All Hell Breaks Loose When the Man and His Wife Have Gone to Bed The following morning, about eight o'clock, the man and his wife rise, eat their breakfast, and prepare to go out. The wife says, "It is nearly time to begin my work in the shop." "Not yet," says the husband. "It will not be proper for you to be alone in the house this morning. One of my friends is coming at noon, and you can stay and entertain him. I have to go to my club for the day; I must have some business attended to. I shall return about five o'clock, and then you must prepare yourself to receive our visitor." "Very well," says the wife. About three o'clock, two young men knock at the door. When the husband answers the bell, one of them walks into the house and enters the kitchen, while the other takes a seat in the front room. The husband invites them to be seated and inquires what they would like for dinner. When they say that they want roast meat and potatoes, the husband says, "That will not take long. May I inquire what brought you to this house this morning?" The young man replies, "We were at the theatre and came around here on our way home. Your wife is very pretty. We have been trying to get a chance to talk with her; but, of course, we could not very well do so in the theater." The husband says: "You have come to the right place. Come into the house. We shall be pleased to talk with you." The young man and his companion make their way into the house, and soon a general conversation takes place. While they are sitting at the table, a knock at the door is heard. One of the visitors rises and answers it, and his wife enters. When she comes in, her husband asks, "Who is this stranger?" "That is the wife of my friend, who has just gone out." "May we not entertain her?" she asks. "Certainly," he replies, "you may entertain the lady, and I shall be obliged to you if you will explain to her the circumstances under which you came here." The husband introduces the lady to his guests. She says, "I came here for a good time. I want to get some pleasure out of life. My husband is hard to please, and I have hard work to please him." The husband says to his friends, "I wish you would tell her that if she will leave me and go with you, I will give her enough money to last her till she is sixty-five. If she will go with you this afternoon, I will give her a thousand dollars. If she will do as I say, come back with us in about half an hour." They agree to his proposition and go out with him. When they return, the man says, "Go and pack up your clothing and leave a good warm bed, because you are going away. The boat sails at nine o'clock." "But," asks the woman, "what is the use of my going with you, after your telling me that you will give me $1,500 if I will leave you and stay with you?" He answers, "Because I do not want you to stay with me. I never loved you, and I have only married you for the sake of my name. I shall be glad when you are gone; I shall be very happy, and after that time I can marry one of my own people." He then tells the woman's husband that it will not do for him to know where they go, and bids them a temporary farewell. The lady soon becomes very much attached to the young men, and, without saying any thing more to her husband, she joins him and his friends in their boat. After the boat has sailed she sends her husband word that she is well and intends to remain on the boat until the last one leaves. She comes back home soon after this, and her husband says nothing to her about her conduct, but he is satisfied to keep a silent knowledge of her infidelity. The young men return after a lapse of about a month, and the wife inquires, "How is my husband?" "He is well," they reply, "but we have sent a ship to Cuba with a view of making arrangements with the queen to sail her into this country, and we want your husband to be our pilot." The husband says, "Very well, I will do as you wish; I will sail the ship into New York, and I shall get as much as $2,000 for doing so." They ask him what his wife's conduct was on the last occasion that he was in the house. He says, "She was faithful to me till your ship arrived. I left her, of course, under compulsion. I only went there because of the influence which these young men had over me. Now, however, I can't stand it. You must go away, for I want to be alone." They then leave the house. After two or three days, the husband receives an anonymous letter stating that his wife and her lover have gone to Cuba to be married. He then goes to the harbor to see if he can get any thing out of them. He finds them making arrangements with the queen to come back to the United States. He then goes to the boat and says to the captain, "What wages do you pay your captain?" "Only ten dollars per month." "Why, that is nothing at all. Come home with me, and I will give you $2,000, and pay your captain a hundred and fifty." The captain promises to sail home in a short time, and the husband returns to his house and gives a full account of the proceedings to his wife. She assures him that she is innocent, and says, "I know nothing of any young man. My only explanation can be this: Last evening my husband was out, and I was taking my evening's walk. When I arrived home it was very late, and I sat down to rest awhile before lying down to rest. While I was sitting down, a sailor came to me and said, 'What is your name? Can I do anything for you? Are you cold?' I said 'Yes,' and he said, 'Won't you come with me? It will take only one minute to take you in here, and you shall lie down comfortably.' He brought me into a dark alley, and made me lie down on a sailor's mat, gave me a blanket, spread it over me, and then went out. I lay there a few moments, and then thought that perhaps some one might come out of the house and see me. I concluded to go back; but just as I reached the corner of the street, I heard voices, and soon two men met me. They asked me if I wanted any thing. I said 'No.' They asked me my name, and I told them 'Mary.' I said to them, 'I am afraid to go with you. What is your name?' They said, 'I am a sailor, and my name is Peter.'" The three men then enter the house. Peter says, "This is my wife. I live here. I don't know what to do with her." The young man says to the husband, "I did not know it was your wife until I came here, and then I found out that I had made a mistake. I will refund your wife her money if you will help us to get on board." He also states that he will give $2,000 to the husband if he will not interfere with them in their voyage. At first the husband wants to know if the wife really does not know any thing about their plans. He then offers to send for the sailors, and says, "If the woman tells you the truth, give her her property. I will give her $1,000. I can tell the woman that the men are here, and that they will not go away until they have left something for her. If she wishes to go with you, she can take any thing she wants. Give her as much money as she will take from my house, so that she may have money to travel with." The sailors agree that the man's wife shall go with them, and the husband gives her a roll of bills to carry away with her. The sailors leave the house, and the husband thinks that it is safe to return to his home. As soon as he enters the house he finds his wife preparing to go out. "Whom do you want to go with?" he asks. "I want to go with my husband," she replies. "Very well," he says, "go with him. I am sorry you went with them; they have robbed me of a thousand dollars." The lady says to her husband, "You promised to bring me back here, and when you found me gone you said you were sorry, and when I asked what I should do, you told me to go with him, that he would protect me from you. You made me promises, and I came here. I have now become satisfied of your want of confidence. There are other places besides this in the city, and you can go back to the old lady who took you away from your former wife." "I don't care what you say, I shall go back and try to get my wife again. I will not be robbed again. They took me in for less than half a dozen hours, but they made me promise to bring them back here, and have their time with me. They went away and