The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-10-18

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them until we bury thenl. Which is
enough sight more comfortable than gu
ing to law with them, as l know from
cNpericnce'
We'll" said Lawyer Hobbs; Il think
we shall have to summons you as Il wit
ness. You know more about the do
mestic doings of the Tewksburys than
anybody else, and you have seen the
things we wish to prove before Judge
OSgoOd. Just put on your things next
Tuesday and go down to Dillingham; and
give lis what you know
Il tell you, Squire Hobbs, I'm not
going to testify; I'm not going to put
"But the law says you must, Mrs
PRESCOTT
Il don't know about the law; but ]
know enough to keep out of trouble
Il don't want to be obliged to Send
an officer for YOU
well. send ,hiln; he won't find me-
I've better business than going to court
tell you Squire Hobbs, Tewksbury is
no better than he should be. but when
Il woman has got a mali, no matter if
he isn't a saint, she had better hold OH
to him.. She is sure to want him back
after she has lost him, if he is alive.
me- ne 1 woud * a msrS a %af5ef eoa d4
have the pick of the land. Bit what
can such a helpless sprig of a woman as
Mrs. Tewksbury do without man? 1t
stirs. me up awfully. squire, to think
she is trying to get away from her htls-
band because ! know she doesn't really
want to, and if she did, she'd repent it
meddlesome neighbors and those silly
relations of hers, the Pipers. 1 have
done all l could to keep peace in the
family. and have helped the Tewks-
burys through all these hard times,
deaths. births, and washings and bak-
out cent of pay, when | knew money
was scorn with them, and do you sup
pose I'm going before the judge to wit
ness against them. one or the other,
and make an endless strife?'
But, Mrs. Prescott, the Tewksbury
woman refers to you as her chief wit
ness: SO you see | must summons YOU
$50 much the better: if am the only
witness she won't get her divorce. l
shall save her. l know what is good for
her, better than she does herself. Why.
she couldn't stand alone minute. And
what's to become of all those children !
No; it's the foolishest proceeding that
ever was, and I'm going to put stop
to it. You won't be able to find me
when You summons me, squire; and if
you do, I'm just going to tell the judge
the whole story. I'm not a lawyer, but
I've got tongue and a little common
sense left in my old head
The Widow Prescott was clear-head-
ed woman, childless, lowly, hard-work-
ing, with heart as large as her hand.
Ever since her widowhood, which hap
pened ten years after her marriage. She
had devoted herself to the needs of her
neighbors and was their mainstay in
all the emergencies of family life. She
was more often in their house than in
tfoU
field and Il good wood lot was all that
has been left her by her husband. Her
wants were few, and she managed to
live in a very comfortable and indie
! pendent manner. She was a natural
spinster, if there be such thing. She
| had the New England notion of men us
providers and necessary adjunct of the
| farm. She married, as Il matter of
| course, the first time she was asked
| lived in entire peace with her husband
Il mild and Industrious man of few
| words, and while he lived, she took the
| very best care of him and devoted her
self to the household duties. Love, she
did not we'll understand the chickering's
and hatreds which come direct from
crossed affection. She was esteemed in
the neighborhood, and with her strong
hands, good nature and practical re.
sources, she was more useful to hel
| fellow beings than the minister, the
doctor, or Squire Hobbs, the great man
| of the town.
She was summoned in sickness, she
laid out the dead, she dressed the brides
| gave them useful counsel, and above ALL
she was indispcnsa bic, this childless
woman, at the birth of children. The
widow was great peacemaker in falni
lies. She had been in the Tewskbury
| household more than i'll any other, bu,
there she had not always succeeded in
preventing strife. Mrs. Tewksbury was
Il plain, pale, small woman, the very
opposite of her husband, a big, hale
man, splendid animal in all his ways
a great eater, loud and vehement in
speech. He was like a mighty cart
utive mate. And vet he loved, this
giant did love. his little wife, though
he sometimes beat her; and she loveC
him with weak woman's affection
for the strong and ovcrpowering
There were occasional Quarrels, how
! ever, and their friends: and her relatives
| knew it, and rather increased the cvi
by espousing one side or the other. Al
last Mrs. Tewksbury was persuaded
into the belief that she ought to be di
vorced. She was too simple, uncertain
and inefficient to master the effort her
self and her own family took the in
itiutive for her. They relied on thu
she was known to have been present OIL
several occasions when words led tt
blows. But they rcckoned without theil
| host When the case came on before
the probate court, the Widow Prescott
was not to be found. She had got thu
notice while washing at a neighbor' s
She took her hands from the tub, rubbed
off the suds, and slipped home without. {
word 1t was q winter month, but She
did not light fire; she locked the doors
in bed she remained all day, without foot
or fire. She afterward described it al
the first weekday rest she had ever hat
in her life. An officer was sent for her
but reported she was neither ut home
nor at any Of the neighbors. The hear
! ing had to be postponed. The widow