JACK FOSTER'S WIFE.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 44, 5 April 1884, Page 5

JACK FOSTER'S WIFE.

By Bonne Heure.

" What, in the name of sense, could have possessed Jack Foster to marry such a pink and white doll as Flossie Weston ?" Mas the unanimous remark that circulated among Jack's bachelor friends when the wedding cards, accompanied by the conventional bit of cake, had been left at their various destinations. "A little bit of a creature, with no other idea of life than that it was made to dress and spend money in." ''I'll give her six months to make him a bankrupt !" exclaimed Ned Lowry, who, having been Jack's special "chum," felt qualified to express a decided opinion. "I always thought Jack was a sensible fellow, but I'll never put faith in human nature again." And while Jack's friends are thus expressing their regrets and prognostications, he was away on his wedding trip, his m hole soul infused with a delightful sense of protective gallantry towards the little creature who nestled so confidingly against his encircling arm, and privately congratulating himself at intervals of five minutes, or less, upon being the luckiest fellow the sun ever shone on. And he would have been pretty sure of a sympathising verdict from any one who could have seen the fairy-like figure beside him, her piquant face set in a frame of golden hair, and surmounted by the white bridal bonnet, while her large violet eyes rivalled in beauty and brilliancy the sapphires that sparkled in her shell-like ears, and nestled in the foamy lace at her slender throat. A women to be loved, petted, shielded from every rough wind that blew ; and yet a keen and correct reader of human nature could have detected in the sunny eyes and around the corners of the rose-bud mouth indications of firmness and courage that few would have given her credit for — of which, perhaps, she "was scarce conscious herself. The wedding trip over, the married pair returned to town, and began preparations for house-keeping. Although Jack Foster's business had been in a very prosperous condition for several years past, and he had a snug sum in bank, lie had still his fortune to make, and the presents he had lavished upon his betrothed, all elegant, and many quite costly, had already made an inroad upon his reserve fund. Owning a house was a luxury at present beyond his means, but he hired a charming residence in one of the principal streets, and then, accompanied by his wife, set out to purchase the necessary furniture. When the things were all in and the house "to rights," it looked like a little earthly paradise ; but when the bills came in, a few days later, Jack uttered a prolonged and slightly dismayed "phew!'" consoling himself, however, by the reflection that " the worst was over now."' But Jack found that the " worst,"' so far from being over, was likely to assume a ohronic and permanent form. Flossie loved pretty things and tasteful decorations, and as for saying "no" to any request of hers, that was a physical, mental, and moral impossibility ; and before the end of six months, her husband found that those requests were threatening to reduce his funds to such a condition that he would no longer have any use for a banker. One day, however, as Jack sat in his office, trying to think of some -way to increase his income, a friend dropped in, and they entered into conversation, during which Jack's face brightened, and when his friend left, he took with him a cheque representing more than half the amount Foster had in the bank, together with a letter of instructions to a broker in Wall-street. For several days after that transaction Jack Foster was another man. The careworn look that had been creeping into his eyes had given place to an expression of eager and joyful expectancy as when one waits for some confidently anticipated good news ; and he surprised his "\\ ife with several new and beautiful presents. Finally, one morning, as they were seated at their cosy breakfast. Flossie said, in her pretty, coaxing way : "Jack, dear, Mrs Maxom's ball comes oft' next week, and I would like to have a new dress. I can get a perfectly lovely pattern at Crape and Dolman's for a hundred dollars, and the making and trimmings will only cost as much more." " And your purse, as usual, is empty, you extravagant little darling !'' said Jack, playfully. ' ', Well, I haven't got my chequebook with me, nor that amount in my pocket ; but you can come down to the office this afternoon, and I'll have it ready for you," and kissing the rosebud mouth upturned to thank him, Jack left the house, whistling gaily. For a few hours after her husband's departure, pretty little Mrs Foster busied herself with what she was pleased to term her "household duties," although they were merely nominal, as she had three competent servants ; then, after a dainty lunch, she concluded it was about time to think about going down for that money. When about ready, however, a visitor was announced, ■who detained her some time, so that it was after three o'clock when she at last left the house and wended her way to her husband's office. She had reached that part of the building where his office was situated, and paused for a moment to detach some fringe on her dress that had caught against a nail, when from the door of the office, slightly ajar, she caught the sounds of her husband's tones, but so changed as to be scarcely recognizable. "Yes, Ned'!" he was paying, in a voice that was almost a moan. "Evervthing gone— swopt away in an hour ! Instead of being, as I expected to be at this time, about a hundred thousand dollars ahead, by that speculation I am bankrupt. This fatal venture of mine has used up the money that was indispensable to the prosecution of my regular business ; for not content with my first purchase, I yesterday drew out all that remained in the bank in order to secure beveral hundred additional shares of that Btock, and now everything about me is in ruins. We will have to break up housekeeping, of course, and go to bjarding."

