He Fell In Love With His Wife by Edward Payson Roe (best books to read for students TXT) đ
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sooner cut out their tongues than purloin. How happy is the change which has
been affected! How could you abide in the house with such a person as that
Bridget Malony?â
âWell, well, Mrs. Mumpson! She abode with herself. I at least had this room
in peace and quietness.â
âOf course, of course! A person so utterly unrespecterble would not think of
entering THIS apartment; but then you had to meet her, you know. You could
not act as if she was not, when she was, and there being so much of her, too.
She was a monstrous-looking person. Itâs dreadful to think that such persons
belong to our sex. I donât wonder you feel as you do about it all. I can
understand you perfectly. All your senserbleness was offended. You felt that
your very home had become sacrilegious. Well, now, I suppose she said awful
things to you?â
Holcroft could not endure this style of inquisition and comment another second
longer. He rose and said, âMrs. Mumpson, if you want to know just what she
said and did, you must go and ask her. Iâm very tired. Iâll go out and see
that the stockâs all right, and then go to bed.â
âOh, certainly, certainly!â ejaculated the widow. âRepose is natureâs sweet
rester, says the poet. I can see how recalling those dreadful scenes with
those peculiar femalesââ But he was gone.
In passing out, he caught sight of Jane whisking back into the kitchen. âSheâs
been listening,â he thought. âWell, Iâll go to town tomorrow afternoon, get a
stove for my room upstairs, and stuff the keyhole.â
He went to the barn and looked with envy at the placid cows and quiet horses.
At last, having lingered as long as he could, he returned to the kitchen.
Jane had washed and put away the supper dishes after a fashion, and was now
sitting on the edge of a chair in the farthest corner of the room.
âTake this candle and go to your mother,â he said curtly. Then he fastened
the doors and put out the lamp. Standing for an instant at the parlor
entrance, he added, âPlease rake up the fire and put out the light before you
come up. Good night.â
âOh, certainly, certainly! Weâll look after everything just as if it was our
own. The sense of strangeness will soon passââ But his steps were halfway up
the stairs.
Mother and daughter listened until they heard him overhead, then, taking the
candle, they began a most minute examination of everything in the room.
Poor Holcroft listened also; too worried, anxious, and nervous to sleep until
they came up and all sounds ceased in the adjoining apartment.
Chapter V. Mrs. Mumpson Takes Up Her Burdens
The next morning Holcroft awoke early. The rising sun flooded his plain
little room with mellow light. It was impossible to give way to dejection in
that radiance, and hope, he scarcely knew why, sprung up in his heart. He was
soon dressed, and having kindled the kitchen fire, went out on the porch.
There had been a change in the wind during the night, and now it blew softly
from the south. The air was sweet with the indefinable fragrance of spring.
The ethereal notes of bluebirds were heard on every side. Migratory robins
were feeding in the orchard, whistling and calling their noisy congratulations
on arriving at old haunts. The frost was already oozing from the ground, but
the farmer welcomed the mud, knowing that it indicated a long advance toward
plowing and planting time.
He bared his head to the sweet, warm air and took long, deep breaths. âIf this
weather holds,â he muttered, âI can soon put in some early potatoes on that
warm hillside yonder. Yes, I can stand even her for the sake of being on the
old place in mornings like this. The weatherâll be getting better every day
and I can be out of doors more. Iâll have a stove in my room tonight; I would
last night if the old air-tight hadnât given out completely. Iâll take it to
town this afternoon and sell it for old iron. Then Iâll get a branâ-new one
and put it up in my room. They canât follow me there and they canât follow me
outdoors, and so perhaps I can live in peace and work most of the time.â
Thus he was muttering to himself, as lonely people so often do, when he felt
that someone was near. Turning suddenly, he saw Jane half-hidden by the
kitchen door. Finding herself observed, the girl came forward and said in her
brief monotonous way:
âMotherâll be down soon. If youâll show me how you want the coffee and
things, I guess I can learn.â
âI guess youâll have to, Jane. Thereâll be more chance of your teaching your
mother than of her teaching you, I fear. But weâll see, weâll see; itâs
strange people canât see whatâs sensible and best for âem when they see so
much.â
The child made no reply, but watched him intently as he measured out and then
ground half a cup of coffee.
âThe firs thing to do,â he began kindly, âis to fill the kettle with water
fresh drawn from the well. Never make coffee or tea with water thatâs been
boiled two or three times. Now, Iâll give the kettle a good rinsing, so as to
make sure you start with it clean.â
Having accomplished this, he filled the vessel at the well and placed it on
the fire, remarking as he did so, âYour mother can cook a little, canât she?â
âI sâpose so,â Jane replied. âWhen father was livinâ mother said she kept a
girl. Since then, weâve visited round. But sheâll learn, and if she canât, I
can.â
âWhat on earthâbut thereâs no use of talking. When the water boilsâbubbles
up and down, you knowâcall me. I suppose you and your mother can get the
rest of the breakfast? Oh, good morning, Mrs. Mumpson! I was just showing
Jane about the coffee. You two can go on and do all the rest, but donât touch
the coffee till the kettle boils, and then Iâll come in and show you my way,
and, if you please, I donât wish it any other way.â
âOh, certainly, certainly!â began Mrs. Mumpson, but Holcroft waited to hear no
more.
