Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1871-08-17
An Exhausted Husband.

iiSi II iiih NiiNN hlNNluIlD'l Hlllll
Boston, will be read with curious interest
by the more enlightened reader -
Ny DEAR AUNT.-Athough you told
me, when / invited you to my wedding,
that / was too young to marry, and not
capable of choosing mate for life prop.
erly, and with due consideration, know
that you may now feel that / was wiser
than you thought. In selecting dear
Orlando Ihave gained amost afiectionate
and attentive husband, and one who has
neither fault nor n vice. Heavens !!
What must girl suffer who finds her.
self united to Il dissipated person, neg
lectful of her, and disposed to seek the
society Of unworthy persons, who drink,
smoke, and do all sorts of dreadful
things
Thank Heaven, Orlando is perfection |!
To-day is my eighteenth birthday,
and we have been married a year. We
keep house now, and I can make pretty
good pie, only the under crust will be
damp. However, think that must be in
the oven. Once Iput peppermintin the
pudding sauce instead of lemon flavor
ing but then Orlando was trying to kiss
me, right before the girl, who didn't
much like either of us going into the
kitchen at all.
The flowers are coming up beautifully
in the back garden. We sowed a great
many seed, but hardly expected so many
plants. Among the most numerous is
one variety with very large leaf, that
scratches ones fingers, and don't smell
nice, L wonder what it is. Orlando
frightens me by talking about weeds !;
but weeds always come up, don't they :?
Dear Orlando !! come back to him
again-so excellent, temperate, and
true. Tell all the girls to marry as soon
as they can, if they can find a husband
like mine.
/ have but one trial-business takes
him so much away from me. A lawyer
must attend to business, you know; and
sometimes they carry on the case until
two at night. Often and often he has
examined witnesses until half-past
twelve, and come home perfectly ex-
hausted. And the nasty things will
smoke, so that his dear coat quite smells
of it, And as it makes him as ill as it
does me, have to air it, and sprinkle
the lining with cologne water before he
dares to put it on again.
! had n terrible fright the other night
dreadful. Orlando had told me that
business-I think he said it was a case
Of life and death-would detain him late.
SO sat up as usual, with q book, and
did not worry until one o'clock. After
that | was a little anxious, [ confess,
and caught cold in my head peeping
through the upstairs window blinds
for, dear aunt, it was not until three
o'clock that | heard cab driving up the
street and saw it stop at our door then
l thought I should faint, for I was sure
some dreadful accident had happened to
Orlando.
I ran down to open the door; a friend
of Orlando's who is not, confess, very
much to my taste-such red faced,
noisy man-was just supporting my dear
boy up the steps.
"Oh, what has happened ?" cried I.
Don't be frightened, Mrs. White p'
said Mr.. Smith. Nothing at all ; only
White is a little exhausted. Application
to business will exhaust man, and |
thought I'd bring him home"
"All right Belle" said Orlando,
"Smith tells the truth-Im exhausted.
And, dearest aunt, he was so much so
that he spoke quite thick, and couldn't
stand up without lettering. Mr.. Smith
was kind enough to help him upstairs
and he lay upon the bed so Frustrated
that l thought he was going to die.
Then I remembered the French brandy
you gave me in case of sickness. ran
to get it out.
Have little brandy and water, dear ?"
[ said
"Thc very thing Smith is exhausted,
too. Give some to Smith, said he.
And so L reproach myself for my not
having thought Of it before Mr.. Smith
was gone. But | gave a glass to Or
lando, and, under Providence, / think it
saved his life for, oh, how bad he was
"Belle," said he, quite faltering in
his speech, "the room is going round
so fast that l can't catch your eye. And
besides there's two Of you, and L don't
know which is which"
knew these were dreadful symptoms.
"Take q drink, DEAR" said /, land
I'll try to wake Mary, and send her for
the doctor"
"No," said he, "I'll be all right in
the morning I'm all right now. Here's
your health. You're brick. l.
And over he fell fast asleep.
Oh, why do men think so much of
moncy-malIing > Is not health better
than anything else.
OF course he had laid down IN his hat,
[ took that off first. And l managed
to divest him of his coat. But when it
came to his boots-dearest aunt, did you
ever take off gentleman's boots ?
probably not, as you are single lady
what task How do they ever get
on? I pulled and pulled, and shook
and wriggled, and gave it up. But it
would not do to leave them on all night;
so I went at it again, and at last one
came off so suddenly, and over went
on the floor, and into his hat, which |
had put down there for minute. l
could have cried. And the other came
otrin the same way, Just as hard and just
as sudden at last Then l put soft
blanket over Orlando, and sat in my
sewing chair all night. Oh, how heavily
he breathed And | had, as you may
fancy, the most dreadful fears. He
might have killed himself by his over
application to business, for all that l
knew. The perfect ones go first, it is
said.
Oh, how differently should I have felt
had anything happened to my beloved
Orlando. He has not had so exhausting
a day since, and L think he sees the folly
of overwork though if courts will keep
open so late, what can poor lawyers do :?
I n I &c