Jealousy Rebuked

It is alinost impossible to please everyody. Mattie Glenn decided to please iers!i, and married Charlie Cheviot ; I ,nd consequeutly she offended all her : elations. And nowthey were as poor as : ihitrch mice, and as happy as two I )ies to whoin butchers' bilis and houae ent are mere d rearas ; and Providenoe i leemed to have a special eyo over them ! 'or a while, and both ends were made to j neet somehow, until, one bitter -winter lay, Charlio slipped upon the ioe, and lel! heavily, breaking his leg and inuriiig himself , as the doctor thought, j ternally. Hia employers were " very kind. rhey paid him a niontli's salary, and promised to keep his place for liim ; but, after all, that did not help the young couple to live through the long, long time which the doctor prophesied must be paased by Charlie on bis back in utter helplessness. Mattie looked very lark ; and as the young man ilrew nis : rife's bead down upon bi3 broad bosom, , md whispered that all would end well at ast, bo did not quite utter bis wbole ïeart. , . Had Mattie mot offended hor relativos, ;hings -would bave been different ; but the 3nly one who would bave roleuted - old Grandfather Glenn- was as poor as tbey ■ were, and dependent on some of bis neb j obillren for support. Alone tbey must fight it out. Charlie knew tbat. Mattie was eoonomical ; but tnere , ■were medicines and delicaoios wbicb must be bad in sickness, but tbo little , purse gi-ew ligbter every day. Ibat ! tbought made Cbarlie worse. He grew i feverisb waa very weak. His cbeeks wero hollow, and a ecragb set in. " Worry " kills more peoplo tban disease; and "worry" was in a fair way of kilUng bim. Not for_ bmiseli. Ho was a man every inch of bim. He could eniov luxury, and he eould "rough it equály well. It was for this little wife I of his tbat be grieved and was anxious. So tbero be lay, bound to the wboel „f loiniooonoaa tiiroue-h tho lonsr days and the longer nights, and Matae uursed him. Would she not get weary of him Í .- ;"- .-,■,. . Onco or tvioo he missed her tor an hour or two in Üie moraing ; and onoo she wan gone all the afternoon, on some errand, sho said ; and foolish as he knew it was he Buspected that shó lingered longer tiian she need on purpose ; and he f eigned to be asleep when she retiirnod, and feit angry, though lier kifls was more tender than ever as she benu over him.A change of some sort had come to her. Tiiñ she care no longer for him 't- was she WOary of nursing liim ? He nevar would lave'chaiiged to her. That thought once n Charüe's mind, it weighed upon ït intil it seemed a truth. Mattie carne to Mm ono evemng, and said, in a half-abashed whisper, " My dear you are so much better now, that perhaps you would not mind my leavmg you for a little Bometimes. I have one Oi two invitations for evenings, and wouldlike to accept tliem." He answered, not so much snrprised as liurt, " Go, Mattie ; never mind me. A sick man is poor company" - ftni turned on lüs pülow with a sigh that had as much bitterness in it as sorrow. Mattie heard it ; but perhaps she did not read its meaning. She went to her wardrobe, and took down her trcasnred black silk dress, and put it on. She coaxed hor hair into bestelling curls upon the temples, and knotted a pink ribbon at her throat. She unfolded from their wrapper her long-liidden wedding gloves. With what a pang Charlie saw tliat, for they had made a compact o keep tliem forever. bhe lookecl at lerself as one looka who wishes to apear well. Then she said, " Good night, Jharlie." He did not answer. Sho thought him wleep, and only touched his haii1 softly vith hor lips. His medicino and cooling irinks were at his hand, and tho rooi sras orderly and fresh. Mattie looked back at it with a littlo sigh, as she wont. He did not hear the sigh ; and, being very weak and ill, absohitely shed a dozen such tears as amonnt to a bucketf ui of those women let f all. But he was really oskep when Mattie carne back, and took off hor finery, and