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' -. k. "V - Copyright 1H T Amerioan-Ixeininer. Oreat BrIUlm Rights Rsatrved, - , . . . .
Why Huf b anclf Ouht Not : 1
How ;iMO LL:.; ;1
Contrary
Mrs.
Mar jorie
De Coii Ran
Away from Her Husband Because
He Was TOO PERFECT, Thus
Proving That the Course of True
Love Ought Not to Run Smooth.
TBRB 1 good old Cockney JoU
often quoted to Illustrate the n
sert of the Engllih lower eliieet.
Don't you Iot roe no tnoro, BI11T" Myi
the wife ot the eoeter. 'O' courtt I lorea
yer. Sal," U his reply. Then." Myi Bal,
"w y don't yer beat me nbtrt VAT
Thfa apparently wee exactly the frame
of mind Mra. De Con waa In when be left
her husband. Hn. De Con Hved la Irving
ton, Cal. She waa married to Edwin
De Con, a prosperous merchant Two years
ago, unable to atand his kindness any
longer, Mra, Mar jorie Da Cou ran
away. Her husband has just obtained a
divorce on the ground ot desertion. Ac
cording to Edwin De Cou's testimony, he
' gave his wife every luxury, placed no re
' atraints on bar amusements and never
showed jealousy. He admitted ha had no
bad habits.
"Didn't aha ever find any fault with
your the Judge asked.
"Oh. yes," Mr. De Cou replied, "she fra. '
qiiently said thai she could have loved ma
it only I beat her, or at least scolded her,
once in while!"
Here Is a new peril to married life.
Husbands, avoid perfection! ;
Men, as yet, scarcely realise how dan
gerous kindness may prove to be. Lest,
unthinking, careless ot the Drat aymptoms
of disruption, married men may fall into
tbls pitfall, listen to the awful example of
Edwin and Mar jorie Da Cou.
Mr. De Con was aa idealist Ha wor
shipped his wife. He thought nothing too
good tor her. The mediaeval idea ot
women was that they were halt angel and
halt devil. Mr. D Cost waa a modern man.
and he considered his wita wholly an
angel.
They had no trouble daring their en
gagement His candy and Cowers were
pleasantly received. Marjorle, while admit
ting to her girl friends thai "Edwin waa
easy.' did not protest when he suggested
cabs instead ot the trolley caa. She let
him carry her coat without rebuff. She
accepted the books he aent, "Lucille" and
"The Prisoner of Zenda," with ne show ot
anger. Even the beautiful S32a diamond
engagement ring tailed to irritate her, and
when he tied her shoo laces, got her a
glass ot water or mailed a letter without
forgetting it still she controlled herself.
It was, ot course, annoying, hut aha bora
it, expecting the nsuai change after the
wedding ceremony.
Hardly had the bridal knot been tied,
' however, when Mr. Da Cou showed plainly
that what ha had dona was a fixed habit
He bad planned to go to the Yotemlte on
. the trip. The bride, of course, wanted .
' to go to Hawaii, and insisted upon it hop-'
' ing against hope that be would display
, the' firmness a woman longs for. .Was he :
firm.- Ala I. Be. humbly apologised, ex
1 changed his .tickets and took her where
. she wanted to go.. Docile aa a lamb waa
Edwin De Cou.
This was a bad enough beginning to mar-
mmmmmmr
lied Ufa for poor Mrs. De Con, but she did
not yet know the full depth of Edwin's
pitiful weakness. She began to flirt with
a. missionary as soon as the steamer had
left Ban Francisco harbor. Waa Mr.
Da Con jealous T Here is what ha said:
"I know I can trust you, Margy, and
whatever you do is right It this man
pleasea and amuses you, go ahead, and I'll
just have a little game ot cards in the
smoking room."
.That night Marjorle De Cou wept herself
to sleep. It waa a sad beginning to all her
hopes tor a "masterful" man. Bha wept
aloud, keeping Edwin awake In the upper
berth. Waa ha angry? No. Ha merely
leaned over tha edge and remarked pa
thetioally: "If X have dona anything to annoy you
or make yon unhappy, Margy, please tell
ma and forgive me. I would do anything
In tha world to make you happy. .Could I
ring np tha steward and get you a pine
apple lee? Or shall I read you to sleep H
Margy did not cloaa her eyea that night
The next day it was even worse. Edwin
Da Cou brought np her steamer rug (she
was simply dying to wait upon him, but
men never, know) and he tucked her into
her chair, gave her a Robert Chambers .
novel and brought up all tha best-looking
men oa the boat to talk to her.
. By the time their honeymoon was over
poor Mrs. Da Cou waa nearly distracted.
