The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-04-24
HOW A WIFE WAS PAOIFIED.

his third glass OF grog, ana stlrreu IN
multiplicity of spices before drinking it
after the manner of sailors when they can
get it. why on earth did you pay so
much for shawl, when you could buy
one SO much cheapere Nine hundred dol
lars-by the blood of a shark-it would
buy house."
That was his oath-'by the blood OF a
shark :" he never swore any other; and the
most abusive epithet he could apply to a
man-one that to him embodied the quint-
essence of meanness-wss to call him "a
shark"
II will tell you, captain" said L; "but,
then, you must acknowledge that the shawl
is beauty-if 1t did cost small fortune
to n poor man. Last year, when l came
home with = cargo of ten from China, 1
left my ship in good hands and hurried to
my home in the little village of Twice
aweek 1--WE called it that because our mails
came twice n week., where all my hopes
and affections were invested in a wife and
two children. was in joyous spirits, and
as happy as u man ever stepped on terra
firma. My handsome wife was well and
young as ever, my boy as much like me as
when left him many months before, and
my gentle six-yearold Nellie lovelier than
I had ever dreamed sho could be. My
welcome was all could have wished; and
o! what bright days those were that fol
lowed my Immediate arrival.
The third day my boxes were brought
out Now the opening of a sailors boxes
is always q momentOus affair to his family,
and / had brought mine all the presents
could possibly procure for them. Two
pieces of silk for dresses for my wife, beau.
tiful Chinese takle linen, carved lchessmen,
and so on. saw look of disappoint.
ment on my wifc's face, but said nothing,
and the matter passed of.
my old friends came To see me-my
wife gave me my favOrite dishes-and the
week so happily spent was gone before
knew it. Sunday morning came, bright
and beautiful. To my surprise, my wife
came to breakfast with rumpled hair, and
looking decidedly cross; after a while she
declared she would not 60 to church,
though she was regular as the sexton, for
she had nothing fit to wear. l thought ii
very odd, but said nothing, having long
slnce found out that arguing with wo-
man it about as effectual as dipping the
ocean dry with teaspoon.
"When Nellie and / got back there stood
NV wife, her hair still uncOmbcd, and
ready to scold the child for muddying her
shoes, her blue Chinese boots with the
little bronze bird on the side of them !
interfered, with a good deal of firmness
and went into dinner. Nothing on the
table was cooked decently. And 50 it was
all the next week my coffee was thick
and muddy, my meat done to a crust, and
/ we'll knew the demon of mischief was
sbous to be let loose, but why could no,
guess
I'm the meanwhile my wife's sister, who
had been kind of ships cousin quartered
upon me ever since my marriage, looked
as demure as a Connecticut deacon, and
gave me no hint what it was all about Or
the next Saturday afternoon was sitting
with nv wife and children when there
mate William Bendoin and his wife, sh,
| in all the splendOr of a new rig. He hat
returned the week before me from Calut
tn, and we were the only seafaring men o
the place, and our wives were neighbor
and had always been professedly grea
friends.
Il was delighted to see them, ant
thought at the time that my wife was yer,
cool, though so exceedingly polite. sool
forgot all about her manner, though, IL
the pleasure OF talking over old times, ant
they made long and to me very pleas
ant call.
AS soon as they left my wife went up L
her room, and saw no more of her tha
down word she had a headache, and want
ed none The next day things were N,
brighter than before, and when the frs
church bell rang my wife burst into
flood of tears and set off for her chamber
I followed her. and there she lay ON tn
bed in regular Mysteries. When she cam
to herself little, / asked:
q" Why, what ON earth is the matter.'
"She looked me full in the face, an,
said:
~.Ifvou don't knew, Thomas Wilcox
you ought tor
"I wilted under her looks like a bo
caught stealing marbles. The truth is,
thought some villain had been tellin
tales out of school; but, for the life of M,
ID could not conceive who it could be-
by this time nay wife was in anothe
1T, worse than the first. / eonjured up a
1.-THE recollections of my voyage-and the
were not half SO pleasant as l could hav
wished them-but, finding could not n
store her, ran down stairs TO make som
mulled wine. When l reached the kitcl
en-, there was my wife's sister. with Ii,
Idemure face, which helped to irritate N
still more. I called for wine and spice
and, while / was heating it, she begal
She wished to gracious her sister kne
how to treat husband as he deserved
be treated; that If she was a wife, sh
would know to prize a man who did ever,
thing man could do to please her.
II was i'm no humor to hear my wi
abused-my conscience at the time NAL
ing kind of coward of me-so bur
out upon her in a rage, told her she was
snake in the grass, and would rath'
nave her sister than "a thousand such
she was; and if there is any trouble b
tween Mollie and me, why, knew who
thank for il.
'She lifted up her eyes and hands abo,
/ her head, and said that all men were fool
. | but was the greatest of them all.
This brought on spirited altercatio
in which spoke my mind pretty frcel
As soon as the wine was heated / decante
. il into tumbler. Ny sister-in-law recon
! mended hot vinegar, but told her woul
leave that for her.
ION my way up stairs l thought hear
} my wife's footsteps in her chamber, bl
when entered she was lying on the be-
Ino difficulty in persuading her to drink Ii
wine. She caught hold ofmy hand an
Ept sobbing. She did not deserve such
husband, she said. was TO good for hi
and she was not worth all the kindness
gave her.
II felt encouraged, and kissing h,
tapain, begged her to tell me what was Ii
matter At this she began crying and so
bing again, and said she could not tell N
for would hate her, and she deserved
be hated etc.
The more she decried herself the mol
penitent become, and, in fact, was on th
point of making a clean breast of il an
asking her forgiveness; but luckily / di
not, for in little while she told me th
terrible bugbear. Firstmate Bendoin ha
brought home to his wife n cashmeI
:hswl, while / had only brought her sill
tdress.->