The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-02
How JENKINS KEPT HOUSE.

|
she'd spend a month lat Mammals" She
needed a rest, and they both would b.
| better for the change. Not that she had
| - much work to do, FOR they had nc
children. and their little fat was model
IL appointments. but Mrs. Jenkins was
one of those women who are always
making work" for themselves. Al least
that's what he thought, and the subject
had been worn threadbare between them.
His dinner was never quite ready when
he got home in the evening and il was al
ways dark when she was through with
the dishes. OF course he didn't care
about such tribes, but he felt sorry to see
| her wearing herself out over what seem
eG 70 him a very easy almost trivial.
round of duties. What did she do all
day?F was question he often asked
himself, but he was too kind to spring
| such a query on Julia who, whatever
| might have been her faults was certainly
| the neatest housewife imaginable and
| kept the fiat like pin
1t ought TO be like play for you" he
| used to say, but here you are fretting
| and tuning and working away. as if You
| were housekeeper for a twenty room
| mansion on the boulevard
4 d like 10 see you do any better, she
| would snap sometimes. But for the most
part they were very happy, contented
and affectionate-wnen they had time.
Now you'n get your Fill of housekeep-
| ing. John" she laughed when he told her
that he meant TO keep bachelors hall.
Just watch me- he boasted. I'll get
| up every morning at $50 and light the
range A canteloupe. some oatmeal, a
] boiled egg and a cup Of coffee viii fix
me out. The few dishes can be done in
| i've minutes. Lunch downtown. III be
| home at 6 every evening, wet the tea in
a jiffy and be out for a walk and a smoke
n y hnf @s-IO al rva-
on f~mously- You always did nave an ex-
| agg-rated idea about the work around
this doll house"
She cautioned him about leaving the
refrigerator a bit open at top for circu-
| lation,." told him TO empty the drip pan
underneath every other day; she showed
! him where she had laid away his under
wear and where his collars. cuffs and
fresh linen lay; then she pointed out the
coffee canister and the tea caddie, and
the sign for the iceman, and a score
of minor details which struck him as
proof positive that his wife was actually
getting eccentric over the petty af-
| fairs Of an establishment which struck
| him as simple as \. B. c.
Don't forget to wind the clock Satur-
day night, john, she said as she was
getting into the train" and the gas man.
l forgot the gas mani He always comes
round TO inspect about the last Of the
month. The bin for last month is due the
10th. John. You'd better ask Mrs. Smith
to let him in to inspect the meter. And,
oh. yes, don't forget to get enough ice
John"
She was gone and he. smiling pityingly
on the platform, murmured:
Poor Julial She's got to have some
thing to worry about. If she had half
my business affairs to look after she d
go crazy" And ne walked back to the
empty fiat to get his pipe.
The place, with it's closed windows and
echoing halls. seemed so lonesome that
he determined to go downtown for
harmless lark. Two hours of aimess
wandering through the streets convinced
him that there was no place like home.
He got on the train and went there. He
raised all the windows just to try a little
experiment which Julia mad never approx
cd of, but when he woke in the middle
of the night, the rain was beating In at
the front windows. the floor was flooded
and the new rug was soaked.
Just my luck" he grunted, stopping
around in the dark THAT would not
have happened if Julia had been here
He did not stop to guess that perhaps
she had met such little difficslties a hun
dred times without his knowledge, but
rolled back into bed again. He oversight
himself the next morning and in his haste
tc get to the office on time. had forgot
the little task of making his bed. He
put the oatmeal on, but hadn't time to
wait for it, When he got on the train he
found that he had no handkerchief and
a dim realization came over him that
Julia never kissed him good-by in the
morning without asking: Got a clean
handkerchief, John?"
That evening xrhau he Ief
the empty fiat. odor like a rag factory
fire greeted his ncstrils. He rushed into
the Kitchen and found that he had for
gotten to put out the gas under the oat-
meal pot. There was a hole through the
bottom of the enamel ware and the place
vas ree5ing with a sickening fog Their
he made tea in the coffee pot and couldn't
drink the concoction. He forgot TO grease
the skillet for his egg frying. and. as It
was getting late, he decided TO eat stand
ing up by the kitchen table rather than
carry the things into the dining-roon.
1t wasn't a very good supper. but Jenkins
wasn't particular He postponed the dish
washing till after he had taken his stroll
and his smoke. and when ne came back
he was too sleepy.
That was the gait tha, Jenkins struck
on the first day Of Juhia absercc. and he
never quite got out ~ il. lie WAS always
little too rushed IN the morning 70
wash the dishes or make his bed and in
the evening he was 'faggA.i'' or suffering
for a breath of fr1sh All, ~ eager 10
read the papers on u eighth day ha
missed altogether, even his hOlnema lie
cup of coffee. and gaIloped five blocks 10
get at a suburban restaurant.
He spent TWO hours one night looking
for clean collars. and when he gave up
the search every chifonier. dresser ward
robe and closet in the house looked as n
a burglar had ransacked them. Then he
suddenly realized that he had forgotten TO
send his linen to the laundry. After that
he couldn't find anything He made L
few more half-hearted bluffs at getting
his own breakfast, but the pile OF dirty
dishes in the sink began 10 grow noun
famous and disheartenins, and besides he
couldn't manage TO keep any fresh
things in the refrigerator. The iceman
always came after he was gone and he
never could think OF ordering butter and
eggs. Then he quit coming home iii bed
time. He took in all the vaudeville
shows and took a tentative fling At
sporting life IN the way 81 q few pale
pints at the summer gardens and dowa- /
town buffets
He found out by dint Of many and ex- !
pensive disappolntments that Il was j
dreadfully hard 10 eat eggs poached. or ]
bacon and beans cooked like home. /
His bed began - look Ike last years 4
birds nest. The dust and Int q 2
months desustuce began TO show on 1
the floors. the furniture and the rugs.
Julia had been gone nearly 4 month i
when jenkins got a ncte from his land i
lord echoing some vague protests o. his j
was something dead in the jenkins /
"a. a-S that ssAfrz smith a-S otNa-s