She came back from Honolulu a mere
wreck. Things went steadily from bad to
worse.
Still blindly pursuing his fatuous theory,
Edwla De Cou loaded hla wife with com
pliments and caresses. Marjorle, when she
first saw the new house ha had provided
for their home, could stand it n longer.
' "How dara you 1" she exclaimed.. "You
know I have been used to living In a four
room flat and here you have a fine alec
trio lighted house, with elevator and out
side plumbing, in tha moat aristocratic
part of town! Ton .have engaged three
servants and ' filled tha place with expen
sive furniture. The next thing I know you
will be presenting me with an automobile.
I warn you. Edwin, you may go too far!"
1 thought you'd Ilka it" Mr. De Cou re
plied. "But of course, I'll apologise."
"Apologise!" she screamed. "W1U you
pile insult on Insult?"
For soma time this cowed him. He even
had the courage to try to reform. He told
her that her new Spring hat waa anbe
comlng. and that if aha got a facial mas
sage occasionally It would improve her
looks. Ha managed, with great effort to
drink a cocktail and any "dam." Margy
beamed with happiness, but alas, this ideal
state of affairs was too good to be true.
Before long Edwin bad begun to lapse into '
his original altruistic condition.
For a few days be succeeded In conceal
ing his lapse from vice. ' He threw kisses :
. at her behind her back and remarked upon
her beauty only at his .dub. But Oils .
' could not go on long. Edwin De Coot Was ,
' at heart a -paragon and bis true nature
could not be hidden. ,. -.- -
One arteirooa. while hla wire was at a
bridge party. Edwin .smuggled -a costly
-rosewood pianola Into the-drawing room., ,
As Margy had just been elected a president '
of the Native Daughters of the Coldea '
"West flrvtegton PaTlorrNo.-87r ev head
was so turned that she did not notice the
gift at first When she did there was a
scene. Then, half-crazed by his love for
her, ba took a pearl, and diamond necklace
from his pocket and .thrust it Into her
hand.
- Marjoris's rage knew so bounds. Bhewas
scarlet With a swift gesture tha flung
the gaudy gems across the room, smashing
a vase of rare old Venetian glass en route.
"Viper!" aha hissed.. '"For three months
I have sfood insult and degradation such
aa no wife yet aver endured. . Now you
complete tha outrage by giving me f 40,0W
worth ot jewels! Da you think I can stand
any more? I'm going noma to ma to
night" She waa as good as hsr word. Edwin,
however. Insisted upon calling a taxleab, .
packed her trunk for her and placed a
thousand-dollar bill in tha tray. Fight as
she would against tbe outrage, she was
but a woman and bad to submit to his
will. .
"Ma," Margy exclaimed when she reached
the parental home, "I've run away from
Edwin! How can I confess my shameful
story? You know that when I married
him I was a perfectly good woman. Now
I am completely spoiled!" She burst into
tears.
Msrgy's mother waa a woman of tha
world. "Take my advice," ahe said, "and
try Edwin a little longer. Olva him an
other chance. Remember that the first
year of married life Is always a readjust
ment and things will ba arranged in time
so that your two characters wont clash
Perhaps he didn't really mean what ha
did. He may have suddenly made a mil
lion dollars in stocks and didn't know what
else to do with the money. These things
are often mere accidents. No doubt tba
presents were Intended for soma one else.
Edwin is not too old to reform, and in
time he may learn to treat you with tha
cruelty you deserve."
"Cruelty!" Margy exclaimed. "Why. ma,
do you know that maa hasn't aa much aa
raised his little finger against me la all
the time we've been married! It he'd only
alap mr face occasionally or pall a chair
out from under me I could stand H. But
to have to endure his sickening politeness,
day In snd day out well, tt's Just getting
on my nerves, I tell .you, sad HI go madl'
"Have you tried nagging him?" asked
Margy'a mamma. "Sometimes, with a lit
tle goading, you can get a man' to act de
lightfully savage. Suppose you burn the
chowder or put too much sugar In hia cof
fee men are awfully particular, you know.
If you would empty the carpet sweeper
over his dress shirts occasionally. Little
things like that are often mora effective
than tears. I once got a beautiful assault
from your father by merely pouring a tea
spoonful of mucilage into his slippers."
That night Marjorle returned home. She
filled his smoking tobacco with perfumery;
ahe cut off tha buttons from his trousers;
she pricked holes in his cigars; she filled
his vest pockets with mashed potatoes.
Then, hoping against hope, eba awaited
his return.
Next morning there was a deceptive
calm about him. At first Marjorle thought
tbat her dream had come true. She took
his cane and carefully placed It where ha
could easily gat at it; she held her pink
cheek ready tor-the long-tooked-for blow. ,
Edwin came down to breakfast smiling.
