The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-06-03
Working and Resting.

UOu>c' l'H Bet'lnL pIctiy iate, anu L
don't like to put it off SO long.
The man took step or two forward,
then turned toward the tull,spare, hollow
cl ed woman, who was his wife aud an.
,wered Is it really necessary, Susan ?
a glance around the room was her an
,wer.
Let it 60 this fall, said the man. I'm
.ure it don't look very bad
Oh, John the house is dreadful dirty.
Look at the walls aud windows.
Pooh see dirtier ones every day.
Then, as if another thought had struck
hini, he said Couldn't you do part this
week and part next2
| don know. Perhaps so.
The answer came in discouraged tones
and the churning continued in nervous,
,pasmodc jerks.
The man saw her discouraged look,
aud said, as he went out Well, if you
must, | reckon | can let her know.
don't see how it is, said he soliloquiz-
ing, as he trotted his horse at slow rate
dong the winding prairie road can't
ee how it is that Susan tbiuks she must
bire so much done, Looks like she
ought to be able to do all she has to do.
True, in harvest time it oom,o a little
nard for her. hire three or four meu
hen, that makes more cooking, but then,
I've heard wimmen say they'd as soon
;ook for six as two, Now, there's my
mother she used to cook for eight or ten
men in harvest time and had seven child
rcn to do for. We've only four young
.ters, and don't milk half as many cows
As father used to, But | reckon The win.
men them days were made Of better stuff
than nowadays. Git up Dobbin I've
hired heap of work done fur Susan this
year, She had help when we killed hogs
and then she was sick and Merry Gilman
came aud stayed two weeks, and had to
give her five dollars and her board.
couldn't very well afford it, either, for my
, moving machine must be paid for this
fall. aud | want TO buy some more stock
this next Spring. But here, if haven't
oassed Mrs. Flynn and didn't stop.
Git up Dobbin
What was the hollow-eyed, tired look
ing woman thinking Of all this time
Thinking of; she had no time to think OF
,nythng but work. The churniug not
loue, the breakfast dishes were unwash
d, the milk was not skinned, the week 5
roning stared her in the face, ard last
nut not least, was the little one tugging
t her skirts. begging for nourishmeut.
'ut it does oot cry. SO she keeps Oh at
he churning until the little ones pa.
ience is exhausted and its screams are
,eard above the slash, dash. slash Of the
hurn. The mother can no longer resist
baby must be cared Tor though all else
90 untouched.
She was naturally tidy woman, and
IS she looked around upon the untidy
nouse she grew nervous almost to despair,
md the tears fell fas, upon the baby's
ace At her breast.
Oh, how welcome are these silent visi.
ors when the heart is overburdened by
,rief or trial a! They seem to be the rv-
RS that wash our hearts from sel6shness
Mrs. Wilton wept long and bitterly
nut when the tears were wined away so
,lso was her burden Of toi aud care, ard
renderly kissing her sleeping babe she
aid him in his crib aud went about her
work cheeriuily, if not contented. She
possessed cheerful disposition naturally,
but she was not a stranger to those hopes
lnd asf irations that come to most Of US to
cheer our discomfort. She loved beauti-
I'll things. She loved nature, and loved
o stroll over the prairie that lay broad
md bright around her. But she found
very little encouragement for luxuries,
even the luxury o. rambie out of doors.
Her husband was sordd, money-lov
ng, money getting man, who saw , us
or anything that there was no money in
lie knew all the ways and meaus OF mon.
'y-gctting aud money-keeping He had
aiken his wife from loving home 10 al
Eastern State, and made for himself a
nome on the prairies of the West. he
vas deemed very shrewd man by his
neighbors. He knew when to buy stock
,ud when to sell He knew when piece
ot land was worth buying or selling and
vas always getting some "good chance
His wife had long ago found out that
money was his idol, and everything must
oe sacrificed to it-even herself, she
sometimes thought, wnen. with aching
head and tired feet she sought her pillow
Thus the years had gone by, uEtil few
would recognize in the hollow-eyed wo
man, the fresh, rosy girl John Wilton had
brought there eight years before.
Mrs. Wilton did not ask her husband
if he had stopped at Mrs. Flynn's, she
supposed Of course he had aud the fol
lowing week she watched every day for
her expected help. Watched but not
waited, but as the hours went by, she be.
gan the task aud kept at it until it was
done.
Mr., Wilton pretended not to see al
this. He kept alooi as much as possible
% as to avoid any explanation he nighl
ne called upon TO make but when alun,
with himself he said
Well, Susan is getting along nicely, af
ter all. She'll have the bou,e shluuiu:
lsiu Saturday night, aud then l'd jus
1--WE her the money Id had TO pay Mis-
Flynn. ltll-gu toward buJin' the win
Ter lhiugs for the family; aud he CAV,
The well'flIed pocket.book loviu,
-qleeze,
+ Saturday night found the house al
smiling, as Mr.. Wilton hal propheoied
{ but Mrs. Wilton looked more tired au,
worn than ever. 1t bad been hard wec
for her, aud even the clean house Wa
hardly recompense. But Mr.. Wilto
felt satitied. Strange that he could nc
. perceive the odor OF the essence OF life i
, the shiuning windows and whitened wall
bu, he only said, as he glanced abou
, hun
Z The house-cleaning is over eh ? Wei
over eh Wei, here's five dollars /
nav vnur unn,sn with ,uh no .h,tct 4.