A Financial Missaprehension

Lillian Axton wa a silly llttle ,iffectionate woman, who loved her luisband, and whose husband loved her. They were recently marrled, but not receotly ih.it Tosa Axton liad not time tu íind cmii tbal hia wite bad absolutely no head al all for (nance. siie conld not keep acconnte. They bewlldered ner and alwaya ended in a hopeleaa muddte. 8he was like tlie woman who, Immuk urged to keep M' account oí her expenditure, triinnpliantly Bhowed hcr lmsliaiul her boOk -vitli the two entriea on the debtor and creditor side, -'Eecelved $50," and "Spent it," and who waa eiceedlngly pteased to see that the $50 on tht' one side balanceó ihe $ÜO on tlie other. Lillan liad tlie most vague idea abont checks. It Beemed to her that if a book were fíQed wito unuaed checas, tln'ir baak accounf, therefore, %vas unlimited. Now tnere are two thiags for a man to do wben he Hada himsoií in sxtcb a Bituatlon as Tom Axton found himself. One of these le v. i-r. and one of the thlags is foolieh. If he i. a foolish man he will endeavor to teach his wlíe how to keep accounts. If he is a Avise man he will simply make up liis mind to earn more moncy and let the accounts go. So Toni Axton, being wise, bothered his wife very little about account, settled the bilis when they came in as well as he was able, and bent his energlea towards t lic accumulating of a good and relinble balance at the bank. Añil so tilines went on very comiortable and ploasantly until winter set in. One night when Toni came home, Mrs. LllLan, who was a most transparent kind of woman, began a conversation on the subject of sealskin jackets. She láid that they were most economical garments, that a woman with a soalskin coat was alwayi well dreased, that the apparent costliness of 1 he garmeat was a delusion, that the woman who had bestowed upon lier a sealskin Bacque at the beginning of a hard winter had little else to ask for until spring. Torn listenod gravely, and l'inally s.iid : "Tlicrr is nothing persona] in all this talk. is tbere ?" Liltan averred that there was not, and indignanlly repudiated the insinuation that she was thinking about herself at all. She was merely interested in a genera] w ay. And Tom ■ald quletiy : "I.ilian. ]ny (h'.ir. uii.n s the price of the particular ganneat y uu have been lookin at ?" At this polnt in the conversation i .- 1 1 1 1 ■ i.r ■ au 1 si: op in his knee, and finaily T.nii received the Information tliat .i perfectly lovely sealskin coat could be had for siiOO which was worth. at the vci-y lowegt figure, $300. "In that case," said Toni, "it is rathor a pity not to buy it, isn't it ?" and Bhe adniittcd with eome rcluctancc that it was a shatne to let such a chance go by. Tom did BOme fiunrin.tr. and iound that a hoeck lor $200 would be honat his bank, and etill leave a little credit rcinaining. His overcoat was on next momlng, and he was just about to depart for his office, whon he opened the drawer of the taille in ïiis room, took out heek book, ; ml wrote a check to the order of his wifo for $200. Mi-s. LJlian was nverjoyed, but Toni Was nviiy before fche could thank him. She looked at the check wlth the ink stiil ivct upon it, waved it for a moment In the air to dry it, and Uien rite held t li-htly wlth its face towards the fire that was blazing on the heartli. lïow it h&ppeaed Büe never knew. luit Ule Check uave a little cuil at the corner, and burst into fíame in her hand. She dropped it, tried to snatch it agaln, but the charreil remaliw esoaped up the chlmnsy. Mr-. LHlan'8 face beca me as White ie aahefl on the heartli. and abe sank int ei ilie arin-cliair before the fire, coverlog her face with her hands. Toni Axtiiii was a BOmewhat Btolid, qulet, taduetrioue, unsusplcloua man. He frequent] hig wife a little frlTolous, but, on the whole, he rather liked ii. When he carne home thal nlght the to him li.. vaut gir] Ina1 vis wife.whleh was unusual. There was panic in her iare. ■■h. !" Ule luscs V" -aiii Tom. "No. Isn't here V "No. glr," s.iid tlie girl, Iooklng as i Bbe were golng to y ; "after .muí tliis mornlng, sir, tlie tpok on awfiii, and than siie went away. I thoughi perhapa sin; íi.