The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-07-13

gorge and hung pail of gloom over the
wagon where Mrs. Marblehead lay
weeping.
"What q beautiful land we have
reached, /" she thought, ''and how happy
we all might be, if we would only make
the best of life as we find it. The Major
always acts as though his family abuses
him, and I verify believe he faneies that
I have injured him all along by being
his wife, And yet, as look back
through the departed years, and glance
! from what 1 once was to what 1 now
am, L wonder which has seen the rough
side of married life-he or 1? The in
terest upon money has always supplied
his needS-he never had any aOdnts-
and the labor of these worn hands has
provided for the wants of his family.
Now, I'm sick and worn out, and Mar
tha's cross and discOntented, and all the
beauties of this land of promise are be-
ing wasted upon us. I do believe it's
the Majors fault m
Mrs. Marblehead was startled at her
own temerity. To even fancy that her
husband could err, was to her mind a
misdemeanOr, and to express thought
not complimentary to him, even to her.
self, was treachery.
"Ain't you going to get up and eat
some breakfast, old woman ?" asked the
Major, gruff1y.
Mrs. Marblehead wondered why her
thoughts reverted constantly of late to
the old days of her wOoing; yet she
could not help thinking painfully of the
time when, had the man for whom, and
in whose service she had spent her life,
but presumed to speak harshly to her,
she would have banished him from her
presence forever. But that was long
ago; before the law of man, or any other
than the law of love and trust, had
bound her. Now, and for thirty years,
she was and had been powerless.
'If there's anything do detest above
everything else that's human, it's a
driveIing invalid ~ said Martha, gath
ering her cue from her fathers words
and manner.
Possibly Mrs. Marblehead was touched
little by a temporary Outburst of tenn
per, probably she was stung into resent
ment by natural quality that men call
self-defense; but she rose from her bed
in the covered wagon, and refusing to
touch a mOrsel of food, nerved herself to
perform the remaining camp drudgery
in a spiteful way, only giving up when
sheer exhaustion compelled it.
The teams were by this time ready
for an onward move, which was contin-
wales, when the party overlook another
company which had been encamped for
several days, that their cattle might
luxuriate in the rich pasturage that
everywhere abOunded.
Major Marblehead halted his teams
for few words of friendly greeting.
Suddenly shrill cry of distress rent
the air.
"Father! for Gods sake come! Mother
has tainted !" cried Martha.
Back in the wagon, among the disor,
dered paraphernalia of their nomadiC
economy, lay Mrs. Marblehead, asleeI
to all appearance, yet her limbs were
rigid, and there was nothing to Civ,
sign of life except a nervous twitchinl
of the clear-veined eyelids. Exhausted
, nature was demanding rest, as any on,
might have seen had they but exercised
their ordinary senses.
} The Major was badly frightened H
b ad often seen his wife temporarily i'll
and had as often coldly begrudged tn
meager pittance paid to "help" Will
1 she was helpless, but her illness had al
= ways before been the result of periodi
: cOnfnements, of which she had endure,
e dozen, only six of her children remain
t ing in the earth life as witnesses of ma
o ternal agony; and as the Major locke
f upon these periodic ailments as specia
. judgments upon womankind because {
o the transgression of mother Eve, he
y disorders had never worried him save
q the matter of expense. But here was
e new dilemma. He possessed a smattel
y ing of the science of medicine, if scienc
it can be called, which has little of er
It lightened science in it. Blisters of cal
+ tharides were applied to various parts
II the attenuated body, and the wOmeI
b from the camps thus providentiall
3. Overtaken, chafed the rigid limbs an
d applied pungent anasthetics till the poo
It body, that needed, worst of all, uncoI
scious rest, even though that rest shoul
r land her in eternity, was tortured int
r returning animation.
ir "Rsise me up. Lift the wagon cove
lie Let me see the world, and the glories
n it," she whispered.
70 The wish was complied with.
G. "Call Martha and the boys"
Y; Soon all were sobbing around IL
g. wagon. The Majors faith in his reli
lr ion so nearly forsook him for the nom
le that he scarcely felt it worth his viii
B. to pray.
'Ive had vision,p she said, "ar
it Pm going away tomorrow to beaut
D. full country, so much more beautif
a than anv vou have seen that do N