Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1873-05-03

7
chOWder. As he was sitting at this
frugal repast his sister Phebe
fOuBced in.
Has Layiny left you, Reaben?
1t can't be-"
Mr.. Hinkle nodded his head SOL
EMMY, his mouth being not avail
able just then as an organ of speech.
The worst is her own" stOrmed
Miss Phebe, raining a shower of
hair-pins from her falling chignon.
81 guess we shant die on her ac-
count"
This reflection seemed to convey
no consolation to Sir. Hinkle.
"Yoa never felt right toward La
viny," said he, sorrOwfully. Il
don't lay this up agin her, her clear
ing out l blame it to Miss Md
dlins. She always had a dreadful
faculty for onsettling Laviny."
Miss Bhebe had a contemptuous
nose, TUNED upward at the end like
sled runner. 1t curled higher at
this remark.
Il wish you had some OF my spirit
Reusea IIinkle," said she, cOiling
her back hair with a rapid circular
motion, IS il she were winding her
self up; t'if you had you wouldn't
90 nigh Laviny for one while. She's
contrary, and depend upon it, she'll
be a great deal more apt to come
back ~ you don't tease her. III
keep hca=alf0r you, so don't you be
a mite concerned
Mr.. Hinkle groaned in answer.
AS dough is without yeast, so was
he without Laviny. "He needed
her to keep him up" he said, pa
| thetically, 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 hid
| den in its three measures of meal.
Certainly, in hep husbands pres
ence, Mrs. Hinkle had. been patient
Griselda compared to what she now
was, freed from home restraints.
She frelted and fumed in an explo-
sive manner, rising in unWonted
! fermentation in the Trip house
hold. 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 q
| fly"-w which, indeed, was quite true.
| But as he week wore on without
bringing the coveted vision of her
husband at her feet, the efferVes-
cence Of her mood was fast subsid-
ing, wien the rumor that Miss
Phebe vas welding her domestic
sceptre agitated it anew. Pretty
work itwas, to be crowded out of
/ her own home by his folks She
/ E-rnrrr Dan 1sH
| come. They had been setting him
/ against aer. What if he should
never cone2 For the first time this
/ thought intruded itself, and in her
anguish she sought relief in the
Phebe in her kitchen, solaeing Reu-
ben with delectable cookery, when
he should have been hungering in
solitude after his wife? She de-
| clared such conduct would provoke
a saint, though she did not give her
authority for this conviction. One
thing was sure. Phebe should not
have the washing of her teaspoons,
and without delay Mrs. Hinkle sent
juvenile Tripp to remove these
and other personal valuables, choos-
ing the dinner hour for the errand,
that the scenic effect might be
greater. When Mr.. Hinkle was
forced to stir his tea with a fork,
perhaps he would be in moro haste
TO coneiiate his wifel The plan
was well laid, but it failed in the
execution through the tardiness of
little Joe, who, having a WoodchucB
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 Dir. Hinklc was half
mile away at his aft rnoOn plow-
ing.
Miss Phebe sent the spoons obe-
diently, inwardly resolved that
Reuben should not know of this
proof of "Laviny's ugliness," for
she was well aware that only her
own repeated assurances that La
why would soften toward him if
left to herself, had kept him passive
thus far.
"Seem's if 1 wasn't doing the
handsome thing not to go nigh her."
he often said. Il wonder whether
or no she amt counting on my fetch
ing, her?"
III she comes of her free will she
viii be likely to stay put" Miss
Phebe would answer; 'but you try
to drive her, and you know what La
why is"
Mr.. Iinkle did know, unfortu-
nately, and, knowing, schoOled him
self 10 patient waiting.
thus the days wore on. and he
plodded through Spring werk,
cheGed little in spite of himself
| by Miss Phebe's earnest efforts at
making him comfortable, while La
vinv, mortified and then alarmed by
his lon-2ppearance, worried herself
into a course of exasperatipg sick
headaches, and in every sense shut
outthe sunlight from the house of
the Trips. In the midst of paint
scrubbing Mrs. Trips found no
leisure to devote to her complaining
sister, but left one of her children to
wait upon her. Mrs. Hinkle felt
abused. When had Reuben been
too busy to bathe her aching tenn
pies? Little Joe made her nervous
| as : witch, and one day she told him
| so, and a moment after had the sat
isfaction of hearing him say to his
mother in the kitchen that he
couldn't get along with Aunt La
Why nohow."
''Why, that was just what Reuben
had said-Reuben, VITO had never
spoken hastily to her in his life
Was she an uncomfortable person o
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 a prOof-text,
/ 2 a
ualy.
1t must have been in rhubarb time,
/ for dandeliOn greens had gone by,
when one morning little Joe rushed
in with the terrible tidings that
Uncle Reuben had fallen kerchunk
from a beam in the barn"
Mrs. Hinkle tore the bandages
from her head and started up.
where's my bonnet, Susan? I'm
going home !"
Maybe he isn't badly injured
Wait till we hear further" urged
Mrs. Tripp.
81 tell yoa Pm going home, Susan
Trippl Where's my bonnet ?" and
snatehing it by the string, Mrs.
Hinkle sprang into the wagon just
vacated by her nephew, and drove
away at a doctors pace.
Little Joe turned series of SOM
ersaults, and then lay writhing on
the grass ia q fit of uncomfortable
| giggling.
Didn't Aunt Laviny streak it?"
shouted he. "And uncle Reuben
wasn't hurt a mite, but she wouldn't
let me tell herI Tee-hee-hee ~
Yet, though no bones were broken
by the fall, il is fact that Mr.. Hin
kle found his two hundred pounds
avoirdupois considerably shaken,
and he was actually, according to
his wife's prediction, camping
down on the lounge in his boots .
when, opening his eyes, they rested