The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-02-02
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XII
"Another family has come to Idaho
Flat to live, and now you'll have com
pany," said John Smith, one day, as he
came staggering into the cabin and de-
posted his rickety form upon Aunt
Judy's customary seat, leaving the good
woman to balance her weight as best
she might upon the rheumatic foot that
was less ailing than the other.
"a wife and children, did you mean,
John ?n asked Edna, with show Of in
terest.
"a family generally means wife and
children in my dictionary9' answered
John.
'I wish the woman part Of The family
joyg' said Edna, with a sneer.
'None o. your insinuations, Edna ~
exclaimed her husband. "Pll have you
know that your lawful husband is to be
treated with respect in his own house !"
he added, dropping his chin upon his
bosom and falling into a drunken sleep,
while his mouth fell open and his tongue
protruded, and a crystal drop depended
from the end of his nose, and two or
three stray beads of the same clear con-
sistency trickled down his rum-fiushed
face.
"Treated with respect in his own
house g' cried Edna, in scorn. "This
house, shabby as it is, belongs Temporal
rily to us only because of your industry
and mine, Aunt Judy. And yet he
taunts us with treating him disrespect-
july in it, and lays claim to the virtue
of possession and olCner8hip"'
'In the eyes of mems law he is right,
Edna"
'What do Tcare for mems law, aun-
tie?"
''The law does not care what your
cares may be, child. You are living
under a government made by men and
for men, and you must either obey those
laws and take what comes, or break
them and risk the consequences"
'Then I'll break them, auntie."
"Stop, child; you don't know what
you are saying. Your husband never
maltreats you; that is, I mean, he never
whips or abuses your person, however
much be may choose to bruise your
spirit. There is no law upon the stat
utes of this formative Territory to pro-
tect you from even an overt act of vio-
lence, provided your husband does not
chastise you with a stick thicker thar
his thumb"
"You have missed your vocation
auntie. You should have been a law
yer. Where did you get your informa
tion?"
"From Johns law books. They con
stitute the only class of literature VIZ
have out here, except the Bible, anC
Pm getting disgusted with that"
"Why, pray? ?"
because woman is cursed within it
pages for seeking after knowledge. Tht
motive that possessed our maternal an
cestor was a worthy one. She saw tha
the tree was good for food, and to be de
sired to make one wise; hence her de
termination to Fartake of its fruit"
"What in the name of common sens
are you driving at, auntie ?''
AUST what I'm saying, cliI. Tn
Bible says, THY desire shall be to tn
husband, and he shall rule over thee
One look at John Smith in counectio
with that command destroys al my re
spect for the Book"
"The conditions of penalty impose
upon man for the same traHsgressio
were just as arduous as that, aunt,
Man was commanded, or, rather, it ws
foretold that he should eat tie herb
the field; that thorns and thistIes shouI
be brought forth to him, aud that J.
should till the ground in the sweat
his face"
"But comparatively few men Ole
their curse, Edna"
Because, being the arbiters Of the
own destiny, they are enabled to CO..
quer the conditions it imposes.
Heaven had decreed these unhappy al
insurmountable conditions, no ma
would ever have been able to rise abo'
them"
"Then you don't believe in the justi
or infallibility of the text any mo
than l."
"Tm sure, auntie, that l look upC
mans curse, and woman's also, as sin
ply the remarkable foretelling, aws
back in the dawn of the Jewish era,
the very conditions that exist and ha,
existed through the succeeding age
Originally man was only a tiller of Il
soil. In the sweat of his face he ate 1
bread. The thorn and thistle, which
was predicted should grow for him,
has looked upon as his enemy
legitimate prey. Woman, upon t
other hand, has accepted the eonditio