Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-09-01


a.. srerv turn would be the last. AT min
I VA she had set the last stitch. TIL
cot looked like new one all around. A
che finished she looked up with still shad
of sadness upon her brow.
"There, Frank, / have mended You
coat thoroughly. Iguess it will last anoth
er year now"
"Quite a Job, wasn t it ? longer thah
thought said he, depreeatingly. :,
"How much clear cash have you hiiue
to-day. Frank P" asked Lizzie, III very
earnest tone. ~,
What do you want to know that Ior r
..For nv own satisfaction; certainly
should feel an interest in all OF your al
fairs"
"WeIl, / think the shop has cleared
twenty dollars
"How much do you count your own SER
vices worth? ?"
'Net less than five dollars day"
''How many hours do you labor? p
"Ten is the legal time nowadays, ]
don't generally work that many. But
what are all these questions for P"
because, Frank, we are husband and
wife. We expect to live the rest of our
lives together, and If there is harmony in
j
tice and right. You may call me daily to
appreciate anything you can do. You
have earned FIVE dollars to-day; and the
shop has cleared twenty. Yet to save you
one dollar / worked ten hours on your
coat and six on your breakfast, dinner
and supper, and making your home pleas
ant and comfortable. To save you that
dollar have had to hurry all day, to put
all my work out of my line, and to really
neglect our darling boy, who should be
our first care, and the last thing. under
any circumstances, to be set aside
II had not thought of that"
81 know you hadn't, Frank, so freely
forgive you; but must insist that here
after may be allowed to be my own
Judge of what work / had best do, and
shall not expect to be threatened nor ac-
cused of not being willing to do my duty"
Frank felt the force of her words and
sat silent.
Zone thing more, Frank, want to say,
while am about it, that don't want to
hear You talking about supporting your
wife. Twill not be supported while l am
able to support myself. find on looking
over my books, that the profits of my Ia
Dor amount to five dollars week. and the
board of yourself, myself, and the baby
besides. Then l do all your extra work |
and my own. All this saving has gone
into your capital to be invested and help |
you to make your twenty dollars day. |
out of this comes the five dollars you call |
the worth of your days work. while
must labor with my weary limbs and ach-
ing head and eyes to save you one dollar,
in mending an old coat, which when
done would not sell for the amount of
your ten hours work.
"You are making out pretty strong
case against me, Lizzie
mo, Frank, not a case against you; ]
could not do that; but am stating facts.
One thing more. have been at work
three hours since supper. and you have
been entirely idle, not even rocking the
cradle, which have been obliged to do
half dozen times
Lizzie, don't say another word. and
I'll never do so again. said Frank,
springing from his chair, to jog the cradle
where the boy was nesting. You shall
never mend another coat
"Yes, but will, answered Lizzie, adj
vancing TO the cradle. ''only don't tell me
ten hours work can be done in five min
utes. nor ask me to let the baby squall again.
She lifted Walter from the cradle. They
stopped to kiss his fair rosy check but
made a mistake, and kissed each other,
while he whispered:
God bless you, Lizzie, never thought
of all this before. won't do it again
Six years have passed by. and Frank
has kept MS word