Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-07-19
Mr.. STEPHENS PERICARDIUM.

1lOClOI, worn IOG NOIu, anu lilc IiNiIu,
Mrs. Stephens, lay back on the sofa pill
low, the very picture of misery. The
family physician, who was called on an
average to the Stephens mansion three
hundred and sixty times a year, drew
4 chair close to the couch and waited
quietly for his patient to open her book
e complaints.
Last night you see, doctor, | had an
i'll turn, and he wanted to come for you ;
but when | got SO he dared to leave me,
he concluded that we'd better let you
sleep"
Much obliged to him. said the doc
tor with sarcastic emphasis on the per-
sonal pronoun. " Last night was the
first undisturbed nights rest [ have en-
pyed for a week"
Mrs. Stephens continued :
This spell is the same as | had the
last time you were sent for, Doctor"
A slight nervous attack" broke i'll
the physician nothing more"
Well, it don't make any difference
what you call it, it was very hard to
bear; but let me tell you what my hus-
band said first, doctor, before we 90 into
symptoms. When he was going down
to breakfast, he says to me, Kate, what
shall [ send up to you?
Says L. / don't want anything in this
world but good cup of tea. Tell
Bridget to send it up in the little tea
pot | saw, doctor, that he didn't move
after / said this, so [ turned and looked
up at him, and such Il picture of rage
and disgust | never saw in my life.
Finally, says he, tea tea tea ! it's
nothing but tea from morning till night,
Kate, says he you are the color of a
Chinaman now Why don't you order
a good beefsteak, and slice of brown
bread, and cup Of chocolate? That
would be a sensible breakfast
But john says |, you forgot that [
I'm sick and have no appetite | was
al ready to cry, but | was determined
that he should not have the satisfaction
of seeing the tears fall Forget says
he, forget, / wish | could forget. It's
nothing but grunt and grOan from one
years end to another | am out of all
patience with YOU says he. When we
lived in part of a house, and you did
your own housework, you were as well
and happy as anybody, and no man ever
had a pleasanter little home than John
Stephens but what have | now to leave
or to come back to? and this, doctor, is
what he ended up with -
Kate says he, you are nothing more
nor less than drunkard, and in the
sight of God, more culpable than most
of the men who Stagger through the
streets. because the majority of those
poor creatures have some sort of an eX-
cusc for their conduct, and you haven't
the slightest You have Il luxurious
home, a husband doing his best to make
YOU happy-everything under the light
of the sun to please you, and yet you
will persist in swilling tea Yes, doc
tor, swilling was the word he used-boo
hoo hoo! o dear me! to think
should ever have lived to have heard
such dreadful language out of my hus-
bands mouth, and then he says, and
making me as miserable a wretch as
walks the earth. I"
Pretty plain talk" interrupted the
doctor, with a shrug of his broad shout
ders
Oh, yes" sobbed the victim " and
50 awfully coarse and unllind. If | had
had spell and died there before his
very face, | don't believe he would have
cared the snap of his finger. | tell you,
getting hardened"
Evidently" replied the physician,
with 4 laconism absolutely painful.
+" But my husband has nothing in the
world to trouble him but just my poor
health; and | am sure can't help that. .
This remark was more in answer to her
companions tone and manner than the
one single word that escaped his lips,
and this the doctor felt.
" Anybody would think by the way
he goes on" continued the irate woman,
that [ enjoyed myself with spasms
and pains and fainting fits. Anybody
would think it was pleasure to me to
feel every time | see funeral process
sion as if the hearse was going to stop
1T our door next Q, yes such a life is
enjoyable, very, indeed"
DR.. Ellis took no notice of these last
words the mans eye grew luminous
and his whole face declared that he
considered himself master of the situa-
ton; and if Mrs. Stephens had not
been SO entirely taken up with her OWL
ailments, mental and physical, that
honest countenance would have be
trayed him.
You say" he began, settling him
self in the large easy chair, and assum
ing a strictly professional air, that yOul
husband has nothing to trouble him bu
your health how do YOU know thai
Mrs. Stephens?'
How? Why, how do | know any
thing? BY the evidence of my senses
Don't know that John Stephens has s
splendid business that looks after itself
4 magnificent income, and money
enough to live on the bare interest, a;
we'll as a family need to live if he new
er entered his office again while he ha:
breath?
But money isn't everything, Mrs
Stephens" proceeded the physician
with a calmness almost Mephistophlean
How about health, madam
Health y repeated the lady, with {;
smile she intended to be sarcastic to tn,
last degree, Health? DR.. Ellis. VIII,
there is not healthier or sounder MAJ
than my husband iii the United States
He eats more in one meal than | do IL
three months"
There Is nothing the matter witt
your husbands stomach, Mrs. Steph
ems" DR.. Ellis shaded his face witt
his hand, and waited further develop
ments. Mrs. Stephens mistook thi
attempt at forced concealment of emo
ton, and Immediately assuming a sit
ting posture, brushed her eyes and look
ed piercingly into her companions face
Why do you accent the word stom
ach so strongly, DIR. Ellis ~ she inquired
in anxious tones. Mrs. Stephens wa