Griggs courier., 1893-03-24
back" which the unbelieving unteel-
innlr sfvla sSlaxsnnsa y as..ta


hevn't ye done talkin' yit?'' he asks
jocosely of his wife, hut he is in no
haste. With the prospect of good
dinner, seat in the shade. and his
pipe and plenty of tobacco, Dick would
remain the rest of the day with no dis
turbing qualms of conscience. More
matches are supplied. his pipe duly
lighted, and he takes up the dropped
ends OF the conversation, as it were.
by inquiring in a casual, Indifferent
way: "Hev you-uns heerd bout oil man
Crabtree's a-beating of his wife?" We
had not, SO he proceeded to en-
tighten use
'"Twar Lyddy Mecks as war a-tell-
in me. She war down to L. last
Thursday war a week, an war a-pass.
in Crabtree's house. dunno what for
she war up that way nolsow. She left
her team under the shed at the mill.
Flour's mighty high now; seems like
hits a-raisin' the hull time. Mrs.
Brown. hev you-uns ary match?
My pipes plum gone out!'
The requisite match having been
supplied once moro Dick providently
takes q dozen, for elnergencies), his
pipe is relighted and the narration
goes on.
"As war a-sayin', Lyddy Meeks
war a-passin' Crabtree's house; an she
heerd loud talkin' an she looked in an
OF man Crabtree war a-chasin' his wife
from one room to tother. He had big
stick in his hand an he war a-beatin'
her right smart; an she war a-hollerin'
good an tryin' to git away from him.
When they see Lyddy a-peekin' they
slammed to the door. Hits u plum
shame. Hit is so!''
We agreed with him: and asked if
anything had been done.
81 dunno. wish I'd bin thar!
Lyddy war feared to so in. I'D mashed
his head soft! I would that!'
But" interposed, there must be
some mistake. Don't you think so?
have always thought Mr.. Crabtree a
quiet, peaceable old man. He has al
ways seemed good to his wife; l can
hardly believe Mrs. Meek's story. She
might be mistaken"
"Lyddy Meeks see hit with her own
eyes. Hits true reckon
tuluh nlt war CEuc 1uT SuTcs cI
hit war the tother way!" giggled
Becky.
"Wall, Dunno" put in Mrs. Walton,
who had not interrupted her lord be-
fore. ''Susan is mighty nigh broke
down; and the Lord OILY knows what
devilment q man won't be at, eff he
turns hisself locse!"
"Susan orto mash his head soft" re-
iterates Walton. He apparently is not
aware that have heard how unkind
he is to his wife; although from her
size one would think she might be able
to hold a man like Dick in proper SUBJ
lection. But, although small man.
he is alert and wiry and would prob
ably come off victor in such an en-
counter. Why is it that the very idea
of case of marital fsticuffs always
seems to excite more laughter than
tears? Sad and miserable it often
must be-to one, at least, of the par
ticipants; and not entirely devoid of
pitiable aspect to an observer, even
when they are both insens'ble of the
part.
After smoking awhile longer, with
repeated ihjunctions to ''come down
when you CAM" with freshly-iighted
pipes and good supply of matches,
my latest visitors climb into their
big wagon and drive away. They are
still ''aimin' to 60 to town this evenin'!"
Just as the sun is going down,
Becky also departs, not forgetting the
pressing invitation to ''come down
when you can"
The days drag their sultry hours
away. one by one. Everything is dry
ing up-would perish utterly, were it
not for the heavy dews which keep the
life in vegetation in wonderful way.
We say: 1--WE never saw such sum-
mer BEFORE" but we have! We are
spent with the heat, but the cool nights
revive us and give us courage to en-
counter the scorching days Occasion
ally there floats to our ears more
rumors concerning the Crabtrees, cor
roborativc of what "Lyddy Meeks see
with her own eyes" And somehow ell
of the accounts bear to each other II
wonderful likeness. We begin to think
that where there is SO much smoke.
there must be little fire!
But notice at intervals that the
different stories are gradually assam
ing greater. dimensions, and they are
more tragic in the details. The men,
bers of my household suggest that per-
haps we did not have full account at
first Perhaps not.
The color of Mrs. Crabtree's gown is
now given, with Its skirt torn from
the waist" Her ''bleeding wounds"
manifestly need attention. Her moans.
when ''she hollered right good" haunt
me. There is great deal OF talk; but
nobody seems to make it their business
to investigate the matter. After all
that has been said, that does not seem
to be entirely just to the parties con-
cerned. Withal, there is a placid. in
different way with everybody that
completely mystifies one.
No one seems to take the affair seri-
ously to heart. The talk goes ON and
they seem greatly to. enjoy it. Are
they ali utterly heartless? 1 cannot
decide, for they are generally SO kind
xv,bavn o~o &c svn vnal of 1,41o l1...