Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1881-01-13
Miserll q
Mrs. Wonders Dream.
A STORY OF NEW YEAR's-EyE.

II wish there wasn't a man or a child on
the earth-there, now, ~
Johnny got sharp box on the ear. and
Matte was set down on a chair with lounce
that almost shook the little house TO its
foundations, and Mrs. Wonder proceeded to
get supper for the "man." They were the
torment of her lfe-these children and that
"man." The first thing in the morning and
the last al night she was hurrying and work
ing and contrIving just for them. No peace
or comfort or rest did she know-nor they
either, for that matter. 1t was New Years
eve, and, as is natural with US all, she had
been reviewing her life for the past five
years; and. just ss great many of US have
been after such retrospect, she was gGGd
deal discouraged. ID seouragement seldom
has the effect to make US good humored,
and we always attempt to believe that the
blame lies with somebody beside ourselves /;
and we often feel that If We could lift the
whole world up and set it down with a
jounce it would do us an amazing amount of
good. Just so Mrs. Wonder felt when She
gave utterance to the pointed remark at the
beginning Of the chapter, and her feelings
were depicted on her countenance as Mr..
Wonder opened the door. and with an in
quiring look stepped into the room as she
placed the last smoking dish upon the tea
table.
There, | wish you'd eat your supper and
get TO bed out of the way'-was the gentle
invitation for the children TO partake of the
evening meal; and they followed instruc-
tions as hurriedly and silently as they could.
Mr.. Wonder, who had long ago become
used to these little diversions, got himself
off down town as soon as practicable, and
the unhappy. discouraged, overworked, I'M
patient and fretful wife and mother was left
alone for the balance of the evening.
Ii was two hours before she was able to
feel that her work was done for the night
and that she might sit down in a chair to
rest; for though men declare and maintain
that women, as housewives, don't have "any-
thing much" to do, they are mistaken, new
ertheless and women will dispute this point
with them till the crack of doom, and prob
ably at that important period neither will
have arrived anY nearer the same conclusion
than they are now. Mr. Wonder, as he
meandered down town at that identical hour
was wondering what Hannah could find to
do that made her so cross and tired all the
time. Why couldn't her work be done at
six o'clock, as was his? And why couldn't
she sit down and read evenings, as he did !?
And Mrs. Wonder might have told him, as
she had told him a hundred times before
that there are some buttons off Johnny's coat
that must be put on when he wasn't wearing
it, and rent in Mattie's apron that must be
sewed up before the child wanted it in the
morning, and stockings to darn and gloves
to mend, and a thousand little things Just
For 70 do of On inn ~.
Grandma Pa sons used to say. Mr.. Wen,
der, however, was a very good sort of a
man, and tried to make the best OF things /;
and nobody will maintain that he was to
blame if Nature hadn't given him the sense
and reason TO fully understand the circum-
stances of the case; and so, as he sat in the
club-room, where he had been indirectly
sent by Mrs Wonder, the latter sat by the
fire at home, alone, and soon fell into a
heavy slumber, and as she slept she dreamed.
In her dream Mrs. Wonder seemed to
have been transported to a strange country,
and her arrival and appearance were mat
ter of as much curiosity to the people she
met as were they TO her. The most she
could make of them was that they were hu-
man beings but the manner in which they
were clad left it an open question as to
which sex they belonged. Her first impress
sion was that they had ariseA in haste that
day and each thrown an inverted coffee sack
over the head after first cutting hole for
the ewes and mouth.
She seemed to have spent a week among
this mysterious community, going whittier
she pleased and helping herself to whatever
she could find to eat. She at last discovered
that her companions understood her position
far better than she understood it herself, and
that they laughed among themselves as they
watched her inquiring countenance and
vouchsafed no commentaries upon the stu
alton. until she, unable to endure the sus-
pense and strangeness of the surroundings,
at last broke forth with eager questionings
after she had discovered, to her horror, the
true state of the society into which she had
been mysteriously thrown.
"Where are your husbands ?" she inquired
one day, finding herself surrounded by
dozen of the strange community which she
had become satisfied consisted Of women
only.
they Immediately broke forth into the
most unmistakable expressions Of scorn and
ridicule; and at last, amid the uproar, she
managed to catch one intelligent answer:
"We drove 'em off twenty wears ago.
Them that wouldn't go with scoldin' got hot
water an broom-sticks an mop-handles an
rollin' pins an flat-irons an things; an"
she added, shaking adelicate fist vigorously,
"we'd like to see the man that'd dare to step
foot on this soil again. The truth of the
matter was,r she continued as her compan-
ions quieted down SO that the audience for
whose benefit the information was given
might not fail of hearing, ''the truth of the
matter was we got tired of 'em. There was
their clothes to see to, an their stockins to
darn, an their boots to black an buttons to
sew on, an their collars to fix of Sunday
mornin', an their meals to cook three times
day, SO We hadn't no time for nothin' else
an we just put our heads together an de-
clared war on the whole tribe an a sorrier
lookin' set you never saw than they was as
they took their carpet-sacks and went 'over
the hills and far sSay,"'