River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-04-10

marked Maj Flint at the tea table.
Then you have decided upon it3'
'Yes, madam, believe l ammo uneed
the fact to you some days ago"
II thought it possible my objections
might have weighed with you and III
duced you toschange your ilind."
81 never change my mind" said her
husband loftily.
"But | warn you that | have little
experience as cook"
"You can learR, madam"
perhaps May not cook to suit your
taste9'
THAT Is my affair." he observed,
stiffly.
Had he been aware of the plot forming
in the lady's fertile brain, he might rot
have felt so confident in regard to the
quality of his bread and butter; but as it
was, he retired for the night all uncpn-
scious of the discipline TO be melted cut
him.
So the following morning Mrs. Burns
received her wages and was sent off.
At ten o'clock the marketing was
brought home.
AT the usual dinner hour, Mai FLINT
maze ms appearance
The table was laid with more than its
usual neatness.
Mr. Flint congratulated himself on
this fact as a personal triumph on his
part.
But he hardly felt 60 complacent vixen
the dinner came up.
The beef was terribly overdone; the
vegetables, on the contrary, We're not
half cooked. In short, there was nothing
fit to eat on the table. This Mai. Flint
angrily remarked.
81 dare say" said his wife, placidly,
II am not a very good cook"
With his appetite only half satisfied, he
was obliged to rise from the table.
The following morning breakfast was
DELAYED more than half an hour, aud,
when it was ready, scarcely eatable.
Mr.. Flint was quite out of humor; but in
reply to his indignant circumstances his
wife coolly remarked:
"Ycu know, Mr. Flint, | warned YOU
that | might not cook to please your
taste
And 50 matters deteriorated rather
than improved. The tea and coffee as
prepared by his wife, were quite nSu.
seating to him, while the bread was not
only sour but hard and clammy, reqnir-
| ing considerable effort 10 masucate il.
And what rendered it all the more eXas-
perating was that, no matter how inferior
In quality or distasteful to himself, his
wife professed her inability to discover
any fault in what was prepared for the
table, protesting that il was in perfect
accord with her own taste.
The following day Dir. Flint seated
| himself at the dinner-table. his Helnd
| filled with various emotions. Ho was
growing thin, he felt sure; not good,
square meal had he eaten in three days.
| This woman will be the death OF me
sure as ate" he said 10 himself, gazing
at the food placed before him.
Here was the rich, juicy steak that he
himself had selected and sent iroGi the
market, after all his instructions as to now
| il should be brsiled, shockingly oveTlone
in fact, almost burned to a crisp, his
wife meanwhile partaking of it with evil
dent relish.
"What taste this woman must have =
he said with Mortified eyes.
! II have made you an extra cup OF tea
to-day" said the lady opposite, handing
| him tae cup " III his dessert.
Hitherto Mr.. Flint mai been very par
ticular in regard to his cup Of tea al
dessert, insisting that it should be brought
to the table both strong anc hot. Had
the tea been prepared TO his tasfe, il
would have soothed somewhat the giot-
Gus emotions within; on the contrary, il
was miserably weak-quito lukewarm
and bracldsh.
He took one sip at the tea, and then
set the cup down forcibly on the table,
bis face expressing the disgust he really
felt
Madam glanced up at him from under
her long eyelashes, slipping from her cup
industripusly, that her facial muscles
might not betray the amusement she felt,
81 knew you would pronounce the tea
excellent this time" she said.
This was too much. His rage, his dis
gust irly boiled over.
"Tea, madam teav' he roared. "i;uGh
abominable stuff tea, is itl Excellent ID iti
excellentw
ut is excellent" said madam sweatly
taking him at his word, and ignoriDg the
exclamation point utterly. MAMMA
taught me to make tea when / was zen
years Of age,-"
Mai. Flint had stood fire for three
whole days, but flesh and blood couid en-.
dure it no longer. Not waiting 10 hear
more, he bounded to his feet asd rushed
into the hall. Here he seized his hat ia
both hands, jsmmed it down over bis
eyes and started for the street Thea, rs
If forgetfuI Of something, be retraced his
steps, and, thrusting his head through
the partially -opened door, almost shouted:
SIN Heavens name, madam, can you
tell me where Mrs. ~ rns went whea she
left beTeF"
II tbink." said madam. ehberstely.
aif my memory serves me rightly, i*eard
her speak ofstoppiDg with her httic girl
at MTs. Marsh's TIL she should secure 3
situation"
II thought the tea would f1.sb lm, p,
said Mrs. Flint, amusedly, watching from
the window her husbands retreating
form, the click Of hls boot-heels rigging
ike q DELL as he brought bis feet y&g0r~
usly down On the pavement, the small
boys eyeing him askance, aud baste0iug
out Of his way, while wondering if be WIS
racing for wager.
It's perhaps needless 10 say that before
the evening closed Mrs. Burns was agsin
installed in her old rooms At the Flint
mansion
@It il useless, said the Majer. mfalrn-
fully, that evenins,in the solitude II bis
apartment Il might 81 wei. attempt 70
move the huge powders On Yelsder
mountain top as 10 contend witb bsat
women, wife number two"
Ana be never did. For, wheneyes hjs
wife appealed 70 hiIn il regard u the
children or the domestic arrangements,
be would answer meekly:
s'My dear, do as you think best
An6 Mrs. Flint owed her SUCCESS 20 the
fact that she never treached upe. Der
husbands real prerogsnves but respect-
ed them az she claimed respect for her
Own.
And 50 that is bow she managed him.
N. y. Weekgg.