Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-11-27

nave SET JnCI.. LOf1uiId ndQ zone
OUT ar unusually large washing un-
der a good many ANTIQUITIES. The
wind was i'll d quarter that caused the
stove to smoke. for the simple reason
that the chimney ought t. have been
built three feet higher. The pump
was still out Of repair, and although
Levi had drawn considerable water
from the we'll with a rope and bucket,
he had rot drawn all that his wife
needed, and she had been compelled to
make three or four trips to the well
of her neighbor. For once in her life
Lorinda was thoroughly indignant. A
climax was reached when the clothes
line posts gave way, and Lorinda's en-
tire washing lay on the naddy ground.
She had been pioneering all day on all
that Emmelirc had said to her on the
on the occasion of her sisters last
visit
A look of fixed determination came
into LorInda's face as she looked at
her clothes lying on the muddy
ground Her blue eyes flashed. She
even stamped her foot IN the high tide
of her just Indignation Finally she
said in a v9ice auiverfng with long
| pent-up feeling -
That settsss it. TIose clothes Zine
| posts will be set, The pump wills be
fixed, the chimney will be built up
higher, and dozens OF otiIer things VIII
be done before I ever do another
stroke of work n this house I've stoCa
this just as long as Pin going to-"
When Levi came EGme to suppe,s
that night he fOundno one waiting him
The kitchen fire. was out Lorinda
made no RESPONSE when he called her
name again and zgain. Levi was be-
coming thoroughly frightened when he
| found the following noae fastened to
door by a pin run through it,
Dear Levi: I can't stand this any
! longer. I mean the way Things are
around here. l ought not to have
| stood it as long as I have. Maybe
| things would have been different if I
| had taken this step sooner. Now |
am going over to Hebron tD Sister EN-
meTine's to stay until YOU have done
| everything you have been aiming to
do for so many years. You must
finish this house up inside and out
before | come hone: YOU must fix
! the pump and bJrild the chimney
| higher, and set new posts for the
! clothes line, and do many other things
| that need to be done before set foot
! on this place again. It won't be Of any
! use for you to come for me until you
have done all I say. I am not coming
back until all is dome just as you
know that I want it done: You are
so handy that you can do it all with
out much expense if you will only
stick to it. | am tired Of seeing you
putter around so, ami am ashamed to
think that you are sa1ch a 9utterer |
don't want my husband to be the
laughing stock of his neighbors any
longer, and it is for your good as much
as my own that l am taking this step.
When all is done just as have said
you can come for me, bat not before.
"Lorfnda''
Levi was too dslzed by the first read
ing Of this note to comprehend it's full
significance. When he had read it
three or four times, with Intervals Of
reflection betw sen. e&ch reading, it's
full import dawned upon him. and he
sank into a chair entirely overcome by
the turn affairs had taken In his home.
| Handy as he was in so many ways,
| he was without any Unborn or acquired
skill in housework. Lorfnda was I'M
usually capable in this respect, and no,
man had been better fed than Levi
and his wife had kept her home tidy
as it was possible for her to keep it in
its unfinished state.
LoTinda, in the meanime, had ar
rived at her sisters home. Emnre-
line heartily approved of the step her
sister had taken.
You have done Just right, LorinHa,~
she said; and don't you weaken in
your resolution, if you have to stay
away a year. Nobody will blame you
for the step you have taken"
Lorinda went to bed that night with
fearful eyes, and in state of great
doubt as to whether she had done
right Or a wise thing but she
| but she dared not show signs of weak
ening thus early in the experiment
she had attempted. She feared En-
melines ridicule more than she feared
| anything that Levi might do or say.
| She pictured to herself Levi trying to
| get his own meals. and she felt sick
ot w Oh Of ho