Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1884-07-03

S&A4 W. "a WIZ
"Slcep sweet, belovedin
He was not asleep, but snored
alook ofsweet content on his wisss
mouth. o
Loot Sk-i-n-n-e-rp
He got up in o manner thu,
have done credit to q Qymna., NY
stood staring at the fearful holiosy
the bed and the wrinkled dent =
pillow-sham.
IL declare / forgot he said. lool.
very foolish. Alice, haven't / ~
where | can lay my head 2" fAa
Don't talk nonsense" said n.
sharply. "The idea of a sober
going to bed with his boots ON : us
Would you rather I'd get
sd rather you'd get some a..
sense she said. IF you must slsaa
the daytime why there's an ola
down in the kitchen; no n VIII 'se
turb you there. Or / supposaa y
graciously--"I can take off thu oaa
and the shams, and let you baya i-e
nap here, though It's wicked ,l'
what it is, to sleep Sunday. Hssa,
example to set to the children La
and you know it,
!, But | am so sleepy" answered Is
husband; my head is as heavy As III
and | cannot keep my eyes OPEN
"Lazinessl sheer lazinessp sa,d !.
wife sharply.
Mr.. Skinner went down stair.
disappeared. The last words his ~
heard him say were that there was !.
for the weary, but she was piekin, !.
the embroidery ON the mis- used ~
with a pin, and did not heed ha
When she went down stairs he Was " |
in sight and she busted herself with a.
ting dinner, which on Sunday took 4.
place of supper, and thought no MAJ.
about him.
She was a distinguished woman. Il, |
tinguished in the town where she liyaI |
MS being the c~leanest housekeeper j, \ |
No girl could be found neat enonss |
10 live with her; all the notices n NJ |
house were to the effect that clearb,
ness is akin to goodness. She dnstsa
every article of furniture in the hons.
several times every day; 4.
scrubbed so often that N.
children had chronic diphtheria: d.
scrubbed so clean that at last she scruA
bed through her kitchen floor into Il,
cellar, aud WAS nearly lost to the CON.
munity. II was o perptual warfare b.
tween her and dirt. The front parlo
was neve opened TO the family, and Al.
though MI. Skinner had furnished Il h
had never sat down in it a momeDt
since. Its air was that Of q tomb. Afte
it had been opened to company for a
afternoon, the children went around
with hannels about their Threats and
drank ginger tea. II was the handsom
est parlor in the community, too, am
had the family pictures and their mar
riage certificate framed and hung N
there.
When dinner was ready-andit was,
good dinner, too, for Mrs. Skinner was
a notable cook-she asked the children
where their father was.
They did not know.
This seemed strange; she questionsd
them closely. but they had not seen
which way he went when he passed
through the room.
Didn't he say where he was going?'
she asked, wonderingly, for Mr.. Skin.
ner never went out on Sunday without
his family.
"He said he was going whore he'd
have more peace" said little Harry
Skinner.
well, We won't wait dinner for him,
said his wife, and they sat down to eat.
But q spell seemed to have fallen
upon them, and when the dinner was
owe and cleared away, and they wer
in the sitting-room with their books,
there was n sense of dreary loss, and
Mrs. Skinner sat with the Bible open
on her lap, and wondered why he hR
gone out and remembered that he had
looked queer.
10 was in consonance with her habit
ofliving that she got up in the middl
Of these ~speculations to catch a wander
ing and belsted fly and induce him b
be annihilated.
Strange she said, as il grew dark
III take the children aud go downt
his mothers and see il he is there, an
if he il, Ill just give him a piece OF N
mind"
But he was not there, and his moth
er said Lot had looked badly the Ia,
time she saw HIM, and she thought
seemed worried; hoped it wasn't bus
| ness troubles.
No, it wasn't business troubles Mr.
Skinner knew that, and began 10 won
der if she had cleaned her husband on
Of his mind II came over her wit
sudden force that she had been in til
habit of driving him from pillar to po:
at railroad speed and at the end Of
broom or dust brush. He actual
found no rest for the sole of his foot i
his W house. II might have worke
upon his neryous system until he ha
become suddenly insane. Horribl
thoughtl He might have committe
suicide.
She hurried home with the children
All was gloom. She went 10 his bureal
to look for his razor. IL was the ohl
fire arms he possessed lit was gonel
Then Mrs. Skinner broke down AM
cried, and it was indeed a scene of DIES
o~lation, when suddenly the door Of tina
horrible parlor opened, and an appar
ition--no, it was Mr.. Skinner himself
stood before them looking very sheep
ish.
II oyersiept myself, he saidin a meek
Apologize tone, looking at the clock.
II should say You did" answered hi
wife, and the dinner is ali eaton ap
but I'll fix you up something nice" and
she went out taking the children witt
her.
How much Of il MIR. Skinner ever
knew it is impossible TO say, but there
was an immediate and satisfactorl
change that at first amazed and theI
delighted him. He could lay dow
anywhere when he was tired and hi
wife would throw a shawl over him
and leave him in peace. He has even
been seen to lie down on the sofa IN th'
parlor where he took his Rip Van Win
kle sleep and nobody disturbed him.
Mrs. Skinner was at heart a woman o.
sense, and when she relied that on
hair of that grizZly-gray head wa
worth more than all the pillow sham
in the world TO her, she put the las
n away in the company Of a dementee
assortment Of su%perhnous tides. And