The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-09-18
SILENT PARTNERs.

That is all / know.
The academy.
SILENT PARTNERS.
.Don't you ever speak to me again."
said Mrs. Benton. "and / will never
speak to you from this hour on"
There vas something positively
alarming in this united command and
promise, as the tones in which it was
uttered were ~impressively earnest, and
the manner of the speaker WIS very far
from trifing; and they fell upon the
startled BARS of her worse half in a way
that caused Mr.. Benton to quail q little,
for he knew enoughof the temperament
of the angry woman who spoke to feel
hat this was no idle threat.
John Benton and his wife Mary had
been married nearly a quarter of q
century at the time of this violent out
break, 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 har-
mony of opinion their devotion to each
other and their unity upon all the es-
sential matters of life were ~undisputed.
1t was only in the infinitesimal 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 apebble. They had, united, hewn
their way through an almost intermin-
able forest of difficulties, to be stopped
in their onward career by some insig-
nificant bramble of contention. They
had safely stemmed the floods of adj
versity, yet were occasionally almost
overcome by some petty stream of
wrangling that flowed from the lips of
either. And finally the contemplate
little riyulets that had been constantly
trucking for so many years in SO many
different ways had seemingly met to
form a 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
ut home. They were resolved to be-
come henceforth Silent Partners.
John Benton accepted the situation
without replying, for what was there
to be saidp Had he not been COM
manded to refrain forever from speak
ing to his wifep
Calamity forbids us to cast any great
share of the odium of this scene upon
Mrs. Benton. Besides, had not John, iust
before the last volcanic eruption of
speech upon the part of his wife, in
simulated that her sunruly member was
rs long as a fence rail?n Could female
flesh and blood endure such a base
similie as this when applied to herselfP
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 theseF
Mrs. Benton. either wisely or unwisely,
decided in the negative.
The first night of the self-enforced
silence in the Benton cottage was
awkward. The usual curtain lecture
was omitted, and such a death-like,
desolate stiffness prevailed that sleep
WAS out of the question. About mid
night the awful stiffness had so worked
upon the nerves of John Benton that,
unable to endure it longer, he arose,
and going down stairs, soon returned
with the old clock, which was not only
a loud ticker, but also a cheerful striker.
He must have something for company
that would appeal to his sense of hear.
ing, or perish with loneliness. JohI
started and stopped as he was about tt
place this new companion upon the
bureau; he thought he heard a sounc
proceed from under the bed-covering.
not unlike a smothered laugh. But hi,
imagination had to supply the place o
his senses, as no explanation could b.
asked. The clock, though a feeble and
imperfect substitute for the human
voice, was better byfar than the alb
sence of all sounds. and he fell asleep
The morrow brought its tribulations
following one another in close ant
annoying succession. Mrs. Benton
finding the situation too irksome TO b,
borne without some new excitement t.
replace the lost art of speech, deter
mined upon a revolution of the whole
househo1d-the grand safety-yalve TO
the pent-up feelings of a housewife
and one of the best-known remedies TO
the disease of hypochondria or anger
She went about this herculean task a
though life and death hung in the bal
ance, or as though upon its completion
depended the casting out of the dunn
devils that had taken up their abod
here.
John-Benton, coming in about moo
from the field, saw at once that some
thing unusual was under way. H
knew that his wife was Just then out g
the barn, so he crept up stairs to ascel
tain the nature of THE operations. Their
was q scene of chaos, indeed. 1t woul
10 as though this energetic woma
had decided, contrary to her usual wi,
dom, to begin at every room in tn
house at once.
And it certainly looked as though Of
der could not be restored to even on
Of these. wrecked apartments by sunse'
Now John was always a kind-hearte
man, and noticing the carpets role
up, it occurred to him that here was
clear case in which he could ant1cipat
the wishes of his poor tired, tongue-tie
wife. With him to think was to act, S
out went the carpets upon the lawl
but scarcely had he finished the tas
before he heard his wife Juggling an
painting on the stairs, trying to get til
carpets into the house again, and BAG
into their respective rooms. He ha
evidently been mistaken, and b
fastened to make amends by ~restorin
the carpets to theirformer places; thel
from fear of doing more harm thu
good, he stood aside. and allowed de
tiny to take its course The labors
the day pressed heavily upon Mrs. Bel