up. I couldn't have helped it, if +I'd died for it the next minute." + +"Well; what then?" + +"Oh! the old story. Of course he got angry, and went off like a +streak of lightning. I cried half the evening, and then went to bed. +I don't know how late it was when he came home. This morning, when I +got up, he was sleeping as heavy as a log. It was near ten o'clock +when I heard him moving about in our chamber, but I did not go in. +He had got himself into a huff, and I was determined to let him get +himself out of it. Just as I supposed he would come into the +nursery, where I was sitting with the children, awaiting his +lordship's pleasure to appear for breakfast, he opens the door into +the passage, and walks himself off." + +"Without his breakfast?" + +"Yes, indeed. And I've seen nothing of him since." + +"That's bad," said the friend. "A little tiff now and then is all +well enough in its place. But this is too serious." + +"So I feel it. Yet what am I to do?" + +"You will have to manage better than this." + +"Manage?" + +"Yes. I never have scenes of this kind with my husband." + +"He's not so close with you as Henry is with me. He isn't so mean, +if I must speak plainly, in money matters." + +"Well, I don't know about that. He isn't perfect by many degrees. +One of his faults, from the beginning, has been a disposition to +dole out my allowance of money with a very sparing hand. I bore this +for some years, but it fretted me; and was the source of occasional +misunderstandings that were very unpleasant." + +Mrs. Claxton paused. + +"Well; what remedy did you apply?" asked Mrs. Ellis. + +"A very simple one. I took what he was pleased to give me, and if it +didn't hold out, I bought what I needed, and had the bills sent in +to the store." + +"Capital!" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "Just what I have been thinking of. +And it worked well?" + +"To a charm." + +"What did Mr. Claxton say when the bills came in?" + +"He looked grave, and said I would ruin him; but, of course, paid +them." + +"Is that the way you got your new carpets?" + +"Yes." + +"And your new blinds?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I declare! But doesn't Mr. Claxton diminish your allowances +of money?" + +"Yes, but his credit is as good as his money. I never pay for dry +goods, shoes, or groceries. The bills are all sent in to him." + +"And he never grumbles?" + +"I can't just say that. It isn't a week since he assured me, with +the most solemn face in the world, that if I didn't manage to keep +the family on less than I did, he would certainly be ruined in his +business." + +"The old story." + +"Yes. I've heard it so often, that it goes in at one ear and out at +the other." + +"So have I. But I like your plan amazingly, and mean to adopt it. In +fact, something of the kind was running through my head yesterday." + +"Do so; and you will save yourself a world of petty troubles. I find +that it works just right." + +This advice of her friend Mrs. Ellis pondered all the afternoon, +and, after viewing the matter on all sides, deliberately concluded +to act in like manner. Yet, for all this, she could not conquer a +certain angry feeling that rankled towards her husband, and, in +spite of sundry half formed resolutions to meet him, when he +returned, in a kind manner, her reception of him was such as the +reader has seen. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + + + + +THE turning-point with Ellis had nearly come. It required, +comparatively, little beyond the weight of a feather to give +preponderance to the scale of evil influences. Cara's reception, as +shown in the last chapter, was no worse than he had anticipated, yet +it hurt him none the less; for unkind words from her were always +felt as blows, and coldness as the pressure upon his heart of an icy +hand. In the love of his children, who were very fond of him, he +sought a kind of refuge. Henry, his oldest child, was a bright, +intelligent boy between eight and nine years of age; and Kate, +between six and seven, was a sweet-tempered, affectionate little +girl, who scarcely ever left her father's side when he was in the +house. + +At the tea-table, only the children's voices were heard: they seemed +not to perceive the coldness that separated their parents. After +supper, Mr. Ellis went up into the nursery with Henry and Kate, and +was chatting pleasantly with them, when their mother, who had +remained behind to give some directions to a servant, came into the +room. + +"Come!" said she, in rather a sharp voice, as she entered, "it is +time you were in bed." + +"Papa is telling us a story," returned Kate, in a pleading tone: +"just let us wait until he is done." + +"I've got no time to wait for stories. Come!" said the mother, +imperatively. + +"Papa will soon be done," spoke up Henry. + +"It's early yet, mother," said Ellis; "let them sit up a little +while. I'm away all day, and don't see much of them." + +"I want them to go to bed now," was the emphatic answer. "It's their +bed-time, and I wish them out of the way, so that I can go to work. +If you'd had their noise and confusion about you all day, as I have, +you'd be glad to see them in their beds." + +"You'll have to go," said Mr. Ellis, in a tone of disappointment +that he could not conceal. "But get up early to-morrow morning, and +I will tell you the rest of the story. Don't cry, dear!" And Mr. +Ellis kissed tenderly his little girl, in whose eyes the tears were +already starting. + +Slowly, and with sad faces, the children turned to obey their +mother, who, not for a moment relenting, spoke to them sharply for +their lack of prompt obedience. They went crying up-stairs, and she +scolding. + +The moment the door of the nursery closed upon the retiring forms of +the children, Mr. Ellis started to his feet with an impatient +exclamation, and commenced pacing the room with rapid steps. + +"Temptations without and storms within," said he, bitterly. "Oh, +that I had the refuge of a quiet home, and the sustaining heart and +wise counsels of a loving wife!" + +By the time Mrs. Ellis had undressed the children and got them +snugly in bed, her excited feelings were, in a measure, calmed; and +from calmer feelings flowed the natural result--clearer thoughts. +Then came the conviction of having done wrong, and regret for a +hasty and unkind act. + +"He sees but little of them, it is true," she murmured, "and I might +have let them remain up a little while longer, I'm too thoughtless, +sometimes; but I get so tired of their noise and confusion, which is +kept up all day long." + +And then she sighed. + +Slowly, and with gentler feelings, Mrs. Ellis went down-stairs. +Better thoughts were in her mind, and she was inwardly resolving to +act towards her husband in a different spirit from that just +manifested. On entering the nursery, where she had left him, she was +not a little disappointed to find that he was not there. + +"It isn't possible that he has gone out!" was her instant mental +ejaculation; and she passed quickly into the adjoining chamber to +see if he were there. It was empty. + +For some time Mrs. Ellis stood in deep abstraction of mind; then, as +a sigh heaved her bosom, she moved from the chamber and went +down-stairs. A glance at the hat-stand confirmed her fears; her +husband had left the house. + +"Ah, me!" she sighed. "It is hard to know how to get along with him. +If every thing isn't just to suit his fancy, off he goes. I might +humour him more than I do, but it isn't in me to humour any one. And +for a man to want to be humoured! Oh, dear! oh, dear! this is a +wretched way to live; it will kill me in the end. These men expect +their own way in every thing, and if they don't get it, then there +is trouble. I'm not fit to be Henry's wife. He ought to have married +a woman with less independence of spirit; one who would have been +the mere creature of his whims and fancies." + +Mrs. Ellis, with a troubled heart, went up to the room where so many +of her lonely evening hours were spent. Taking her work-basket, she +tried to sew; but her thoughts troubled her so, that she finally +sought refuge therefrom in the pages of an exciting romance. + +The realizing power of imagination in Ellis was very strong. While +he paced the floor after his wife and children had left the room, +there came to him such a vivid picture of the coldness and reserve +that must mark the hours of that evening, if they were passed with +Cara, that he turned from it with a sickening sense of pain. Under +the impulse of that feeling he left the house, but with no purpose +as to where he was going. + +For as long, perhaps, as half an hour, Ellis walked the street, his +mind, during most of the time, pondering the events of the day. His +absence from business was so much lost, and would throw double +burdens on the morrow, for, besides the sum of two hundred dollars +to be returned to Wilkinson, he had a hundred to make up for another +friend who had accommodated him. But where was the money to come +from? In the matter of borrowing, Ellis had never done much, and his +resources in that line were small. His losses at the gaming-table +added so much to the weight of discouragement under which he +suffered! + +"You play well." Frequently had the artful tempter, Carlton, lured +his victim on by this and other similar expressions, during the time +he had him in his power; and thus flattered, Ellis continued at +cards until repeated losses had so far sobered him as to give +sufficient mental resolution to enable him to stop. + +Now, these expressions returned to his mind, and their effect upon +him was manifested in the thought,-- + +"If I hadn't been drinking, he would have found in me a different +antagonist altogether." + +It was an easy transition from this state of mind to another. It was +almost natural for the wish to try his luck again at cards to be +formed; particularly as he was in great need of money, and saw no +legitimate means of getting the needed supply. + +The frequency with which Ellis had spent his evenings abroad made +him acquainted with many phases of city life hidden from ordinary +observers. Idle curiosity had more than once led him to visit +certain gambling-houses on a mere tour of observation; and, during +these visits, he had each time been tempted to try a game or two, in +which cases little had been lost or won. The motive for winning did +not then exist in tempting strength; and, besides, Ellis was +naturally a cautious man. Now, however, the motive did exist. + +"Yes, I do play well," said he, mentally answering the remembered +compliment of Carlton, "and but for your stealing away my brains +with liquor, you would have found me a different kind of +antagonist." + +Ellis had fifty dollars in his pocket. This sum was the amount of +the day's sales of goods in his store. Instead of leaving the money +in his fire-closet, he had taken it with him, a sort of dim idea +being in his mind that, possibly, it might be wanted for some such +purpose as now contemplated. So he was all prepared for a trial of +his skill; and the trial was made. To one of the haunts of iniquity +before visited in mere reprehensible curiosity, he now repaired with +the deliberate purpose of winning money to make up for losses +already sustained, and to provide for the next day's payments. He +went in with fifty dollars in his pocket-book; at twelve o'clock he +left the place perfectly sober, and the winner