The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-02-28
"somethtne to Come Home To-"

"
Something to Como Home To-"
During my student days at Delaware.
Ohio, it was my happy fortune to attend
certain choice reunions at the houses of the
professors in a ~neighboring university.
In those delightful gatherings converse
ton rose to the dignity of a fine art; intel
lectual stimulus and aesthetic growth were
in the very air CT the genial apartments
through which | moved, a timid receptive
girl. AS with my sister | one evening en-
tered the charmed circle. the Greek profess
sor advanced to give us the appropriate
greeting OF the hour; then, tarrying for a
moment with bis own inimitable look of
something good to come, cleaning in every
feature. he said. 81 met with a sentiment in
my reading to-day, which pleased me well.
1t was tile definition of a wife, Something
to come home to- Ihave been saving it. to
tell you, ever since" OGe bright inquiring
glance cut of two twin lai pS that glowed
from under his i&tting brow, to learn if our
eyes gave hospitality to his thought, and he
glided away, to join in some game of intel
lectual fencing with his peers. while | stood,
half acqulescent, half quarreling with the
definition he had given. Ny sturdy school
girl pride archcd lis back d~efiantly at that
word "something." A thing forsooth,-
mere furniture of a home,-an abstraction,
a neutrality! SO is a rocking chair some
thing to come home To, or a "squarc meal"
or a clean shirt ? Far different and more
ideal seemed the language of the dashing.
gallant University Senio s, who felt them.
selves the natural protectors CT their Sister
Seniors of the Female College. D,ar, gen
erouS youths, they sought to form our
maiden tastes; they were so considerable as
to interpret the title of NJ. l.. A., that was
to guild aspiring brOwS OF graduation
day. as My Little Argel." Magistra Lib
eralium Arthur. the diplomas had it in pro-
sy, formidable Latin; but | fancy that few
of us girls chose to dispute the translation
of our gallant chevaliers. 1t was so nice to
be My Little Angel" chatted with and
sung to through all the golden GUNNER
day-nicer far than to be any mans pros
pectlve something to come home TO-" with
the solemn hint these words implied. of uu-
dCrlying duties and selfdenialS.
And yet-and yet-there was an cmpha-
sis in the loving reverence of the excellent
professor toward his WI noble wife. and in
his grand, paternal ar toward his young
daughters, that brought out his view of
something to come home to" in a charm
ing light. And so, in spite of myself. the
good mans sentiment grew or my liking
more and more and it has stood the wear
and tear of intervening years filled with
much practical observation of people and
thcr homes; till /" My Little Angel as ap-
piled TO mortal wOmanhood, has wc!I-niGh
faded into a ncaningl SIS abstraction, while |
Something to Come Home TO- stands
forth as the embodiment Cf all hat is purcst,
hottest and most ideal, in the weddel life.
And so far from the wife losing her indi-
vlduality in the home she so inspires and
adorns with her presence, IT becomes yer
sonitied in her. She is the home. Travel
lng toward losemite last June, my stranger
seatmate in the crowded stage was a lieu.
tenant from the British f-igate JEALOUS"
that has just cleared our harbor. bearing
with it so large a share of kindly wishes |
from warm-hearted San Francisco. To be-
guile the tndium of the journey. my courte.
Gus travelling companion told mt of his
WanderlngS over many seas. Listening |
with interest, | at length said. I" DO YOU not
lind your Communication with home greatly
interrupted by your canst9nt drifting about
between distant portS?' "Oh, no." he an
swered pleasantly, in his eagernesS uncon-
%seiously -bctraying the whole sweet story OF
his love and home. She writes to me every
week, and numbers all her letters. and /
think | lave lost scarcely one" That quaint
little personal prOn0un unlocked q crystal
door, and over the hot, dusty plains of the
MERGED all al once there stole a faint, sweet
.reath of Arcadia. Away in the vista
whence the drean-like odor came, | could
picture that bonny English bride. her pure
face shining through the v~ine-covercd lat
tice. her prayerful eyes turned toward the
western sea. God bless them both-true
sailor and true wife-and may the home
coming be sure. and safe, and Joyful III His
" good time,
In the confidence of friendship, many
men have talked to me of their homes. act
ual or hoped for; and | have noticed that
some one especial aspect of the home life is
habitually cherished by each. as a type Of
the complex joy and beauty Of the whole.
with one it is a glance and a smile thar are
all his own; with another, 4 bountiful Ia
bic with bright lamps reelected in the silver.
ware and the favorife food of himself, the
households lord. made ready with loves
own instructive fOrethought. One has n
dream of music in wi ich his vol e and the
dear ones shall mingle sweetly, while her
skilled fingers wake accordant melodies
from piano or guitar; another, in whom the
paternal instinct finds ready expression,
thinking OF the cheer of children's prattle
as they run to greet papa's return and ca
gerly close the door behind him:
"a world of care shut out.
A world of love shut iu,'
And with one whom I well remembrr-
one whose kind warm hand grew suddenly
cold and white on New Years dav, the sim
pie picture was this-firelight, with the
woman who loved him sitting in its glow
1t is generous to judge n mans character
by the type of his predominant home.
thought, for there is nothing better in his
whole manhood than that, whatever it be.
A nd honnry fIrion 1o,-,, =. L.