-ni gone to you, sir." Tom stooil in the haihvay without removing hla coat, thunderstruck. Through his uiisusplc'.ous miad flashed the circumstanccs of the case. The check for $200 ; the "taJdng on," and ilic depeurture. Toin threw himsell down with his overcoat still on, tn the ann-chair by the firo. and tried to think over the MiiKition. Hm absolute aselesaness oí startlng out in the n'm'ht and trylog to find waa the flrst thing that hnpreeeéd itseH upon hlm. H ghrank fiom glvlng notice to the po lioe. The ticket geiler at the railroat Ion would perhaps rememb r i siic bought a ticket for any place. - thiog cvidently to do wál to iiud ottt if Bhe liad left the i-ub ürb, and, if posslble, whcre she had td. (ure more he called up the servant gil-l"Uid-did Mrs. Axtun léave the liouse alone ?" he asked wlth some hoitation. ■I tliink i-o. sir," naid the glrl, ■luit I don't know. I heard the front door close, and a whfle aitcr I fonnd that she was gone, and when she did not come back to lunch, I did not know wht to do." "Oh, it is all right," said Toni, wlth a confidence he himself Avas lar trom teellng. "I think I know whci-e she has gonc A frlend of te 111. She lias v(ry likcly been (ii't.iincd. I wfll go and bring her home." Aml so, putting on his liat, he resolutely resolved to go down ;ml Bee tbe man at the rallway station. Wlven he closed the front door behind liini and went down the steps tOwa.nls the Iront gate, he saw in tho darksew the figure of i woman -who seemed to liave Ij m loitering there, and who aiow hurried away. As he cainc out in the street, sometMng oJ lier evident desire not to be si' n, convinced him that the retreatlog figure was that of lus wlfe. He followed quickly, and as soon as she noticed this she broke into a run. Xow Tom realized tliat it was a rleky tliing to run after and overtake a ílying woman, eepeclally ii he turned out not to be the person of whoin he was in soarch. Uut Toni was desperate, and he took the risk. Seeing that she could not get away, she stopped at a lamp post, leaolag agailHt it, and as he came hurrying up to her he heard the shuddering cry : "Oh, Tom !" "Lilian," lie said hoarsely, grasping her wrist, "wliat is the meaning of tliis ? Have you gone crazy ?" She leaned against the lamp post and wept. ■Come," he said briefly, and without re.-istaiK-e slie accompanied him in sik'nce broken only by BObB, back to the house. The girl let iliem in, and at onee Bimnised by the grief of her mistress that the frienil wlio was ill had died. Tom led hls wlfe to their sitting room, and there she tank into a chair covering her face with her hands. She saw by lus stern demeanor that he suspected her guilt. He closed the door, tlien standing before her, said sternly : "LUl&n, I want an explanation." "Oh, Tom, Tom 1" she said piteously, "Don't look at me like that, or I shall never be able to teil you the truth." 'Yon must teil me the truth, no matter how I look." "That check, that check," he moaned. ■Well, what about it 7 Wliat has the check to do witli your going away V" "The check," she murmured, ''s gone." "Who has it ? ])id yon eaeh it and ii.-ic yon lost the money?" "I llave lost the inoney," slic said, "but I did not ca.-h the check. It was burned." "Burned 1 Wíw buraed it?" "Oh, I did, by accident. I wu dr.ving the ink before the fire, and somehow it caught, and I liad not prescnce of mind enough. to save it." "But what has all that to do wlth your running away?" Slie looked np at him in BUrprige. "It has everything to do with it," ghe Küd. "I could not face you after losing $200." "Qood uracious, I,ilian," he crled, a ltght breaklng Ín upon hiui. "You eurely don't Imagine you have lost anylhin by tlio burning of the k ?" "Was it nol ■■ siie asked in surprise. Te. tralned gave way. sal down on a chalr and hed. "i-i;iu: that "All !" alie cirted, aatonlshed at liis behavior. "ís ir not enongh, v, we have so Uttle money ?" "My deai gtrl," he ..;, r, "the check is bn oí paper. It is not Uke a bank note, burning oí the check is nothing. It only puts nu to the troubli writlog another. Ignorance may bc bliae, but it bias glvem me a very bad hall hu hour." m," s.'iiil the little woman, looking at him with wlde eyes. ■What in the WOrtd did you suspect?" "Xothing," sald Torn.