Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-11-04

ran straight Cnru tHe GelllSi VI ehSAi
little house, from the exact mlddle Oh
the cook stove at the rear end OF the
kitchen to the exact middle OF the
threshold of the front door. Neltilei
che ever crossed that line to go upon
her sisters territory, except that hiiile-
tia was obliged to step over 1t TO go
UP stairs. This was unavoidable, since
the stairs were upon Humans slde oi
the hall; and accordingly at the very
outset the sisters had agreed that the
stairs should be neutral territory Inc
upper story of the house was dlVlaeu
off Just as the lower was, Hannah nav :
ing the chamber over the parlor Win
the smaller room back of it, and kline
tia the corresponding suite over the
sitting ROOM The chalk lines lay very
white and heavy between the two sec
tons of the house, and each sister was
careful to lift her skirts when passing
near them, that they might not be even
blurred by brushing. Hannah swept
her side Of the house, and Kimetia hers,
each day; and when they came TO the
chalk lines they took small Wnlsk-
brushes and carefully brushed the I'M
palpable dust away from the bound
aries into their dustpans So they
lived, silent and unresponsive as TWO
ghosts; each doing her own housework
within the territory allotted TO her,
cooking on her half of the stove, wash
ing in her half of the kitchen, reading
and sewing in her own room, OH the
main hall, and sleeping In her quiet,
uninvaded chamber.
This strange alienation of the Deer
ing sisters had arisen--as has many
another controversy among the relent-
lessly doctrinal and stubborn folk OF
old New England blood-frGm a quar-
rel about the Bible. The bone OF con-
tention between the sisters was
whether or no there existed a personal
devil The minister had preached upon
the subject, one Sunday. and Hannah
and Kimetia had, naturally, fallen to
discussing it on the way home. But as
III, fortune would have it, their inter
probation of the passages quoted by the
minister differed essentially, and the
discussion grew SO warm that 1t
glowed all the rest of that day. and far
into the night, ending in so hot and
fierce and hopeless a quarrel that the
poor old ladies vowed they would never
speak to each other again, nor touch
each other, nor eat a meal together;
and so before they went to bed they
took a piece Of chalk and divided the
house equally, and carefully arranged
all neutral privileges, even to the use
of the cellar and garnet and yard. Then,
without a single tender parting word or
look they put on the mask of silence,
and each took her candle and went to
her own part of the house, said
strange, mechanical prayer, lay down
en- her bed, and stared into the night
with wide, dry, burning eyes until the
dawn.
After that first night and the fol-
lowing day the silence and alienation
grew less terrible One can get used
to almost anything in this world, and
even come to accept it with a measure
of grace and contentment. AS the
weeks dragged by the Deering sisters
became more and more reconciled to
the chalk line on the floor and all it
Representative the dead silence of the
house, to the aversion of each others
eyes, to the crucifixion OF every thought
that sprang up crying for utterance
and sympathy, to the bitter longings
night, to the sitting of every natural
impulse of the sisterly heart. The
stubbornness inherited from many
generations of "sot" New England an
cestry was concentrated in these last
remaining members of the Deering
family. They could look upon torment
unto death with far more favor than
upon the shadow of yielding. Each be-
lieved herself to be right on the burn
ing question of a personal devil, and
sooner than surrender her conviction
upon this vital point of theology she
would be cast among lions or torn limb
from limb. 1t was hopeless then to ex-
pect that any inward suffering would
relax the grip of dogma on either Han
nah or Kimetia. God sustaining them,
they would remain sundered righteous
ly and faithfully over their Bible until
the all-determining day of judgment.
The most difficult part of the contro-
yersy, however, was to make others un-
derStand and respect 1t. For the first
three or four months this problem oc-
cassioned the Deering sisters no little
embarrassment. The average friend and
neighbor is slow and reluctant to adj
just himself or herself to a family quar-
rel. And since friends and neighbors
will continue to intrude themselves, and
make an awkward matter more awk-
ward by assuming the old relation of
things, their interest puts strain and
perplexity upon the participants In the
quarrel. And how doubly complicated
and embarrassing the situation must be
when these principals are forbidden by
their vow from exchanging word!
In the course Of time, however, the
community came to understand and adj
just itself to the Deering controversy as
a curious local phenomenon, something
to be pointed out to strangers as one of
the features of the place, like a cliff
split in two or brook partly swal-
lowed up in the earth. Even the minis
ter, whose ill-omened discourse had oc-
casioned the quarrel, ceased at last to
labor with the sisters individually in
behalf of reconciliation, and accepted
the controversy with certain grim
satisfaction in the perseverance of the
saints. To his controversial mind, it
was fine thing, after all, to be able to
support theological contention with
the steadfastness of these old ladies. 1t
seemed a survival of primitive sound
ness and sincerity in a compromising
and degenerate age. Since he could not
reconcile the sisters, he would permit
himself to admire their orthodoxy.
That was the way the minister adj
usted himself to the quarrel.
Thus matters stood as Thanksgiving
ime approached. 1t was in the previous
December that the Deering sisters had
heir falling out about personal devil,
so that they had now been alienated
Well nigh year,