of three hundred +dollars. Though often urged to drink, he had, knowing his weakness, +firmly declined in every instance. + +Cara, he found, as usual on returning home late at night, asleep. He +sought his pillow without disturbing her, and lay for a long time +with his thoughts busy among golden fancies. In a few hours he had +won three hundred dollars, and that from a player of no common +skill. + +"Yes, yes, Carlton said true. I play well." Over and over did Ellis +repeat this, as he lay with his mind too much excited for sleep. + +Wearied nature yielded at last. His dreams repeated the incidents of +the evening, and reconstructed them into new and varied forms. When +he awoke, at day-dawn, from his restless slumber, it took but a +short time for his thoughts to arrange themselves into a purpose, +and that purpose was to seek out Carlton as the first business of +the day, and win back the evidence of debt that he had against him. + +The meeting of Ellis and his wife at the breakfast-table had less of +coldness and reserve in it than their meeting at tea-time. No +reference was made to the previous evening, nor to the fact of his +having remained out to a late hour. + +It was the intention of Ellis, on leaving his house after breakfast, +to repair to his store and make some preliminary arrangements for +the day before hunting up Carlton; but on his way thither, his +appetite constrained him to enter a certain drinking-house just for +a single glass of brandy to give his nerves their proper tension. + +"Ah! how are you, my boy?" exclaimed Carlton, who was there before +him, advancing as he spoke, and offering his hand in his usual frank +way. + +"Glad to meet you!" returned Ellis. "Just the man I wished to see. +Take a drink?" + +"I don't care if I do." + +And the two men moved up to the bar. When they turned away, Carlton +drew his arm familiarly within that of Ellis, and bending close to +his ear, said--"You wish to take up your due-bills, I presume? + +"You guess my wishes precisely," was the answer. + +"Well, I shall be pleased to have you cancel them. Are you prepared +to do it this morning?" + +"I am--in the way they were created." + +A gleam of satisfaction lit up the gambler's face, which was partly +turned from Ellis; but he shrugged his shoulders, and said, in an +altered voice--"I'm most afraid to try you again." + +"We're pretty well matched, I know," said the victim. "If you +decline, of course the matter ends." + +"I never like to be bantered," returned Carlton. "If a man were to +dare me to jump from the housetop, it would be as much as I could do +to restrain myself." + +"I've got three hundred in my pocket," said Ellis, "and I'm prepared +to see the last dollar of it." + +"Good stuff in you, my boy!" and Carlton laid his hand upon his +shoulder in a familiar way. "It would hardly be fair not to give you +a chance to get back where you were. So here's for you, win or lose, +sink or swim." + +And the two men left the tavern together. We need not follow them, +nor describe the contest that ensued. The result has already been +anticipated by the reader. A few hours sufficed to strip Ellis of +his three hundred dollars, and increase his debts to the gambler +nearly double the former amount. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + + + +MRS. ELLIS knew, by the appearance of her husband, that he had not +been drinking on the night previous, late as he had remained away. +This took a weight from her feelings, and relieved her mind from +self-upbraidings that would have haunted her all the day. After +breakfast her mind began to ponder what Mrs. Claxton had said on the +day previous, and the more she thought of her advice and example, +the more she felt inclined to adopt a similar course of action. On +new Brussels carpets she had, long ago, set her heart, and already +worried her husband about them past endurance. To obtain his consent +to the purchase, she felt to be hopeless. + +"I must get them in this way, or not at all. So much is clear." Thus +she communed with herself. "He's able enough to pay the bill; if I +had any doubts of that, the matter would be settled; but I have +none." + +With the prospect of getting the long coveted carpets, came an +increased desire for their possession. + +In imagination Mrs. Ellis saw them already on the floor. For some +hours there was a struggle in her mind. Then the tempter triumphed. +She dressed herself, and went out for the purpose of making a +selection. From this moment she did not hesitate. Calling at a +well-known carpet warehouse, she made her selection, and directed +the bill, after the carpet was made and put down, to be sent in to +her husband. The price of the carpet she chose was two dollars and a +quarter a yard; and the whole bill, including that of the +upholsterer, would reach a hundred and sixty dollars. + +When Mrs. Ellis returned home, after having consummated her purpose, +the thought of her beautiful carpet gave her far less pleasure than +she had anticipated. In every wrong act lies its own punishment. +Uneasiness of mind follows as a sure consequence. From the idea of +her beautiful parlours, her mind would constantly turn to her +husband. + +"What _will_ he say?" + +Ah! if she could only have answered that question satisfactorily! + +"I will be so good, I will disarm him with kindness. I will humour +him in every thing. I will not give him a chance to be angry." + +For a while this idea pleased the mind of Mrs. Ellis. But it only +brought a temporary respite to the uneasiness produced by her wrong +act. + +"I'll tell him just what I have done," said she to herself, as the +dinner hour approached, and Cara began to look for her husband's +return. "He might as well know it now, as in a week; and, besides, +it will give him time to prepare for the bill. Yes, that is what I +will do." + +Still, her mind felt troubled. The act was done, and no way of +retreat remained open. The consequences must be met. + +The hour for Mr. Ellis to return home at length arrived, and his +wife waited his coming with a feeling of troubled suspense such as +she had rarely, if ever, before experienced. Smiles, ready to be +forced to her countenance, were wreathing themselves in her +imagination. She meant to be "_so_ good," so loving, so considerate. +A particular dish of which he was so fond had been ordered,--it was +a month since it had graced their table. + +But time moved on. It was thirty minutes past the dinner hour, and +he was still away. At last Mrs. Ellis gave him up. A full hour had +elapsed, and there was little probability of his return before the +close of business for the day. So she sat down with her children to +eat the meal which long delay had spoiled, and for which she had now +but little appetite. + +Wearily passed the afternoon, and, as the usual time for Ellis's +appearance drew near, his wife began to look for his coming with +feelings of unusual concern. Not concern for him, but for herself. +She had pretty well made up her mind to inform him of what she had +done, but shrank from the scene which she had every reason to +believe would follow. + +The twilight had just begun to fall, and Mrs. Ellis, with her babe +in her arms, was sitting in one of the parlours, waiting for and +thinking of her husband, when she heard his key in the door. He came +in, and moving along the entry with a quicker step than usual, went +up-stairs. Supposing that, not finding her above, he would come down +to the parlours, Mrs. Ellis waited nearly five minutes. Then she +followed him up-stairs. Not finding him in the nursery, she passed +into their chamber. Here she found him, lying across the bed, on +which he had, evidently, thrown himself under some strong +excitement, or abandonment, of feeling, for his head was not upon a +pillow, and he lay perfectly motionless, as if unconscious of her +presence. + +"Henry!" She called his name, but he made no answer, nor gave even a +sign. + +"Henry! Are you sick?" + +There was a slight movement of his body, but no reply. + +"Henry! Henry!" Mrs. Ellis spoke in tones of anxiety, as she laid +her hand upon him. "Speak! What is the matter? Are you sick?" + +A long deep sigh was the only answer. + +"Why don't you speak, Henry?" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis. "You frighten me +dreadfully." + +"Don't trouble me just now, if you please," said the wretched man, +in a low, half-whispering voice. + +"But what ails you, Henry? Are you sick?" + +"Yes." + +"How? Where? What can I do for you?" + +"Nothing!" was faintly murmured. + +By this time, Cara began to feel really alarmed. Leaving the room +hurriedly, she gave the babe she held in her arms to one of her +domestics, and then returned. Bending, now, over her husband, she +took one of his hands, and clasping it tightly, said, in a voice of +earnest affection that went to the heart of Ellis with electric +quickness-- + +"Do, Henry, say what ails you! Can't I get something for you?" + +"I'll feel better in a little while," whispered Ellis. + +"Let me send for the doctor." + +"Oh, no! no! I'm not so sick as that," was answered. "I only feel a +little faint, not having taken any dinner." + +"Why did you go without a meal? It is not right to do so. I waited +for you so long, and was so disappointed that you did not come." + +There was more of tenderness and wife-like interest in Cara's words +and manner than had been manifested for a long time, and the +feelings of Ellis were touched thereby. Partly raising himself on +his elbow, he replied-- + +"I know it isn't right; but I was so much engaged!" + +The twilight pervading the room was too feeble to give Mrs. Ellis a +distinct view of her husband's countenance. Its true expression, +therefore, was veiled. + +"You feel better now, do you?" she inquired tenderly. + +"Yes, dear," he answered, slightly pressing the hand she had laid in +his. + +"I will order tea on the table immediately." + +And Mrs. Ellis left the room. When she returned, he had risen from +the bed, and was sitting in a large chair near one of the windows. + +"Are you better, dear?" tenderly inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"Yes, a good deal better," was answered. And the words were truly +spoken; for this unlooked-for, kind, even tender reception, had +wrought an almost instantaneous change. He had come home with a +feeling of despair tugging at his heart. Nothing appeared before him +but ruin. Now the light of hope, feeble though were the rays, came +glimmering across the darkness of his spirit. + +"I am glad to hear it!" was the warm response of Cara. "Oh! it is so +wrong for you to neglect your meals. You confine yourself too +closely to business. I wanted you to come home to-day particularly, +for I had prepared for you, just in the way you like it, such a nice +dish of maccaroni." + +"It was very thoughtful in you, dear. I wish I had been at home to +enjoy it with you." + +Tea being announced, Mrs. Ellis arose and said: + +"Come; supper is on the table. You must break your long fast." + +"First let me wash my hands and face," returned Ellis, who wished to +gain time, as well as use all the means, to restore his countenance +to a better expression than it wore, ere meeting Cara under the +glare of strong lamp light. + +A basin was filled for him by his wife, and, after washing his hands +and face, he left the chamber with her, and went to the dining-room. +Here Cara got a distinct view of her husband's