The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1906-07-04
The Silence
By John Barton Oxford
Copyright, 1906, by Mcclure, Phillips & Co.

1t hung conspicuOusly ON the south
wall-the only picture in the little bed
room. In the foreground, between two
walls Of water which reared them
selves on either side in defiance of all
natural laws, fat, bearded, cOmplacent,
stalked a herculean Moses. Behind him
trailed the children Of Israel, looking
very like a mob of German peasants,
while on the horizon the Egyptian hosts
ened on every side by curling waves of
gigantic proportions.
1t had hung there in the same place
for years, but it was only since the day
he had been brought in from the barn,
his right side useless from q stroke of
paralysis, that Daniel Crosby had Civ
en- the ancient, smoke streaked wood
cut more than a passing thought. He
had been aware Of it's existence in
vaguely familiar way. If it had been
taken down he would have missed it.
He knew from the title underneath it
was supposed to represent the passage
Of the Red sea by the children Of Is
rael, but heretofore he had never taken
the trouble to notice further detail,
save that it was yellowed by age and
badly smirched in places by smoke
from the adjacent kitchen.
But now it was different AS he lay
there on the bed practically helpless
and the June days went by in monoto-
ha
aiming the picture infinitely during
the long, wakeful daylight hours when
the breeze futtered the chintz curtains
at the windows and the bees droned
among the blossoms of the syringa
bushes just outside.
1t came in time to have an unwhole-
some fascination for him. He began
to wonder just how many children Of
Israel were represented in that cut, and
to satisfy himself on this point he tried
time and again to count them, begin
ming with the two patriarchial gentle
men just behind Moses, but always at
the thirty-fourth the heads resolved
themselves into blurred mass that de-
fed further enumeration. Day after
day, hour after hour, he counted pa
tiently, and steadily his anger at his
own helplessness in the matter and his
resentment of the blurred heads grew
stronger. Try as he would to divert
his mind to other things it always re
turned pertinaciOusly to the picture and
the all absorbing question of how
many children of Israel there would be
If he could once succeed in counting
them all. He grew by slow degrees to
hate that picture, yet with this hate the
fascination was no whit lessened. In
deed, the stronger grew his hate the
more frequent became his countings
until at last he realized he could know
no peace of mind until the picture was
taken from the room.
1t seemed the simplest of matters to
have picture removed from the walls
of bedroom, but in Daniel CrOsby's
case there We're 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, and between Crosby and
his wife there had existed fourteen
years of stubborn, unyielding silence.
1t had come as the climax Of numer-
Gus petty differences. They had wran-
gled long and tiercely. At the end Of
it Abby Crosby had burst into a flood
of bitter, rebellious tears.
"YOu can rest assured Of one thing
Danl Crosby" she had sobbed wretch
edly. II won't never, never open my
mouth to you again s longs livew
He had smiled in superior fashion.
SG&O no If - 10 had SGTt'lI
suit me perfectly. An I'll see to it
you amt troubled with any remarks
from me-"
And from that bitter day, fourteen
years before, they had lived together in
silence with never so much as a word
passing between them. Not even this
paralysis which had stricken him In
his advancing years could shake the
stubborn pride of either of them. He
had wondered vaguely that day the
neighbOrs had borne him into the house
and laid him on the bed If perchance
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
him and used the battery as
the doctor had directed. He watched |
her narrowly day by day, all his long
ing for companionship in these hours |
of his helplessness carefully concealed |
beneath a cold exterior.
IF any one speaks first, it'll be her."
he told himself over and over.
CO of4 10 R,Sc
silently into the room and went silent |
ly out Daniel lay feebly lingering the
sheets with his left hand, striving to |
cOnjure up some scheme which might |
rid him of the troublesome Israelites
who refused to 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 go out the back |
door to shut up the barn and the hen
houses for the night he managed, by |
the use of his sound left arm, to slide |
himself out of the bed onto the floor.
Slowly, painfully he cOntrived to |
reach the corner where an old cane with |
a crook handle leaned in the angle of |
the walls. Then with indomitable pa |
tience he wormed his way along the |
floor until he was beneath the picture. |
After several unsuccessful attempts he |
to hook the handle of the /
cane securely onto the frame, and, |
throwing his whole weight upon it, he l
dragged the picture crashing to the |
floor.
He listened for moment, half ex-