" Ah, there it is !" said Ned, oracularly. "If you had only been sensible, Jack, and married a practical woman, who could have been a true helpmeet to you in a calamity like this. Any wife with an idea of economy can always keep house for herself and husband much cheaper than they can board." "Don't say a word in disparagement of my chcoie, Ned," said Jack with spirit. "I have the sweetest little wife the sun ever shone on, and wouldn't exchange for a paragon. The most bitter draught in this cup of sorrow is the thought that I must so suddenly deprive her ot all the luxuries and even comforts to which she has been accustomed. She was coming here this very afternoon, too, for some money I had promised her." "She'll be along, no doubt, and there'll be a pretty scene — hystorics,. fainting, and so forth," said Ned in a rather heartless tone. "These women that have been petted and indulged all their lives are the very dickens when things go wrong." "I could bear it if it was only myself !" said Jack, with another groan. " But to think I must involve her in my ruin is terrible !" " How much would it take to set you on your feet again ?" asked Ned, aiter a pause. " With five thousand dollars I could pull through, I suppose. Two of my notes mature to morrow, and if I could meet them my credit would be safe for the present. But where to get that amount, even as a loan, is more than I know." Up to this moment Flossie had stood like one petrilied. Her first impulse, we must acknowledge, had been to relieve her feelings by a dismayed shriek. There was a momentary hysterical constriction at her throat and a dimness before her eyes ; then the spell passed, and she listened in silence until, at the last words, a sudden thought lighted up her face. She tarried just long enough to waft her daintily gloved hand from her lips with a kiss, and then clench it with a defiant shake, after which she passed rapidly and noiselessly from the building. "You dear, darling Jack !" she exclaimed, as, with her iace a shade paler than usual, but instinct with a bright, resolute expression, she walked swiftly homeward. " You shall find that your wife is ready and willing to share your ill as well as your good fortune. And you, Mr Caviller !"' she added, with a point, "shall see that there is one woman who can hear bad news without hysterics !" Mrs Foster stopped once on her way home, calling at an office to request that a messenger-boy might be gent immediately to her residence ; then, after reaching home, laid aside her out-door garments and wrote several notes, which she despatched by the boy. This done, she summoned the servants to her room. "You have been very good and faithful girls," she said, quietly. "But an unexpected change in my household arrangements makes it necessary for me to dismiss you at once. I will give each of you an excellent recommendation, however, to my lady friends, and will give you also five dollars in addition to your wages, ag an offset to this short notice.' The servants accepted the situation without any demur, for there was a look in the quiet, paleface, and a self-possessed dignity in the tones of their young mistress that checked any garrulous inquiries ; and after receiving their money and the recommendations, they went out at once, at her suggestion, to see about securing new places. Half an hour later the bell rang, and was answered by Mrs Foster herself, who recognised her visitor as one of the partners of a large jewellery establishment which she had been accustomed to patronize liberally. She invited him into the parlour, where, upon a table, was tastefully spread out a glittering array of jewels, silverware, and other expensive bijouterie. She had retained for herself one plain set of jewellery and her watch and chain, together with such articles of silverware as were required for constant use, but that was nil. "I find it advisable to part with these things, Mr Murray," she said, without the slightest trace of emotion, in her quiet, lady-like tones. "What will you give me in cash for them '!" Mr Murray inspected the article?, then replied : "Twenty-five hundred dollars." Mrs Foster's eyes sparkled. ' ' Can you take them away and let me have the money this afternoon ?" " Certainty, madam. I will go back, and return with the money and one of my clerks in an hour.' 1 "Half the amount already!" exclaimed Flossie, softly clapping her hands, a.% Mr Murray left the hous-e. " There's a friend nearer than you think, my dear Jack. Your notes shall not go to piotest if 1 can help it." A few moments later the bell rang again, and this time it was ci member of a housefurnishing firm who made a specialty of attending private sales, and whose name Flossie had incidentally heard some time befoi'e and remembered. He was taken through the liou&c ; and then sitting down in the parlour, made out a hasty schedule, which he handed to Mrs Foster. " Three thousand dollars !" exclaimed the delighted little woman, under her breath. "You darling man !" Then added aloud : " It would be a great accommodation to me to have the money this afternoon. I will give you a bill of sale, and you can remove the things at your convenience." " Very well, madam," was the obliging rejoinder. "I will send a clerk* with the money and a document for you to sign, but will not disturb the things until to-morrow." There were a few other business calleri that afternoon, including one or two of Mrs Foster's particular lady friends who had admired and coveted some of the elegant costumes in which she had appeared on a few occasions ; and when she had closed the door on the last one and sat down for a moment to recover a little from the excitement she had been passing through, she held in her hand a roll of bills representing nearly eight thousand dollars. Never before had the money looked so attractive to her ; never, through all the happy months of her married life, had the bond that bound her to her husband appeaied so strong and endearing as now, when, of her own free will, .she had so promptly adapted herself to the altered circumstances his mislortune had brought upon them. Itwa.s with a haggard face and weary step that Jack Foster ascended the steps of his home at the close of that day of hamnving care. His wife had not kept her appointment at his ofiice, and the terrible news yet remained to be broken to her. Sighing heavily, he fitted his night-key in the lock. It refused to turn — the door was evidently bolted on the inside ; and pulling the bell, he stood waiting an answer, with a feeling of dreary apathy such as he had never experienced before. A light step came along the hall ; a hand shot back the bolt, and then the door opened and Flossie's bright face looked out. " Ah, Jack, dear !" she exclaimed, in a voice so full of sweet w r omanly tenderness that poor Jack's heart swelled almost to bursting. "You are late. I was beginning to feel anxious about you ! Come in — dinner is waiting." Jack tried to speak, but could not ; and seeing his agitation, Flossie tripped away down stairs, bidding him follow her as soon as he had laid aside his coat.

