Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-01-07
The Good Wife Knew It.

There is n retired cobbler living In
this place, writes an Angelica, N. r..
correspondent, who deserves therespect
Of his countrymen for moral courage.
Ten years ago he was, and had been
for long time, acon6rmed inebriato
mot periodical sprccr, but a genuine
soaker, warranted not TO draw sober
breah. from sun 10 sun. Occasionally
the fumcs Of The wnlsNs with which, w
piled himself would clear away from his
befoggod brain, and at such times his
mental equilibrium would wrcstle with
the problem Of total or even partial abb
stlncncc, TO DO utterly wrecked at the
sight OF his haunts or the first faint call
OF his system for the stmulant which
long use had rendered pcrcmptory.
One day, however, n halt was called,
and this Is the way hc tells OF IL:
IL was on my way TO the barn when ]
saw small snake in my path. | kick
cd II will, my boot, and II turned to q
bit Of crooked twig, which ! snapped In
my hand and threw away ] thought
nothing more of the matter until
reached the barn, when directly before
me, second snake twisted across thu
board. With quick spring seized It,
and II proved TO be whiplash. A sud
den horrible fear made me faint and
weak. J sat down on the lower rung
OF the ladder leading to the loft and
wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.
''Snakcs, by JcricboN exclaimed.
That means business.
'Thcn Istarcd straight across at =
corn stalk that soon began slowly to
wriggle and curve. With bursting eye
balls and MI the strength OF mind pos.
sesscd ] forced that corn-sialk back from
the animal TO the vegetable kingdom,
and then staggered feebly out into tho
open air. leaned against a fence,
and, for fear should see moro Of those
horrible twisting things, l clung to a
post and closed my eyes.
"'1'ime Is called, .Jim.I said to myself,
whisky and you part company to-day
and sobcrcr than had been for several
months. though with no more strength
than baby, ! msnaged to get back to
the house.
There was tight, though! ] didn't
tell my wife, for had made n good many
promises that hadn't held water, and
thought I'd go i alone for while.
got up in the morning after terrible
night with the thirst Of u chased fox
upon me. Voter wouldn't qncnch it,
and ! tried milk. ] crcpt into the milk
room, slipped O. straw into the edge Of q
cream-covercd pan, and sucked out the
milk until only the cream was left, low
cred smooth and unbroken TO the bot
tom. Then / tackled another and an
other, until the fierce craving was some
what dulled. Il was household mys.
terry what became Of the milk. No cat
could lap it, my wife said, and leave the
sides and cream untouched, and where
did IL gop
~ lot them talk, for tile struggle was
too sore and fearful to be spoken Of.
and went on drinking the milk.
''The road from my house to my shop
lay by the groggery When / left my
gate r. the morning / took the road,
and on dead run, as II pursued, I
made the distance. : ran harA - thdl
way home to dinner and back after that
meal, never, IN fact, trusting myself to
walk, or even take TO the sidewalk for
months. The cure was slow. keep
all the brakes hard set yet. A single
glass of hard cider would undo tho
work of all these years, but you can
bet that glass doesn't touch my lips
while the memory of those little crawl
ing black reptiles stays with me, !"
"And did your wife finally learn what
became Of the milk?'' he was asked.
"Yes," and his voice broke. II told
her on her deathbed.
"'Jim, dear, she said, when had
finished with her hand clasped in mine,
Jim, dear, knew it all the time"