The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-25
I Thanksgiving Vignette
z. UHLRiCH-

on the other side of the marriage sta
ton, there was terror in the thought
of the possibility of having lost Jack
Hyland. She opened her mouth twice
before she finally made a sound.
''Well, let her stick to the man she
married then and not put herself III
the way of better men she didn't have
sense enough to take when she lad
the chance"
''Well, is she putting herself in their
way? Her husbands a pretty good
looking man and other men who didn't
have much in the way of looks to start
with, don't get any better-looking as
they get older"
This time Mrs. Hyland looked fiery.
She caught the allusion 70 her hus-
bands lack of loneliness.
you know that Jack Hyland's worth
more than a dozen men like Jim Saw
yer, any day"
'Wel, now, I'm glad you think so.
Seeing that he's your own man it's
more comfortable to have good opin-
ion Of him"
But. there's no sense in letting peo-
pie like that Rose"
Now, then, seeing you got so much
the best o. the bargain you might be
a little easy on Rose an take some
comfort out of the fact that she has
another man that's a heap better look
ing than your Jack, teven If she don
know where to write to him most OF
the time"
Mrs. Hyland's eyes were swapping
again. but she said nothing.
Some of us" continued Mrs. Lee,
have liking for handsome men. My
own husband was very handsome once
an amt so bad looking yet. An I've
always said that when jealous
woman stands up an promises to love.
honor an obey a man, it's a GOOD
thing if he's a homely man.
Mrs. Hylands mouth opened in pro-
test. but Mrs. Lee did not give her
time :.
that way. Now, I'm not bit jealous
of my husband, an L guess Rose isn't
of hers"
From the leanto that served as a
kitchen in the summer and a shed IN
the winter came a short, hoarse cough,
then the mOnotonous SOUND OF the
saving went on again. Mrs. Lee
face hardened at the sound until the
other woman WINGED. Again there
was that cough. 1t seemed to give her
tongue at last.
You're a fool, a fool, do you know
il ~ she said, her voice cultural in
the effort to keep it from rising with
the strength of her feeling.
She tossed her sewing to one SIDE
and rose nervously; she tested the heat
Of the fiat irons on the stove; she
poked the fire and Strengthened the
table cloth, as if trying to find an out
let in this mechanical activity for the
emotions that possessed her.
you're fool" she repeated, com
ing here to me with your jealous tale"
Mrs. Hyland's resentment at being
stamped as a fool was lost IN the
sense that there was something con-
vincing behind the other woman's out
break she waited. Presently MIS-.
Lee continued,
Fools are worse than Williams. You
can figure out what line a william will
strike. but you never know what
fools going to do Hadn't Rose Har-
vey as much right to go to River FANS
to make a living for herself and her
child, as Jack had to go there to make
a better one for you. She wrote me
week ago that she was afraid of being
turned out of the house for the rent
until she met Jack on the street and
he came to board with her and helped
to get her other boarders among the
men What should he have done? Let
her be turned out on the street? Would
you have been any better off? On the
street she might have made true the
y
for she is a good-looking woman and
she went with Jack Hyland before he
married you. a.
why are you kicking about Jack
anyway? Doesn't he keep you in fire
wood and kindling? And havn't you a
warm house to live in and haven't you
good clothes? And enough to eat? And
don't the children have clothes to wear
so that they can go to school and to
church? And don't he come home sober
and stay at home? And isn't he pleas
ant and kind to yOu?"
Mrs. Hyland vaguley nodded assent.
"Are you kicking because he is kind
hearted and has time to do other people
a good turn? He might have been
good-looking and have had time to be
agreeable to everybody bat to you; and
he might have taken you up in the
Pine barrens on a farm where he had
mortgaged the land, and the beasts,
and the crops an everything to carry
him through until he could find a wife
who'd do work enough for two. An
then, when you'd worked inside an
out until you dropped, he'd have moth
ing better to give you than his stupid
advice as to how you could do the
things he should have done better than
you were doing them. An then abuse
you if you didn't go out Of your way
to agree with him. An you might have
had to stuff up the cracks in the shanty
with mud an eat mush and bacon in
the morning an mush an mollasses at
night for six months in the year an
then eat it again for another six
months an be thankful if you had
enough of it.
"An, when you wanted wood you
might have hitched up a thin, little
mule and loaded up the children and
driven out into the Pine barrens. Mules
are cheaper than horses and surer on
foot, and can dodge the stumps better.
An out in the barrens you an the
children could have gathered up what
the fires left behind an the mules col
have draw" it home.
can when you wanted money to pay
the interest on the mortgage, you
might have had to load up the wagon
with grain sacks and load the children
on top, because it was too much trouble
for their father to take care of them,
if you left them at home. And then