Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-12-26
Her BESETTlRG SIN.

vicious and acknowledgement g. yenal
sin, but one Of those sins against the
peace and comfort of home which, when
allowed to become habit, renders not
only the principal ridiculous, but rem
ders other people uncomfortable. Mrs.
Sawtelle's besetting sin was mirrorel
II the speech delivered daily, and al
most hourly, II told you SO: o, [ knew
II would be soi' When her husband
needed comfort-when he had been ae.
trayed-when accident had befailen
him--no matter what the Occasion-no
matter what the circumstance, from her
he only received the inevitable 81 told
yea so; 0, l knewit would be SOP And
then she was wont to blame him for his
stupidity, for his stubb0rnness ID not
having listened TO her.
Polly, wOald you believe IT, Jack
has sold the Jersey stOek-the whole of
1t, twenty-five head. and has used the
money IN paying his debts, and I
can't"
Il told you So" interrupted his wife,
Polly, without allowing him to finish.
81 knew it would be so; now see what
yQa'd ave saved ii you'd only listened
to ne. SFnn;A ~
Poor Sam SawteIiei It was of his
wife's own brother, Jack Gordon, that
he spoke, and he had gone IN with him.
and advanced one-half the purchase
money toward the obtaining of a mag
nifcent stock OF pure Jersey COWS
twenty COWS and two prize bulls-and
he Lad done this st his wife's own ur-
gent request. She had let him have no
peace until he had done It. He had
feared Jack from the tirst-had disrust-
ed him-and now the treacherous part
her had gone and sold the whole herd to
a heavy cattle dealer, had taken cash In
hand, and had spent, put away, beyond
reach OF any other party, every dollar of
it very nearly 81, 900 he had obtainedA.
and that VAS far less than the stock was
worth under the hammer.
" [ told you sol knew Just how 1t
would be. Sam Sayte1le, you're
fool! !"
What could be say? He oould not
tell his wife she lied-he had too mach
heart. He could only bow hishead and
suffer. As for argument and repycof !!
Mercy It wOUld have been Ike ct
tempting to sweep ginpowder into q
heap with broom of living fire.
But the time came when Sam had All
opportunity to give his wife lessen. He
had recently purchased anew patent hay
cutter for the work OF chopping feed for
his horses and cattle. Il was ponder
Gus machine arranged to run by foot
power, or by hand, with an iron balance
wheel, weighing very nearly half . ton,
ana large revolving knives. Il WIS q
grand thing-it did its work perfectly,
and could do vast amount Of IL Even
his wife was willing to acknowledge that
it was a great improvement On the old
cutter. The truth was, she was proud
because none of the neighbors had such
q one.
Well-one evening Sam and his wife
had company. Twenty to thirty couples
had come up from the village and there
were, besides, nearly al the neighbors-
fully sixty guests. all told
Supper had been eaten IL the great,
old-fashioned kitchen, aaid the company
had adjourned to the large, double draw
lng-room called =" the parlor ;" and lull
had Just followed the old clergyman's re-
atal Of circumstance of his boyish re-
membrance when Sam-the host-came
In, wild-eyed and fustered-his breast
heaying and falling seemingly laboring
for breath. His wife was frightened.
Sam p she cried, with a vigorous
effort, whats the matter with your"
go, Polly, you wouldn't believe it Z"
What Is it? Don't set there SILVER
in like toad nnder harrer What is
it? Out with it -
Polly my new hay-cutter. The
old brindle cow has got at it, and made
a clean sweep of it-swallowed it, knives,
balance wheel and all o, I'd rather -
go, Sam Sawtelle, didn't I tell you
so? 1 knew 'twould be so if you left it
layin' round as ye always do everything
knew it! knew It Eff you'd only
listened Eh?"
By this time she had detected the
broad grin which her husband could no
longer keep back. And then somebody
snickered-then a giggle.
"Eh ?-the-the-old brindle the
hay-cutter l-swallered o, Sam Saw
telle !"
And then the roar burst forth, in the
midst of which Sam wickedly cried:
go, Polly You told me sol You
knew it ! If I'd only listened to you
o, Polly what keen-eyed woman you
are. And now," he mercilessly con-
tinued with grin that was wickedness
ssnmered down and crystallized, "per-
haps you'll be SO good as to tell these
good people what you told mellow you
knew. Come, Polly-you told me so
You knew it would be so! Do let us
know when and how"
It was dreadful; and Polly Sawtelle
declared in her heart that she would
make her husband smart for that. But
the man who had found courage to in
itiate the movement had braced himself
with courage to carry ii through. He
was physically a giant, and in life he
held his own. It was hard-very hard
but he had determined, and he would
not bulge. The lesson should be given
to its fullest extent, and she should
commit it to memory, and, he hoped, to
heart.
After the company had gone, she
opened her batteries and waited to see