Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-03-03
THE sTORY OF A DAY.
BY AMANDA y. DoUaLAs.
LFrom the Laar,s Friend.l

'Oh, Nell, my coat sleeve is ripped
and torni forgot to mention it last
night. Can you mend it to-day ?''
stephen 5aieom held up the gar
ment, and his wife's quick eye took in
a wide spread view of repairs.
Il must wear my best coat, sup
pose. !" with deep deliberatiOn.
Nelly ran upstairs without a word,
for it was stephens car time. He
might have gone. TO be sure, but she
had begun to wait upon him in the
very first of their married life, when
there was no housekeeping, and no ba-
bies. He had fancy that she liked to
do it under any circumstances, even if
she had been busy an hour and a half
getting breakfast.
Yes, I'll! mend it this morning. I
have nothing special to do to-day"
I Then she walked down the path with
him to the gate, and they said fond
| little gOod-by.
Somehow she could not help linger-
ina in the fine, crisp September air
How delightful it would he to ride
down to town and ramble about, look
ing at pictures, sauntering in the IL
brary. and skimming over the Maga-
| zines, or even inspecting the shOp-win-
dows, with their pretty dress-gOods
| and laces, or the jewelry and silver, or
/ the beautiful china and foreign vases.
Then, as she turned, the sight of the
distant hills caught her eye. How
many times in the bygone years she had
7 ramb them over at this season,
! gathering ferns and moses, and ripen-
/ ins autumn 1eavesl What long rest
I ful hours, with no care on her mind,
no conseienee-twing of neglected
hOme-duties All
She paused there, for it seemed as if
she was on the verge of treas'sn.-
Would she give up Stephen and the ba-l
bies, and go back to her girlhood Z?
Five years only, yet it appeared longer
/ than all the rest of her life put to-
gether.
Walking up the garden path, she
thought of her flowers. Not a plant
taken up yet for winter, and she had
such a lovely baY-windOw f r flowers.
"a must attend to it this very day."
she said.
For a fortnight she had been ex-
/ ceed1ngly pusy, getting her chIldren's
1 winter clothing in order, and looking
| over beduing and various household
matters. There had not been an Tour
to spend. But the weeks washing,
irOnin2, and mending was done, and
here were two days that could be de-
voted to all manner of odds and ends
/ Why, she could make almost aholiday
of them
BERTHE came running out, and that
reused Nelly from her dreams, which
were more delightful than the reality.
''You must have ON a sack, Berthe,
and your cap. Or, better still, wait
until the dew has dried, when mann
ma and little sistt r viii come out, and
we'u al have nice time !"
Il want to stay out now, and catch
some brides Look at them, flying
all around" - .-
mo, come inl Mammaswill tell yor
a story about little boy who had a
dog and parrot"
Don't want to hear bout no deg" |
returned BERTHE, in high disdain.
/ think while she is pacifying her |
strong Wiled four years. old, we will |
tax e brief glimpse at Stephen s day. /
Nelly always tried not to intrude her |
cares and worries upon Stephen, fam
cying that he had a great many per-
plexities of his own. It is one of the /
cardinal articles of the creed prepared /
for women, wives especially, and is Of /
ten considered quite necessary to sal |
walton.
lift home, and he had a pleasant |
horse-car ride of twenty minutes. At
ter the first of October he left home |
nearly half an hour later. He was /
clerk and bOok-keeper in a real-estlEe
and insurance office, on a salary of a /
thousand dollars a year.
When he reached the Office it had
been swept out and busted, and was
in an orderly condition. That was the
bows work He settled himsei f in the
wrote two or three private letters
looked over the mail, which was not /
Important when Mr.. Fields came in.
Here Conway's for two fifty"
"H-ml Glad it has come without |
any further difficulty. Have you
made out Stiles insurance papers7'7
Eyes"
''And the agreement for the Warren
Street house?"
Eyes"
Then fields had one or two funny
stories to-tell, and. they had rather
gay social time, leaning back in their
leather-cus ioned chairs. A few
friends dropped in, one or two on bu-
siness, and Stephen had some papers
to make out, to the bank, came back
and wrote for half an hour and there
being nothing else on hand, he found
a book in which he was much inter-
ested. At half past twelve he had his
hour of fliberty and went to- dinner
During the afternoon, there was, per-
haps, another hours writing, a jour
ney to the Court House to look up a
deed, and the visit of a woman who
had tried to badger him into let
ting her have some apartments for
eleven dollars month, when the rent
was twelve. Al six he came home
again.
He believed he had done a pretty
good days work. He was resdy for a
cosy tea, a clean, orderly house, chill
dren as sweet and as tidy as if they
had just come from their mothers
tireIess hands. What else did women
have to do2 No bothers and sperplex-
tiles OF business; no stubborn people
to persuade no sharp bargaiu-maker ers
to OutWit-in fact nothing but a Sc
rene heaven of content. OF course,
his coat had been mended. Ten min
utes would suffice for that.
Had 1t been a heavenly day to Mel
ly?
the fire. In Id wea her they kept it
all nigh. stephen had very gener-
Ously offered to make it. and did when
the baeies were little, but Nelly had
twice the litter to clean up, and occa-
sionally found Stephen with burnt fin
gers, and OuJiof temper. He was ez-
travagantIy fond of mullins or corn
cakes, and as he could not come home
to dinner she always gave hinza good
breakfast. Then BERTHE must be wash
ed and dressed; so by the time she came
to pour the coffee she was ra her warm
and tired, especially if TOtty insisted
upon gracing the table with her pres
ence. So br ath of pure air quite
strengthened her in her little walks
with her husband to the gate.
By the time she had BerGie restored
to good humor, Totty made her voice
heard. She ran upstairs, washed and
dressed baby Margaret-who had MT
grown up to her name yet-tOok the
covering of the bed and the two little
cribs, and opening all the windows,
left the place to freshen up. BERTHE
wanted some more breakfast when he
saw Tot in her high chair, so Nelly at
tended to them while she cleared away
the dishes.
She really ought to bake to-day
The cookie jar was almost empty
there was no cake and only a little
bread. If any one should come. It
was not quite like living in city, but
then Stephen never thought bakers
bread fit to eat. She might stir up
loaf of prepared flour, make a cake,
and pan OF biscuit. Then a wood fire
would boil the tea-kettle at night.
For Nelly had to study good deal I
to make her thousand dollars go /
around the whole yearas wants. First /
there was two hundred dollars for rent,
pretty little cottage in the suburbs,
all to themselVes and q small foWar