This was charming, Joe thought.
He had not been so happy for months.
It often happens that the skies are clearest just before the worst of storms.
Joe saw no cloud on the horizon.
All the same it was there, and ready to blot out the sunshine like magic.
It came about in a peculiar way.
Lillian had settled down to read a book she was interested in, and Joe had his paper.
While he read he mechanically fingered the lighter with the charred end, and untwisted it.
Finally he looked over his paper at his wife and mused.
How good she was to make his penance so light and how happy he ought to be in the possession of such a dear little woman.