Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-09-05
SILENT PARTNERS.

"Dont you ever speak to me again.
said Mrs. penton, "oIrd never VIII speak
TO you from this hour on.
There was something positively alarm
ing in this united command and promise
as the tones in which it was uttered were
impressively earnest, and the manner of
the speaker was very far from trihing;
and they fell upon the startled ears of
her worse half in way that caused Mr..
Benton to quail a little, for he knew
enough Of the temperament of the an
gercd woman who spoke to feel that this
was no idle threat.
John Benton and his wife Mary had
been married a quarter of a century at
the time of this violent outbreak, and
had hitherto been active and talkative
matrimonial partners. They lived in the
country upon their own little farm, and
though they had not always held the
most absolute harmony of opinion, their
devotion to each other and their unity
upon all the essential matters of life were
undisputed. 1t was only in the ininites-
imal objects of life that they clashed.
They had, together, met and surmounted
great obstacles in their common path,
but they removed rocks only to stumble
over pebble.
And finally the contemplate little riv-
u!ets that had been constantly trickling
for so many years in so many different
ways had seemingly met to form Il great
vortex in which they were doomed to be
swallowed up. Those hitherto active
and voluble tongues were about to rust
in idleness, at least at home. They were
resolved to become henceforth silent
partners.
John Benton accepted the situation
without replying, for what was there to
be said Had he not been commanded
to refrain forever from speaking to his
wife?
Gallantry forbids us to cast any great
share of the odium of this scene upon
Mrs. Benton. Besides, had not John,
just before the last volcanic eruption of
speech upon the part of his wife, insin-
uated that her "unruly member was as
long as fence rail2" Could female flesh
and blood endure such base simile as
this, when applied to herself2 And had
/ he not asserted that her words were
legion, and that her tones were thunder?
Should a wife pass over such insulting
personal metaphors as these2 Mrs. Ben
ton, either wisely or unwisely, decided
in the negative.
The first night of the self-enforced
silence in the Benton, cottage was awk-
ward. The usual curtain lecture was
omitted, and such a death like, des-
olate stiffness prevailed that sleep
was out of the question, The
morrow brought its tribulations, fol-
lowing one another in close and annoy
ing succession. Mrs. Benton, finding
the situation too irksome to be borne
without some new excitement to replace
the lost art Of speech, determined upon a
revolution Of the whole household-the
grand safety valve for the pent-up feel
ings of a housewife, and one of the best
known remedies for the disease of hypo-
chondria or anger. She went about this
herculean task as though life and death
hung in the balance or as though upon
its completion depended the casting out
of the dumb devils that had taken ur
their abode here.
Many ludicrous blunders were the inev-
table consequence of this abandonment
of the customary mode of conveying
thoughts; the double orders given tc
the groceryman and the butcher, the
duplicate purchases of all sorts of odds
! ld ends, led to much confusion and
Eexation in the Benton household.
One morning John Benton thought ht
detected unusual preparations going or
n the culinary department, a grand
overhaulting and busting of the bes
china set, and sundry other Indication
of some unusual event. Mrs. Bentol
tried in her dumb-show manner to re
fresh his memory in regard to an ex
pected visit of which he had been pre-
viously made aware, but which hat
slipped from his somewhat defectiv
memory. But she could not tell whethe
or not she had succeeded in her effort
to enlighten him. About noon Johl
came in, as usual to dinner, to find
roomful of city visitors, friends of Mrs
Benton. Now, John, although not
vain man, woGd rather have had som
notification oi~that event, SO that he neet
not have appeared in their presence il
his working garments; but as there wa
now no help for it, he tried to make tn
best of the situation, and greeted tn,
visitors In rather an awkward fashion
The latter, no doubt, attributed Mrs
Benton's silence toward her husband t.
modification at his personal appearance
J But, after all, this affair passed withou
the exposure so much dreaded by botl
parties.
John Benton had promised his wife
previous to the unhappy occurrence tina
had placed this gulf of silence betweel
them, money to purchase new dress 70
herself. One day he laid roll of bill
,, upon the table, and called her attention
to it. She nodded assent, and John wa
satisfied that her memory was good 70
anything that related to. her persona
adornment. But what was his surpris
and disgust when she returned from tow
and gave him the grocer's receipted bill
One morning, upon Johns return fror
the city, he astonished his wife by bring
! ing with him lad, whom he ushere
into the kitchen with the remark:
"Now, Teddy, this is your home, an
that is your mistress, Mrs. Benton, an
whatever she requires of you, you are t
do, of course"
John Benton, in the utter loneliness o
MS heart, and fearing lest his unuse
tongue should become paralyzed by thi