Sometimes the wife of one brother
would complain that her sister enjoyed undue advantages and profits
from the estate, but there was rarely any disagreement, and Mrs. Jake
was mistress of the turkeys and Mrs. Martin held sway over the hens,
while they divided the spoils amiably at Thanksgiving time when the
geese were sold. If it were a bad year for turkeys, and the tender
young were chilled in the wet grass, while the hens flourished
steadily the season through, Mrs. Jake's spirits drooped and she
became envious of the good fortune which flaunted itself before her
eyes, but on the whole, they suffered and enjoyed together, and found
no fault with their destinies. The two wives, though the affection
between them was of an ordinary sort, were apt to form a league
against the brothers, and this prevented a more troublesome rivalry
which might have existed between the households.
Jake and Martin were particularly enjoying the evening. Some accident
had befallen the cooking-stove, which the brothers had never more than
half approved, it being one of the early patterns, and a poor exchange
for the ancient methods of cookery in the wide fireplace. "The women"
had had a natural desire to be equal with their neighbors, and knew
better than their husbands did the difference this useful invention
had made in their every-day work. However, this one night the
conservative brothers could take a mild revenge; and when their wives
were well on their way to Mrs.
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