THE CONTRIBUTOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1974, 19 September 1889, Page 32

THE CONTRIBUTOR.

FRED. D ALTON'S WIFE.

By Os. Shappera.

Dalton, though a very particular friend of mine, was not a pleasant man. In point of fact he was very much otherwise, being cynical, and a pretended disbeliever in the lights of women— to wit, "the right to be admired " ; and indee~d his friends — myself among the number— very often quarrelled with him through the tirades he sometimes levelled against the fair sex. These few years past have, however, wrought changes in him — changes that are not altogether attributable to time. Half a dozen years ago, in spite of his cynicism, he was as jolly a young scamp as ever presided at a bacchanalian party, or stated to tb§ night winds in a husky baritone that he declined to go home before daylight had once more appeared on the fade af the earth, or requested an imaginary landlord to fill an equally suppositious howl. But, alas 1 those days are gone. We see him no more at the festiveboard, nor hear his deep (yet somewhat uncertain) voice quavering on the balmy breeze of very early morn.

I'll tell you why.

Dalton took unto himself a wife. Of course we knew — or at anyrate suspected — that he was a "ladies' man" (men of his temperament always are in spite of the views they pretend to hold), but to think that he should take unto himself a wife never occurred to any of us in wildest flights of fancy.

The firm of Scrimper and Cheesit (in whose counting house Dalton occupied a stool) give their clerks (or they did do so) a week's holiday at Christmas time, which was usually devoted co a "run up" to Seafield, and there my friend Dalton met his fate. I think it was about three weeks after Christmas, and Mertonsville was very hot and very dusty and likewise very north-west windy, which has a tendency to make one extremely uncomfortable at home on account of the heat, and produces the same feeling of discomfort out of doors through the wind. One o'clock had just struck on Thursday afternoon, and I was making the best of my way horns when a tall figure paced up beside me, and a voice said ;

" Well, old ohap, how goes it ? "

I caught my hat with one hand to prevent it blowing away, and looked up to find Dalton by my side. I expressed my pleasure at seeing him, and made inquiry about his newly-made wife's health, how she liked Mertonsville, and so on. He thanked me in a hearby Way, and said :

" You had better come home with me and have a bit of dinner, aud then we can go out somewhere with Mrs Dalton— that is if you're not going anywhere in particular."

I thought that anything was better than my boarding house for the afternoon, and it seemed too windy to go anywhere ; so I very thankfully accepted bis invitation, the more

especially as I was curious to see his wife. From his reticent manner in speaking of her I made up my mind that she was not exactly a shining success, but I confess I was not prepared to find my friend's wife quite such an outre individual as she proved to be.

Into a small three-roomed cottage in Grace street he led the way in his usual haphazard manner, marching me right into the kitchen, where I could see a female form clad in an extraordinary fashion sitting idly contemplating an unlighted fire, and a table with the breakfast things still on it.

" Nellie, here's £ friend of mine come to see you! This is my wife, Mr Sharpe." Sayirg which he stepped aside, and the lady rose to greet me.

As well as I can remember she wa3 dressed in a striped petticoat, which with a shawl thrown loosely over iier shoulders and a pair of leather slippers completed her toilet. I said I was delighted to make her acquaintance ; that from my knowledge of Mr Dalton I felt sure I might safely congratulate her on her choice, adding a hope that they might be very happy together. A dark, gipsy-look-ing face turned towards me while I was speaking, showing me a pair of black eyes, a small mouth, the lips slightly parted, disclosing a very pretty set of teeth, and a straight, well-shaped nose. When I ceased she nodded familiarly, and said :

"That's all right, old chap." Then she turned to Dalton and said :

*' Oh, Fred, Mi&s Brent's been here all the morning, an' we sat talking till the fire went out. I'm awfulhr sorry, dear. I've been tryin' to light it this last hour, an' this is the only result."

And the little lady held up a pair of small but very grimy hands in comical dismay.

" Never mind now, Nell. Kun away and put some clothes on, for goodness sake 1 and I'll see to the fire, and get something ready to eat."