countenance. Many +lines of the passion and suffering written there during that, to +him, ever-to-be-remembered day, were still visible, and, as Cara +read them without comprehending their import, a vague fear came +hovering over her heart. Instantly her thoughts turned to what she +had been doing, and most sincerely did she repent of the act. + +"I will confess it to him, this very night," such was her mental +resolution,--"and promise, hereafter never to do aught against his +wishes." + +Notwithstanding Ellis had taken no dinner, he had little appetite +for his evening meal; and the concern of his wife was increased on +observing that he merely tasted his food and sipped his tea. + +The more than ordinary trouble evinced, as well in the whole manner +of Ellis as in the expression of his face and in the tones of his +voice, oppressed the heart of Cara. She felt that something more +than usual must have occurred to disturb him. Could it be possible +that any thing was wrong in his business? The thought caused a low +thrill to tremble along her nerves. He had frequently spoken of his +affairs as not very prosperous; was always, in fact, making a "sort +of a poor mouth." But all this she had understood as meant for +effect--as a cover for his opposition to her wish to spend. What if +it were all as he had represented? + +Such thoughts could not but sober the mind of Mrs. Ellis, and caused +her manner towards her husband to assume an air of tenderness and +concern to which it had too long been a stranger. How quickly was +this felt by Ellis! How gratefully did his heart respond to his +wife's gentler touches on its tensely strung chords! + +That evening Henry Ellis spent at home. Not much conversation passed +between him and his wife; for the mind of each was too heavily +burdened with thoughts of its own to leave room for an interchange +of ideas. But the manner of Cara towards her husband was subdued, +and even tender; and he felt it as the grateful earth feels the +strength-giving impression of the gentle rain. Leaving the past, to +the future both their thoughts turned; and both strengthened +themselves in good resolutions. + +Cara resolved to be a better wife--to be more considerate and more +yielding towards her husband. And Ellis resolved to abandon, at +every sacrifice the vicious habits he had indulged,--habits which, +within a day or two, had led him aside from the path of safety, and +conducted him to the brink of a precipice, from which he now started +back with a thrilling sense of fear. + +More than twenty times during that evening was Cara on the eve of +telling her husband about the carpet. But she shrank from the +confession. + +"In the morning I will do it," was her final conclusion; thus +putting off the evil hour. But morning found her no better prepared +for the task. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + + + + +ALL through the night, the mind of Ellis was haunted with troubled +dreams; but, on waking, he felt calm, and good purposes were in his +heart. The manner of Cara still being tender and considerate, he +went forth feeling the strength of her love, and resolving, for her +sake, and the sake of his children, to free himself from his present +entanglements, cost what it would. + +Seven hundred dollars was the sum he had lost at the gaming-table +and for over five hundred of this, Carlton held his obligations, +payable on demand. Besides this, he owed on account of temporary +loans, from business friends, about an equal amount. Moreover, on +that day, a note of three hundred dollars fell due; and in the +coming ten days, about a thousand dollars had to be paid into bank. +The aggregate of all these obligations, to be met within two weeks, +was two thousand three hundred dollars. + +As Ellis looked at this formidable amount, and calculated his +resources, he felt, for a time, utterly discouraged. But a reaction +from this state of feeling came, and he set his mind vigorously to +work in devising means for the pressing emergency. + +"There is one thing certain," said he to himself, as he pondered the +matter. "Carlton will have to wait. So there are five hundred +dollars pushed ahead. I received no value in the case, and shall not +hurry myself to make payment." + +Even while Ellis thus spoke, a man called and presented the +due-bills he had given to the gambler. + +"I can't take these up now," was the prompt reply. + +"My directions are to collect them forthwith," said the man. + +"Mr. Carlton will have to wait my convenience." Ellis spoke with +considerable irritation of manner. + +"Shall I say so to him?" was asked, in a tone that involved a +warning of consequences. + +"You can say to him what you please," answered Ellis, sharply. + +"Oh! very well!" + +The man turned away, and walked towards the door. He paused, +however, after going a short distance; stood, as if reflecting, for +some moments, and, then came back. + +"You had better think over this a little;" said he, in a +conciliatory voice. "The debt is, I need not remind you, one of +_honour_; and it is neither wise nor safe for a man of business to +let such a debt be handed over for legal collection. You understand, +I presume?" + +The suggestion caused Ellis to start, involuntarily. He saw, at a +glance, the dangerous position in which he stood. Only by retaining +a fair credit would it be possible for him to surmount his present +difficulties; and his credit would be instantly blasted if a suit +were brought against him by a man he had now good reasons to believe +was known in the community as a gambler. + +"You understand me?" repeated the collector, in a tone of marked +significance. + +Ellis tried to regain his self-possession, and affect indifference. +But his feelings were poorly disguised. + +"Just say to Mr. Carlton," he replied, "that it is not my purpose to +give him any trouble about this matter. I will take up the +due-bills. But I have some heavy payments to make, and cannot do it +just now." + +"When will it be done?" + +"That I am unable, just now, to say." + +"Can't you give me a part of the money today?" + +Ellis shook his head. + +"I have notes in bank, and they must take the precedence of all +other payments." + +"To-morrow, then?" + +"I have five hundred dollars to pay to-morrow." + +The man's countenance began to lower. + +"Just go to Mr. Carlton, if you please, and tell him what I say. +He's a man of common sense;--he will listen to reason." + +"My orders to collect were imperative," persisted the man. + +"Tell him that you can't collect to-day. That I must and will have +time. There now! Go! I've something else to do besides arguing this +matter fruitlessly." + +The collector turned off with an angry, threatening look. A few +minutes after he was gone, and ere the mind of Ellis had recovered +its balance, a customer called in and paid a bill of a hundred +dollars. This awakened a feeling of confidence; and, in a hopeful +spirit, Ellis went forth to make arrangements for the balance of +what was wanted for the day. He found no difficulty in procuring the +sum he needed, which was four hundred dollars. After taking up his +note, he called upon his friend Wilkinson with the two hundred +dollars he had failed to return the day before, when, after +apologizing for his neglect, he asked him how he would be off in +regard to money matters during the ensuing two weeks. + +"Tight as a drum," was answered. + +"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Ellis, showing more disappointment +than he wished to appear; "for I have made some calculation on you. +I have nearly two thousand dollars to take care of in the next ten +days." + +"I wish I could help you. But, indeed, I can not," said Wilkinson, +looking serious. "I have been a good deal crowded of late, and shall +have my hands full, and more than full for some time to come. I +never knew money so tight as it is just now." + +"Nor I neither. Well, I suppose we shall get through somehow. But I +must own that things look dark." + +"The darkest hour is just before the break of day," said Wilkinson, +with an earnestness that expressed his faith in what he said. His +faith was born of a resolution to separate himself from all +dangerous companionship and habits, and a deeply felt conviction of +the all-sustaining strength of his wife's self-denying affection. + +"Yes--yes--so the proverb says, and so the poet sings," returned +Ellis, thoughtfully. "This seems to be my darkest hour. God grant it +be only the precursor of day!" + +"Amen!" The solemn response of Wilkinson was involuntary. + +"And so you can't help me?" said Ellis, recovering himself, and +speaking in a more cheerful voice. + +"Indeed I cannot." + +"Well, help will come, I suppose. There is nothing like trying. So +good morning. Time is too precious to waste just now." + +Between the store of Wilkinson and that of Ellis was a refectory, +where the latter often repaired for a lunch and something to drink +about eleven or twelve o'clock. It was now twelve, and, as Ellis had +taken only a light breakfast, and omitted his morning dram, he felt +both hungry and dry. Almost as a matter of course, he was about +entering this drinking-house, when, as he stepped on the threshold, +his eyes rested on the form of Carlton, standing by the bar with a +glass in his hand. Quickly he turned away, and kept on to his store, +where he quenched his thirst with a copious draught of ice-water. +Not a drop of liquor had passed his lips when he went home at +dinner-time. And he was as free from its influence when he joined +his family at the close of day. Cara received him with the kindness +and consideration that were so grateful to his feelings; and he +spent the evening, safe from all dangers, at home. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + + + + +"WILL you have the money now, dear?