Year: 1869

ID
ry calculations Forgetting that he had


undertaken to cherish and protect her, he
] began TO treat her with studied cruelty,
though for time this cruelty was not of
such character as made it easy for her


to complain. He was simply neglcctful,


and appeared to be unconscious of the eX-
| istence of his wife; and one day, when,
| having just touched her brow with his
lips III response to her fearful entreaty, he
/ was asked if that was the kiss of duty or
| the. kiss of affection, he replied that he
declined to answer the question.


Thenccforth he threw off all conceal
| ment and all restraint, and, like the wolf
| in the fable, never suffered himself to be
| at loss for the indulgence of his ILL
| will. Her housewifely care was some
thing remarkable, and when, after prying
| into all the angles of their lodging, he
failed to find any dust which had escaped


her broom, he would turn round and bit
| terly taunt bor with the partition of PO-
land rs if she had had a hand in that
] crime; and he would positively ask her
what she thought of the battle of Warsaw
when she ventured to demonstrate with
him for playing at loo till two o'clock in
the morning.


Sometimes his ill-treatmcnt seemed to
be dictated by the most fiendish malignty
Under prctcnce of liking fresh cooked
food, he would order her to make pud-
ding for the dinner of a size proportiOna-
ble to his own appetite and nature, and,


halving this meagre dish with the pen
knife which he used at table, would ironi-
cally bid her fall to" on Il portion that,
while it was ample enough to serve for his
necessities, would not make her decent
mouthful. 1t was the same with the food
of the mind she had a taste for the beau
| ties of our literature, and was accustomed
| to enjoy the classics in folios, but he in
sisted on her reading them in diamond
| editions


These were the main points of the story
she told me, with many tears, and in
| manner that would have touched heart


of stone. When she paused she drew out
a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, and in
| doing so, she accidentally brought out of
her pocket a garment which turned out to
be the dwarfs great-cOat, and which had
found its way there in manner she could


not account for, except that she had taken
it up unknOwingly in one of those period
ical fits of mental distraction caused by
her husbands brutal behavior 1t often
happened, she informed me, that she fell
into little mistakes of this kind in tidying
up the place; but Minnikin made no al
lowance for them on the contrary, they
served him as excuses for further ill-treat-


ment; and he had once indulged i'm horrid
eXcesscs of violence because she had inad-


vertently made an apron string of his
dress -cravat.


took my leave of her without waiting
to see the dwarf, and told her in all sim
cerity how sorry L felt to see her thus
placed in the power of tyrant. | felt that
whatever my own misfortunes were in
losing her services, they were as nothing
compared with her own Surrenderlng her
freedom and happiness to Il wretch who
did not know the value of his position and
| was SO anxious to be Of service to her
that made up my mind to open my own
poor show at the other end of the town, i'm


order that might have an opportunity of
seeing her from time to time. | did so,


and made several calls, paying for admis


sion each time, for was determined to be


i'm no way beholden to a man l detested.


1t was beautiful to see her in the inter


walls of the levees trying to become a good


wife to Mnnikin, not only performing fhe


household work with the greatest care,


and making the puddings so small that they


looked like dumplings in her hand, but


even trying to bring her capaciOus mind


into harmony wich the narrow under


standing of her lord Her views were


naturally broader than his, for his head


was certainly not larger than "A Spanish


onion, but she tried to narrow them by all


the means in herpower, and sometimes she


succeeded by n great effort in forming a


false Judgment on one of the subjects of


the day. She would bring this out along
deigned to say that he was inclined to be
I,o, tl1.h hnaG nf.1,. ha1 nct


her to blunt her fine perceptions and to
do violence To her conscience would i'm
mediatciy pass away.


But all to no purpose. One day called
upon her and found her SO agitated she
could scarcely speak. That morning the
ruf1ian had added personal violence to his
other crimes. He loved to dabble i'm house
hold affairs, and she was holding him on
her arm, according to custom, To enable
him To clean the windows of their dwell
ing, when an opinion she chanced to ex-
press i'm favor of the abolition of the slave
trade i'm Brazil excited his ire, and he
struck Der blow on the head with so
much force that it hurt his thumb.


/ could endure it no longer. Great as
was my reluctance to interfere actively in
the quarrels of married pair, | felt con
strained to give her certain advice. She
said it was as novel as it was terrible to
her thoughts and she ut first felt extreme
lv reluctant To take it, Imade her promise
me, however, before we parted that, she
would give it trial.


Extlting i'm the license given to his evil
nature by the removal of the last barrier
to the free course of his temper which
duty and manly feeling had imposed, the
dwarf renewed his threats of iIl-trcatment
on his return home that night from a
carouse, and the next morning he com
manded the trembling woman, in voice
of thunder, to take him up i'm her arms
again that he might finish the top pancs
In vain she suggested pair of steps; he
was inexorable, and told her to hold her
tongue. Unfortunately, it was impossible
for her to control her eyes. He was using
the dry duster with great energy To i'm
part the final polish, when he discovered
on il traces of IA tear which it had caught
rs il Law in its resting place on her shoulder.
He turned savagely and was about to strike
her again, when she very deliberately let
him fall and i'm less than minute he
came to the ground with a horrible noise.


Half stunned as he was, however, he
was about to rise for retaliation, not doubt
ing that his punishment was owing to her
inadyertence, when she saved him the ef-
fort by lifting him in mid-air with one
hand. i'm the same way as one lifts favor
ite cat. and, with the other, bclabOrlng
him till the dust flew out of his little coat.
She then, although it was early in the day,


n. 70 l,a1 nd nrlnrQ6