The lady retired at his bidding, while " her lord " got the fire lit and commenced culinary operations. By the time he fried a few chops and made a pot of tea Mrs Dalton appeared again, looking very much improved, and we sat down to dinner at a table strewed with the fragments of the morning's repast. We fed — I cannot say dined — and then, as the wind had moderated, sallied forth to enjoy the afternoon, wending our way naturally to the sea shore. Mrs Dalton was not a gifted conversationalist ; in fact Seafield scandal was the only subject with which she was at all conversant. Had time permitted we might have become a very dull party that afternoon, but I am happy to say we didn't.

You know that patch of bush down by the beach, about two miles from the centre of the town. Well, we journeyed out there, as by that time we had ceased talking altogether, just from sheer inability to find anything to say, our arrival at the bush was an intense relief. Did you ever play cuckoo ? If not, I'll tell you how it's done. One of the party goes away and hides. When hid, he or she sings " Cuckoo 1 " and the rest begin to seek. Then, when the cuckoo is found, it runs to the nest, while the seekers endeavour to intercept it. We played cuckoo in the bush, at Mrs Dalton's suggestion. Somehow she was always the one who hid, and Dalton always found her. The intense energy which I displayed in my wild endeavours not to find her" lives in my memory yet. How persistently I started off in the wrong direction whenever the lady sang " Cuckoo 1 " How I scrambled through brambles and lawyer vines in my eager quest, while her dress could be plainly seen fluttering in the open places, and how I rushed away to the nest on hearing Dalton's shout of victory, all comes back to me like the memory of my last school picnic. What a terribly transparent deceit it was, yet I am convinced those two thoughtme earnest in my search. I wonder if Dalton still remembers that day. I suppose he does, as he was very fond of his young wife. I bade them good-night when they turned into Grace street, and went home to my lodgings, .wondering vaguely how he came to marry such a silly, vulgar girl. »

For the next six months I often met them out together, but I never visited them again, and, to be quite candid, Dalton was not particularly pressing in his invitations, evidently desiring solitude instead of society. Then a rumour gained currency that they were not living on good terms, as Mrs Dalton had given way to drinking habits, and they were seen no more making holiday together as of yore.

Poor Dalfcon still endeavoured to keep his sorrow hidden from the vulgar gaze of a curious world, so he got his employers to transfer him to the Seafield branch of their business, seeking in the larger city that seclusion which was denied him in MertonsTilie."

Christmas time was again drawing near,, when on Monday morning, on picking up the Chronicle, I was horrified to read the following paragraph : —

" The body of a woman was found by Constable Young in the Arewa creek yesterday morning. The unfortunate woman was lying among some long weeds opposite the Park street entrance to the public gardens in quite shallow water. The body was conveyed to the police station, where it was recognised by a young man (who gave his name as Dalton) to be the body of hi 3 wife. Dalton had called at the station two or three time 3 during the night inquiring about his wife, but until the body was found, as stated, no tidings could be obtained of her. It seems that Mrs Dalton was at one time a barmaid in Seafield, at the Grosvenor Hotel, where she was spoken very highly of by Mr Burton, the proprietor, but on her return to town with her husband she had been drinking very heavily, and there can be very little doubt that she met her death while in a state of intoxication."

After the inquest Dalton left Seafield, and nothing further was heard of him for two years. At the end of that time he came back, but so altered that I had great difficulty in recognising him. Although but 28 years of age his hair is tinged with grey, and his youth has quite left him, and in its stead we find a staid, middle-aged man of serious mien, gentle and kindly in his dealings with his fellow men. He took his old situation at Scrimper and Cheesit's, and he and I are friends', again as in the old unmarried days* but I never have cause to find fault, as in the past, with any opinion expressed by him derogatory to the gentler sex ; so that,

in the inscrutable workings of an all-wise Providence, it»may not have been all a mis. take the brief unsatisfactory life and mournfully tragic death of " Dalton's Wife."