Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-11-08

VIE.
Il used to see a great deal of then
at one time" she said, but"
"Oh well. you know how they have
had mother -in-law raging round late
ly, so have kept away"
So have /.
"A mother-in -lawl" exclaimed an.
other that is hard; / do pity them
indeed"
But understand she is eff cow,
luckily"
Glad to hear it. Have you heard
the new opera? ~,
was the mother-in-law on whose
account friends stayed away. l remem-
bered the weary nights in that sick
room; the weary days when, suffering
from the loss of sleep, | struggled to
keep my eyes open that | might attend
to various little household duties. l
remembered the nice little dishes, the
neatly arranged rooms, the carefully
attended baby. Which of all this was
the raging round" which excited the
risible muscles of those young people? 4?
[ thought of Fanny, of her good looks,
her intelligence, her affectionate ma
ture, and found myself wondering
what her nature was to be. But here
we are There she was waiting to meet
me, dear child; but there was some
one with her, very insignificant look
ing individual, with very prominent
eyes and large whiskers. Why did my
heart sink with melancholy forebod-
ing.
How glad she was to see me again
She introduced her companion to me
as Mr.. jenkins; and whereas l was
all anxiety to be alone with her, Mr..
jenkins, with great flourish of polite
ness, walked away home with us. Be
fore | could unite the strings of my
bonnet he told me that Fanny had
promised to marry him was thun-
der-struck, having in the annoyance of
his presence forgotten my forebodings
of half an hour before. [ had read
with much attention, in various high
ly lauded books, of the great and i'm
perative duty of bringing up girl to
be a helpmeet for noble man. Was
this my Fannys noble man, this dap
per little mannikin? He seemed ami
able, but so utterly Insignificant. He
had uninteresting parents, and weak,
plain sisters, all of whom made per-
petual amusement of the engagement.
My parlor was given up to them-that
is, to him and his sisters. I seemed
always detrOp when [ entered, Judging
by the sudden silence which followed
the animated task My coming was
an interruption. | began to sit up
stairs | always walked alone.
Having avoided all society and all
acquaintanceship when my children
were young, that / might devote my
whole time to them, l found myself
now desolate and friendless. Friends,
like plants, must be cultivated. /
found no congeniality in either of the
two families with which my family
were connecting themselves.
After two years they were married ;
and after year of boarding aspired to
the dignity of keeping house. After
looking at many dwellings one was Sc
lected, one which required a great
many repairs, and now my services
were in very great request. | attended
to all the directions Mrs. jenkins wish
cd given to workmen; stayed in the
cold, empty rooms all day when there
was nothing to sit ON but an empty
candle box. | did the necessary quar-
reling with the plumbers, and bore the
snubbing of the upholsterers. l put
the furniture in the places | thought
best by degrees, and by degrees chang
ed it to suit his tastes. washed all
the china and glass and sometimes
fancied, when | got dirty doing all
this, that | was happy. l had so long
been accustomed to work for those L
loved, that it was hard to learn there
might be any reproach connected with
it. | must do Fanny the justice to say
that she was very kind and grateful
for all this trouble.
On the last day, after having some
cold tea out of pitcher on the corner
of a mantelpiece, l overheard Mr..
jenkins, who had brought in friend,
to admire his new dwelling, say:
Well, the carpets are down, the fur
niture sail here, and L think now
when we get our servants, and engage
a baker and milkman, and are rid of
the mother-in-law, we shall be ready
to move in.
Both my children married. l had
my solitary little home to myself, and
very solitary it was. l tried to get up
some spasmodic friendships with my
neighbors, but being hollow, these
forced intimacies fell through. But |
ought not to complain /; it is the way
of the world.
I only wonder if, considering the
love we women have for our children,
young or old, the world is not apt to be
a little hard upon the mother-in-