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, as she +arose, with her husband, from the dinner-table, on the day she +announced to him the fact that she had saved a few hundred dollars, +out of the amount given her for the expenses of the family. + +"No, not to-day," replied Wilkinson. "In fact, Mary," he added, "I +don't feel just right about taking your money; and I think I must +manage to get along without it." + +"John!" Mrs. Wilkinson seemed hurt by her husband's words. + +"It is yours, Mary," was replied with much tenderness of manner. +"You have saved it for some particular purpose, and I shall not feel +happy to let it go back again and become absorbed in my business." + +"Have we divided interests, John?" said Mrs. Wilkinson, in a low, +serious voice, as she clung to her husband's arm, and looked +steadily into his face. + +"I hope not, Mary." + +"Am I not your wife?" + +"Yes, yes; and one of the best of wives." + +"And do I not love you?" + +"Never for a single moment has a doubt of your love been whispered +in my heart." + +"Such a whisper would have wronged me. Yes, my husband, I do love +you, and as my very life." + +Wilkinson bent down and pressed his lips to hers. + +"Love ever seeks to bless its object," continued Mary, "and finds, +in doing so, its purest delight. Do you think I could use the money +I have, in any way that would bring me so much pleasure as by +placing it in your hands? Surely your heart says no." + +"I will take it, dear," said Wilkinson, after a slight pause. His +voice was unsteady as he spoke; "and you will have your reward," he +added, in tones filled with a prophecy for the future. + +"Never--never--never shall act of mine bring a shadow to that dear +face!" was the mental ejaculation of Wilkinson, as, with an impulse +of affection he could not restrain, he threw his arms around his +wife and hugged her to his bosom. + +"Bless you! Bless you, Mary!" came, almost sobbing, from his +overflowing heart. + +On his way to his store, that afternoon, Wilkinson felt the old +desire to stop and get his usual glass of brandy, and he was +actually about to enter a drinking-house, when the image of his wife +came so distinctly before his mind, that it seemed almost like a +personal presence. He saw a shadow upon her face, and the dimness of +tears was in her tender blue eyes. + +"No!" said he resolutely, and with an audible expression, and +quickly passed on. + +How his bosom rose and fell, with a panting motion, as if from some +strong physical effort. + +"What an escape! It was the very path of danger!" such were his +thoughts. "To venture into that path again were the folly of a +madman. No, Mary, no! Your love shall draw me back with its strong +attraction. A new light seems breaking all around me. I see as I +never saw before. There is the broad way to destruction, and here +winds the narrow but pleasant path of safety. Ruined hopes, broken +hearts, and sad wrecks of humanity are scattered thickly along the +first, but heavenly confidence, joyful hearts, and man, with the +light of celestial truth upon his upturned face, is to be found in +the other. Shall I hesitate in which to walk? No!" + +With a quicker and more elastic step Wilkinson pursued his way, and +reached his store just as a customer from the country, who had been +waiting for him, was leaving. + +"Just in time," said the latter. "I've been waiting for you over +half an hour." + +"I dined later to-day than usual," returned Wilkinson. + +"I wanted to settle my bill, but there were two or three items which +your clerk could not explain. So I concluded to let the matter stand +over until I was in the city again, which will be in the course of a +few weeks. However, as you are here, we will arrange it now." + +So the two men walked back to the desk upon which lay Wilkinson's +account books. The customer's bill was referred to, and one or two +slight discrepancies reconciled. The amount of it was nearly two +hundred dollars. + +"You will take off five per cent. for cash, I presume?" + +"Certainly," replied Wilkinson. + +The money was paid down. + +"So much for not stopping on the way to business for a glass of +brandy." + +This thought was spontaneous in the mind of Wilkinson. After his +customer had left, he fell into a musing state, in which many +thoughts were presented, that, from the pain and self-condemnation +they occasioned, he tried to push from his mind. But he was not able +to do this. Much of the history of his daily life for the past few +years presented itself, and, in reviewing it, many things stood out +in bold relief, which were before regarded as of little moment. Not +until now did he clearly see the dangerous position in which he +stood. + +"So near the brink of ruin!" he sighed. "I knew the path to be a +dangerous one; I knew that other feet had slipped; but felt secure +in my own strength. Ah! that strength was weakness itself. I a +drunkard!" He shuddered as the thought presented itself. "And Mary, +the hopeless, brokenhearted wife of one lost to every ennobling +sentiment of the human mind! It is awful to think of it!" + +Wilkinson was deeply disturbed. For some time longer his mind dwelt +on this theme: then, in the depths of his own thoughts, and in the +presence of Heaven, he resolved to be in safety, by avoiding the +path of danger; to put forever from his lips the cup from which he +had so often drank confusion. + +Suddenly he appeared to be lifted above the level he had occupied, +into a region whose atmosphere was purer, and to a position from +which he saw things in new relations. It was only then that he fully +comprehended the real danger from which he had escaped. + +"And my wife has saved me!" was the involuntary acknowledgment of +his heart. + +The rest of the afternoon was spent by Wilkinson in a careful +investigation of his affairs. He ascertained the entire amount he +would have to pay in the coming six months, and also his probable +resources during the time. The result was very discouraging. But for +the sum lost to Carlton he would have seen all clear; but the +abstraction of so much lessened his available means, and would so +clog the wheels of his business as to make all progress exceedingly +difficult. + +There was a shadow on the brow of Wilkinson when he met his wife +that evening, and she saw it the moment he came in, notwithstanding +his effort to seem cheerful. This shadow fell upon her heart, but +she did not permit its reproduction on her countenance. + +After tea, Mary was busied for a short time in getting little Ella +to sleep. When she returned, at length, to their sitting-room, she +had a small package in her hand, which, with a smiling face, she +laid upon the table at which her husband sat reading. + +"What is that, dear?" he asked, lifting his eyes to her face. + +"We shall soon see," was answered, and Mrs. Wilkinson commenced +opening the package. In a moment or two, five or six rolls of coin +were produced, nicely enveloped in paper. + +"This is my sub-treasury," said she, with a smile. "I took an +account of the deposits to-day, and find just five hundred and fifty +dollars. So, even if Mr. Ellis should fail to return the two hundred +dollars he borrowed, you will still be three hundred and fifty +dollars better off than you thought you were. So push every gloomy +thought from your heart. All will come out right in the end." + +Wilkinson looked at the money like one who could scarcely believe +the evidence of his senses. + +"This for the present," said Mrs. Wilkinson, leaning towards her +husband, and fixing her gentle, yet earnest, loving eyes upon his +face. "This for the present. And now let me give you my plans for +the future. Your business is to earn money, and mine to expend so +much of it as domestic comfort and well-being requires. Thus far I +believe the expenditure has not been in a just ratio to the +earnings. Speak out plainly, dear husband! and say if I am not +right." + +Wilkinson sat silent, gradually withdrawing his eyes from those of +his wife, and letting them fall to the floor. + +"Yes, I am right," said the latter, after a pause. "And such being +the case, you have become pressed for money to conduct your +business. A change, then, is required. We must lessen our expenses. +And now listen to what I have to propose. I went this afternoon to +see Mrs. Capron, and she says, that if we will furnish our own room, +she will board us and a nurse for ten dollars a week." + +"Board us!" + +"Yes, dear. Won't it be much better for us to take boarding for two +or three years, until we can afford to keep a house?" + +"But our furniture, Mary? What is to be done with that?" + +"All provided for," said Mrs. Wilkinson, with sparkling eyes, and a +countenance flushed with the excitement she felt. "We will have a +sale." + +"A sale!" + +"Yes, a sale. And this will give you more money. We will live at +half the present cost, and you will get back into your business at +least a thousand dollars that never should have been taken from it." + +"But the sacrifice, Mary!" said Wilkinson, as if seeking an argument +against his wife. + +"Did you never hear of such a thing," she replied, "as throwing over +a part of the cargo to save the ship?" + +"Bless you! Bless you, Mary!" exclaimed Wilkinson, in a broken +voice, as he hid his face upon his wife's bosom. "You have, indeed, +saved me from shipwreck, body and soul, just as I was about to be +thrown upon the breakers! Heaven will reward your devoted love, your +tenderness, your long-suffering and patient forbearance. Thank God +for such a wife!" + +And the whole frame of the strong man quivered. + +It was many minutes before either of them spoke; then Mr. Wilkinson +lifted his face, and said calmly-- + +"Yes, Mary, we will do as you propose; for you have spoken wisely. I +will need every dollar in my business that I can get. And now let me +say a few words more. In times past I have not been as kind to +you--as considerate--" + +"Dear husband! let the past be as if it had not been. You were +always kind, gentle, loving"-- + +"Let me speak what is in my mind. I wish to give it utterance," +interrupted Wilkinson. "In times past, I have too often sought +companionship from home, and such companionship has ever been +dangerous and debasing. I have this day resolved to correct that +error; and I will keep my resolution. Henceforth, home shall be to +me the dearest place. And there is one more thing I wish to say"-- + +The voice of Wilkinson changed its expression, while a slight flush +came into his face. + +"There is one habit that I have indulged, and which I feel to be an +exceedingly dangerous one. That habit I have solemnly promised, in +the sight of Heaven, to correct. I will no longer put to my lips the +cup of confusion." + +Wilkinson was not prepared for the effect these words had upon his +wife, who, instantly uttering a cry of joy, flung herself into her +husband's arms, sobbing-- + +"Oh! I am the happiest woman alive this day!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + + + + +TO Ellis the trials of the next two weeks were of the severest +character. Yet, he kept himself away from drinking-houses, and +struggled manfully to retain his feet under him. In this he was only +sustained by the kindness of his wife's manner, and the interest she +seemed to feel in him. Had she acted towards him with her usual want +of affectionate consideration, he would have fallen under the heavy +burdens that rested upon him. Scarcely a day passed in which he was +not visited by Carlton's agent, and fretted almost past endurance by +his importunities. But he steadily refused to take up any of the +due-bills; at the same time that he promised to cancel them at some +future period. This did not, of course, suit the gambler, who sent +threats of an immediate resort to legal proceedings. + +Of all this Cara knew nothing; yet she could not help seeing that +her husband was troubled, and this caused her to muse on what she +had done with increasing uneasiness. She no longer took any pleasure +in the thoughts of new parlour carpets. But it was too late, now, to +retrace her steps of error. The carpets were already in the hands of +the upholsterers, and a few days would see them on the floor. + +"I must tell him about them," said Cara to herself, about a week +after her act of folly, as she sat, towards the close of day, +brooding over what she had done. "To be forewarned is to be +forearmed. In a few days the carpets will be sent home, and then"-- + +A slight inward shudder was felt by Cara, as she paused, with the +sentence unfinished. + +"But I'm foolish," she added, recovering herself, "very foolish. Why +need I be so afraid of Henry? I have some freedom of action +left--some right of choice. These were not all yielded in our +marriage. His will was not made the imperative law of all my +actions. No--no. And here lies the ground of difference between us. +The fact is, he is to blame for this very thing, for he drove me to +it." + +But such thoughts did not satisfy the mind of Mrs. Ellis, nor remove +the sense of wrong that oppressed her spirit. So, in a little while, +she came back to her resolution to tell her husband, on that very +evening, all about what she had done. This was her state of mind, +when her friend Mrs. Claxton called in. After the first pleasant +greeting, the lady, assuming a slight gravity of manner, said-- + +"Do you know, Mrs. Ellis, that I've thought a good deal about the +matter we talked of the last time I saw you?" + +"To what do you allude?" asked Cara. + +"To running up bills without your husband's knowledge. All men are +not alike, and Mr. Ellis might not take it so easily as Mr. Claxton +has done. The fact is, I have been checked off a little, so to +speak, within a day or two, and it has rather set me to thinking" + +"In what way?" inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"I will tell you--but, remember, this is in the strictest +confidence. It might injure my husband's business if it got out. In +fact, I don't think I have any right to tell you; but, as I advised +you to follow my example, I must give you convincing proof that this +example is a bad one. Last evening, when Mr. Claxton came home, he +looked unusually serious. 