âSheâs a woman,â he muttered, âand Iâll say nothing rude or ugly to her, but I
shanât listen to her talk half a minute when I can help myself; and if she
wonât do any thing but talkâwell, weâll see, weâll see! A few hours in the
dairy will show whether she can use anything besides her tongue.â
As soon as they were alone Jane turned sharply on her mother and said, âNow
youâve got to do something to help. At Cousin Lemuelâs and other places they
wouldnât let us help. Anyhow, they wouldnât let me. He âspects us both to
work, and pays you for it. I tell you agin, he wonât let us stay here unless
we do. I wonât go visitinâ round any more, feelinâ like a stray cat in every
house I go to. Youâve got to work, and talk less.â
âWhy, Jane! How YOU talk!â
âI talk sense. Come, help me get breakfast.â
âDo you think thatâs a proper way for a child to address a parent?â
âNo matter what I think. Come and help. Youâll soon know what he thinks if
we keep breakfast waitinâ.â
âWell, Iâll do such menial work until he gets a girl, and then he shall learn
that he canât expect one with such respecterble connectionsââ
âHope I may never see any of âem agin,â interrupted Jane shortly, and then she
relapsed into silence while her mother rambled on in her characteristic way,
making singularly inapt efforts to assist in the task before them.
As Holcroft rose from milking a cow he found Jane beside him. A ghost could
not have come more silently, and again her stealthy ways gave him an
unpleasant sensation. âKettle is boilinâ,â she said, and was gone.
He shook his head and muttered, âQueer tribe, these Mumpsons! Iâve only to
get an odd fish of a girl to help, and Iâll have something like a menagerie in
the house.â He carried his pails of foaming milk to the dairy, and then
entered the kitchen.
âIâve only a minute,â he began hastily, seeking to forestall the widow. âYes,
the kettleâs boiling all right. First scald out the coffeepotâput
three-quarters of a cup of ground coffee into the pot, break an egg into it,
so; pour on the egg and coffee half a cup of cold water and stir it all up
well, this way. Next pour in about a pint of boiling water from the kettle,
set the pot on the stove and let itâthe coffee, I meanâcook twenty minutes,
remember, not less than twenty minutes. Iâll be back to breakfast by that
time. Now you know just how I want my coffee, donât you?â looking at Jane.
Jane nodded, but Mrs. Mumpson began, âOh certainly, certainly! Boil an egg
twenty minutes, add half a cup of cold water, andââ
âI know,â interrupted Jane, âI can always do as you did.â
Holcroft again escaped to the barn, and eventually returned with a deep sigh.
âIâll have to face a good deal of her music this morning,â he thought, âbut I
shall have at least a good cup of coffee to brace me.â
Mrs. Mumpson did not abandon the suggestion that grace should be said,âshe
never abandoned anything,âbut the farmer, in accordance with his purpose to
be civil, yet pay no attention to her obtrusive ways, gave no heed to her
hint. He thought Jane looked apprehensive, and soon learned the reason. His
coffee was at least hot, but seemed exceedingly weak.
âI hope now that itâs just right,â said Mrs. Mumpson complacently, âand
feeling sure that it was made just to suit you, I filled the coffeepot full
from the kettle. We can drink what we desire for breakfast and then the rest
can be set aside until dinner time and warmed over. Then youâll have it just
to suit you for the next meal, and we, at the same time, will be practicing
econermy. It shall now be my great aim to help you econermize. Any coarse,
menial hands can work, but the great thing to be considered is a caretaker;
one who, by thoughtfulness and the employment of her mind, will make the labor
of others affective.â
During this speech, Holcroft could only stare at the woman. The rapid motion
of her thin jaw seemed to fascinate him, and he was in perplexity over not
merely her rapid utterance, but also the queries. Had she maliciously spoiled
the coffee? Or didnât she know any better? âI canât make her out,â he
thought, âbut she shall learn that I have a will of my own,â and he quietly
rose, took the coffeepot, and poured its contents out of doors; then went
through the whole process of making his favorite beverage again, saying
coldly, âJane, you had better watch close this time. I donât wish anyone to
touch the coffeepot but you.â
Even Mrs. Mumpson was a little abashed by his manner, but when he resumed his
breakfast she speedily recovered her complacency and volubility. âIâve always
heard,â she said, with her little cackling laugh, âthat men would be
extravergant, especially in some things. There are some things theyâre
fidgety about and will have just so. Well, well, who has a better right than
a well-to-do, fore-handed man? Woman is to
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