The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-30

look at a horse"
"But he has other things to do. We must
70 over the farm This is said rather inn
patiently; but he sees a cloud gathering upon
his wife's brow, and hastily adds, "How-
ever, it will be cooler in the after
noon, so l will order the phaeton at
2o'clock. AT 2 clock, then, love, " he repeats;
and, sealing the arrangement with kiss, he
lights his cigar and saunters out of the room.
Two o'clock strikes; but Mr.. - il not
come in. The servants, in answer TO her in
! quiries, suppose him to be still at the farm.
The phaeton comes round; the bride puts on
her most bewitching hat, and goes into the
! garden, waiting patiently till halfpast two.
! Three o'clock strikes, and finds her still wait
! ing; then she hastily orders the carriage back
TO the stables, and, lovely summers
day Though it be, takes of her hat
in the house to some needlework
which she detests Presently she hears a
hurried step on the stairs, and her husband,
! hot and painting, enters the room.
! "Dearest Constance, | am so sorry to h ave
| kept you waiting, but Peters did not come till
one o'clock, and is only this moment gone.
/ have run all the way from the farm ;-poof
how hot it is !" And he fans himself and
wipes his face with his handkerchief. But
Constance stitches on silently, only heaving
sighs at intervals.
"Well, Consy, amt you going to get ready'
The carriage will be round directly. l sent
word to the stables as | came in"
"Will it 2" says Constance, with the air of
a martyr; 'then you are going out gain l'
'Why, what the deuce do you meau? Didn't
! you ask me to drive you to-P'
eyes; at two O'Clock" j." with a very strong
emphasis on the two, and glance at the
Ormolu clock on the mantelpieoe that had just
! struck ''four."
"But could not possibly come sooner, and
it won't take long to trot over to -, if you
will get ready at once"
"Thank you, Edward, but l am not
going out to-day. IL certainly is a beau
tiful afternoon, but if l am always to be
left alone, the sooner l get used to it the
better. 1t was very different at home. Dear
mamma little thought -" Hear the tears
that begin to flow are hastily wiped
away, and the silent stitching is resumed.
1t is a new phase to the young husband, who
nonplussed and discounted, walks to the
window.
'Well, will you come out or not ?" This is
said rather Grossly.
'No, thank you, Edward" is the reply,
scarcely above a whisper, and with heavy
| sigh.
''But Imust go to -, and the horses must
have exercise. | cannot drive all that way
alone.'
"Of course, the horses must be considered,
they cannot be made to stay at home or wait"
w nat nonsense ! come along WnaJ 8 LOe
good of being vexed about thing that's over,
and can't be helped ?''
'I'm not vexed Edward" in a tone of
deep dependency; "but am not going out
to-day"
A iasty ejaculation not of the most COM
plimentary kind, and the husband strides out
of the room, banging the door. His wife
watches him from the window, and sees him
fog the horses and drive furiously away from
the house, and sinks upon the sofa in a
paroxysm of weeping, inveighing bitterly
against his cruelty in going without her,
entirely regardless of her many refusals to his
repeated entreaties to accompany him.
We confess to feeling some sympathy with
the young wife, and think that she had right
to consider herself aggrieved in the matter of
waiting which to eager, nervous tempera-
ments is, of all trials, the least endurable.
'Aspettar, non venlre,
Star in letto, non dormlre
Ben servlre non gradire
Son ire cose a far morire."
Another frequent trial of strength and cause
of vctimizing in family is dissension arising
from the necessary payment of weekly or
monthl y household bills. Mr.. - is going
out in a hurry; his wife calls him back to ask
for che que wherewith to pay them; he gives
it rather impatiently, annoyed at being de-
tanned, and with no great pleasure at the
cause accompanied with good de al of grumb
! ling, and some hard words about extrava-
gance. Mrs. - goes out of the room with
the money in one hand and her pocket-hand-
kerchief in the other, to brood over his un-
kindness, and, possibly, the injustice of his
complaints. In the evening he comes home
cold and tired, after having been occupied all
day, without the faintest recollection of the
squabble of the morning. To his horror and
amazement he finds his wife and family sitting
| by black, freless CRATE, by the light of one
solitary candle.
"Goed heavens how cold Why on earth
is there no fire in this room to-day P'
| "I desired that it should not be lighted.
! / thought it would be better to do without-a
| fire, as you complained so much of the coal
bill this morning." is the mild reply.
He rings the bell furiously, and the house
among a pile of black Goals, only makes the
room appear more dismal still. Meanwhile
the family adjourn to dinner, where the same
system of economy has been practised, there
being only one small chicken for five people.
''Bring the rest of the dinner Immediately"
thunders the master of the house.
''Thsre amt any more, sir, is the servants
| half-amused, half-frightened reply.
"Do you mean that there is nothing more to
eat l'' he says to his wife, in tone Of awful
sternness.
"Oh, yes there is rice pudding coming
presently she says, in cheerful tone.
"Rice pudding Do you suppose that we
can dine on such trash as that r'
81 had ordered partridges, as we'll as tritle
and plum pudding, but, after what you said
this morning l sent down to the kitchen and
countermanded it all"
A muttered impTecation, with an order for
the cook to send up all the cold meat in the
| ~. Il ,1vv and t6a IN rNFn