'Is any thing wrong?' I asked of him, +manifesting in my voice and manner the concern I really felt. 'Yes,' +said he, looking me fixedly in the eyes--'there is something wrong. +I came within an ace of being protested to-day.' 'Indeed! How?' I +exclaimed. 'Listen,' said he, 'and you shall hear; and while you +hear, believe, for I solemnly declare that every word I utter is the +truth, and nothing but the truth. I could not spare the cash when +your new carpet and upholstery bill came in, so I gave a note for +the amount, which was over two hundred dollars. The note was for six +months, and fell due to-day. I also gave a note for your new sofa, +chairs, and French bedstead, because I had no cash with which to pay +the bill. It was two hundred and fifty dollars, and the note given +at four months. That also fell due to-day. Now, apart from these, I +had more than my hands full to take up business paper, this being an +unusually heavy day. At every point where I could do so I borrowed; +but at half-past two o'clock I was still short the amount of these +two notes. While in the utmost doubt and perplexity as to what I +should do in my difficulty, two notes were handed in. One contained +a dry goods bill which you had run up of over a hundred and fifty +dollars, and the other a shoe bill of twenty-five. I cannot describe +to you the paralyzing sense of discouragement that instantly came +over me. It is hopeless for me to struggle on at such a +disadvantage, said I to myself--utterly hopeless. And I determined +to give up the struggle--to let my notes lie over, and thus end the +unequal strife in which I was engaged; for, to this, I saw it must +come at last. Full twenty minutes went by, and I still sat in this +state of irresolution. Then, as a vivid perception of consequences +came to my mind, I aroused myself to make a last, desperate effort. +Hurriedly drawing a note at thirty days for five hundred dollars, I +took it to a money-lender, whom I knew I could tempt by the offer of +a large discount. He gave me for it a check on the bank in which my +notes were deposited, for four hundred and fifty dollars. Just as +the clock was striking three, I entered the banking-house.' + +"My husband paused. I saw by the workings of his face and by the +large beads of perspiration which stood upon his forehead, that he +was indeed in earnest. I never was so startled by any thing in my +life. It seemed for a time as if it were only a dream. I need not +say how sincerely I repented of what I had done, nor how I earnestly +promised my husband never again to contract a debt of even a dollar +without his knowledge. I hope," added Mrs. Claxton, "that you have +not yet been influenced by my advice and example; and I come thus +early to speak in your ears a word of caution. Pray do not breathe +aught of what I have told you--it might injure my husband--I only +make the revelation as a matter of duty to one I tried to lead +astray." + +The thoughts of Mrs. Ellis did not run in a more peaceful channel +after the departure of her friend. But she resolved to confess every +thing to her husband, and promise to conform herself more to his +wishes in the future. + +"What," she said, "if he should be in like business difficulties +with Mr. Claxton? He has looked serious for a week past, and has +remained at home every evening during the time--a thing unusual. And +I don't think he has used liquor as freely as common. Something is +the matter. Oh, I wish I had not done that!" + +While such thoughts were passing through the mind of Mrs. Ellis, her +husband came home. She met him with an affectionate manner, which he +returned. But there was a cloud on his brow that even her smile +could not drive away. Even as she met him, words of confession were +on the tongue of Mrs. Ellis, but she shrank from giving them +utterance. + +After tea she resolved to speak. But, when this set-time of +acknowledgment came, she was as little prepared for the task as +before. Mr. Ellis looked so troubled, that she could not find it in +her heart to add to the pressure on his mind an additional weight. +And so the evening passed, the secret of Mrs. Ellis remaining +undivulged. And so, day after day went on. + +At length, one morning, the new carpet was sent home and put down. +It was a beautiful carpet; but, as Mrs. Ellis stood looking upon it, +after the upholsterer had departed, she found none of the pleasure +she anticipated. + +"Oh, why, why, why did I do this?" she murmured. "Why was I tempted +to such an act of folly?" + +Gradually the new carpet faded from the eyes of Mrs. Ellis, and she +saw only the troubled face of her husband. It was within an hour of +dinner-time, and in painful suspense she waited his arrival. Various +plans for subduing the excitement which she saw would be created in +his mind, and for reconciling him to the expense of the carpets, +were thought over by Mrs. Ellis: among those was a proposition that +he should give a note for the bill, which she would pay, when it +matured, out of savings from her weekly allowance of money. + +"I can and will do it," said Mrs. Ellis, resolutely: her thought +dwelt longer and longer on this suggestion. "I hope he will not be +too angry to listen to what I have to say, when he comes home and +sees the carpet. He's rather hasty sometimes." + +While in the midst of such thoughts, Mrs. Ellis, who had left the +parlour, heard the shutting of the street-door, and the tread of her +husband in the passage. Glancing at the timepiece on the mantel, she +saw that it was half an hour earlier than he usually came home. +Eagerly she bent her ear to listen. All was soon still. He had +entered the rooms below, or paused on the threshold. A few +breathless moments passed, then a smothered exclamation was heard, +followed by two or three heavy foot-falls and the jarring of the +outer door. Mr. Ellis had left the house! + +"Gone! What does it mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Ellis, striking her hands +together, while a strange uneasiness fell upon her heart. A long +time she sat listening for sounds of his return; but she waited in +vain. It was fully an hour past their usual time for dining, when +she sat down to the table with her children, but not to partake of +food herself. Leaving Mrs. Ellis to pass the remainder of that +unhappy day with her own troubled and upbraiding thoughts, we will +return to her husband, and see how it fares with him. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + + + + +FOR hours after his wife had sunk into the forgetfulness of sleep, +Ellis lay awake, pondering over the ways and means by which he was +to meet his engagements for the next day, which, exclusive of +Carlton's demand, were in the neighbourhood of a thousand dollars. +During the previous two weeks, he had paid a good deal of money, but +he was really but little better off therefor, the money so paid +having been mainly procured through temporary loans from business +friends. Most of it he had promised to return on the morrow. +Earnestly as the mind of Ellis dwelt on the subject, he was not able +to devise the means of getting safely through the next day. + +"And what if I do get over the difficult place?" was the desponding +conclusion of his mind--"ultimate failure is inevitable, unless a +great reduction can be made in expenses. At present, our living +exceeds the profits on my business. Ah! if I could only make Cara +understand this! She has been more considerate and wife-like of +late; but I fear to say one word about the embarrassed state of my +affairs, lest the sunshine of love be again darkened with clouds and +storms." + +With such thoughts in his mind, Ellis fell asleep. + +On the next morning, he repaired early to his place of business, in +order to have time fully to digest his plan of operations for the +day. He had many doubts as to his ability to get through, but was +resolute not to yield without a vigorous struggle. Of the amount to +be paid, only four hundred was for notes in bank. The rest was on +borrowed money account. Fully an hour and a half was spent in +drawing off certain accounts, and in determining the line of +operations for the morning. On receiving two hundred dollars for +these accounts, Ellis thought he might with safety calculate; and a +lad was sent out to see to their collection. Then he started forth +himself. First in order, he deemed it best to see if he could not +get a little more time on some of his borrowed money. This was a +delicate operation, and its attempt could only, he felt, be +justified by the exigencies of the case. The largest sum to be +returned was three hundred dollars. He had borrowed it from a +merchant in good circumstances, who could at any time command his +thousands, and to whose credit there usually remained heavy balances +in bank. But he was exceedingly punctilious in all business matters. + +Both these facts Ellis knew. It would put the merchant to no +inconvenience whatever to continue the accommodation for ten days +longer; but the policy of asking this was felt to be a very +questionable one, as it would be most likely to create in his mind a +doubt of Ellis's standing, and a doubt in that quarter would be +injurious. Still, the case was so pressing, that Ellis determined to +see him. So, assuming a pleasant, partly unconcerned air, he called +upon the merchant. + +"Good morning, Mr. A--," said he, in a cheerful tone. + +"Good morning, friend Ellis," returned the merchant, pushing his +spectacles above his forehead, and fixing his eyes upon the face of +his visitor, with a sharp, penetrating look which rather belied the +smile that played about his lips. + +"Let me see! Isn't it to-day that I am to return you the three +hundred dollars borrowed last week?" + +"I don't remember, but can tell you in a moment," replied A--, +replacing his glasses, and taking from a pigeon-hole in the desk +before which he sat a small memorandum-book. After consulting this, +he replied-- + +"Yes: you are right. It is to be returned to-day." + +"So I thought. Very well. I'll send you a check around during the +morning. That will answer, I presume?" + +"Oh, certainly--certainly." + +So far, nothing was gained. A hurried debate, as to the policy of +asking a few days more on the loan, took