The cause of the quarrel had been an insignificant something that
speedily lost itself in the torrent of angry words that burst from the
lips of the irate husband and wife, until by night it would have been
difficult for either the man or the woman to tell exactly what had been
the first point of difference. By that time, however, the quarrel had
assumed such proportions that it loomed in their lives larger than
anything else; and each had vowed never to speak to the other until that
other had made the advance.
On both sides they came of a stubborn race, and from the first it was a
battle royally fought. The night of the quarrel Cyrus betook himself in
solitary state to the "spare-room" over the parlor. After that he slept
on a makeshift bed that he had prepared for himself in the shed-chamber,
hitherto sacred to trunks, dried corn, and cobwebs.
For a month the two sat opposite to each other and partook of Huldah's
excellent cooking; then one day the woman found at her plate a piece--of
brown paper on which had been scrawled:
If I ain't worth speakin' to I ain't worth cookin' for. Hereafter I'll
take care of myself.
A day later came the retort. Cyrus found it tucked under the shed-
chamber door.
Huldah's note showed her "schooling.
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