Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1904 — Jonathan Dibbs’ Emancipation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Jonathan Dibbs’ Emancipation

By Helen T. Quigg

...Copyright, 1903, by T. C. McClure...

Jerusha Amanda Dibbs was his brother’s wife and had asserted and maintained her authority over both his brother and himself ever since she had become a member of the family. All morning he had been wondering uneasily for whom the storm was brewing, and, as her husband had got out of tbe house unscathed, he feared that he was In for it He was standing by the window now, looking out aimlessly, wishing that it were over and yet not daring to avoid it, and when she entered the room in which he stood, clearing her throat emphatically, he turned toward her with a shiver of apprehension. He was a stout man, with an air of mild Indecision about him; about his soft, sandy hair; about his broad, rounded shoulders; about even his easy, grayish lace sack coat. “It’s pretty capers you have been cutting around that Jennet widow,” she said. Jonathan looked, It must be confessed, not only surprised, but worried. “I hope I have not made any trouble for her,” he said doubtfully. “It’s absurd, positively absurd,” continued Mrs. Dibbs, flopping into a chair. “The idea of marrying tbat silly little fool, without a cent to her name, and at your age too.” Her brother-in-law had not really had an Intention of any sort in regard to the widow. Indeed, he had never had a decided intention in regard to anything since Mrs. Dibbs had taken possession. Nevertheless he felt mildly indignant enough to make a faint retort. “I am sure, Amanda, you were not much younger when you married Lucien,” said he in his quiet way. The curling pins in which Mrs. Dibbs’ front locks were confined bristled with anger. “I should like to know,” she began in a deep, ominous voice, “what business that Is of yours. And you know well enough, Jonathan Dibbs, that when I married your brother I was not nearly

as old as you are. But anyhow”—her tone had become loud and resonant—“anyhow I never was such a childish simpleton as you are and always will be to the end of your days—to be fooled and taken in by a designing, no account little creature that’s been fishing for a husband ever since that poor Invalid man of here died—worried to death by her flightiness, I’ll warrant! That’s a pretty thing to happen to a man like you, isn’t it?” Here Mrs. Dibbs choked, and Jonathan took advantage of the momentary check in her assault to inquire, “Who told you I was going to marry her, Amanda?” “Who told me?” she burst out “Who told me? Why, hasn’t the little fool herself been telling it all around the town that you wanted to marry her and,” in a high, simpering falsetto, “that she didn’t know whether she ought to think of it or not, but that Mr. Dibbs was such a nice man and such a friend of her poor, dear Arthur, and she would hate to disappoint him? Oh, the idiotf’ Jonathan Dibbs looked thoughtful. (Suddenly the figure of the widow in question appeared before his mind’s eye. It was a neat, retiring little figure, with soft brown hair and a small face; slightly sunburned, but sweet and tender, and with an individuality of Its own that only a patient, conscientious life could have given It. He compared it with the large, obtrusive face and figure of his sister-in-law, and gradually he began to smile. A sudden sense of relief came to him in the contemplation of the little widow and a strange, unusual sense of pleasure, the Joy of the awakening of a desire and a will in him which he had never before suspected. “I guess the little woman really did think I wanted to marry her,” he remarked pleasantly. “Of coarse she did,” replied Mrs. Dibbs smartly in her loud, scornful voice, not noting the change in her victim’s attitude toward her. “Of course she did, the conceited little piece P* “I wouldn’t be absurd if I were you, Amanda,” said Jonathan Dibbs. “It doesn’t suit your size.” He had spoken very slowly and smoothly, but he gasped a little now that he had achieved

this crude but radical assertion of hjs freedom. He had reason to gasp. “What! You dare! You dare!” She stood before him glaring, and bis unaccountable inclination to laugh at her frightened him more than her passion did. “You dare!” she shouted. “You —you brute! I knew that little fool had you in her clutches. I knew it. Did she tell you to say that? I might have known she would bring you to forget all honor and truth and duty. Don’t you dare bring her to this house, you brute! Size, Indeed! She Isn't the size of a fence rail. That’s your Idea of beauty, I suppose! Just you dare to marry her!” Jonathan Dibbs, though his heart quaked within him, walked boldly past her to the door. There he turned. "I may send you an Invitation to the wedding if she cares to have you come. Anyhow I’ll send you an announcement. Say goodby to Lucien for me, will you? Poor Lucien!” He grinned happily into her blazing eyes and, shutting the door with a bang as he went through the house, strode out into the street. Mrs. Dibbs sank into a chair and after repeating several times the speeches with which she had benefited her brother-in-law indulged In a fit of hysterics, to the vast amusement of the poll parrot and the kitchenmaid. Jonathan, however, though he was experiencing a faint, rather contemptuous pity for his brother, strode along gayly, as he had never done before. His step was swift and firm, his shoulders were thrown back, his head felt clear as crystal. “What a fool—what a fool I used to be!” he thought “What a fool a man is anyhow to let a woman ride over him at her own sweet will! And to think that I stood it for twelve years and never thought of breaking away! It must have been the widow, bless her heart!” Here he Rmiled to himself sentimentally and wondered how she would take It. the “it” in question being the plan he was going to propose to her. He flung the gate of the little yard wide open and walked quickly along the path by the side of the house. The widow was on the porch ironing out some lace when he approached, and she looked up with face aglow when she perceived who it was. He lost no time in announcing the object of his visit. He took her hands in his and looked Into her wide eyes. “Lilian,” he said, “there is a train that leaves here for the city in forty minutes. I want you to get ready and go with me on that train If you can do it in so short a time.” The widow flushed and paled. “What for?” she asked. “Why, to get married, of course,” he said, surprised that she did not know. There was a silence, and when his arm stole around her, "Hurry up!” in a low voice and a tone whose anxiety did not refer to catching the train. “I didn’t know.” she began slowly—“I didn’t know we meant to get married. But if you wish it very much—oh, dear!” She hid her face suddenly in bis coat. “Now go,” he said after a little, "because we want to catch that train. And wear that blue thing you have with the white spots—you know.” She smiled tremulously. No one had ever noticed her clothes before, and she had always half worshiped him anyhow, and now she was very much confused and very happy. They managed to catch the train by means of a little running for it, and they rode gayly and breathlessly away from home toward the city. She stole a look at his beaming face and after awhile gathered courage to speak. “Jonathan,” she said softly, “how did I—what did I do to make you think of this? I never hoped”— He laughed. “Call me Jack,” he said, with a blush. They used to call him Jack when he was a big, slow, good natured schoolboy. “And what you did was to make a man of me. that is all,” he continued. Then after awhile he laughed again. “We have my sister-in-law to thank for some of this,” he remarked 6lowly, “but,” he turned to her and spoke with sudden emphasis—“but you must not let it grieve you If we never have a chance to express our gratitude.”

“HB TOOK HER HANDS IN HIS AND LOOKED INTO HER EYES.”