place in the mind of Ellis. +He then said-- + +"If just the same to you, it will be more convenient for me to +return this money on the day after to-morrow." + +There was a slight contraction of brow on the part of Mr. A--, who +replied, rather coldly-- + +"I shall want it to-day, Mr. Ellis." + +"Oh, very well--very well," said Ellis, hiding artfully his +disappointment. "It will be all the same. I will send you around a +check in a little while." + +As he left the store, A--said to himself-- + +"Of all things, I like to see punctuality in the matter of +engagements. The man who promises to return in an hour the money he +borrows from you should keep his word to the minute." + +The failure to get a few days' extension of time on so important a +sum had the effect to dispirit Ellis a good deal. He left the store +of the merchant in a despondent mood, and was returning towards his +own place of business, when he met Wilkinson. Grasping the hand of +the latter with the eagerness of one who knows, in a great +extremity, that he is face to face with a real friend, he said-- + +"You must help me to-day." + +"I don't see that it is possible, Ellis," was replied. "What amount +do you want?" + +"I must have a thousand dollars." + +"So much?" + +"Yes. But where the sum is to be obtained is more than I can +divine." + +"Is all to go into bank?" + +"No. Six hundred is for borrowed money." + +"To whom is the latter due?" + +"I must return three hundred to A--." + +"He can do without it for a few days longer." + +"I have just seen him; but he says it must be returned to-day." + +"He does?" + +"Yes. He wants to use it." + +Wilkinson stood thoughtfully for some time. + +"Can you return the sum in a week?" he then asked. + +"O yes; easily." + +"Very well I'll go and ask him to loan me three hundred for a week. +He'll do it, I know. You shall have the use of it for the time +specified." + +"If you can get me that sum, you will place me under an everlasting +obligation," said Ellis, with more feeling than he wished to +display. + +Twenty minutes afterward the money was in his hands. It had been +obtained from A--, and during the morning returned to him in +payment of Ellis's loan. + +So much accomplished, Ellis turned his thoughts towards the ways and +means for raising the seven hundred dollars yet required for the +day's business. By twelve o'clock all of his borrowed money was +returned; but his notes still remained in bank. In view of the +difficulties yet to be surmounted, he felt that he had erred in not +making it the first business of the day to take up his notes, and +thus get beyond the danger of protest. But it was too late now for +regrets to be of any avail. Four hundred dollars must come from some +quarter, or ruin was certain. + +But from whence was aid to come? He had not spent an idle moment +since he came to his store in the morning, and had so fully passed +over the limits within which his resources lay, that little ground +yet remained to be broken, and the promise of that was small. + +While Ellis stood meditating, in much perplexity of mind, what step +next to take, a man entered his store, and, approaching him, read +aloud from a paper which he drew from his pocket, a summons to +answer before an alderman in the case of Carlton, who had brought +separate suits on his due-bills, each being for an amount less than +one hundred dollars. + +"Very well, I will attend to it," said Ellis in a voice of assumed +calmness, and the officer retired. + +Slowly seating himself in a chair that stood by a low writing-desk, +the unhappy man tried to compose his thoughts, in order that he +might see precisely in what position this new move would place him. +He could bring nothing in bar of Carlton's claim unless the plea of +its being a gambling debt were urged; and that would only ruin his +credit in the business community. A hearing of the case was to take +place in a week, when judgment would go against him, and then the +quick work of an execution would render the immediate payment of the +five hundred dollars necessary. All this Ellis revolved in his +thoughts, and then deliberately asked himself the question, if it +were not better to give up at once. For a brief space of time, in +the exhausted state produced by the un-equal struggle in which he +was engaged, he felt like abandoning every thing; but a too-vivid +realization of the consequences that would inevitably follow spurred +his mind into a resolution to make one more vigorous effort to +overcome the remaining difficulties of the day. With this new +purpose, came a new suggestion of means, and he was in the act of +leaving his store to call upon a friend not before thought of, when +a carpet dealer, whom he knew very well, came in, and presented a +bill. + +"What is this?" asked Mr. Ellis. + +"The bill for your parlour carpets," was answered. + +"What parlour carpets? You are in an error. We have no new parlour +carpets. The bill is meant for some one else." + +"Oh, no," returned the man, smiling. "The carpets were ordered two +weeks ago; and this morning they were put down by the upholsterer." + +"Who ordered them?" + +"Mrs. Ellis." + +"She did!" + +"Yes; and directed the bill sent in to you?" + +"What is the amount?" + +"One hundred and sixty-eight dollars." + +"Very well," said Ellis, controlling himself, "I will attend to it." + +The man retired, leaving the mind of Ellis in a complete sea of +agitation. + +"If this be so," he muttered in a low, angry voice, "then is all +over! To struggle against such odds is hopeless. But I cannot +believe it. There is--there must be an error. The carpets are not +mine. He has mistaken some other woman for my wife, and some other +dwelling for mine. Yes, yes, it must be so. Cara would never dare to +do this! But all doubt may be quickly settled." + +And with, this last sentence on his lips, Ellis left his store, and +walked with hurried steps homeward. Entering his house, he stood for +a moment or two in one of the parlour doors. A single glance +sufficed. Alas! it was but too true. + +"Mad woman!" he exclaimed, in a low, bitter tone. "Mad woman! You +have driven me over the precipice!" + +Turning quickly away, he left the house--to return to his +store?--Alas! no. With him the struggle was over. The manly spirit, +that had, for nearly two weeks, battled so bravely with difficulty +without and temptation within, yielded under this last assault. In +less than an hour, all sense of pain was lost in the stupor of +inebriation! + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + + + + +WE will not trace, minutely, the particulars attendant on the +headlong downward course of Henry Ellis. The causes leading thereto +have been fully set forth, and we need not refer back to them. +Enough, that the fall was complete. The wretched man appeared to +lose all strength of mind, all hope in life, all self-respect. Not +even a feeble effort was opposed to the down-rushing torrent of +disaster that swept away every vestige of his business. For more +than a week he kept himself so stupefied with brandy, that neither +friends nor creditors could get from him any intelligible statement +in regard to his affairs. In the wish of the latter for an +assignment, he passively acquiesced, and permitted all his effects +to be taken from his hands. And so he was thrown upon the world, +with his family, helpless, penniless, crushed in spirit, and weak as +a child in the strong grasp of an over-mastering appetite, which had +long been gathering strength for his day of weakness. + +Over the sad history of the succeeding five years let us draw a +veil. We have no heart to picture its suffering, its desolation, its +hopelessness. If, in the beginning, there was too much pride in the +heart of Mrs. Ellis, all was crushed out under the iron heel of grim +adversity. If she had once thought too much of herself, and too +little of her husband, a great change succeeded; for she clung to +him in all the cruel and disgusting forms his abandonment assumed, +and, with a self-sacrificing devotion, struggled with the fearful +odds against her to retain for her husband and children some little +warmth in the humble home where they were hidden from the world in +which they once moved. + +From the drunkard, angels withdraw themselves, and evil spirits come +into nearer companionship; hence, the bestiality and cruelty of +drunkenness. The man, changing his internal associates, receives by +inflex a new order of influence, and passively acts therefrom. He +becomes, for the time, the human agent by which evil spirits effect +their wicked purposes; and it usually happens that those who are +nearest allied to him, and who have the first claims on him for +support, protection, and love, are they who feel the heaviest weight +of infernal malice. The husband and father too often becomes, in the +hands of his evil associates, the cruel persecutor of those he +should love and guard with the tenderest solicitude. So it was in +the case of Henry Ellis. His manly nature underwent a gradually +progressing change, until the image of God was wellnigh obliterated +from his soul. After the lapse of five miserable years, let us +introduce him and his family once more to the reader. + +Five years! What a work has been done in that time! Not in a +pleasant home, surrounded with every comfort, as we last saw them, +will they be found. Alas, no! + +It was late in the year. Frost had already done its work upon the +embrowned forests, and leaf by leaf the withered foliage had dropped +away or been swept in clouds before the autumnal winds. Feebler and +feebler grew, daily, the sun's planting rays, colder the air, and +more cheerless the aspect of nature. + +One evening,--it was late in November, and the day had been damp and +cold,--a woman, whose thin care-worn face and slender form marked +her as an invalid, or one whose spirits had been broken by trouble, +was busying herself in the preparation of supper. A girl, between +twelve and thirteen years of age, was trying to amuse a child two +years old, who, from some cause, was in a fretful humour; and a +little girl in her seventh year was occupied with a book, in which +she was spelling out a lesson that had been given by her mother. +This was the family, or, rather, a part of the family of Henry +Ellis. Two members were absent, the father and the oldest boy. The +room was small, and meagerly furnished, though every thing was clean +and in order. In the centre of the floor, extending, perhaps, over +half thereof, was a piece of faded carpet. On this a square, +unpainted pine table stood, covered with a clean cloth and a few +dishes. Six common wooden chairs, one or two low stools or benches, +a stained work-stand without drawers, and a few other necessary +articles, including a bed in one corner, completed the furniture of +this apartment, which was used as kitchen and sitting-room by the +family, and, with a small room adjoining, constituted the entire +household facilities of the family. + +"Henry is late this evening," remarked Mrs. Ellis, as she laid the +last piece of toast she had been making on the dish standing near +the fire. "He ought to have been here half an hour ago." + +"And father is late too," said Kate, the oldest daughter, who was +engaged with the fretful child. + +"Yes--he is late," returned Mrs. Ellis, as if speaking to herself. +And she sighed heavily. + +Just then the sound of feet was heard in the passage