The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-10-03
A CIVIL WAR.
by BARRY PAIN.

blancc. They were about the same age, and
had alb )ut the same moderate income. Both
were plain. slightly eccentric sturdy, and
even pugnscoIts. Both Of them hated men
and loved gardening. Both were indepcnd-
(. ent, methodcal and hot-tempered. Both
had quarreled with all their relations.
1t was chieny on that account that at the
age of 30 they decided to join thcAr foices
and take house and garden in the country
together. The relations smiled and said
they would give that arrangement just one
month to last. They calculated that by then
Annabel and Jeasira would have flown at
each others lhroats and parted Tor ever.
But the relations were wrong, Both of
the ladies were shreWd enoug D to see that
the only possible modus vivendi was one
which, as far as possible, left to each her
independence. A book OF rules was drawn
up in manuscript, each lady possessing her
own copy. As the years went on the rules
grew in number to meet every OCCASION
They were agreed to by both parties, and
there were fines for breaking them, and the
fines were always paid. The making Of
these rules caused good deal OF friction,
generally ending in an even compromise
Neither lady could claim to be the predom.
inant partner gradually the spirit OF an ac
curately measured giveand'take grew up
between them. The compromise might, Tor
instance, have been traced in Rule Is, when
ordained that fires in the reception-rooms
were permissible only between SIX p. III. OF
October 10 aud 10: 30 p, III. OF the following
April 23 II took two evenings OF animated
discussion, and there was no more trouble
about it, An entire absence OF anything
that could possibl> have been called a sense
OF humor helped them
Thanks to the rules and compromises,
Miss Blake and Miss Wynch managed to
| live together for 20 years. lhey dia not
pretend TO have much mutual affection, but
| they enjoyed little sharpness OF the
tongue: perfect calm would have bored
| them. They had, however, certain
! amount OF mutual respect, since neither was
! person who could be put upon, and from
, the similarity of their latstes ii was prob
| ably easier ior each to live with the other
than with anybody else, BESIDES, there was
| distinct saving OF money from living to-
| rether; and though they were not precisely
| misery they liked good Management.
But in the twenty-lirs year. i'll the spring
time, when the birds were singing prettlly,
uaturc eepcrally seemed smiling and peace
! iul, the great war broke ont between .he
tyn ladies. The war had It's origin m the
| garden, The paths and lawns were common
o,ouuI tnough the care Of the paths was
| assigned to Miss Wynch while Miss Blake
was responsible ior the lawn. The rest ot
the garden was divided into equal part4.
By Rule 3 Miss Blaze owned and cultivated
| that part ol the garden ON the lett SIDE ol lhe
path, and Miss Wynch owned and cultivated
| the other hail On the right SIDE lheA en-
! ploved no gardener, and needed none heec
| two ladies OF 80 could do piece OF nara u'B'
| ging-and no nonsense about lt-as wen az
| most men. There were rules that certain
| proportion OF eac.. allotment wat 10 DC
! kitchen garden, and the crops Tor tleae were
| to be settled in January by discussion.
| Otherwise, the two ladies might nave had
| too much OF one thing and none OF ahother'
| This discussion was muci less Her! tAh'
might have been expected. Inc carahnllles
| of the land and OF its cultNators lna Deen
early recognized. When dithcully ana
ARISE. short suuabble and a sternly Just
compromise settled il. The rest OF The al
lotments, the flower gardens, never came
under discussion at all; there each pro-
prietor, by Rule 10, was supreme
Now it happened that Miss Wynch, IN
turning over her seed packet one evening,
came on one that bore no Label and no indl.
cation of It's contents. Miss Blake eXpresse"
| hnr uruuipn, TO give her exact words, thal
.je,.ira Wynch was careless TOOL Mlss
Wynrh said she had never seen the packet
| letpe. and the scotsman must have sent
il by mistake. 1t was probably RUBBISH
and she should burn it. She added that
ueople who forgot to get the ciumb tray re-
naired should not call Other people care
less fools, Miss Blake said that people who
burned seeds deserved to live to want bread
In eat. ,Jessca said that Annabel co'lu
have the packet ior a penny, and the money
was paid. Annabsl sowed that seed, ana
il Hourished exceedingly. 1t was toreigl
weed-as ugly, vindlctNe and prollllc as
Ch;naman, Where it was put IN there was
its base of operations for evermore' 80 tht
war beyau. And so far Miss Wynch had
right on her side
l. Miss Blake made a heap of the weed and
| SGT fire to it on day when the Wihu cafiieo
the smoke across ,)essica S allotment foi
tins infringement ol Rule IS she was iined
f,urnanre ,Jessca then threw healthy
collection Of large sna'ls across into MIS-.
H,ke's flower beds Miss Blake appealed
"a Rule al. under which rubbish from one
allotment might not be deposited on tue
other. Miss Wynch objected, under the
nlea that rubbish meant something dead
and the snails were alive. Miss blake SAT-
"Ncry WELL" and spent AN afternoon IN get
ting together an army ol tat caterplllarS lol
Jas,ic, 5 roses. In weeks time the two Ia
dies had ceased to speak to one another-
whenever speech could be avoided-an@
took their meals separately.
They would undoubtedly have separated
altogether and lived apart, but one day II
July, when Jessica was huiiline 10 tn
neare,t town to get her will altered, sh'
was knocked over by cart and Killed. Ina
stopped the war!
| &, Miss Blake. having inherited all he
encmy's possessions now lives in the oil
house alone: and her temper Is little NOR
fendish than before. So the gardener says
who is now called in to help. lie looks atte
the lawn and the paths, and is permitted T.
work ON Miss Blakes side ol the garden
Bn, Miss blake herself works much harder
with more knowledge, and with more con
.cicr,,ousncss in the garden OF her dead en-
,my # is on that side that most OF tn
nnrcy il ,pcnt Miss Blake surveyed 1t on
summer evening when it was at It's best;