Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1909 — ANNA AND POVERTY. [ARTICLE]

ANNA AND POVERTY.

Anna Sutherland sat on the top of her little trunk In the little hall bedroom, she had occupied before her marriage, and reviewed the reasons - why she bad left her husband. She Viewed the affair from all sides, and finally, with a sigh, acknowledged to herself that the main reason was—the lack of money. As a stenographer, single and care-free, she had made good wages-and she had spent -t « 4te. . -*• with an extravagant hand. When she married Fred he persisted in not wanting her to work, and, as his salary was far from large, she found the economy that,-was necessary very galling. Finally she had felt that she could stand it no longer. ahd tiQW she was back in her old quarters. At this moment her neighbor, a frowsy woman of uncertain age, entered the open door. “Hello, Mrs. Andrews," cried this person, effusively hugging Anna. “So you found married life wasn’t all beer and skittles, dear. I told you so!” Anna shuddered In disgust. Was this what she would now .be subjected to? “I notice you didn’t get no divorce,” the caller rattled on. “I suppose you can get more money from him by keeping a string tied to him. That’s right, my dear, make the horrled cfefiture support you.” Anna turned to her trtmlf, Unlocked it and began taking out her few belongings. One, a simple framed picture which Fred had given to her on the anniversary of their first month of married life, she tried to keep from her visitor’s prying eyei, but unsuccessfully. “Dear me,” the woman cried, “you didn’t have this when you leftl 1 bet you copped out a lot of nice things that’ll help decorats . your room some. That’r quite a scheme — marrying a man, and then, when you leave him, getting • things to make your room look tasty.” At length the caller went, but not before Anna’s nerves were all a-quiv-er. Later, others of the boarding house called upon her. Some ol them endeavored to be kind; still others were flippant. In none of them did she find the real companionship, the real interest, which Fred —despite their straitened financial condition —had always shown in her concerns and her efforts. To som« of her old friends she confided her plans. Not one of them showed that she took more than a casual interest In them. Fred, she knew,, would have been interested—lovingly interested—in everything. Somehow things were turning out much different from what she had expected. The old joy of independence was gone. Contrary to what she bad thought, she no longer felt proud to be one of the .bachelor interests, dependant upon no one. Instead of this she felt a strong desire to throw her arms about Fred’s neck and cry upon his coat. In desperation Anna finally began writing a letter. “Fred, dear,” she wrote, “it was all a horrible mistake. I want to come back to you. I’m blue and lonely—awfully, awfullv lonely. I’ve no kith nor kin —nothing in the world, and now that I’ve left you, I’ve plunged right up Into the, neck In the slough of despond. I want you—you —I don’t care about the poverty. 1 don’t care what happens just so I get you back once more. Please—” The footstep of someone entering the room attracted Anna. With a sigh, thinking it was another boarder, she rose to greet the caller. Then, with an inarticulate cry of joy, Bhe flew across the room into a man’s arms—the arms of Fred, her husband.