donned the plain gray wrapper, and sat beside him trato tho dawn broke, taking only a few moment' doze in hor chair. He awoke from dreems in which Mattie had bno:i doing a thousand cruel and improper tliings, angry and hnit, and bitter as ever. Truth and reahty seemed mixed inextricably. He had dreamt that she kisse;l that abominable puppy, J-om Truefit ; and, affcer tying him to a tombstone, danced over ifc with Capt. Corbet, with whom abe liad flirted in her gülhood. That seemed as trne as her leaving him alone all the evening. He hnfl'ed her, an dscowled at her. He refused ! tpntions tliat he. needed. He would not take tho eool drink from her hands. He ' would not let her read t-o him. Not until fcwo (lays had pnosed did he relerit a i little, on seeintr Mattie wipe her eyes by I stealth, Tvhen hc had been unumially j cruel to her. " She is sorry, " lie thouglit ; "and it aa only oneo, af ter all. There may luive been some reiison íor it;" and he ■iaid, ' ' Mattie, come here, dear, and sit iown by me." lnen sue carne and iielu nis nana m ïer owii, fondling it and patting it, and ie called himself, mentally a fooi, and ,vas growing vory happy, wken ske said, " I must go out agaiu to-nigbt, doar. I ave made an engagement to do so." It -was all to do ovor again, tken. He xok kis hand out of kers. " Wky apologize'i" ke said coldly. ' If you -naak to go, do bo." And ske replied, as sweetly as tkougk ske had not been niakiag kis keart aclie, " Yes, darling, it will be as well for me not to talk about going so muok, but just to go, if I havo to. And tken carne the dressing, and tke " good-by," just as bef ore. Only a sick man could suffer as Ckarlie did tkat night. ïke mind seenis to have more capacity for agony wken tke body is worn out. "Ske does not love me," ke said to kimself , and ke believed it from kis soul. It seeined impossible tkat a wifo, truly attacked to hor kusband, oould dekgkt in gayety at snck a time. He was suffering. He was even in some danger - it might be, vory easily. Tkat was a night not to be forgotten. In all the time to ooine, he never did forget it. And Mattie, did she guess ■wkat ske was doing 2 It seemed strange tliat ske skould not ; put perkaps ske really was as cold and fickle as ke tkougkt. Tkis was but tke ' ment of the lonely evenings poor kelpless Ckarlie passed upon kis sick couck. Two or three times a week ske lef t kim, and did not even teil kim wkere ske went. He wonld not ask. Indeed, ke did not care. Tke fact that ske could be happy in suck conduct was cnougk for kim. Tkree weeka kad gone by since that first absenoe, wken, lying alone in kis room, Chame heard a rap at tne door, and callirig, "Come in!" summoned across the threshold their landlady, in a efevte of exciternent -which soerned irrepressible. She rubbed her hands, and oourtesied, and "hoped Mr. Cheviot was ' better ; " but that -was evidently not the ! objoct of her visit. That seemed to ñnd difficiúty in manifesting itself ; but finally sha broached the subject in the following terms : " Your good lady is out again, sir? " "Yes," said Charlie, shorüy. " She goes out a great deal," said the landlady. "Yes," said Charlie again, "is that anything t you? " "Well, sir," said the landlady, "me and the other lodgera in the house, we think it is. She's but young, and you are hero on your back ; and it ain't what we cali proper for her to go to dancin' oarties. and so home with beaux at uight. 