Bismarck tribune., 1880-12-24
sez he meek .ssMoses, Where. shall /


don't want none Of Hank Slater.s friends
round my house,"
WELL" queried the squire, as Nabby's
narrative came to q pause.
ssWell," said Nabby, in rather a sub
dued tone, "he went off. And he hasn't
come back. And want a divorce.
s.Now, Nabby,'' demonstrated the old
squire, s.you can't want divorce. I
know you better than that. You are
not the woman to give Josiah up, and let
him 20 to the bad without struggle.
You feel little vexed with him now, and
I don't blame you. 1t is hard, very hard.
But you know you took him 'fo1 better,
fo- worse Do you think, yourself, it is
quite right to break your part of the
contract because it proves the worst for
you-because you are the strong one and
he the weak one of the two? That
doesn't strike me as good Bible doctrine,
Nabby. We that are strong ought to
bear the infrmities Of the weak, and not
to please ourselves, you know"
"Well, dunno, SAID Nabby, twisting
the corner Of her shawl obviously. "a
hadn't thought ont in that light, I must
say. It's so aggravating to have such a
man for husband. Besides, dunno as
he'd come back if I wanted him to-
"Hasn't he been back at allp'
sWay, yes, he came back once for a
pair of pantalooons. But I didn't take
no notice of him." --''
"Now, Nabby, you may depend upon
it, it wasn't the pantaloons he was after.
He wanted to see it you would not re-
lent. If he comes again be a. little
pleasant to him, and l warrant he IL stay.
Give him another chance, Nabby. Jo-
siah ism the worst fellow in the world
by any means. He has his redeemlng
traits, after all. I believe he will do
better If you try to help him. You
know Josiah is one that bears encour-
agement, Nabby.''
"We]l, squire, I'll think it over. Any
how, I'm obliged to you. You talk so
sorter comforting to a body. Your moth
er's own son; just the same good heart.
Would you be able to eat some Of my
cheese, squire?"
'Try me and see, Nabby,'' said the
squire, smilingly, not impervious to
Nabby's compliments. Nabby made
her exit just as Mrs. Hosley
rushed in, full of wifely in
dignation that the squire had been per-
mitted to see Client
Nabby's home was over at the "Cor-
ners,' three miles from the village. She
walked rapidly along IN the fast thicken-
ing darkness, with the steady, strong gait
becoming the self-reliant woman that she
was. Yet even her unimaginatlve mind
was not proof against the depressing
influence OF the chilly, raw Novem Der
evening. The wind whistled through the
bare tree branches, which creaked and
moaned mournfully, and waved wildly
up and down in the dim branches over
head. The wind seemed to cherish a
special spite against Nabby. 1t blew
her bonnet off and her halr into the eyes,
struggled madly with her for her shawl,
took her breath away, and firmly resisted
her every step. Finally it began to send
spiteful dashes of cold rain. drops in her
face-a rain that seemed almost to freeze
as it fell.
sJosiah used to come after me with an
umbrella when was caught out in the
rain," thought Nabby. "He was always
kind and real good to me, after all: l
dunno's he ever gave me cross word in
his life, even when he'd been drinkin'.'
Here the driving sleety rain and pierc-
ing wind pounced down upon Nabby
with renewed ferceness, hustling her
madly in fendish glee.
s:An awful night to he homeless, Nab
by,' something seemed to say.
II don't care, - said Nabby to herself,
beginning to feel cross again and gene
rally i'll used, as she grew wetter and
colder. 1T serves him right. He's made
his bed, and he can lie in it,"
At the'' Corners,'' light. streaming
cheerfully out into the night from other
homes, made Nabby's little house par
ticularly gloomy and uninviting. Nabb y
fumbled under the mat for the door key,
fumbled with stifened fingers for the
key-hole, and finally succeeding in uu.
locking the door, and felt her way in
through the little entry.
There is always something ''uncanny'
about going alone at night into a dark
and shut-up house. Even people Of the
best regulated minds experience vague
suspicion Of something behind them, a
sense Of possible ghostly hands to clutch
them in the darkness. Nabby was q
woman like Mis-. Edmund Sparkler, with
'sno nonsense about her;'' but, neverthe.
less, cheerful tale she had read only
yesterday in the Chronicle, about burg.
lar and a lone woman, kept coming uE
in her head, and she carefully avoided
the blackness of the corners and the ran
try door, as she g1oped around the
kitchen for a candle. Of course tht
fire had gone out.
Two heads are better thas one if one i:
a sleeps head,' Nabby might have
been heard muttering out in the wooc
house as she stopped painfully down
picking up chips, by which oracularg ut
terance I suspect she was thinking wha
good supply of kindlings Josiat /
always kept on hand for her, and how
much more comfortable it was in the ole
times coming home to house bright
with light and warmth, and Josiah 8
welcome. .--.
For Josiah cherished the most pro
found admiration for Nabby IAN admi