The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-09-01
,DISCORD.

oQuCkbt l6 WOuAtlat WEAK eiAoe
thing, would ye now, Delphyp" 81
al low to wear it fnst chaince / git, !
Ephraim Pickles." The little wisp of a
woman in q short tight dress and big
blue apron looked very determined as
she held by the collar polonaise OF the
0sE most flaming scarlet imaginable, and
' Surveyed it through her spectacles. Her
tai, awkward husband, Just in from the
field, surveyed it, toe, o,with his head halt
on one side and his eyes half shut. The
old Brahma rooster going by the door,
and evidently attracted by the vivid
spot of color within, stopped to inspect
It, too; jumping upon the step he put
his head inside the door, turning II nom
side to side, then threw it back, opened
his mouth as wide as possible, as If in
dulging in spasm of laughter, and
sent forth q loud, hoarse crow. r,
Fss "a Pr The iC-yaptenis a-laughiu' at ye,"
5Iesi said Ephraim, ,as he picked mp his pan of
fs,j,r, pumpkin seed and started to the field
- Wise would it have been for the Cap
tain to follow, instead of standing stock
itt s still, mark for the arrows of Mrs
.uogd PicRles,sw wrath. She seized the broom
10 hGsdand brandished it vigorously J. IS "a
e.ss,if sc You, jist. tote yourself Off, you
ole varmint," she cried, "standin' an
CROWN there like aoie 'possum.' ~ The
. Captain. still standing in innocent won-
der, exasperated her into hurling the
broom toward him, whereat he sprang
three feet straight up into the air with
an astonished ts Gu aw ki'' - then
- marched OF around the corner =
The polonaise had been sent to Mrs.
.e.- Pickles by a sister in the city, whose,
taste in dress ran to briliance of color
'e -is ing, in part pay for the rolls of butter
aeQi supplied by Mrs. Pickles, who had sent
sl3 for the polonaise with avague order to
f-f s.ee get something si kinder stylish an'.tak-
n'-ike.n She shared her sisterls taste
for bright colors in more moderate de-
'-osl' gree, and, though she might not have
e l' selected such very striking article her
self, now that she had it she was loath
to hide its gorgeousness from the light
793i1 of day and the admiration of Steeple-'
- 80 vile eyes. s.-r3 afetf IS -Er8 SilGJsTG
..so Probably the Captain had forgotten
all about the polonaise, the broom and
his own misdeed as he reveled in his
noontide dust-bath under the hot May
- sun. But Ephraim Pickles, feisurely
patting the tops of the pumpkin hills
smooth with the blade of the hoe, knew
by the shrin and vicious tone of the tin
dinner-horn that Delphy had not forgot
ten the sights put that morning upon
her scarlet polonaise.
But the bone of contention had notyet
reached the acme of its reputation. -, q
The bells of the little village church
! s. - were ringing the next morning for Sab
bath-school when Ephraim put his head,
in at the bedroom door where his wife
was struggling with almighty hair braid.
which perversely refused to be arranged
in orderly fashion, but with an utter dis
regard for propriety bristled up in a
iauntily defiant manner, and kept slip
ping backward and forward and side
ways with every motion of Delphy's i'm
patient head.
2S $50 ssAir We a-goin' to wear that red
thing, DelphyP'' asked Ephraim.
"Yes, AIR." answered his wife, pos
itively, gouging q big hairpin into the
refractory braid, and pinning it fast in
q state of hilarious one-sidedness.
'Then amt a-goin' with ye," said
Ephraim, with his usual deliberate slow
"I kin go alone, reckon" said Dell
ply, her neck looking suddenly very
straight and her nose very stiff.
"Folks III take ye fer big walkin'
sgs hollyhock,' said Ephraim, Is he shut the
= = door. Never an idea of fiinching from
her purpose had Mrs. Pickles, as she
buttoned on the red polonaise with
steady fingers. But as she stepped out
on the little buff portico as the bells
were beginning to ring for church, and
no Ephraim was to be seen, the thought
that he really meant to let her go alone
was thorn that rankled sorely in her
heart. cam we amt he'd nary furss
rs fer so long-not since the time his steers
tramped up my piney-bed," she muir
INJURED, as she carefully concealed the
ssgRFRH door-ksy IN, its small hidhg-place, q
5hf clump of grass pinks in the border.
asa Perhaps the polonaise was much ad-
mired by the church members, but
as-r{ Ephraim spoiled Delphyis satisfaction
sheepish glances at It from across the
arH aisle during the whole service, and fur
ther, by lingering after meeting t0stalk
to the deacons until his wife was safely
out of sight,.
Dinner was attended that day with
crispness and shertness that belonged
- zoe not TO the pie-crust, and an acidity rival
ing that ofthe picked cucumbers. The
Rev. Mr.. Goodman's excellent sermon
was not pondered over with usual in
terest; and in the May dusk Ephraim
smoked his pipe on the long back porch,
while Delphy rocked in her split-bot-
OK toned chair in the front portico.
And still the apple of discord tri-
umphed. The ladies of Steeple-
ak VILE were getting up fancy fair for the
benefit of the church, and as the time
drew near for the grand display the
scarlet polonaise, that had lain in the
y 80 s bureau drawer like smoldering fire,
ready to flame up and kindle anew the
.is-.ss fire of contention, was again discussed.
"Ye won't wear it this time, now will
~ ye,s honeyP'' asked Ephraim, as he
under Delphy's nimble fingers.
I" Yes, win,n said Delphy, aid .hev
to ef didn't want to. amt got nothin'
else''
a Shucks!,' said Ephraim, with q
puzzled look that cleared at sudden
idea, eye could make something"
"I couldn't no sich,'' said Delphy,
hanging up her rolling pin. al amt
kOb ttAAc W Mluk-i Al 0eT6S Odll6 d
sen'in' fer me to come an tell her what 8
the matter with the baby-says he takes
spells of squallin' hissef black an
,6 skeerin' her an Johnny till their hair
stan,s on eend. III hev to go over to-
morrer, though don't reckon it's nothin'
more'n nettlerash. couldn't take nary
stitch 'twixt this an the festible 4
wanted to. -
51G"Don't yel low Miss Jinnins could
make ye polly-what We call itP''
osslis1 80 Mussyf She's got so much sewin'
on hand she wouldn't make as much as
;ess night-cap-lot for nobody, maxim
- dresses forsall them Stsepleville ghls!''