ll be so
lonesome for me without you, dear; but, Ben, make your pile quick and
come home."

Ben West did not express all he felt in having to go back to the
Klondike, but he had such a pretty, handsome woman for a wife, who
pleased him so much and he was so proud of her, and he loved her
admiration and approval of himself as much as he did his life. So he
decided to return to the Klondike in a month's time. That would give
him, in all, three months of honeymoon. Then he would leave for the cold
regions of the Klondike.

The last week Ben West was with his wife she seemed at times so sad
about his leaving, and would pet him and make so much of him, that she
became doubly dear to him. He said, "This is bliss, indeed."

At last the sad day for his parting came. They did the best they could
by cheering each other up, with the expectation of Ben's quick return
and coming back as a millionaire.

Now, when a handsome young bride is left with an eighty-thousand-dollar
house and twenty thousand dollars worth of furniture, three servants, a
carriage and a handsome span of horses, two bicycles and an automobile,
with a good fat bank account to draw on, she is not going to spend many
sad days in the house alone, longing for the return of her husband. Nor
will she be contented to remain at home and become fascinated in reading
Milton's "Paradise Lost" or Moody's sermons. No. She is going to have
company, and gay companions, and they will not be all of her own sex
either. About a month after Ben West had returned to the Klondike, Julia
had made new acquaintances of persons who had time, money, and elegant
leisure. Returning home from a swell party one evening, Julia said to
herself, "What freedom there is in being married. Your market is made,
and you can have lots of fun dancing, flirting, and so on; while a girl
that is unmarried has to be more careful of herself and her conduct,
because it might hinder her making a desirable match. It is fine to be
married to a good-natured man."

CHAPTER XIV.

FIVE YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE.

It was one of those lovely days in March when nature is decorated in her
best; for each day she adds to her wreath of glory new beauties in the
form of buds and flowers. The trees in the orchard were a sight to
behold in their beautiful and variegated colors. The soft, balmy air
coming up the canyon was full of the perfume of flowers. The birds were
warbling their sweetest notes in the mulberry a