Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-06-22
THE MAGIC OF WORDS
BY T. $. ARTHUR.


tious, or fault-fnding man, and yet the home of
Peter Crandall was not happy home. Very
little sunshine streamed in across the threshold.
Was It his wife's faultl A visitor, who saw
her in her usual mood, might, if his conclusions
were made from first impressions, lean to this
opinion. She inclined 10 fretfulness and i'm
patience; and often scolded the children when
her husband could see little harm in them to
blame.
The Crandalls were poor. Mr. Crandall was
a mechanic, and earned only mechanics wa
ges Mrs. Crandall was the mother of five
children, the Oldest of them thirteen years old /;
but their narrow income left nothing to spare
for the hire of domestic, and so all the work
fell upon her. She was tOil-won and toll
weary at the dying Of each day; and the same
although not to an equal extent, might be said
of her husband. He had more strength for his
work, and, therefore, could endure greater ia
tigue. He had the advantage, too, which was
a most important One-of freedom from causes
of nervous excitement, and the inevitable ex-
haustion that followed He labored on at one
kind Of work, uninterrupted, all day long; while
she was subject to perpetual and annoying in
tenuptions, incident to her position of mother
and h)usekeeper. -
Between Peter CrsndalI and his luifs thars
never spoke loving words, nor manifested, eI-
cent on rare occasions, any pleasure at meeting,
or any mutual interest. The Ettle courtesies Of
life were something unknown in their cherries
dwelling. Rude, boistercus, quarrelsome, the
children grew up, bringing discord into the
house that was uncomfortable enough without
that disagreeable inmate. The mother scolded
and punished in anger but saw no good result
ed in concert but always felt an unpleasant
sensation afterward, as il be had been doing
something wrong.
And SO the years went on, and the sunbeams
came not across the threshold into Their dwell
ling Occasionally Mr.. Crandall obtained a
brief glance into some other homes; and as the
pheasant vision passed, a sigh would disturb
| bis bosom. Light and warmth were there.
SOM thing was wrong in his own home; that
he had felt for a great while-snd be did not
wholly blame his wife. But the exact location
of the wrong he could never clearly perceive.
In the beginning it was different. Then there
was warmth in the heart, and sunshine in the
face Of his wife But it was in his memory,
marked day after day as a dial records the ad-
vaneing shadow, how the brightness of her face
diminished steadily, until all was eeipsed--
An! If he had dreamed Of the cause But
Mr.. Crandall was not man who looked inward
upou his own life-not a man who considered
his actions in their effects upon others. He
was, moreover, a silent, undemonstrative man
rarely expressing his feelings. BE gave few
outward sisns BY which any one could read his
heart Here lay the origin of the trouble at
home-the beginning Of the eclipse that left
his little world IN almost total darkness, when
If should have been broad MONDAY. Il was
not enough for Mrs. Crandall, in the eariieI
wears Of their welded life, to know that hei
husband loved her. Her heart asked for more
She wanted loving looks and loving words also
and for lack Of these, its green things witheTed
and its blossoms faded. Having told her in ths
beginning that he loved her; having afierwart
married her in proof Of his declaration anC
having ever since worked daily for the cOmfor
of his home, and keeping as far above want al
it was possible for him to do, Mr. Crandall saw
no reason why he should be all the time passing
commitments He couldn't do it. Il WASH
, in him. BE would have felt ashamed Of il a
weakness!
And so, almost from the beginning, be faileS
10 give those little outward signs Of affection
those pleasant tokens Of kindness grateful
! to all When his wife said, as was often tn
| case, during the first year that succeeded thei
marriage, "Thank you, Peter" and smile
gratefully in return for some little act Of kind
, ness-Or expressed pleasure when he cam
home from his work at evening, drawing he
arm around his neck and kissing him-0r toll
him how lonesome she felt all day. and what
light his coming brought into their little home
E Peter Crandall felt glow Of pleasure in hi
D heart. Bot It did not come within the rang
of his imagination-dull at best-tO conceiv
that like words from him would be to the spin
Of his wife, ike dew to the thirsty ground
And so he never expressed pleasure at meeting
{ but rather affected, from kind Of false PRIDE
] certain eoldness, as though it were lack Q
, manliness to act differently. No matter hOV
? many little attentions his wife might show hin
: no matter what she prepared for bis return
nor with what dainty skill she cooked the eve
ming and MONDAY meal he never praised; an
rarely gave even the meagre reward Of express
ed qualification. Bot If things went wrong
q the coffee was bad, or the bread sour, OF th
, meat burnt in cooking, he was sure to spea
q out; and not always in over choice words
! As Mrs Crandall began to fail in outgnr
a signs Of affection, Peter perceived their with
drawal as the gradual failing Of sunshine, whe
clouds gather over the sky in flmy wells ths
deepen into obscurng curtains. But the caus
: was to him mystery. he felt IS Of old to hi
/ wife; and worked for her Is eheerfully As j
u the beginning. The hOme-feehng was a
/ strong as ever; and, after Withdrawing frOI
= the outer world, when the night shadows fel
!. ne had the beginning Of q desire TO 90 abroa
: from his humble sanctuary, shorn as It was
a chief fattraction-the smiles, and loving tone
4 and words Of bis changing wife.
h From this inanspiciOus beginning went o
D steadily. the unhappy change. The comm
d Of ehildren, which on their advent, was like Il
falling down upon them Of sunheams throug