NEIGHBOURS: A DOMESTIC SKETCH.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 755, 19 April 1877, Page 3

NEIGHBOURS: A DOMESTIC SKETCH.

It /was all. about a wash-tub, i Mrs | Tiliera had loaaed Mrs Batisom her wash,tmb. This was two weeks ! agb liist Monday. When Mrs "VifHers saw it- again, which was the' nex^ T Morning, it stood on her back stoop, minus a hoop. Mrs Villierk senVtfverto Mrs RanSoWrf a request; for ,'thjrt, hoop, couched m language calculated to impugn Mrs Ransom's reputation , f0r,, ,, carefulness. , iMLrs Ransom lost no time m sending wbreP'thatf the tub was all right when it; was , sent back ,; and ,delithat" Mrs Vffliers had better ;B^eep.?;be£pre her own door first, .whatever that might mean.' > Bath* having discharged a Christian duty to each other, further communication was immediately cut off, and the affair was briskly discussed by the neighbors, who' entered into the merits and demerits, of . the affair with unselfish zeal.' Heaven bless them. Mrs Ransom clearly explained her connection with the tub by charging Mr Villiers with coming home drunk j an a fiddler the night before Christmas. This bold statement threatened to carry -the neighbors over m a body to Mrs Ransom's view, until Mrs' " Villiers remembered pron^ptljr ; chronicled the fact that the [Hansoms were, obliged to move away from their last place because of nonpayment of rent. Here the matter*rested among the neighbors, leaving, them, as undecided as before. But, -between the two families immediately concerned the fives burned as luridly' as when first kindled. It was' a constant skirmish between the two women, from early morning until late at night. Mrs Ransom would glare through her blinds when Mrs Viliiers was m the, yard, and murmur between ter clenched teeth: — •■

*O, you hussy I' " ■ And- with' that : wondrous instinct which characterises'the h«m«in above the brute animal j Mrs V iUiers un- . derstood that Mrs Eansom was thus engaged, and lifting her nose at the highest, angle compatible wi|;h the safety of her spinal cord, would sail around the yard as trinmphuntly as ; if escorted by a brigadeof genuine princes. ' <*■...■* ■•■ - ! . ■• ■„•■' : \ ■■><'. ■■■■ ..- And then would 'come Mrs 'VillierB 1 turn at the, winiiow with, Mrs Eansopi iji . the yard, with . ,a like satisfactory and edifying result. ffrWhen company called on Mrs Yilliers, r MriJ Eanspm would/ peer from yehind'her curtains, and audibly exclaim : _ 1 Who's that fright, I wonder f

And when' f .Mrs J Ransom was favored with a call, it was Mrs ,Villiers! l&s&sed'-' privilege to be at the window, and audibly, observe : ; . f „ ' t'Wii&e' was thai cl<s" dug up from.?. „, { „ -,"■,;..,■','•! "" r 'i'i" Mrs Ransom Bas, a, Uttle'boy named Tommy, and / 'Mrs jYiilijer js has a similarly sized son who strag-r | gles under the cp^Qomen '.'ofj Wick, liffe Miofgani 1 :^it wiU , Happen--^ because these two children: arc -too young to graßp fnlly sponsibilities of life^-it' wiji> n&ppen, we repeat, that they wiir ? c6me together m various respectß.. ( If Mrs Ransom, ( is so, fortunate as , to, first observe pneJ.bft^eße^cQliesions, she promptly/steps to the,d6or and cbve&ly Siting; until M^^iliers' door opens, she shrilly observes :. , , J I fcWne fright into this hoase this minit. ! How, • many times' nave' I "tokf you tb' keep, awa* 1 Win that brai V ' ; ' ' Villiers brat ! '^That' a stab" that , jijt! o? Wß3€'sab t t(le 'poisbnit is saturated with. Poor/jMfcs Vflljers., •breath comes thidfe and hard,' her face, burns like fire, and, her eyes : jalmo^st shiapj 'b^of/her head. She has to press her .hand to her heart as if to ,keep^ that organ -from bursting. There is no relief from the, dreadful throbbing and the dreadful, pain. The slamming of Mrs Ransom's door shuts out all hojpe of succour. But it quickens Mrs Villiera' faculties, and ncakes 'her so' alert that when the two children came together again, which they /cry soon do, she "is the first at the door., ■>.. Ifaw- is i the opportunity ; to/ heap burning eoajg on the head of Mrs Ransom. She heaps them ; 'Wickliffe'; Mtog'an! iWKa't are you doing out there with that Bansoin imp •! ' Do you' want to 'catch some disease ? Come m here before I skih'you- 1 . . .-.--. And the door slams shut, And poor Mrs Ransom with trembling form r and : bated breath, and flashing : eyes, clenches her fingers, and glares with tremendous wrath over the i landscape,.. „ . . . And m the absence of any real, tangible information as. to the loss of that hoop, this is, perhaps, the very beat that can be done on either side. — 'Danbury News,'