Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 62, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 March 1917 — REVOLT IN KITCHEN [ARTICLE]

REVOLT IN KITCHEN

WHY MR. GUNNEY, WAS EATING CRACKERS AND CHEESE. IF Unlike Most Husbands, However, He Was, Willing to Admit That Hie Bet- •, ter Half Really Had Some Good Reason to Be Mad. “Bassett,” requested Mr. Gunney, leaning over the counter of the general store, “I wish you’d give me ’bout a pound of crackers ■ and mebbe five cents’ wuth of cheese. You needn t wrop it up,” he went on as Mr. Bassett reached for the twine. “I expect to eat it right here, if you don’t mind the crumbs.” Caleb Peaslee, watching placidly, turned to Mr. Gunney. —"Ain’t that a kind of light diet /or you, Obed?” he asked. ain’t *• left ye. has she?” , Mr. Gunney shifted his feet and reddened perceptibly. — “Wai, yes,” he admitted, “I d’know but ye could call it that. She’s gone Dedham for the day.” Caleb grinned with neighborly malice. “She didn’t leave a great sight of grub cooked up,” he said, “if -you’re down to crackers and cheese already.' What you ben doin’, Obed?” Obed looked at Caleb with a whimsical smile.

“ ’Twas my fault, Caleb,” he admitted sheepishly, “and now I’m gettlu’ paid out for it. “Prob’ly it was six months ago —my Wife says ’twas, but it don’t seem nothin’ like that long ego to me—that she begun to pester me ’bout fixin’ the kitchen ch Iml ey. She claimed ft didn’t d#aw as it ought to, and, to be honest, there were times when it smoked consid’able. But you know how ’tls. A man does the work that seems to be crowdin’ him wust, and letsxthe rest go with a lick and a promise—and in this case ’bout all the chimley got was the promise. “Course I was cal’latin* to fix it when T got round to it, but it was one of them jobs that seems 'sif they can be done ’bout as well one time as another, and fin’ly my wife quit talkin’ ’bout it, and I let it go out of my mind cotnplete. “I noticed from time to time that when she’d be cookin’ and I was round the kitchen she’d be kind of short and curt with me, and her mouth would be shut sort of tight; but that ain’t oncomffion with most women, and it’s better tp let ’em alone at such times, I’ve found. “L s’pose what brought things to a head was my goln’ off yesterday. I suppose I might jest as well and better been at home flxin’ that chimley; as I told you, since she quit talkin’ ’bout It, I ain’t thought of it seurcely. I told her them very words this mornin’, and they only made her madder. “ ‘Wai,’ s’she, ‘you pay heed to what I say this time, for it’s my last word. “ ‘There was food ’nough cooked this mornin’ for one person’s breakfast,’she says, bitin’ the words off short, ‘and I et it myself. What you’re goin’ to do for breakfast I don’t know, but I ain’t goin’ to get it for you—not on that stove, with the chimley in the shape it is now! “ Tm goin’ to get ready now,’ s’she, 'and go over to Dedham for the day. I’ll be back tonight, and if by that time you’ve got that chimley fixed, well and good. But,’ she says, with her mouth shut tighter’n ary bear trap you ever see, ‘not one spoonful of victuals do 1 cook over thnt stove till* it is fixed and you can lay your mind to that!’ “And with that,” continued MrT Gunney gloomily, “off she went, and-Lmake no doubt she was In the right on’t.” He rose and brushed the cracker crumbs from his lap. “I guess I’d better be gettin’ back to work on that chimley,” he remarked; and Bassett and Mr. Peaslee grinned in sympathy.—Youth’s Companion.