Jack felt like a criminal going to receive his sentence as he entered the cheery little dining-room. His wife was standing, looking, with an air of quiet contentment, over the neatly-spread table, from which, in his agitation, he did not notice that several of the more expensive articles of silverware were missing. Taking his soat, he went on with his dinner in moody silence, but revolving over and over in his mind the question, "How shall I break the news to her ?" while Flossie watched him with a furtive but pitying glance, cogitating, on her part, as to the best time for the disclosure of her secret. At last the desired opportunity came, when Mrs Foster rose to remove her husband's plate before bringing in the dessert. " Why, my dear, whore is Sarah ?" he asked, looking up. " I dismissed her this afternoon, together with the two other girls," answered Flossie, quietly. " Dismissed them ?" echoed her husband. -What for?' 1 "I'll tell you presently, dear," was the soft reply ; then taking the little box she had been keeping on a side-table, 3he placed it before him, adding : " Ju3t examine that, please, while I am bringing in the dessert." Mechanically Jack raised the lid, j ust as Flossie slipped from the room ; but the next moment an exclamation broke from his lips, as the precious bills met his eye. Flossie was a few minutes longer than was really necessary in bringing in tho dessert ; and when she re-entered the dining-room, Jack was looking in a dazed, bewildered way at the contents of tho little box, his face pale and his whole frame quivering. " What does this moan, Flossie ?" he managed to ask. "Nothing very bad, I hope!" said his wife, as she .came to his side, and slipped one arm around his neck. Then laying her cheek against his, she added, in a caressing whisper: "I have been anticipating our altered .fortunes a little, Jack, that is all. I was in the lobby when you were talking to Mr Lowry this afternoon, and heard everything." Then in an eager, animated tone she continued: "And everything is all arranged so nicely as could be, Jack !" I've sold my jewellery, and all the furniture and other tilings except what wo really need ; and to-morrow we will look up a nice, cosy little house at one»third the rent we have been paying for this, and what is left after the five thousand dollars you need to meet those notes will keep us comfortable until your prospects are better ; for as there are only two of us, I mean to be housokeeper myself,* and dispense with extra help, except a woman now and then, to wash and clean and do such heavy wo~k." Jack's right hand went around the waist of his young wife with a clasp that almost took her breath away, while the other was placed before his face to hide the tears which itould come at this blessed and un-looked-for relief — not only relief from the task of disclosing his desperate situation to his wife, and witnessing her anticipated griel and dismay, but relief from a difficulty the meeting of which — as he could now meet it— would enable him to save his business from absolute ruin. "Come, now, Jack," spoke Flossie's cooing roice at his ear, " you must not weep. You know I was to do all the weeping—with hysterics thrown in— according to Mr Nerl Lowry. I kissed my hand to you> my darling, as I stood near your office, and then shook my fist at him. But I'll punish him ! You shall ask him to dinner some day, and he will have to confess himself mistaken.'' One more estatic squeeze from Jack, and a few loving caresses from Flossie, and then they settled themselves to the enjoyment of the dessert, and after dinner sat down together for a " good talk," as Flossie called it, about what it was best to do until their prospects brightened again. It did not take long to find a house suited to their wants, and the moving was soon accomplished. On the day those two notes came due another of Jack's creditors — an elderly gentleman having «i keen eye to business, but a full-sized heart— called upon him, and wringing his hand with the cordiality of one who had come to ask rather thaiigrant a favour, said : " Foster, my boy, I vo heard of the doings of that little heroine, your wifo. She is one of a thousand. And I just called to offer you an extension of six months on your bill at our place, and also to say that if you want any more goods in the meantime, you need not hesitate to apply for them. A wife like youra i& botter than a bank account. "' Ned Lowry came to dinner in Jack Foster's modest but cheerful and happy little home— not once only, but several times ; and so did the other bachelor friends and sometime scoffers ; and one and all carried away golden opinions of the heroic little woman who had so bravely met half way and fairly vanquished what had threatened to be a crushing calamity.