The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1875-10-22

betray surprise or dissatisfaction, she
gradually grew more at ease.
"Where is Uncle Willard ?i al
'sHe's off huntin'. He'll be in be-
fore long. We have to keep six or
seven men to help herd the cattle, and
they all come in to dinner at one
o'clock"
Chow old is your baby ?''
''Three weeks"
"And you're doing all this work =?
Why don't Uncle stay in the house, or
hire somebody to help You?"
"He'd rather hunt. Then he reads
when he is in the house, and 1 have to
keep the children away from him. He's
either tired of his slave, or he thinks
she can't die"
A few years. experience had evidently
taught her a startling truth. Florence
wondered that she had never pitied the
poor, uncultivated creature before. And
the disgust they had all felt for the
woman when entering the house, gave
way to commiseration. Florence and
Effie helped her to prepare the dinner.
There was not food enough ready for SO
many, so Florence made biscuits, and
Efie pared apples and potatoes, while
Mrs. Willard pounded a fresh supply of
steak.
"Yonder comes the men, said she,
turning to the baby, who was beginning
to cry. ...- ....
At Florence's request she sat down
with the baby, while she and Effie pro-
ceeded to lay the table-cloth and take
up the huge dishes of bread, beef, ap-
ple-sauce and vegetables.
Gustavus Willard appeared glad to
see them. He had been invited to the
wedding, but could not leave his possess
sions to go on a pleasure excursion.
They all remarked that, affable as he
was with them, he did not once deign to
notice his children, and the only words
addressed to his wife were, "I should
think you'd do the work yourself, in
stead of compelling visitors to prepare
their own dinners" &
Florence wondered more than ever
that she had not thought of the unen-
viable position of her uncle's wife while
living with them. Mrs. Willard did
net reply, and she answered with spirit:
III should think you'd do the work
yourself, instead of compelling your
wife to do it, when she ought to be in
bed.n
''That's what keep her for" he re-
piled, evidently intending to originate
witty remark.
"You'll not keep her long at this rate;
mind it, uncle"
''The little work that she accom-
plishes isn't going to hurt her." he an
swered, impatientIy.
Florence said no more, intending to
give him lecture upon the following
morning, when they would be ready to
return home.
A light beamed in the ignorant wom-
ans eyes that since her marriage they
had seldom emitted.
When the time for their departure
came she burst into tears, and told her
friends that life had been such a burden
before they came that she had wished
herself dead, and now she would feel
worse than ever.
Hubert asked Mr.. Willard to accom-
pany them for few miles, as they
would like to see his valley land.
With feeling of pride he piloted the
quartette around his handsome prairie
grounds.
"Why don't you Iive here? You are
amply able to move into the valley and
fit up in STYLE"
''Mr. Munson, you know my wife,
and you know her to be coarse, ig-
norant woman, and If shonld move out
of the mountains and begin to live like
a white man, the sight of her would be
insupportable."
"You have come to the wrong man to
get sympathy, Mr.. Willard. Though
you did wrong to marry that child, even
If you had gained a Kingdom by the al
lance, you do still worse to keep her
living as you do. She has soul to
save and heart with which to love.
Do you ever tell her that you love her
in return for ali the toll and pain she
endures for you ?n
'pm not in the habit of uttering
falsehoods."
"Do you ever treat her as an equal ?"
"Why do you ask ?"
81 have noticed that you consider
yourself superior being, and regard
her as slave. Pardon my plainness,
but as you have made known your case
to me, must tell you of the exact loca-
ton of the malady before prescribe. I
believe she would outweigh you now in
the scale of worth. If she were squaw
or a negress 1 would pity her more
than you"
'That is broad and bold assertion"
"And a true one. She works like a
slave that you may live in comparative
Iidleness; she bears you numerous chill
dren; she studies your most trivial
wants, and loves you with an unrequited
affection. Now, tell me, would you
have taken a refined and intelligent
girl into those mountains and kept her