Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1888-08-18
A supERsr1T1ous WIFE.

iVi PCANlidlt AOh hOAOO7oiiOCo NLN AVhi-
leaved clovers did not impress me as
an indication of anything more seri-
Gus than the harmless romanticism of
innocent maidenhood. l did not
then realize what it is to have super
stition in the family. Even later,
when she implored me to wear my
left sock wrong side out for luck l
regarded it only as the sign of atfec-
tionate solicitude for my welfare,
which would evaporate after the
honeymoon. noticed that she was
very particular about these things.
She thought that it was flying in the
face of providence to leave room by
different door from that which she
had entered. This was a very un-
comfortable superstition in our fiat,
because the rooms were strung along
in a line, so that it was practically
impossible to pass from our parlor to
the dining room without gong
through a couple of bedrooms.
Msude was in a fearful dilemma
about this at first. I suggested that
she should let herself out of the front
window by rope, walk around the
block and climb into the back window
on the fire.escape. She seemed to be
panied by the levity of this advice,
and left her in tears. When / re-
turned she was radiant with hope.
"Ifyou 90 out of the second door
backwards it reverses the charm and
gives you good luck" she said, and
she stuck to it even after she had fall
len over a door.mat and driven hair
pin into the back of her head in her
efforts to propitiate the fates. |
couldn't see much luck in that, but
she called my attention to the fact
that if she had gone out in the usual
way she might have driven the hair
pin into her nose, which would have
been much worse.
At first she was the only victim of
her vagaries, but later they began to
get in their work on me. She sewed
a horseshoe that weighed six pounds
on my chest protector, and 1 had to
leave the whole outfit at neighbor-
ing bath house every morning
and call for it at night because
it was so heavy that it made
me round shouldered. In this
way l caught cold that nearly carried
me off the face of the earth. She sat
up late one night to put genuine
hand-painted, fOur-leaved clover
about two feet in diameter on the
back of my coat, and she was so ner-
vous about it that she painted it on
the outside instead of on the lining.
1t took a quart of benzine to bring
back peace to our household. f.
One day l came home and found
her seated behind her sewing table,
which was covered with cards. AS
soon as she saw me she sprang to her
feet with her countenance full of hys.
terra. She pointed her finger at me
with gesture of despair.
"Howard, you have been followed
by dark woman. Who is she
Don't attempt to deceive me-"
"My dear, L can conceal nothing
from YOU" l replied. "She is the
colored woman who attends to our
laundry. She met me at the door
with demand for SAT-, and l told
her to call again in the spring"
Inever saw anybody so relieved as
Maude was.
81 knew the cards couldn't be
wrong" she said. "I've just got a
book that tells about them. Now
I'm going to tell your fortune"
She made me cut the pack and then
she began to lay off the cards.
ga black knave, that's YOU" she
said.
"Thanks, awfully," said /.
"That only means young man
of dark complexion" she explained,
"There is light queen following
him. That's /, of course. Isn't it
nice? The ace of spades wrong side
up! Oh, Howard that means that
I'm going to die" and she began to
cry.
Turn over the next one, and let's
see about the inquest" I said, trying
to pass the thing off with a joke.
"Then ten of hearts," she sobbed
''That means laugh and a merry
time. SOh, Howard, to think that
you should go off and enjoy yourself
after Pm dead. You horrid, horrid
thingw
"But, my dear, l should cry my
eyes out. There must be Il misdeaI
here SOmeWhere.n