Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-07-20
THE HICKS BROWNS.

hlcks-BrOWn i DO not pretend to know
What | know most about is the end and
the appendix. or course all the differ
ences leading up to the last act were thor
oughly aired in court and in the news
papers, but it was the final act of brutal
1ty on Mr.. Hicks-BrOwn's part that was
especially dilatcd upon. and for weeks this
"hend in human form" was execrated by
danes and damsels all over this broad
land, and Mrs. Hicks Brown was an object
of heartfelt commisseration on all sides.
am inclined to think that il Mr.. Hicks
Brown had been more like the men who
are held up as model husbands by the
knowing members Of certain ladies' So
cieties, he and Mrs. Hicks-Brown-she
whom only two short years since he had
promised to love aud cherish-would be
living in peace and amity, to say nothing
of conjugal happiness even unto this day.
and if Mrs. Hicks-Brown had been any
thing but the only child of a very rich and
foolishly indulgent papa, things might
have been different. But Mr. Hicks-Brown
was just as much used TO having his own
way as was his pretty spouse, and the
natural result was family rows, more or
less insignificant in character.
At first Mr.. Hicks-Brown was inclined
to give in, just as all dutiful bubbles are;
but he saw the shoals OF trouble onto
which this course was causing him to drift,
and concluded after mature consideration
that il was his will that should dominate
in the Hicks-Brown family, and he fixed
his plan Of procedure and governed his
actions accordingly Mrs Hicks-B Brown
with feminine insight perceived at an early
stage of the game what her lords inten-
tions were, and as she had always been ac-
custOmed to have her way she decided that
it was too late 10 begin knocking under
and there you have what was presumably
the beginning of the end.
II was dog-not only a dog, but
young lady dog-not only a female canine,
but what Mr.. Hicks-Brown termed
'measly, dodgasted pug''-that caused the
climax. II there was any creature on earth
that Mr.. Hicks-Brown loathed and de-
spised it was pug, and especially one Of
the gentler sex, and his better half, aware
of this antipathy, had, with characteristic
feminine perversity, availed herself Of the
first opportunity to possess herself of one
Of those interesting animals, which speed
lily won, it seemed, first place in her aRec-
tons and made Mr.. Hicks-Brown's life
miserable.
He stood it, however, as long as he could,
but the end had to come
Mr.. Hicks-Brown was an architect, and
it came to pass that he had on one occasion
been invited to prepare the plans for apub-
lie building The plans were drawn and
accepted by the committee, which, how
ever, returned them to him for certain i'm
portant alterations, and they were laid on
the table in his den, TO be attended to when
he returned home in the late afternoon of
certain day.
Now it so happened that Vic, the pug
aforementioned, was of an inQuiring turn
Of mind, and she chose this very afternoon
for an exploring tour in the upper part Of
the house.
When Mr.. Hicks-Brow entered his den
about o'clock he saw at once that por-
tons Of his plans were missing, and sup
posing that his wife had taken them to
show to some visitor he hurried down
stairs.
where are those plansS" he asked.
What plans. dear" softly inquired Mrs.
Hicks-Brown, sliding her caramel into one
check and still keeping one eye on a par
ticularly thrilling page Of the yellow back
novel in her lap.
"What-what plansl Do you mean TO
say you didn't take those Calumet build
ing plans from my tablet" inquired Mr..
Hicks-Brown in some agitation.
"Oh-ht' said his spouse, mildly surprised.
"Why, it must have been those that Vic
had"
"That-Vic-hadw howled Mr.. Hicks
Brown. "And, pray, where are they now2"
Don't get excited, dear. Were they
anything in PARTICULAR Vic had some old,
soiled pieces Of cloth, playing with them
awhile ago, but supposed they were some
you had thrown into the waste basket, 80
burned-Henry! What are you going to
dor"
But Henry did not answer. He strobe
over to the cushion wherein the offending
Vic was taking her afternoon siesta, gripped
her firmly by the nape Of the neck and,
despite his wife's hysterical protests,
opened the door and kicked the bowling
animal into the street, and not satisfied
with this, when Mrs. Hicks-Brown would
have rushed TO rescue her pet he took her
by the shoulders and forced her into a
chair, noting with grim satisfaction as he
did so that a couple Of street arabs were
making off with Vic.
That day Mrs, Hicks-Brown went home
to her mother, and two weeks later she
was member of the divorce colony in a
western city seeking freedom from matrf-
monial bonds on the ground Of 'cruel and
inhuman treatment" which she expected
the court when her case was presented to
understand as having been applied to her
instead of to Vic.
In the state where Mrs. Hicks Brown
sought her divorce it takes only three
months TO establish a residence, and the
legal formalities consume very little time;
but, strange to say, Mrs. Hicks-Brown did
not find it easy to pass the time. The first
three or four weeks, in her Hurried state of
mind, she did not notice-but after that
time passed very slowly indeed. Strange
as 1t may seem, life apart from Mr.. Hicks
Brown was very, very dull--and lonely.
Yes, she had been hasty--too hasty-but
there was no turning back now. She had
burned her bridges, and, besides, had ever
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