The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-09-11
ARMED NEUTRALITY,

ARMED NEUTRALITY.
Miss AnnabeI Blake and Miss Jessica
Wynch possessed certain points of re-
semblance. They were about the same
. age and had about the same moderate
income. Both were plain. slightly eccen-
( trio, sturdy and even pugnaciOus, both
of them hated men and loved garden
ing. Both were independent, methodi-
cal and hot tempered. Both had quar-
relied with all their relations.
It was chiefly on that account that
al the age OF 80 they decided 10 join
their forces and take a house and garden
in the country together. The relatives
smiled and said they would give that ar
rangement just one month 10 last
But the relatives were wrong. Both of
the ladies were shrewd enough 10 see
that the only possible modus vivendi was
one which as far as possible left 10 each
her independence. \ book Of rules was
drawn up in manuscript, each lady pos
sessing 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 q great deal Of friction. generally
ending in an even compromise. Neither
! lady could claim TO be the predominant
partner. Gradually the spirit of an &C
between them. The compromise might.
for instance, have been traced in rule
/ q, which ordained that fires in the re-
ception rooms were permissible only be-
tween 6 p. m. of October Is. and 1880
p. m. of the following April %. IL took
two evenings Of animated discussion 70
make that rule. once made it passed
1rr h1
/ there was no more trouble about it.
Thanks to the rules and compromises,
Miss Blake and Miss Wynch managed
to live together for twenty years. They
did not pretend to have much mutual
affection. but they enjoyed little sharp
ness of the tongue. Perfect calm would
have bored them. They had, however.
a certain amount OF mutual respect, since
neither was a person who could be put
upon. and from the similarity Of their
tastes IL was probably easier for each to
live with the other than with anybody
else. Besides, there was a distinct saving
Of money from living together, and
though they were not precisely misery
! they liked good management.
But in the twenty-third year. in the
/ springtime, when the birds were singing
/ prettily and the blossoms were looking
! ing and peaceful, the great war broke out
between the two ladies. The war had its
origin in the garden. The paths and
lawns were common ground, though the
care Of the paths was assigned TO Miss
Wynch, while Miss Blake was responsible
for the lawn. The rest of the garden
was divided into equal parts BY rule 8
Miss Blake owned and cultivated that
part of the garden on the left side of the
nd
waited the other half on the right side.
They employed no gardener and needed
none. These TWO ladies of 50 could do a
piece of hard digging, and no nonsense
I about it, as well as most men. There
were rules that a certain proportion of
each allotment was to be kitchen gar
den. and the crops for these were to be
settled in January by discussion. other
wise the two ladies might have had too
much Of one thing and none Of another.
This discussion was much less fiery than
might have been expected. The capabili-
ties of the land and Of its cultivators had
/ been early recognized. When a difficulty
did arise, a short squabble and a sternly
Just compromise settled it. The rest of
the allotments. the flower gardens. never
came under discussion at all There each
proprietor by rule Is was supreme.
Now, it happened that Miss Wynch in
turning over her seed packet one even
ing came on one that bore no label and
no indication of its contents. Miss
Blake expressed her opinion, TO give her
exact words, that Jessica Wynch was a
Z careless fool. Miss Wynch said she had
/ never seen the packet before, and the
! seedman must have sent it by mistake
| IL was probably rubbish, and she should
burn it. She added that people who for
I get to get the crumb tray repaired should
not call other people careless fools. Miss
/ Blake said that people who burned seeds
/ deserved to live to want bread to eat
Jessica said that Annabel could have the
] packet for penny and the money was
paid. Annsbel sowed that seed. and #
/ aourished exceedingly. It was a foreign
/ weed, as ugly, vindictive and prolific as
a Chinaman. Where is was put in there
/ was its base of operations for evermore
/ SO the war began. And so far Miss
/ Wynch had right on her side.
| Miss Blake made a heap OF the weed
/ and set fire to it on a day when the
I wind carried the smoke across Jessica' s
allotment. For this infringement of rule
I IS. she was fined fourpence. Jessica then
threw a healthy collection Of large snails
/ across into Miss Blakes flower beds. Miss
l Blake appealed 10 rule 50, under which
| rubbish from one allotment might not
I Ice deposited on the other. Miss Wynch
/ objected under the plea that rubbish
meant something dead, and the snails
were alive. Miss Blake said: Very
/ we'll" and spent an afternoon in gettine
! together an army OF tat caterpiilars foI
/ Jessica's roses. In a weeks tine the two
/ ladies' had ceased TO speak 10 one an
other whenever speech could be avoided
and took their meals separately.
They would undoubtedly have separated
altogether and lived apart, but one day
I in July. when Jessica was hurrying 70
/ the nearest town TO get her VIII altered
/ she was knocked over by cart and
{ killed. That stopped the war.-Black and
4 White.
Old Grimes.