footstep gave forth a ringing sound from the
pavement; he felt himself stalwart, alert, his brain rejoicing in its
sense of power. It was even with no sense of guilt that he heard the
church clocks striking twelve as he reached the house where his wife had
been awaiting his return for four hours.

She was sitting up for him, as he knew by the light in the parlor
window. He could see her through the half-closed blinds as she sat by
the table, a magazine in her lap, her attitude, unknown to herself,
betraying a listless depression. After all, is a woman glad to have all
her aspirations and desires confined within four walls? She may love her
cramped quarters, to be sure, but can she always forget that they are
cramped? To what does a wife descend after the bright dreams of her
girlhood! Does she really like above all things to be absorbed in the
daily consumption of butter, and the children's clothes, or is she
absorbed in these things because the man who was to have widened the
horizon of her life only limits it by his own decadence?

She rose to meet her husband as she heard his key in the lock. She had
exchanged her evening gown for a loose, trailing white wrapper, and her
fair hair was arranged for the night in a long braid. Her husband had a
smile on his face.

"You look like a girl again," he said brightly, as he stooped and kissed
her. "No, don't turn out the light, come in and sit down a while longer,
I've ever so much to tell you. You can't guess where I've been this
evening."

"At the political meeting," she said promptly.

"How on earth did you know?"

"The doctor came here to see Willy, and he told me he saw you on the
way. I'm glad you did go, William; I was worrying because I had sent you
out; I did not realize until later what a night it was."

"Well, I am very glad that you did send me," said her husband. He lay
back in his chair, flushed and smiling at the recollection. "You ought
to have been there, too; you would have liked it. What will you say if I
tell you that I made a speech--yes, it is quite true--and was applauded
to the echo. This town has just waked up to the fact that I live in it.
And Henry said--but there, I'll have to tell you the whole thing, or you
can't appreciate it."

His wife leaned on the arm of his chair, watching his animated face
fondly, as he recounted the adventures of the night. He pictured the
scene vividly, and with a strong sense of humor.

"And you don't say tha