Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-23

" oHS oNllh NOWN gu u C0alf
n nad a goou cry. How perfectly
wretched people must be, she Thought.
VINO wrangled all the time. married
! IN namc. a%ntagonistic in thoughts,
tastes and temper. Yet there were
many such couples. and she could
Y be too thankful that such was
her tate: John was just as splendid as
he could he all but this one failing
which was growing upon him SO rapid
~, and IT she could eradicate that she
was willing to suffer in the attempt.
Inc next mornings breakfast was an
improvement on the dinner. but tea
was substituted for coffee. and John
this time drank it u~nsweetened. There
were the dainticst fish balls, rice muf-
fms, toast and jelly. John missed his
coffee. but otherwise could not com-
plain of the meal. so his determination
npt to give way did not falter. But the
d1nncr-he always lunched down town
was simply execrable to his mind.
A little boiled salt cod. baked potatoes
With milk gravv-thcy kept q cow or
this luxury would have been lacking
and no desert at all. The following
meal was fully as meager.
Nov John ut heart:was fond of good
living. and secretly enjoyed to the utter
most the tempting viands formerly pre-
pared by his wife. He had no wish to
pinch on such things, but he had a
vague idea that money was wasted
somewhere, hence his unpleasant Ian
guagoto Molly.
On the morning of the third day, he
realized that it was useless to attempt to
coerce his wife. She evidently meant
to keep her word though the heavens
fall. He couldn't stand starvation
fare any longer. and the wisest way
out of the difficulty was to succumb to
circumstances and shame his refractory
spouse by bis amiable and forgiving
conduct. She should see that if there
was any cloud OF the domestic hori .on
1t was not created or enlarged by him;
peace and harmony should prevail if
possible through his efforts, regardless
of the injuries that he had received.
In this magnanimous mood, John
quite am ably informed Mollv that. for
the sake of rcstor ng the household to
its usual harmonious condition he would
waive his object ons. and take charge
of the funds for the remainder of the
month. To tell the truth. he actually
believed that he could get along much
cheaper than she did, and they would
live Just as we'll. The more he thought
about it. the more DESTROYS he became
to convince Molly. by actual expert
ment that he was right in making the
statements that had offended her so
deeply. He knew pretty well what
was lacking by this time. and on his
way to his work left orders at two or
three places to be promptly filled. At
night he filled both arms with packages
of various sizes and shapes, congratu-
lating himself on the prospect of plenty
of good things to eat for the next few
days. He was surprised to find him
self positively enjoying the position a
week or so later. It wasn't so disa-
greeable as he had imagined it would
be for a man to look after the house,
and he felt we'll satisfied with his man.
agement. He fattered himself that he
secured better bargains than Molly did
he had transferred his grocery trade to
had %patronizcd, a far more respectable
looking place. and the propr'etors as.
sured him that they sold everything
ten per cent. cheaper than any of their
neiglbors in the bust .ess did. oh,
Molly would see, when the bills came
in, that he knew what he was about.
Well. to make a practical story short.
the bills came in. and the complacent
thoughts that had filled Johns head
went out. The first bill was from the
grocer. Molly showed it to John ono
night. and asked him why he had
changed from the usual place of trade.
With much dissatisfaction he Informed
her that he had made quite a saving in
that line by doing so.
otis a pity you never found out that
Ketchem l. Co. sell everything ten per
cent. cheaper than Merritt" he said.
"Ten per cent. amounts to something
on 500"
..Ten per cent. cheaper! Did you get
taken in like thatp .Ketchem' isl good
name for he firm. I declare! I could
have told you a different story. Just
look here! Coffee, forty-five cents a
pound, I lever pay but thirty-five;
sugar, eight pounds for a dollar, 1 get
nine and a half; and SO on all through
the bill. I must say, John" and she
slowly folded the paper, your grocery
experiment is lot a success"
This was rather Notifying to the
complaisant husband, under the cir
c~umstances; but he was doomed to a
more ignominious failure.
The next bill was from the butcher.
Molly exclaimed outright when she saw
the sum total OF this.
.Why. John Weston. what have you
been doing?" she cried. "Ihis is an
outrageously large sun for us two to
spend in meat"
mo larger than usual, I guess" re.
piled John. .l'm sure we haven't had
any more on the table. We'll, what
now?"
Johns tone was rather testy, as
Molly pumped down in a chair, the
picture of amazement.
..If you haven't ordered sirloin cuts
every time we've had a stew, and
almost as good for soups! No wonder
the bill is large. You great stupid.
don't you know that folks always BUY
the cheaper meats for boiling? My
soup bones cost me just ten cents, and
when we have them every day as we dc
there's considerable difference between
ten cents and thirty"
John looked dumbfounded. His care
fully planned castles were tumbling
= 1900 -L-.-L =. l~~