The Florence daily tribune., 1899-04-04
TAKING THE REINS.

der the whole village concurred with
the exception ce hia wife. She main
tained silence on TIE subject which was
best perhaps, inasmueh AS she was the
cause of it all
Hes he's the most downtroddpn
and meek sort of man you ever set eycr
on. ana it amt right that it should @
so. Airs Blake declared. as Lyfotd
Merritt, then under discussion shufllrd
along the dusty road Its dreadful TO
see man so suppressed, she sighed
''lt ain nature one bit
"Some men are born meek and
would rather woman'd go ahead aud
boss the house and him, too. and then
yon don I blame EN-, but Lyford ain I
kind Fore his wife got hold of
han he used to be as mp and coming as
any one
sli ght flush spread over her thin
cheeks as she felt critical glance upon
her
THAT was tho time he came a-court
in you. s'poseY' her guest remarked
blandly ~ always heard you had some
sort of words and then he took up with
the new schoolteacher and married her
right away fore your face and eyes -
Mrs. Blake beat her cake vigorously
He amt done nothing but be set on
ever since she declared mt length $50
that he aiu't himscf at all And that's
what's so eNasperating No man with
any natural stand mp 20 him ought to
give in The way he does That's what x
the trouble He seems to think it 5 all
right.
She poured the cake into tin and
showed it into the oven and shut the
door with bang.
We've all had spells of talking to
him. she went on. "but there. II ain t
no earthly good. He always sits SO good
natured and kind of mods his head as if
agreeing, and when You come to stop he
looks up with his blue eyes and says
Well well, you don't understand Ii
may seem kind of hard sometimes to
outsiders, Mis- Blake but then, you
see. she's got the nerves.
NERVES, scornfully; ''as if any of
us couldn't get up that kind of nerve"
if we wanted to- But Lyford, he Just
stands it always, and it S terrible exas-
perating.
She gave another glance out of the
window Lyford Merritt was not in
sight. Unconscious of his neighbor q
scrutiny and comment he slowly cross
ed the stubty field and made his way to
the barn. There he deposited the pack
ages from the store and then went to
the woodpile. He seemed in u sort of
brown study, and his movements We're
uncertain.
ut amt right for man not to be
master in his own house, he rumi-
mated as if the sentiment had Just been
impressed upon his mind. lit really
ain t. and ! am going to assert myself
The thought caused a stick to drop
from his arms. He hastily picked it up
with backward glance over his shoul.
der
81 wouldn't do anything to hurt
Caroline for anything. in the world OF
course | woudn t. She's good wife
"A very good wife to me, and I'm thank
full I've got such good wife. and
hope make her good husband "
lie paused and slowly laid two more
sticks ON To his burden and walked to-
ward the woodhGuse.
And I've been thinking that perhaps
ii ain good for her to have me always
giving in to her, he continued as he
returned for IA second load Il read
somewhere the other day that women
was like horses they like to have their
own way longs they can. but when
You make EN- mind they go all the bet
ter. Not that | should ever try and
make Caroline mind''-he pansed
aghast-"but perhaps ia kinder took
things for granted that she wouldn t
mind my doing more things | could
do EN-, and she'd like it. I'm a-going
10 try anyway.
1t was undeniable that Lyford Mer.
ritt's heart beat somewhat faster than
usual as it neared B o'clock ON the fol-
lowing afternoon The town committee
had ordained to have an extra meeting
1t was usually held at the Perkins.
but Mrs, Perkins was sick. and so I.y-
ford had generously asked them to
come there.
A whad already gathered and Were
sitting in the shade of the big elm 9th
ers could be seen coming down the road
Il suppose we might as well 20 in.
reeing there are SO many of us already
Lyford remarked
1t was an unwritten law that the
meetings of the committee should al
ways oe held in some pailor or the
church vestry, 1t was not compatible
with the dignity of the committee to
meet in barns or shops. as did other or
ganizations
The men sprang up and Lyford led
the way to the front of the house where
they greeted the others They stood
moment and cbatted, while a few strag-
gled up, then Lfyord put his hand on
the door.
1t refused to open. He made several
attempts. but it would not stir. He
grew red in the fnce with exertion
1t sunlocked all right. . he declared
..hecanse | saw to thnt this ,n,nrninar