Now mind, Fred," she
continued, with an imperative frown, "that is a matter which is not to
be repeated to anyone."
"Why should I wish to repeat it?" I asked, meekly.
"I never know beforehand what you will repeat and what you will not. I
should expect to hear from Jemima Bolles the next time we met that you
had confided it to her husband, and positively I don't care to have her
know. Then, too," Josephine continued, with the manner of one
selecting a few of many grievances to air, "I haven't an inch of
unoccupied closet room; and, moreover, you remember, Fred, that the
plumber said the last time he was here that by good rights the plumbing
ought all to be renewed." My wife dwelt on these concluding words with
insinuating emphasis. She knows that I am daft, as she calls it, on
two points, closing windows on the eve of a thunder-shower and
defective drainage.
"He said that we could manage very well for some time longer without
the slightest real risk," I answered, doughtily.
Josephine's lower lip trembled. Presently she burst out, as though she
had resolved to throw feline argument and sophistic persuasion to the
winds, "I am just tired of this house, Fred, and I should like to move
to-morrow. It is pitifully small and disgustingly dirty with dirt that
I can't get rid of, and everything about it is old as the hills.
Pages:
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30