Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-03-06

''The worst is her own" stormed Miss
| Phebe, raining shower of hair-pins from
her falling chignon. II guess we shan't
| d on her account -
| This reflection seemed to convey no
consolation to MIR. Hinkle
'You never felt right toward Laviny,"
| said he, sorrowfullv. 81 don't lay this up
agin her, her clearing out; blame it onto
| Miss Niddlins. She always had dread
| full faculty for onsettling Laviny"
| Miss Phebe had contemptuous nose,
turned upward at the end like sled,run-
Ter. 1t curled higher at this remark.
Il wish you had some Of my spirit,
Reuben Hinkle," said she, coiling her
back hair with rapid circular motion,
as if she were winding herself up, eff YOU
had you wouldn't go nigh Laviny for one
while. She's contrary, and depend upon
1t she'll be great deal more apt to come
back if you don't tease her. I'll keep
house for you, SO don'tyo be mite con-
cerned"
Mr.. Hlnkle groaned in answer. AS
dough is without yeast, SO was he without
Laviny. "He needed her to keep him
up" he said, pathetically, and though
tortures would not have wrung from her
the confession, it was equally true that
Laviny needed him to keep her down
Some leaven is safest hidden in it's three
measures of meal. Certainly, in her hus-
bands presence, Mrs. Hinkle had been
patient Griselda compared to what she
now was, freed from home restraints.
She fretted and fumed in an explosive
manner, rising in unwonted fermentation
in the Trip household. She hated his
folks, she hated Reuben for not hating
them, she hated herself for having borne
their interference so long, and declared
she had not had the ''temper Of fly
which, indeed was quite true. But as
the week wore on without bringing
the coveted vision Of her husband
at her feet, the effervescence of her
mood was fast subsiding, when the rumor
that Miss Phebe was welding her domes-
tic sceptre agitated it anew. Pretty
work it was, to be crowded out Of her
own home by his folks! She knew now
why Reuben did not come. They had
been setting him against her. What if
he should never come? For the first time
this thought intruded itself, and in her
anguish she sought relief in the camphor
bottle. What right had Phebe in her
kitchen solacing Reuben with delectable
cookery, when he should have been hung
ering in solitude after his wife? She de-
clared such conduct would provoke
saint, though she did not give her author
ity fer this conviction. One thing was
sure, Phebe should not have the washing
of her teaspoons, and without delay Mrs.
Hinkle sent a juvenile Trip to remove
these and other personal valuables, choOs-
ing the dinner hour for the Grand, that
the scenic effect might be greater. When
Mr.. Hinkle was forced to stir his tea with
fork, perhaps he would be in more haste
| To iato Cot hn ~
laid; but 1t failed in the execution through
the hardness of little Joe, who, having a
woodchuck to attend to on the way, did not
reach his uncle's till the remains of the
dinner lay cold on the pantry shelf, and
| Mr.. Hinkie was half mile away at his
| afternoon blowing.
Miss Phebe sent the spoons obediently,
inwardly resolved that Reuben should
not know Of this proof of "Laviny's ug-
liness," for she was we'll aware that only
her own repeated assurances that Laviny
would soften toward him if left to her
self, had kept him passive thus far.
"Seem's if | wasn't doing the handsome
thing not to go nigh her" he often said. 81
wonder whether or no she amt counting
on my fetching herr"
off she comes of her free will she will
be likely to stay put" Miss Phebe would
know what Laviny is"
Mr.. Hinkle did know, unfortunately,
and, knowing, schooled himself to pa
tient waiting.
Thus the days wore on, and he plodded
through the spring work, cheered a little
ia spite of himself by Miss Phebe's earn
est efforts at making him comfortable,
while Laviny, mortified and then alarmed
by his non-appearance, worried herself
into a course of exasperating sick head
aches, and in every sense shut out the
sunlight from the house of the Trips.
II the midst of painI-scrubbing Mrs.
Trip found no leisure to devote to her
complaining sister, but left one Of her
children to wait upon her. Mrs. Hinkle
j felt abused. When had Reuben been too
busy to battle her aching temples? Little
! Joe made her nervous as witch, and one
day she told him SO, and moment after
had the satisfaction of hearing him say
to his mother in the kitchen that he
couldn't get along with Aunt Laviny
nOhoW."
Why, that was just what Reuben had
said-Reuben, who had never spoken has
tily to her in his life! Was she an un-
comfortable person to live with?
':*'Taint in the power of mortal man to
get along with you, Laviny.' The words
came back to her with the startling force
of proof-text, and haunted her after
ward continually.
1t must have been in rhubarb time, for
dandelion greens had gone by when, one
morning, little Joe rushed in with the ter
rible tidings that "Uncle Reuben had
fallen ker chunk from beam in the barn. !"
"Mrs Hinkle tore the bandages from
her head and started up.
"Where's my bonnet, Susan? Pm
going home %
Maybe he isn't badly injured. Wait
till we hear further" urged Mrs. Trip.
"Itell youTm going home, Susan Trip!
Where's my bonnet?" and snatching it by
the string, Mrs. Hipkle sprang into the
wagon just vacated by her nephew, and
drove away at doctors pace.
Little Joe turned series of somersaults,
and then lay writhing on the grass in a fit
of uncomfortable giggling.
Didn't Aunt Laviny streak it?" shout
ed he. "And Uncle Reuben wasn't hurt
a mite, but she wouldn't let me tell her!
Tee hee hee"
Yet, though no bones were broken by
the fall, it is fact that Mr. Hinkle found
his two hundred pounds avoirdupois
considerably shaken, and he was actually,
according to his wife's prediction, "eamp-
ing down on the lounge in his boots"