Next, a respectable looking place that might belong to the occupants,
for there was not that unkempt appearance about it that is peculiar to
rented property.
Our Witch opened the gate and went in. A scowling woman came to the
door who looked daggers at the unwelcome peddler, and said she would
not have one of those noisy birds in the house.
About this time her tired-looking husband came home from work, and
judging from the tirade of abuse heaped upon him, it was evident that
she certainly would not tolerate any noise about the premises that she
could not make herself.
It was only a matter of time when this quiet, hard-working man would
tire of his home life. Husbands with such life partners are not so much
to blame if they do prefer the company of other women, the gambling
dens and saloons, or any place rather than their homes.
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a
brawling woman in a wide house. Proverbs xxi, 9.
How many wives, instead of trying to make home attractive, drive
happiness away with their cruel tongues?
Who have said with our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own
who is lord over us? Psalms xii, 4.
Hold thy tongue. Amos vi, 10.
The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James iii, 6, 8.
A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a
breach in the spirit. Proverbs xv, 1, 4.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one
another, as even God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians
iv, 31, 32.
The Witch is yet at her work. She proceeded on her way, thankful that
she has made one less shrew in the world.