The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1906-04-11
The Silence
By john Barton ON..ard
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corvaJlt, l,ye.tg Mecuos r.- a.psaco

IL huiia cunspleuouSly on the south
vail tire only picture In tic little bed
room In the foreground. betWten two
walls Of water which rruird them
selves ON either side In defiance OF all
natural laws. fat, bearded ,lmplaccnt,
stalked herculean Moses hchind him
trailed the children of iz9trl. looking
very like II mob Of German peasants
while on the horizon the Egyptian hosts
sadly out of perspective were threat.
ened ON every side by curling waves Ut
gigantic proportions,
II had hung there In the same place
for years. but ii WAS only since the day
lie had been brought in From The barn,
his right side useless from Il stroke OF
paraA sis. that Daniel Crosby had civ
en the ancient. smoke streukrd wood
eat more than Il passing thought He
had been aware of its existence Ia Il
vaguely familiar way. II II had been
taken down lie would have missed IT,
He knew from the title underneath il
MAS supposed 10 represent the passage
of The Red SEA by the children of Is
rael. but heretofore he had never taken
the trouble 10 notice further detail.
save that IL was yelloNed by age and
badly smtrehed In places hy smoke
from The adjacent kitchen
But noW il WIS different ~ he lay
there GA the bed practically helpless
und the Jnne days went by la monoto
nous succession, he found himself eX
aiming the picture infinitely during
the long, Wakeful daylight hours when
the breeze huttered the chint1 curtains
al the windows nnd the bees droned
among the blossoms Of the sAringa
bushes Just outside
Ii came IN time Ia haSe nm unNhole
some fascination for him lie began
10 wonder just how many children OF
Israel We're represented in lint cut. and
10 satisfy himself on this point he tried
time aud again 10 count them. begin
ming with the Two pHtflarchial gentle
men just behind Moses but always ut
the thirty fourth the heads resolved
themselves into Il blurred mass that de
lied further enumeration bay after
day, hour after hour. he counted pa
tiently, and steadily his anger ut his
oMn helpleSSness In the matter Hnd his
resentment of the blurred heads grew
stronger Try It's he would to divert
his mind TO other things II always re
turned pertinaeiously to the picture and
the all absorbing question of how
many children of Israel there would be
II he could once succeed III counting
them all lie grew by SLOW degrees 10
hate that picture, yet with this hate the
fascination WAS no whit lesscued In
deed. the stronger grew his hate the
more frequent became his eountlngs
until nj last lie realized he could know
no pr3et Of mind until the picture was
taken from the room
il seemed the simplest of matters 10
have Il picture removed from the walls
OF bedroom, but In Daniel Crosby's
ease there were complications, and
these complications lay in the fact that
the only person to whom he could sug
gest that the picture be taken down
was his wife, aud between Crosby and
u
years OF stubborn, unyieldiug silence.
II had come rs the climax Of nuincr-
Gus petty differences Thy had Wran
glcd long and Hereby. NJ the end Of
it Abby crosby had burst into Hood
or bitter rcbelliens tears
You can rest assured of one thing,
DanI Crosby" she had sobhrd wretch.
eddy. 4 won't never never open nay
mouth 10 you again y long's i've
lie had smiled in sufrri n fashion.
so hr it." he had acqaie red. Zen
suit me perfectly. An III see TO It
you ain't troubled With any remarks
from me"
And from that bitter day, fourteen
years before, they had lived together In
silence with never 50 much rs IL word
passing between them. Not even this
paraly sis which had strict. ~ him IN
his advancing years could ,hahe the
stubborn pride of either ZEN. lie
had wondered vaguely Il day the
neighbors had borne him Ia. the house
and laid him on the bed II pcrehance
In the excitement OF the moment she
would forget herself and speak To him,
and he was rather proud Of her self
restraint when she had not.
Silently she prepared HIS meals and
brought them In TO him. silently she
masSaged him aHd used the battery as
the doctor had directed lie watched
her narrowly day by day, all his long
Ing for companiOnship In these hours
or his helplessness carefully concealed
beneath cold exterior
''lr any one speaks first, it'll be her"
he told himself over und over.
So day after day as his wife came
silently into the room and went silent
ly out Daniel lay fccbly lingering the
sheets with his left hand. striving 10
conjure up some scheme which might
rid him or the troublesome lsraelitcs
who refused 10 be counted above the
thirty fourth. At last In desperation
he had been counting, counting all day
long he decided to take the matter
into his own hands In the early dusk
when he heard Abby 90 out the back
door 10 shut up the barn ana the hen
houses for the night he managed, by
the use of his sound left arm, to SLIDE
himself out OF the bed onto tho floor.
Slowly, painfully he coatfIYed to
reach the corner where an old cane With
crook handle leaned In the angle OF
the walls. Then with ihdomltable pa.
tience he Wormed his way along the
floor until he WAS beneath the picture.
After several unsuccessful attempts he
managed 10 hook the handle OF the
cane securely onto the frame, and,
throwing his whole weight upon Il, be
dragged the picture crashing to the
floor.
he listened for moment, half eX-
pectlng to hear his wife's footsteps ON
the back steps, but no CHE came. lie
dragged himself into the Kitchen. push
ing the picture before him the cellar
door was ajar 1hlther h' made his
painful way aud pulled It vide open,
The mingled smells of damp earth and
last seasons vegetables greeted his
nostrlls Without pause he thrust
the uIctuFe through the doorway ana