without. + +"There's Henry now," said Kate. + +And in a moment after the boy entered. His face did not wear the +cheerful expression with which he usually met the waiting ones at +home. His mother noticed the change; but asked no question then as +to the cause. + +"I wish father was home," said Mrs. Ellis. "Supper is all ready." + +"I don't think it's any use to wait for him," returned Henry. + +"Why not?" asked the mother, looking with some surprise at her son, +in whose voice was a covert meaning. + +"Because he won't be home to supper." + +"Have you seen him, Henry?" + +Mrs. Ellis fixed her eyes earnestly upon her son. + +"Yes, mother. I saw him go into a tavern as I was coming along. I +went in and tried to persuade him to come home with me. But he was +angry about something, and told me to go about my business. I then +said--'Do, father, come home with me,' and took hold of his arm, +when he turned quickly around, and slapped me in the face with the +back of his hand." + +The boy, on saying this, burst into tears, and sobbed for some time +violently. + +"Oh, Henry! did he do that?" + +Such was the mother's exclamation. She tried to control her +feelings, but could not. In a moment or two, tears gushed over her +face. + +The only one who appeared calm was Kate, Henry's oldest sister. She +uttered no expression of pain or surprise, but, after hearing what +her brother said, looked down upon the floor, and seemed lost in +meditation. + +"My poor children!" such were the thoughts that passed through the +mind of Mrs. Ellis. "If I could only screen you from these dreadful +consequences! If I only were the sufferer, I could bear the burden +uncomplainingly. Ah! will this cup never be full? Is there no hope? +How earnestly I have sought to win him back again, Heaven only +knows." + +From these reflections Mrs. Ellis was aroused by the voice of Kate, +who had arisen up and was taking from a nail in the wall her bonnet +and an old merino coat. + +"Where is the tavern, Henry?" said she. + +"What tavern?" answered the boy. + +"The tavern where you saw father." + +"In Second street." + +"Why do you wish to know?" inquired Mrs. Ellis. + +"I will go for him. He'll come home for me." + +"No--no, Kate. Don't think of such a thing!" said Mrs. Ellis, +speaking from the impulse of the moment. + +"It won't be of any use," remarked Henry. "Besides, it's very dark +out, sister, and the tavern where I saw him is a long distance from +here. Indeed I wouldn't go, Kate. He isn't at all himself." + +The young girl was not in the least influenced by this opposition, +but, rather, strengthened in her purpose. She knew that the air was +damp and chilly, from an approaching easterly storm; and the thought +of his being exposed to cold and rain at night, in the streets, +touched her heart with a painful interest in her erring, debased, +and fallen parent. + +"It will rain to-night," said she, looking at her brother. + +"I felt a fine mist in the driving wind just as I came near the +door," replied Henry. + +"If father is not himself, he may fall in the street, and perish in +the cold." + +"I don't think there is any danger of that, sister. He will be home +after awhile. At any rate, there is little chance of your finding +him, for he won't be likely to remain long at the tavern where I +left him." + +"If I can't find him, so much the worse," replied the girl, firmly. +"But, unless mother forbids my going, I must seek him and bring him +home." + +Kate turned her eyes full upon her mother's face, as she said this, +and, in an attitude of submission, awaited her reply. + +"I think," said Mrs. Ellis, after a long silence, "that little good +will come of this; yet, I cannot say no." + +"Then I will find him and bring him home," was the animated response +of Kate. + +"You must not go alone," remarked Henry, taking up the cap he had a +few minutes before laid off. + +"Wait for supper. It is all ready," said Mrs. Ellis. "Don't go out +until you have eaten something." + +"No time is to be lost, mother," replied Kate. "And, then, I haven't +the least appetite." + +"But your brother has been working hard all day, and is, of course, +tired and hungry." + +"Oh, I forgot," said Kate. "But Henry needn't go with me. If he will +only tell me exactly where I can find father, that will be enough. I +think I'd better see him alone." + +"Food would choke me now." Henry's voice was husky and tremulous. +"Come, sister," he added, after a pause, "if this work is done at +all, it must be done quickly." + +Without a word more on either part, the brother and sister left the +room, and started on their errand. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + + + + +LATE in the afternoon of the day on which occurred the incidents +mentioned in the preceding chapter, Mr. Wilkinson, who had entirely +recovered from his embarrassed condition, and who was now a sober +man in every sense of the word, as well as a thrifty merchant, was +standing at one of the counters in his large, well filled store, +when a miserable looking creature entered and came back to where he +stood. + +"Good-day, Mr. Wilkinson," said the new-comer. + +Surprise kept the merchant silent for some moments, when the other +said-- + +"You don't know me, I presume." + +"Henry Ellis!" exclaimed Wilkinson. "Is it possible you have fallen +so low?" + +"Just as you see me," was replied. + +"You ought to be more of a man than this. You ought to have more +strength of character," said Wilkinson, giving utterance to the +first thought that came into his mind. + +"Oh, yes; it is easy to talk," replied Ellis, with a slight +impatience of manner. "But you know my history as well almost as I +know it myself. I was driven to ruin." + +"How so?" + +"Why do you ask the question?" + +"You refer to your wife?" + +"Of course I do. She drove me to destruction." + +"That is a hard saying, Mr. Ellis." + +"Yet true as that the sun shines. And she has had her reward!" + +This last sentence was uttered in a tone of self-satisfaction that +deeply pained Mr. Wilkinson. + +"I saw your wife this morning," he remarked, after a moment's +silence. + +"You did! Where?" + +"I passed her in the street; and the sight of her made my heart +ache. Ah, my friend! if you have been wronged, deeply is the wrong +repaid! Such a wreck! I could scarcely believe my eyes. Ellis! I +read at a single glance her countenance, marred by long suffering, +and found in it only the sad evidences of patient endurance. She is +changed. I am bold to say that. If she erred, she has repented." + +"But not atoned for a wrong that is irreparable," said Ellis in a +dogged tone, while his heavy brows contracted. + +"Ah! how changed you are, Ellis: once so kind-hearted, so forgiving +and forbearing!" + +"And what changed me? Answer me that, John Wilkinson! Yes, I am +changed--changed from a man into--into--yes, let me say the +word--into a devil! And who held the enchanter's wand? Who? The wife +of my bosom!" + +Wilkinson felt a shudder creeping along his nerves as he looked at +the excited man, and heard his words. + +"Cara never acts toward you, now, other than with kindness," said +he. + +But Ellis made no answer to this. + +"Let the past suffice, my friend," added Wilkinson. "Both have +suffered enough. Resolve, in the strength of God and your own +manhood, to rise out of the horrible pit and miry clay into which +you have fallen." + +"That is impossible. So we won't talk about it," said Ellis, +impatiently. "Lend me half a dollar, won't you?" + +The hand of Wilkinson went instinctively to his pocket. But he +withdrew it, without the coin he had designed, from the moment's +impulse, to give. Shaking his head, he replied to the application, + +"I can't give you money, Ellis." + +"You can't?" + +"No; for that would be no real kindness. But, if you will reform +your life; if you will abandon drink, and become a sober, +industrious man, I will pledge myself to procure you a good +situation as clerk. In a few years you may regain all that has been +lost." + +"Bah!" muttered Ellis, grinding his teeth as he spoke. "All good +talk!" and, turning away, he passed from the store of his old +friend. Without a cent in his pocket, and burning with a desire for +drink, he had conquered all reluctance and shame, and applied, as we +have seen, to an old friend, for money. Two or three other +ineffectual attempts were made to get small sums, but they proved +fruitless. For some time he wandered about the streets; then he +entered one of the lower class of taverns, and boldly called for a +glass of liquor. But the keeper of this den, grown suspicious by +experience, saw in the face or manner of Ellis that he had no money, +and coolly demanded pay before setting forth his bottle. It was just +at this untimely crisis that Henry came in, and, taking hold of his +father's arm, urged him to come home. The cruel rebuff he received +is known. + +The blow was no sooner given by Ellis than repented of; and this +motion of regret prompted him to express his sorrow for the hasty +act, but when he turned to speak to the lad, he was gone. Almost +maddened by thirst and excitement, the poor wretch caught up from +the counter a pitcher of ice water, and, placing it to his lips, +took therefrom a long deep draught. Then slowly turning away, he +sought a chair in a far corner of the room; where he seated himself, +crossed his arms on a table, and buried his face therein. + +The pure cold water allayed the fever that burned along the +drunkard's veins. Gradually a deep calm pervaded his mind, and then +thought became active amid thronging memories of the past. He had +once loved his home and his children; and the image of Henry, when a +bright-eyed, curly-headed, happy child, came up so vividly before +him, that it was only by an effort that he kept the tears from +gushing over his face. For years he had cherished, in mere +self-justification, the bitterest feeling towards his wife; and +hundreds of times had he given expression to these feelings in words +that smote the heart of Cara with crushing force. Only a little +while before he had spoken of her, in the presence of Wilkinson, in +a hard and unforgiving spirit; but now he thought of her more +kindly. He remembered how patiently she had borne with him; how +uncomplainingly she had met and struggled with her hard lot; how +many times she had tried to smile upon him, even through tears that +could not be restrained. Never was he met, on his return home, with +coldness or neglect. Wife and children all sought his comfort; yet +he cared nothing for them, and even filled their paths through life +with thorns. And his boy, Henry, whom he had just repulsed in so +cruel a manner, to his labour was he indebted, mainly, for the food +that was daily set before him. How this thought smote him! How it +filled his heart with shame and repentance! + +Musing thus, the unhappy man remained, until, gradually, his +thoughts became confused. The temporary excitement of feeling died +away, and sleep overcame him. In his sleep he dreamed, and his dream +was vivid as reality. Not as of old did he find himself; but, in the +vision that came to him, he was still in bondage and degradation, +with a horribly distinct realization of his condition. His vile +companions were around him, but greatly changed; for they appeared +more like monsters of evil than men, and were malignant in their +efforts to do harm. Against him they seemed to feel an especial +hatred. Some glared and gleamed upon him with the fire of murder in +their eyes; some pointed to a cheerless apartment, in which he saw +his wife and children cowering and shivering over a few dying +embers, and they said--"It is your work! It is your work!" They were +devils in distorted human shapes, and he was terribly afraid. +Suddenly he was set upon by one, who caught him by the throat and +dragged him into what seemed the cell of a prison, where he was cast +upon a heap of straw, and left shuddering with cold and fear. Alone, +for days and weeks he remained in this prison, until despair seemed +to dry up the very blood in his veins, and, after a desperate +struggle to break through the bars of his narrow house, he sank down +exhausted and ready to die. Then came a new horror. He had died, to +all outward appearance, and was in his coffin. He felt his body +compressed, and gasped and panted for air in his narrow house of +boards. It was an awful moment. Suddenly a voice came to his ear: +"Father! father!" It was the voice of his child--of Kate. How its +tones thrilled through him! How his heart leaped with the hope of +deliverance! "Father! dear father!"