Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1859-07-22
VOL. XIII.
THE "RA1wY DAY, >.
BY MRS. MARY YAUGHAN.

pushed back his chair from the table, AM
| leaving his almost untasted breakfast, wen
back to his store.
We had been disappointed in the expected
| arrival of some guests from the city, the pre-
| vious evening, and some unusual luxuries, pro
vided for them, had been placed upon ou
breakfast table. My father was sorely dis
pleased thereat, and SO departed in anger to hi
daily business. My mother sighed wearily, a!
she rose from her place behind the coffee urn
and commenced removing the dishes.
1--WE can make hash of this for dinner,
she said &" it will be all eaten, and father
need not have been disturbed about it."
She never said angry" or cross," or ir
ritable," or unreasonable" No, however
harsh or stern might be the repruofs bestowed
upon her by my father, she only meekly spoke
of him as disturbed" Dear, gentle mother
how thy meek, weary face rises up before me
as l write.
! Her whole life was given to labor and sa,
wing. She had brought my father nice lit
tie fortune, as had always understood, but
| that had by no means exempted her, in his
opinion, from the necessity of eeaseless toll and
pinching economy. He practiced what he
preached, however, as many men, and women
| too, have not the consistency to do.
| In such sordid home my youth was pas
sed. Morning, noon and night, saw the
frown upon my fathers brow, heard the harsh
reproof of anything his scrupulous idea OF
economy could make waste, saw my mother
often in tears, yet meek and gentle, and always
toiling, calculating, planning to save, to lay
aside for that )" rainy day +" of which my father
was continually talking.
saw that the chief burden of this life lay
upon my mother. My father was strong
por.;y, loud-yoiced, active. He was very close
in his expense in business, in the store, and in
all matters that came exclusively under his
management; he wore his garments until they
were rusty and uneeuth of fashion, but still he
made few sacrifices, and lived much less abOri
easly than he expected the woman to do who
had brought him the nucleus of his rapidly in
ereasing wealth. .- ~ -.5x -E
My mother had been, was often told, g
plump, rosy girl, q rural beauty, whose bright
eyes and dimpled cheeks had attracted as
| many admires as her little fortune. But
never saw her other than lean, wan, spectral
| looking creature, her mild blue eyes looking
preternaturaIly large as they CLEANED among
the shrunken muscles Of her pale face +; hel
hands, that had been so pretty and dimpled
mere bony claws, disfgured by hard and men
ial drudgery the whole expression of heI
bowed and wasted figure and gentle counte
nance one of anxious and eager watchful
ness.
There was no repose to our life. My father
l i -, IF Ia ~
noise, my mother moved about silently but
swiftly, urging her maid-ofalEwork to great
er exertion, hurrying to accomplish some heavy
task, and painfully watehful Of the minutest
economies of the household.
was the only child of this pair. And
was the only object, or creature, with whom
they were in daily contact, left utterly un
watched. Hfy father was always at his store
or riding over his farms, except at the hours
devoted to meals and sleep. He seldom no
ticed me, unless ate too much, or was tfresSet
too expensively. "My mother, absorbed in hei
household cares, founl no time to do more fol
me than to provide my clothing and to ensure
my attendance at table, l was an observer II
the household, but not, as it seemed to me, al
actual partaker of its interests.
Everything about my home was distastefu
to me from my earliest childhood. l eontraste'
it with the homes of my playmates. The it'll
girl with whom played most frequently, tn
child of our nearest neighbor, had little room
within her mothers with o small white bed
white curtains, pretty carpet, a little Bible afte
she had learned to read placed on low stand
beside which her mother sat and taught he
beautiful lessons drawn from the holy boob
! and kneft In the summer twilights, and tn
red gloom of the winter evening fires, to offe
up such prayers as rise from loving mother
lbeart as she thanks God for her little one, an
Graves His richest blessings and His shelterinI
; care ON the precious life He has bestowed.
had a coarse hard bed in q corner OF m
parents room, to save work, y my mothe
said. that is the keeping in order anothe
chamber. Into this was hurried early q
evening, to be out of the way, and told to sa
3 nv prayers, sometimes by the help" som
j times by my mother. My mother always gay
s me a kiss when she laid me in bed, for she 10
! ed her child, but she never had time to sta
e and talk, or pray with me. ....-..
d She always hurried away to some pressln
q or unfinished task, and would lie sobblDg ha
2 2 defined grief, for though / longed for som
thing different, there were ever too few mai
e festations of affection in our household for
+; To he well aware that it was for loving word
= gentle caresses, tender, thoughtful care, tn
n yearned.
is In those days of childhood, though ] W
of keeply observant, the phase OF life exhibit
! in our household was still dim, unPieasa
J. problem to me- used to sit upon the do
), sin that faced our neglected garden, for we
IS nothing SO Improbable as the cultivation
y flowers, and ponder upon the meaning of
D. fathers oft-repeated injunction to save for
IS. rainy day." We had plenty of rainy days
ts course, and /, with child's literal interpre
~ 10 ton. wondered that when they occurred 81
se no fruits of this long continued and perth
cious saving. We lived as meagerly as ev
e: and perhaps even more SO, for we were not
ne able to the observation of chance guests
in What could my father meanP AS gr
y, older understood the matter better, but W
no greater reconciliation to the means empl
ed to provide against the dreaded contlngen
As nv parents advanced in years the
". w. nensity became more marked. They were P
@ f.. nr;ous in all household expenses that ten'
be toward personal comfort though there W
las some ostentatious attempts at display.
nv M had always lived in large house which
.ry comprised portion of my mothers inh
ns tance We lived in it, fancied, Tor a IL
ey time solely because its bequest to my moi
te te was coupled with proviso that she should
is cupy it and keep it in repair, and there "
of other heirs ready to take advantage OF
Her failure on her part. Otherwise presu
tn .na NO should have lived in q smaller house,
ore my father would have added the dllier'
ia the rent to his savings.
In my childhood there were many un
nisbed rooms in this house, large, high
,se- r.: ond fill Of echoing sounds If foot