, 1880-05-10
A Threatened Divorce.

tory of my family and Of my friends.
In an unfortunate moment, some days
ago (malediction be on iD invested
ten cents in the " fifteen" puzzle. I
thought l had obtained my moneys
worth, but alas. l had purchased ten
nights wakefulncss and fifteen times
more family feud thar l had reckoned
on. 1 thought as I carried the
wretched little instrument OF torture
home in my pocket how happy l was to
have it, aud instead ef that, I have not
known what it is to be happy since its
shadow darkened my doors. On the
first night worked hard over it until
IA. NJ, although the hardest work 1
had was to keep my wife and oldest
daughter from seizing it. I went to
bed with headache, disappointed and
mad, but determined. awoke liz the
morning with a headache and found
my daughter of fifteen at fifteen"
She was late at school that day, and l
was two hours behind time. 1t was
the 10th of the month, but dated all
my letters the 18th, and one of them
after the old style, "13-15-14."
That evening was forced to use pa
ternal and martial authority to keep
the peace-and the pieces, may add.
1t never occurred to us to buy another
puzzle. l worked ell the evening
hard, and got pretty mad, not because
/ couldn't do it, but because that busy
body of wife persisted IN telling me
how to move the blocks-as if she
knew any better than did!
The next evening my mother in law
came to tea with us. She said she
had done the fifteen puzzle several
times. "Not with 11-10," I said.
"nor with 15-14?" "Oh, yes," she
replied. We'll, there must have
been some of the other numbers out
of sequence. too" said. NO" she
still insisted, nothing but 15-1l."
"And you are sure you didn't lift one
out?" continued l skeptically. "Of
course 1 didn't" she retorted with as
perity; " do you think l cheat and tell
falsehoods? Whereupon l gulped
down my sneaking suspicious on that
subject, and replied very blandly (be-
cause she has money, and my wife,
Fanny, has only one sister,, Ger
tainly not. mother, dear but then l
thought perhaps it was accidental.
We'll, Mr.. Co. she said, excitedly,
and rising from the table, you must
take me for an idiot to think that I
could lift block by accident "Can
you do the puzzle again?' asked,
moved by satanic instinct to prove to
her that she was wrong, and utterly
unmindful of her limitless bank ac-
count. Il don't know" she replied
curtly, as she swept out of the room
with that dignity which is born alone
of the consciousness of possessing
cords of United States registered As or
other truck Of similar nature. Fan
ny came down very cross and said,
Edward, think you were extremely
rude" Possibly" said 1, "but she
can't DO Is IA, if l was Nothing
more was said, and Fanny went off to
bed early. 1 did not.
Truthfulness runs in my wife's fam
lily, and consequently 1 was tortured
with the belief that my mother-in-law
had done "15-14," and if she had
done it, it was possible would do it;
so I worked until half-past twelve.
When l went up stairs Fanny was
awake, but al awkward silence reigned
supreme. That was the first night for
sixteen years that I had failed to kiss
her goodnight, except when We were
not together. The next evening nay
daughter declared she could do " IL
TO-. or "15-14," 80 after tea we went
at it uie ct armis, or in other words, de-
termined to vie without arms. She
fooled around over those blocks for an
hour, until I got so nervous and so
provoked with the stupid way she
moved them / would have slapped her
had she only been younger. A circle
of five or seven is the only legitimate
way to move, and instead of that she
travelled all over the board. Finally
she changed the position OF the vacant
square and declared she hal done it.
l sent her TO beu.
The next day was Sunday, and really
for me day of rest. Throughout the
htany, when the congregation mur-
INJURED, "Goo3 Lord, deliver u.s." [
silently added, From the puzzle of
fifteen" But our climax came On the
following evening, when my wife as
serted, and insisted that she herself,
with her mother, had done "15-14. ="
I said she hadn't; that it couldn't be
done without some trick, and that 1
didn't believe it. We had been cool
and hadn't kissed since the row. She
replied that I was insulting, and 1
answered that if her mother said she
could do ''15-14," fair and square,
she said what was not true, and that
she knew it wasn't true when she said
so. Fanny, thereat, said that she
never could have believed that 1 could
so far forget myself. replied to the
effect that her mother had told lie,
and that perhaps it was not the first
one.
The next morning Fanny went to her