--The call was renewed, but he +could make no answer, for his tongue was powerless. Again and again +the call was repeated, yet he could utter no sound--could make no +sign. Farther off, then, he heard his name called. Horror! she had +failed to discover him, and was about departing. In the agony of the +moment he awoke. There was a hand laid gently upon him, and a voice +said--"Father! dear father! come!" + +It was the voice of his child; the same voice that had penetrated +his dreaming ear. + +"Oh, Kate!" he exclaimed, eagerly; "is it indeed you?" + +"Yes, father," she answered; "and won't you come home with me?" + +The wretched man did not answer in words but arose immediately and +went out with his daughter. + +"Oh, what a dream I had, Kate!" said Mr. Ellis, as he left the door +of the tavern; "and you came to me in my dream." + +His feelings were much excited, and he spoke with emotion. + +"Did I, father?" replied the girl. "And how did I come? As a good +angel to save you?" + +"Waking, you have come to me as such," answered the father after a +brief silence, speaking more calmly, and as if to himself. + +How wild a thrill shot through the frame of Kate at these words, so +full of meaning to her; but she dared not trust herself to make an +answer, lest she should do harm rather than good. And so they +walked, in silence, all the way home; Henry, who had accompanied his +sister, keeping a short distance behind them, so that his father had +no indication of his presence. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + + + + +How the hearts of the mother and her two oldest children trembled +with hope and fear! A marked change was apparent in Mr. Ellis when +he came home with Kate. He was sober, and very serious, but said +nothing; and Mrs. Ellis deemed it prudent to say nothing to him. + +On the next morning, he did not rise early. Henry had eaten his +breakfast and was away to his work, and Kate had gone to market to +get something for dinner, when he got up and dressed himself. Mrs. +Ellis was ready for him with a good cup of coffee, a piece of hot +toast, some broiled steak, and a couple of eggs. She said little, +but her tones were subdued and very kind. Noticing that his hand +trembled so that he spilled his coffee in raising his cup to his +lips, (his custom was to get a glass of liquor before breakfast to +steady his nerves,) she came and stood beside him, saying, as she +did so--"Let me hold your cup for you." + +Ellis acquiesced; and so his wife held the cup to his lips while he +drank. + +"Oh, dear! This is a dreadful state to be in Cara!" + +The exclamation was spontaneous. Had Ellis thought a moment, his +pride would have caused him to repress it. + +Mrs. Ellis did not reply, for she was afraid to trust herself to +speak, lest her words or voice should express something that would +check the better feelings that were in the heart of her husband. +But, ere she could repress it, a tear fell upon his hand. Almost +with a start, Ellis turned and looked up into her face. It was calm, +yet sorrowful. The pale and wasted condition of that face had never +so struck him before. + +"Ah, Cara," said he, dropping his knife and fork, "it is dreadful to +live in this way. Dreadful! dreadful!" + +The poor, almost heart-broken wife could command herself no longer; +and she laid her face down upon her husband and sobbed--the more +convulsively from her efforts to regain self-possession. + +"Oh, Henry!" she at length murmured, "if the past were only ours! If +we could but live over our lives, with some of the experience that +living gives, how differently should we act! But, surely, hope is +not clean gone for ever! Is there not yet a better and a brighter +day for even us?" + +"There is, Cara! There is!" replied Ellis, in tones of confidence. +"It has been a long, long night, Cara; a cold and cheerless night. +But the morning breaks. There is not much strength left in this poor +arm," and he extended his right hand, that trembled like an aspen +leaf--"but it can yet do something. It shall not be with us as it +has been any longer. In the sight of Heaven, and in the hope of +strength from above, I promise that, Cara. Will you help me to keep +my promise?" + +"Yes--yes--yes," was the emphatic response. "If there is in me a +particle of strength, it is yours, and you may lean on it +confidently. Oh, Henry! trust in me. The lessons of the past have +not been learned in vain." + +"I am very weak, Cara; the pressure of a child's hand might throw me +over. Do not forget this. Never forget it! If you will keep close to +my side, if you will help me, and love me,"--his voice quivered, and +he paused, but regained himself in a few moments--"I think all will +be well with us again. God helping me, I will try." + +"Oh, my husband!" sobbed Mrs. Ellis, drawing her arms lovingly about +him--"it will be well with us, for God will help you, I will help +you, all will help you. Forget? Oh, no! I can never forget. Have we +not all been thoughtful of you, and kind to you in the night that is +passing away?" + +"Yes, Cara, yes." + +"And will we not be kinder and more loving in the brighter future? +We will! we will, Henry! Oh! how my glad heart runs over!" + +"I saw Mr. Wilkinson yesterday," said Ellis, after both had grown +calmer; "and he said that he could and would get me a situation as +clerk. I am now going to see him, and, if he be as good as his word, +this desert place"--and he glanced about the room--"will soon +brighten as the rose." + +The entrance of Kate closed the interview. In a little while, Ellis, +after shaving himself, and in every possible way improving his +appearance, left the house and went direct to the store of +Wilkinson. + +"Henry! Is it possible!" exclaimed the latter, in surprise, when +Ellis stood before him. + +"In my right mind again," was the calm, but firmly spoken answer. + +"How glad I am to hear you say so!" And Wilkinson grasped the hand +of his old friend, and shook it warmly. + +"You remember your promise of yesterday?" said Ellis. He spoke +seriously. + +"To get you a good situation?" + +"Yes." + +"I have not forgotten my word, Henry; and will keep it. You are a +good accountant?" + +"I am." + +"This morning my book-keeper notified me of his intention to leave +as soon as I could supply his place. If you will take the situation +at seven hundred and fifty dollars a year, it is open for you." + +"John Wilkinson!" exclaimed Ellis, seizing the hand of his friend, +and exhibiting much agitation. "Are you indeed in earnest?" + +"I never was more so in my life," was replied. + +"Then, indeed the day has broken!" said Ellis, with emotion. "When +will you want me to begin?" he asked after a short period of +silence. + +"Now," replied Wilkinson. + +"Now, did you say?" + +"Yes. I have work that needs attention at once. When will you come?" + +"A good beginning never can be made too early. Now." + +Wilkinson turned, and the two men walked back to a vacant desk. A +number of accounts and letters lay thereon, and, as Wilkinson began +to enter into some explanation in regard to them, Ellis took up a +pen and laid the point of it on a sheet of paper. The nervous tremor +of his hand showed him to be in no condition for the task upon which +he was about entering. Wilkinson comprehended this in a moment, and +a fear lest the drunkard's delirium should follow so sudden a +withdrawal of stimulant from the system of Ellis, sent a chill +through his feelings. Instead of putting him to the desk at once, he +determined, on the instant, to employ him at more active work about +the store for a few weeks, until, if he kept to his good resolution, +some degree of firmness was restored to his shattered nerves. In +agreement with this humane purpose he acted. + +With what trembling anxiety did Mrs. Ellis await the return of her +husband at dinner-time! The hours wore slowly away, and, at last, +her watchful ear caught the sound of his footsteps. She scarcely +breathed until the door opened. One glance sufficed. All was well. +How glad was the impulse with which her stilled heart went on again! +Tears of joy bedewed her face, when he related the good fortune that +had attended his call on Wilkinson. + +"Yes, yes," said he, when he had told her all, and glancing around +the room as he spoke. "This desert place shall blossom as the rose. +I have said it, and I will keep my word." + +In the evening, Henry and his father met, for the first time, face +to face, since they parted in anger on one side and grief on the +other. When Kate came home with the latter on the night previous, +Henry had managed to enter the house before them, and so kept out of +his father's way. Now, on coming in from his work, he found him +already at home, and so changed in appearance, that he gazed upon +him with a surprise which he could not at first conceal. + +"Henry, my son," said Mr. Ellis, in a kind, self-possessed tone of +voice, and he reached out his hand as he spoke. + +The boy took his father's hand, and looked earnestly into his face. + +"Henry, how long have you been with Mr. Wilson?" inquired Mr. Ellis. + +"Two years, sir," was answered. + +The father looked at the boy's hands, and sighed. They were hard and +discolored from labour. + +"Tell Mr. Wilson, in the morning," said he, "that I wish you to +leave him after this week." + +"Sir!" Henry looked surprised. + +"Tell him that I wish you to go to school for a year or two." + +"Father!" The blood flew suddenly to the lad's face. For a few +moments he looked at his father; then turning, he passed quickly +into the adjoining room. In the stillness that followed, were +audible the sobs that came from his overflowing heart. + +A week, a month, a year have passed, yet the promise of that happy +time is dimmed not by a single cloud. Firm in his better purpose and +fully sustained at home, Henry Ellis is walking steadily the path of +safety. Home is what it ever should have been, the pleasantest place +in all the world; for she who is its sunlight never meets him with a +clouded face. His desert has, indeed, blossomed as the rose. May the +bloom and fragrance thereof never fade nor lose its sweetness! + +THE END. + + + + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Two Wives, by T.S. 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