Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1856-10-09
Our First Nurse.


- Sit down. and I'll tel YOU aSO.e -
snd were engaged; and as youth comes put
once we got married, and lett other couples
IN Orow gray, if they hked' on tne ois1An'
r,rosnaet of damask curtains, me lulii'u'e,
and trains Of servants Charley ana NOT
49,, the meaning of a ''club house, and as
- ths diamonds and satins the shopkeepers
flashed in NV ewes, l did not give them a
.ho,,oLt We had some nice books ana some
.ho;cs angraviues. You might have gone IN
=, noanv a parior on which hundreds had
tssn Isyisbed aud liked ours all the better
,.,han Won came back. Stillit wanted some
tbino.that we both agreed; for no house
can be said to be properly furnished without
1919 Well Christmas day brought US one,
WEIGHING the usual eight pounds, and as
livelv al a cricket. Such lungs it had! Char
Law said il was intended for minister.
well now it was all night; at least 1t would
bavs baen Il the baby had not involved a
nnr.s We had, to be sure, vague idea
thai we must have one, and as vague an idea
of what a nurse was. We thought her
GOOD kind Of creature who understood baby
dom and never interfered with any little
family arrangements. Nota bit OF 1t.
of course. the first thing she did was to
make preparations to sleep in my room
Poor Charley was sent off into desolate
spare chamber; Charley, whose shaving oper-
atoms / had watched with such interest
whose cravats l had tied to suit my fancy
every morning; whose hair had brushed mp;
and-welI never mind the rest. the old
maids and old bachelors will deem all TINS
perfectly ridiculous.
II was soon evident that this bran new
baby of ours gave nurse an ascendency over
ma. You might have seen this with half an
eve. as she folded her hands complacently
over her apron strings, and sat down In my
little rocking-chair by the FIRE opposite the
bad and then fixed her basllisk eyes upon me
as Charley left the room. Poor Charley
he neither drank, nor smoked, nor gambled !;
ne was too fond of home for any OF these
things. So ne wandered up stairs and down,
and sat in the parlor staring at the nre uii
he could bear it no longer, and then stole up
stairs to get comforted. But as often as he
did so, would you believe 1t? that woman
watched his every movement just as II ne
were infringing some one of her rights and
immunities.
What if he did bring me sly piece Of
cake in his pocket? Who likes to live for
ever upon Cruel? What if he did open. the
sun blind and let little blessed sunlight
in, when she tried to persuade US into be-
lief that "it would hurt baby's eyes?" What
If he did steal one of her knitting needles,
when she sat there, evening after evening
knitting round and round and round that in
terminable old grey stocking, until my nerves
were wound up to the screaming point?
What if l did tell him that she always set
her rocking-chair upon that loose board in
the floor which sent forth that ugly squeak,
and that she always said, BLESS mee' and
yet was sure to get ON it the very next time
She sat down? What if / did tell him that
after dinner she always wanted to take sly
nap, and would muffle the baby up in so
many blankets that it could not cry il it
wanted to, and would draw the curtains
closely round my bed, and tell me it was
high time that took nap,"-I, that could
never, either by stratagem or persuasion, be
induced to sleep in the day time?
And what if did complain to him that
she wanted to put sticky pitch plaster upon
my neck, for little ghost of a cough, Zoe
easioned by her stirring the ashes in the crate
too furiously,) and that when clapped it on
the bedpost instead, she muttered spitefully,
that 81 handsome neck would not keep me
ont Of my coffin?'' What if / did tell him
that she tried on my niece little lace collars
when she thought l was asleep at night,
though | cannot bear to have anybody muss-
ing my things about after / have laid them
10 orderly in my drawer? And what if j
complained that she kept pressing me so
constantly to drink detestable porter, under
the pretence that its secondhand influence
might make the baby sleep?'' What if i
did do all this? Was he not my husband?
Didn'tI tell him everything laugh with
him; cry with him? And didn't he like it.
TOO? Of course, he did.
And poor Charley he was forlorn toe.-I
His cravats were tied like a fright all the
time was confined /; his buttons were off
his pretty velvet vest; and he hadn't had
the heart 10 get his boots BACKED. Poor
Charley
Well, that nurse had the impudence to
tell us, at last, we acted like two chill
aren.r Children Wei Us! The parents
of that eight pound baby ! That was the |
last drop in our cup. Charley paid her off I; |
and was so glad when she went that /
laughed until cried.
Then we both drew long breath and sat
down and looked al the new baby-our baby;
AID Charley asked me about its little sleep
ing habits, and / told him with shake of
the head, that could not speak definitely
on that point. Then we discussed the re-
spective merits of cribs and cradles, and the
propriety Of teaching, at an early period, that
impressive line of Mrs. Hemans-
Z" Night is the time for sleepl"
And then Charley got up, put on noiseless
pair of slippers, arranged the fire-irons, oiled
the creaking hinge of the door, laid a chair
over the speaking board in the floor, that he
might not tread on it, then gently shaded
the night lamp, and looked at me with a
sort of congratulatory nod. So far well
but in hanging his vest over chair, out rat
tied perfect tempest of forms, shillings,
and sixpenses, on the hearth OF course,
the baby woke, frightened out of don't
know much growth, and screamed until it
was black In the face. In vain its poor, in
experienced papa kissed it, scratching its
little velvet face with his rough whiskers
the while In vain we both walked the
floor with it; the fire went out, the lamp
went out and Just at daybreak il came 10
US Ike a revelation, the sarcastic tone of the
old nurse, as she said, "Good by hope
you'll get along comfortably with the dear
baby.r
And so we did. Do you suppose one
nights watching was going to quench our
love. either for the baby or for each other
No, nor thousand like it for as DR.. Some
body hath it, it was one of the kind thai
was not born to die.''-Ertract
4
THRILLING DIFFERENCEs.-What is the diff
ference between large bodies of water when
stirred by trumpet and devoted SWAMI
The one makes love aud the other lakes
move
What is the difference between glove