Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-04-19
Bow BE Found $3.50
Wbot wos not Lost

, DduS, UduS.
In heavens name, has she gone
deaf then, or has she gone to the-?"
And the good man gave several
sharp blcws from a fist as solid as
a ships mallet ON the wooden shutter
of his cabin
Soon after, behind the hedge,
/ Drowned by the frosts which so often
lay make a fine covering of lace over
he little garden, he heard a sharp.
broken voice cry:
Here | am, my man, here | amr
ruddy-faced woman in short skirts
and a rough white cap which closely
fitted her tanned temples, quickly ran
with bare feet across the rough peb-
bleS and, almost out of breath, stood
by him.
He turned like a whirl of rude wind,
angrily threw down his cap and thun-
dered out:
Heaven and earth! This is the way,
then, that you keep the house while
am shaving on the rough seas!'
Il did not expect you so soon, my
man, else
L cannot return when l like. Have
you not noticed the ocean, black and
raging like fury?"
Seeing the fireless hearth. Mesle
crossed his arms, and, shaking with
anger, buried his purple nose in his
thick, gray beard, muttering:
This is fine! This is comforting!
Fire out. No means to have anything
to warm one when coming in from
cold rain and biting wind. All this
because the one whose duty it is to
keep your home ready for you likes
better to run the streets and idle it
with her neighbours"
The good wife bent over the cinders.
blowing with all the strength of her
inflated cheeks, but never answering a
word.
Soon the kettle was singing, and the
wife set the blue-fgured plates on the
table.
Still grumbling, the fisherman sat
down, drew forth his pocketknife, cut
a thick slice of dark bread and drank
off, one after another, two mugs of
cider.
This repast Of the morning after his
return from the sea, still Shivering
with the cold and fatigue of his work
was the best hour of his home life
He prolonged it as much as possible
spreading slowly some crumbs of but
ter as thin as might be on his slices
of bread.
1t was the moment when the chat
ting of his wife amused him most.
After the long quiet of the night the
light gOssiping was to his mind what
the fire was to his body.
The good man listened silently to all
her chat without a movement Of his
tanned features. When she had fin
ished he would say in a calm voice,
while pouring for her a glass Of cider,
Come, now, that's enough for this
morning. You'll bring on the pip and
a rest"
But this morning she was aggra-
waited; so instead of sitting down to
the table with him. she sat by the fire
with her bowl of soup on her knee,
giving him only the pleasure of a back
view.
The warmth Of the fire and repast
having chased away the bad humOr
from the good man, he thought, in his
masculine egotism, that he had only to
speak in order to set the current Of
speech in it's normal direction, and &C.
tivity.
well, well, my woman, come! What
has been the gossip of this morning?"
Without a movement of her chair or
a turn of her head, she replied:
Really? You seem as curious about
neighboring affairs as 1 am. Go, then,
and find out for yourself"
Then, angrily, he replied:
''Have you got the pip or have you
tired your tongue? Say?'
eff 1 have I am going to be quiet in
order to be cured or rested"
THAT will need 10 minutes or a half
hour" he added, half mischievously,
half angrily.
'It will last until you take back
what you said, or talk yourself"
SOOu! LOU nave Sdiu yOu idSI
word for a long time, them
The morning passed in mutual, OBJ
stinate silence each determined not to
yield by speaking the first word.
Three or four times the fisherman
left his work and stood before his
wife with folded arms, smiling IRON
ically, in the hope of forcing from
her some exclamation.
She would not even raise her eyes
above her spectacles and he walked
back murmuring hoarsely in his
beard: Thunder and lightningr'
What. he was going to be beateni
For he felt sure if that continued he
would soon be hopelessly angry and
speak in spite of himself.
Cost what it might he must invent
something to overcome the silence Of
the obstinate woman.
All at once a quiet laugh shook him.
! and, dropping his shuttle, he rose. A
rich idea struck him! He had found
| the road to victory. 1t led into the
room and straight to the cuboard
/ He took down from one of the
shelves a liquor glass, which he placed
on the table with some unnecessary
| noise; then, with a decided step, he