“She now often treated me to perfect storms of passionate caresses and I was as wax in her band. No request could I deny her, and I found myself rapidly sinking in debt. But I should not blame her. Poor child! she knew no better. She had been left an orphan at an early age; cuffed about from place to place, her heart always full of longings which were never satisfied. When she married me she believed all that would be at an end. What one man could do for his wife another should also do for his. That this was impossible she could not understand.
“Sometimes I felt like cursing her, then overwhelmed by a rush of tenderness I would almost crush her in my embrace and again she would win the victory. But the time came when I felt the waves closing over my head, and I surely must have been mad or I would never have done what I did.”
The voice of the man broke and a suspicious moisture could be seen in his eyes. For a moment, he laid his hand over them ere he proceeded:
“I robbed my employer’s safe of ten thousand dollars. I knew I would be received with a storm of kisses and caresses which would outweigh everything else. Let come what would, for once she should be perfectly happy.
“With the stolen treasure in my pocket I hurried home, a full hour earlier than usual, in a state of delirious excitement bordering upon insanity. I found the door locked, but having my latch key with me I did not ring but quietly let myself in.
“The little parlor was deserted; so was the dining room and kitchen. The soft carpet deadened the sound of my footsteps. I went from room to room and in Robert’s room I heard voices. The door stood slightly ajar. Touching it lightly it opened several inches wider and the sight that met my eyes broke my heart. Clasped close in each other’s arms; their heads pressing the same pillow, were Robert and my wife. A quick movement opened the door wide with a creaking sound; the two heard and both started up as if electrified. Annie screamed and clapped both hands to her face. Robert’s face was a study. Hate and defiance were written in every line of it. With a sudden movement he took a revolver from his pocket and leveled it at my heart. But quick as was his action I forestalled him. With a single bound I gave his arm an upward blow sending the bullet into the ceiling and the revolver to the far end of the room.
“‘Madman!’ I cried. ‘What would you do? Have you not enough upon your conscience that you would commit murder?’
“The sullen, defiant look upon his face deepened.
“‘I hate you!’ he almost hissed. ‘You are a constant bar to my happiness.’
“Unjust as I knew this accusation to be I made no comment upon it but asked: