Year followed year as season trudged at the heel of season. The only
difference it made to them was that now Ellaphine evicted weeds from the
petunia-beds, and now swept snow from the porch and beat the broom out
on the steps; now Eddie carried his umbrella up against the sun or rain
and mopped his bald spot, and now he wore his galoshes through the slush
and was afraid he had caught a cold.
The fund in the bank went on growing like a neglected garden, but it was
growing for nothing. Eddie walked more slowly to and from the office,
and Pheeny took a longer time to set the table. She had to sit down a
good deal between trips and suffered a lot of pain. She said nothing
about it to Eddie of evenings, but it grew harder to conceal her
weakness from him when he helped her with the Sunday dinner.
Finally she could not walk to church one day and had to stay at home. He
stayed with her, and their empty pew made a sensation. Eddie fought at
Pheeny until she consented to see the doctor again--on Monday.
The doctor censured her for being foolish enough to try to die on her
feet, and demanded of Eddie why they did not keep a hired girl. Eddie
had never thought of it. He was horrified to realize how heartless and
negligent he had been. He promised to get one in at once.
Pheeny stormed and wept against the very idea; but her protests ended on
the morning when she could not get up to cook Eddie's breakfast for him.
He had to get his own and hers, and he was late at the office for the
first time in years. Two householders, seeing him going by, looked at
their clocks and set them back half an hour.
Jabez spoke harshly to Eddie about his tardiness. It would never do to
ignore an imperfection in the perfect. Eddie was Pheeny's nurse that
night and overslept in the morning. It would have made him late again if
he had stopped to fry an egg or boil a cup of coffee. He ran
breakfastless to his desk.
After that Pheeny consented to the engagement of a cook. They tried five
or six before they found one who combined the traits of being both
enduring and endurable.
Eddie was afraid of her to a pitiful degree. She put too much coffee in
his coffee and she made lighter bread than Pheeny did.
"There's no substance to her biscuits!" Eddie wailed, hoping to comfort
Pheeny, who had leisure enough now to develop at that late date her
first acquaintance with jealousy.