He always smiled. , It wss ons ot hla worst -traits.
....... , .
"I guess well ha va to .discharge the
maid," he said. "She's too careless." '
' -T'u'V'r ) wbouft
' I ''l' V i. BCAUM
V.r Ertry-
j thing
Sh
1 Wnt.d
I Exctpt t
I Beafbg. -
Shm hmaA him on her knttt .
only to bo cruel to her, beat
her, anything-ond like a per-'
fed dummy husband all ho
didwai to give her morodia
mondt, more French dretset
more luxuriet."
' "It was 1 who did It aU." aha said: "It
waa your own little wife. And, whafa
more. I'm ffolng to do It again. I bate
you!"
Edwin Da Cou leaned back and laughed
both long and loud. Then, to complete tha ,
Indignity, ha went over and kissed his
wife. Bha had been expecting to be halt
killed. How. she longed to fuss with
arnica and court plaster I How proud she
would have been ot even one tiny black,
and-blue spot Tha shock prostrated her.
It took bar weeks to recover weeks ot
expensive flowers, rare oia pors wm. vi
brated physicians, trained nurses, every
thingthere was nothing Edwin could do
to wound her feelings that ha left undone.
No woman could stand such treatment
long-. She grew worse and worse. At last,
when her life was despaired of. bar physW
. .ian attempts to resson with the bus-
'"'can give you very Mttle hope," said
the doctor, "unless you can consent to
change your treatment ot your wife. Even
. -with tha worst possible abuse, it may ba
. possible tbst she may not recover. Yon
ought however, to tryat If yon
could only drag your wife out of bad. kick
her a tew times, pull down her hair. bUck
her ayea and call her a few opprobrious
names she mlfbt rally. I appeal to you.
Mr. Da Cou. aa man ta man. Are you go
ing to let your wife die for tha need ot an,
unkind word?" '
.. Mr. Da Cou, howeter. was obdurate and
refused to yield. Tha only answer ha gava
to this advice waa to present Margy wHhr
a aolid goM maaleura outfit and a set of
Russian sables.
That night Margy, almost dying of kind
nass. waa amuggled out ot the bouse by,
her mother, and sha left Edwla Da Cou
never to return.
: Now. if Edwin Da Cm had only rasa
Nletssche ha might still ba happily:
wedded. For Nietzsche, like Bohopen
hauer, Bt Paul aad others, had a rathe
poor optnloa of -women. One of his re
marks Is famous: "Are yon going to meet
a woman? Ba sura yo take your whip!" .
Poor Mr. Da Con, Indeed, need not hava
looked up even this highbrow advice.
There Is an old English proverb which
goes: "A woman, an ass and a hickory)
tree, tbe mora yon beat them the better
: they be." In short, all Mr. Da Cou lacked
waa a little common sensa and a alight
knowledge of women's nature.
Mrs. Marjorle De Con ta no suffragette no
"modern suparclvUUad, ultra-educated,
hyper-eeasitive tamale with a higher edu
cation. Sha la just a plain woman, and '
. poetry and science prove her to be right
Sha has well read her Shakespeare, for in
the fifth act of "Measure for Measure" you
' may read Margy'a whole argument:
"They say best men are molded out of
faults.
And, for tha moat, become much mora tha
better
For being a little bad."
Haxel, la fact suffered from what is
scientifically termed "masochism" die de
sire to suffer pain inflicted by a loved one.
It is one of the fundamental emotions con
nected with love. Do yoa not pinch a
, baby's cheek, and Jestingly threaten a chad
you adore? Do you not say, "You are so
pretty I could eat you?" ' Does the object
of your affection grow angry or alarmed?
No, for masochism in Its lesser forms la
- an essentia part ot love. Evea tbe kiss,
the evolotlonlsta say, la but a relic ot
the primeval love-bite, and ne girl yet ever
objected to being hugged too tightly.
.'. Love ial tut a pretty, mimic warfare j
. after all a.bettle of flowers." No woman)
.- but wishes. Ato be captured; surrender la' r
.her deereat desire. And, once won, she -,
would be a slave, not a master'. ; To poor
Mr, Be Cou, thex !t this advfce Be giveny
; J It -be hsa net aire if learned hia' lesson: Y
, "Order your wife s'lout orcaalonally, sroid
her often enough to wrt br reitae rooKf
praise, and have at. I. lit' ooo Tedeetclas'i
fault"-. . . -' "-Vv-. . :. ... ;
: But of this be aarefuli i l -r-i
eommaad her to do 05I lS- Iss sij :
want, tn ftn inmt. ' 71 .'r-v
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