Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-09-25
The Sturw Teller.
SILENT PARTNERS.
BY E. A. BOYDEN.

"DOn't you ever speak to me again, "
said Mrs. Benton, "and will never speak
to you from this hour on"
John Benton and his wife, Mary, had
been married nearly quarter of century
at the time of this violent outbreak, and
had hitherto been active and talkative mat
rimonial partners. They lived in the coun-
try 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 infinitesimal objects of life
met and surmounted great obstacles in their
common path, but they removed rocks only
to stumble overa pebble. They had, united,
heWn their way through an almost inter-
minable forest of difficulties; to be stopped
in their onward career by some insignificant
bramble of contention. They had safely
stemmed the flood of adversity, yet were
occasionally almost overcome by some petty
stream of wrangling that flowed from the
lips of either. And finally the contemptl-
bic little rivulets that had been constantly
trickling for so many years in so many diff
ferent 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 idle
ness, at least at home. They were resolved
to become henceforth Silent Partners
John Benton accepted the situation with
out replying, for what was there to be said
Had he not been commanded to refrain
forever from speaking to his wife?
The first night Of the self-entorced silence
in the Benton cottage was awkward. The
usual curtain lecture was omitted, and such
death like, desolate stiffness prevailed that
ell Of q (InaSti0n hO1t d.
night the awful silence 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 some
thing for company that would appeal to his
sense of hearing, or perish with loneliness.
John started and stopped as he was about
to place this new companion upon the bu-
reau; he thought he heard sound proceed
from under the bed-coverings not unlike a
smothered laugh.
The morrow brought its tribulations, fol-
lowing one another in close and annoying
succession. Mrs. Benton, finding the situa-
ton too irksOme to be borne without some
new excitement to replace the lost art OF
speech, determined upon revolution of the
whole household.
John Benton, coming in about noon from
the field, saw at once that something un-
usual was under way. He knew that his
wife was just then out at the barn, so he
= crept upstairs to ascertain the nature of the
operations. There was scene of chaos
indeed. 1t would seem as though this ener-
getic woman had decided, contrary to her
usual wisdom, to begin at every room in the
house at once.
And it certainly looked as though order
could not be restored to even one OF these
wrecked apartments by sunset. Now John
was always kind-hearted man, and motto
ing the carpets rolled up, it occurred to him
that he was clear case in which he could an
ticipate the wishes of his poor tired, tongue
tied wife. With him to think was to act, so
out went the carpets upon the lawn but
scarcely had he finished his task before he
heard his wife tugging and painting on the
stairs, trying to get the carpets into the
house, again, and back into their respective
rooms. He had evidently been mistaken,
and he hastened to make amends by reStOr-
ing the carpets to their former places then,
from fear of doing more harm than good, he
stood aside, and allowed destiny to take its
course. The labors of the day pressed heav-
ily upon Mrs. Benton, and towards it's close
she essayed the dumb language of panto-
mime to obtain from her husband some
help in getting room ready for occupancy
before bedtime. But either Johns percep-
ton of this language was somewhat obtuse,
or else Mrs. Bentons manner of using it was
imperfect, for she was compelled to aban-
don it as useless, after going through many
fantastic contortions of her body, and many
facial expressions that filled John with as,
tonishment. She at last wound up with a
look of disgust so full Of meaning that the
poor fellow thought he read in it plainly
enough, 81 should think any fool could un:
derstand that" But John was not the fool
to comprehend it, so pantomime had to be
given up. >,
able consequences of this abandonment Of
the customary mode of conveying thoughts
the double orders given to the grocerymar
and the butcher, the duplicate purchases o
all sorts of odds and ends, led to much con
fusion and vexation in the Benton house
John Benton had promised his wife, pre-
vious to the unhappy occurrence that nae
placed this gulf of silence, between, them
money to purchase new dress for herself
Ono dav he laid q roll of bills upon the ta