'Tain't proper f or a raamed lady, ; and I thought l'd mention it. You see, we follered one night, and we know it's ! dancin' porties, and that feller with ; inustaches comes along of her reg'lar ; j 8.11 (.1- " I " Leave the room, if you please," saicï 1 Charlie. "You are insulting my wife. j Of course slie must have an escort home wlion I am unable to go with her." "Leave the room, indeed!" cried the landlady. "Well done, for tiiem as owes a veek's rent ! But I won't havo j no lady aa can leave her sick husband, and go gallnvautin' dth beaux, in my house long. I've got a characterto keop, if sheaiu't." And a-way hustled the landlady. _ As for Charlie, he was more deadthan ahve. He had fought hia rife'a battle, but he was enraged beyond expression. Jealousy nipped him fast. He thought for a moment of taking his om Ufe. He lay back pantmg, " It was that, then- ahe had a lover 1" He looked at the clock. She must rei turn soon. He would see thifl lover with ! his own eyes, and then Wluvt, he did noc suy, ur uven uu nel, v wuiuvug horrible. With pain and labor lie got out of bed, aud reached the window. There ie sat looking down from the dark room nto the light street. People passed, chatüng as they wout. Every one was active, and well, and happy, but hiinself, it seemed. He moaned with grief as líe sat there. He would bavo borne everything but the loss of tier love - her neglect. An hour passed. Then a figure he knew eame up the street, lwining on a tall gentleman 's arm. They paused at the door. " Adieu !" said a foteign voice. " Good-night I" said Mattie. " On Monday, I shall moet yon again, at the same hour, madam," said the first speaker. "Yes, I shall be there," said Mattio. ' ' And agaiu adieu I" said the foreiguer ; andhe lifted hi&hat, and was gone. Mattie tripped up-stairs. "The light out?" she ciied. " My dear, are you asleep ?" Then she strack a match and set the lamp burning, and almost screamed, " Up, and at the window ! Oharlie, you'll kill vourself !" " If I only do that, thank heaven for it," said Charlie. " Why should I want to live, Mattie ?" "Oh, mydarling!" sho cried, and came toward Mm. Ho put her back with a wave of hia hand. "Don't feign affeotion," he said. " But, for all that, listen to me. I am UI and helpleas, I know, I caiinot mand love, Dut l can commiinu vim uuu i to disgracc mo. Who is that man !" : " It ia only Monsieur !" cried Mattie. . " Oh, my dear, it is ao kind of him not to let mo como alone. Let mo teil yon " "Kind!" cried Oliarlie. " Woman, am I a fooi ? Evening after evening you leave me in solitnde. Evening after evening you are esoorted home by that fellow. I have suffered, I don't deny it. I loved you; I would have been trae to you, Mattie, through all change; butyou are a womaii, and vromen aro all false. ; But now I cast you off. Go to nome of j your rich relations. Teil them you have I done -with me; and that I have done with you. You have proved plainly that you care nothillg for me. And why should you, for a miserable fellow like me, who will, probably, go limping through Hfo ? Why should you, for you nfever really cared for me ? You " ■Rut, there he paused. and buret into tears, and sho would not bo kcpt away i:ny longer. She knelt at his side, and hid lier wet eyes upon his arm. " Dearest Charlie," she said, " listen to me. I did it because we were so poor. x oh, Charlie, it is only at Madame Leroux - the dancing-school, I mean. : She advertiscd for a lady to play the i piano for her evening classes. I went; and I did not teil you lest yon should be angry, at flrst. Btsidcp, how ceuld I Í know that I would snit ? But I do; and to-night she paid me; and we need not suffer, dni-Iiug, vmtü you aro well. She wants me to keep on. And it is only the gentleman who playa Üio violin - a grandfatlier, dearest - who sees me home as ho passes the doorr I am timid, you know. I meaiit no harm, and I thought of you all the while; and see how much I have eamed, ïo-night I moant to teil you, and thought you wouldbe glad." Poor Oharlio ! He gathered his little wife to his bcom, and they wept together. "And I may go on?" asked the j poor girL " Just whüe you are ill, darUng?" Charlie could not answer; a word would have chpked him. "I did go on," saidlittle Mrs. Cheviot, as she told the story. " For a long while my playiog at the dancing-sohool kept the wolf from Üie door. But Charho grow botter, at last, and was not in tho loast lame. And thoro is no need of my playing now, except to please the babiea, " And thon Oharlie kissed her.