St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-10-29
MRS. WHITAKER'S DEAF EAR.

acquired naDlt OF sleeping upon ht
left side, with her deaf ear up, an
this had often been a source OF a.
noyance to her husband, who wa
nervous and irritable, while she wa
woman whose calmness and seret
ity Of disposition was remarkabl,
Sleeping with her deaf ear up Mr..
Whitaker at night was rarely di.
turbed by noises which robbed he
husband OF his rest. The hum of tn
mosquitoes which maddened hir
was not heard by her. A passin,
thunder storm which reused him il
a summer night and sent him hvin.
about to close the windows would
leave her in perfect Inconsistencies.
OF its existence. The noises in tn,
street and the rafting of the window
sashes upon windy nights frequently
filled Mr.. Whitaker with vexator
as they deprived him of sleep; but
his wife slumbered sweetly on and
heard them not. Indeed, it rarely
happened that she heard the crying
of the baby until Mr.. Whitaker, in
dignant at its refusal to go to sleep,
would rouse her by shaking her, and
would ask her to try and soothe the
little one. Mr.. Whitaker had often
demonstrated with his wife about
this habit Of sleeping with her deaf
ear up, and she had often replied
good-humoredly with a promise to
try to remember to break herself of
it, but somehow orotherit continued
to cling to her.
One night in winter time Mr.. Whit
aker sat up in his library until a late
hour reading book in which he was
very much interested. His wife re-
tired early. Mr.. Whitaker finally
closed his book, and after locking the
front door went down in the cellar.
in accordance with his custom, to |
see if the furnace fire had been fixed
for the night. While he was
poklng it gust of wind came
through the screen upon one of the
cellar windows and slammed the
door leading into the back hallway
above, through which he had come.
For moment Mr.. Whitaker did not
think OF the matter particularly,
but suddenly he remembered that he
had put a spring lock on the other
side of that door, and the thought
struck him that the catch might pos
ibly be down. He assembled the
talrs and tried the door. The catch
vas down; and he had no key. He
vas locked in the cellar, for the kew
If the out-cellar door he knew wasin
he kitchen.
He could hardly think what he had
letter do about the matter, but
lnally he concluded to make his wife
lear him and come to his rescue.
lie seized the long and heavy furnace
'oker, and inserting the crook of it
bove the bell wire that ran along
he joist of the cellar ceiling he pulled.
he bell tangled loudly, but it was in
he kitchen and Mrs. Whitaker was
the front room in the second story.
Would she hear it? He pulled the
wire again, twice; then he sat down
n the steps and waited. There was
o response. 1t then flashed upon
he mind of the imprisoned man that ;
1rs. Whitaker was probably Sleep
lg with the deaf ear up. This in.
reased his growing irritation, and ,
e pulled the bell-wire with the poker {
3 or 20 times. 81 could hear that
mile from here if / were deaf as a
ost!' he exclaimed as he threw the /,
oker on the floor and took his seat
gain, with the bell still vibrating. I
ut Mrs. Whitaker did not hear the
Disc, for no sound of her coming
cached the ears of her impatient aud
ldignant husband. He grew an. |
rier every moment. He felt q sense t
injustice. 1t seemed unkind, in.
uman for his wife to be sleeping e,
way calmly upstairs while he was I
'cked up in the cellar. "I'll make I
er hear me or break something" he
kclalmed, Selling the poker and !
cooking it upon the bell-wire. Then !;
e pulled the wire with such furious I
1ergy that he broke it, and the t
Ingling of the bell died away into y
lence.
1T is little short of scandalous."
aid Mr.. Whitaker in a rage. III ?
ave spoken so often to Ellen about t
eeping with her deaf ear up, that it {,
'oks like malice, deliberate, 6endish v
alice, when she persists in doing it," t