, 1873-11-09


Tho fold, and whnao businesa.agenciea exten
pyer half the Union, being told By his SPOUSE
on the 1st Of May, that. II ho will ecnd ooupl
of men to help hor novo, ahe would rather h
would 60 down town to his oi1icol Thon, hoy
much harder to bear than any OF his onemioa
printed slandors arc tho martyr-air and eloquou
ailenco With which htH wife surveys the soeu,
when she nrriveB at tho now dcmicile where il.
insisted on taking hia station and isauing order,
s. for the dieposal Of tho tlinga7 The amothoroi
g. sigh and weary turning away Of her head wler
she enters the door, and sees tho best mattrosl
laid out fat on the parlor.loor, and dcfaoed b5
tile muddy prints Of hurrying feet, tho Ut
might-have-known-it" air with which eht
orders the sweoping-up Of the fragmento oi
the largest mirror, which somebody set against
tile wall face outward, and, consequently, some
body else Subsequently ran bed-Blat through
tho hopeless. patient. pressing togethor Of
her lips when 1t ia discovered at nigltfsll, while
the children aro clamoring for supper, that the
barrels Of crockcry and hardware arc all in the
third story, and tho beds havo alt been stored in
the basem ment, ,-these ARC the things that try
mona souls. ,.
"How tho dickena was to know what vns In
the confonnded barrels 7" 9uerica the husband.
mortified. but defiant. and determined to mako
tho muto suf1oror say something. She does say
something. She unlacaa tho babys ehoes with
the air Of: ono who Is determined to do her
duty to her children, Notwithstanding hor hus-
hand'a vagarios, and she either ooldly replica !:
- Wen, you needn't BWoar about 1t - or else re-
torts *ith quiet sarcasm ibid you auppoao tho
'bodsteads wore: packed in, barrels ?" Wouldn't
any man bo appoaeed4 by such soft answers to
sarl s,n,s Away ~ w.n:hf Or perhaps. though, IL
70 retire to solitude, ind mediate on that pecr-
fiarity Of the feminine mind which refuses to
neognizo administrative genius.
Thon, again, there is
80 THE NAN OF ACTION,
as hc styles himaelf. He has vast amount Of
surplus energy, and, according to tho laws that
govern such matters, he has married an inert
wife 90. when he comea home soma night, and
terday isn't down yot, he resolves 10 dononstrato
to bis wife that il takes . man, after all, to
run house properly. uo begins
5y ptopoundlng few familiar conun-
force enough in that establishment to rot that
oil-cloth down without his coming home from
bis Office to do it? aud how many servants and
trades-peoplea woman can keep busy doing moth
to stumble over that roll Of oil-oIoth in fho
hall, un1esB he envcs his husinoss to nail It down
himseIf7 Then he Bcatters tho children-one
squad for hammer, and another for tnoks.
house, hc re1oips, with iD-eoncealed triumph,
that Of couIao there are none,-thoro never aro
any,-and he might have known It: Finally,
when his materials aTe all COLLECTED (as we'll ~
the family, le pulls OF ha cont with q rcso-
lutte, air,. aad- gets down on ali fours
on that oil-c1oth. It exhibits such an uncon-
quersble determination to roll itself up into q
pipe"stom shape, that, while he nails down ono
snd Of it. . standing committee Of three chill
aren attend to the other end. The whole affair
ia vexatious enough but the worst OF it all is,
that hls wife, who sits thore 80 comfortably in
her rocking-chair, keeps making, with the most
aggrayat'ng unoonscloqsneas. little suggestions
as to the location Of the oil-cIoth, the eize Of
.tacka, and various other details. When at laet
he has succeeded In tacking down both cnds,
half-skinning his hands, aud taking months
We xsar 81 luis new pentsloone ho 5isoa to exam
lis aoul and ho', socretly wishes
he had been content to endure tho evils that ho
knew, and to stumble uncomplaningly oyor that
Ills vito remarks tIat s5e could could Lave % tod told him him
that" boga him not to be impatient, aud philos-
opllses that getting mud mover brings anything
right. Ho goes down On bis knees again, and
haqla every individual tack out Of the end Of It,
Of that is, that the onds now puff up. He g1ares
at that oii-cloth in impotent rago. His wife
nouIs oil on the raging fire by auggeatiYely re-
na5king that he'd better leave 1t till morning,
waiting for Ill tho "41 time.a % He e' locks ~ks
at her. most ,oxpreBsiyely opens his lips, but
suusaenly romempera some, good resolutions
Ind, turning Oh tho children, who arc gleofully
Jumping up and down On that oil-oloth to
atraighten tt, be orders every one Of them to
take chair, and sit IN It till bedtime. Thon
ploth down afresh al round, aud then theto ia
nothing left for it to do but pun up in the mid
alo,-which 1t docs. Ho eyes It one moment
With concentrated rage, gives kind Of pop-gan
filings bis hammer down, unmindful that it comes
In contact with an idolized ehfna.doll, tho
property Of weeping. 7-year old,-aud retlreB
up atnirs to wash hiu hands and say his prayers.
stil he cannot understand why his wife doesn't
3he rrminates), II she had ao1ue mon for hua-
band, nho'd see the difference pretty quick.
There ia kind Of melancholy Aunor investing
tho
L1us1oNs OF YOUTH.
Nobody exactly nkos to make them targets for
Wits, and yet every one recognizes tho fact that
they are common property. like tho moasleH, or
colds in the head. Where is tho woman who can
pheriahed secret belief that eho was born to
die young? That she nover stretched herself
out at full length, closed her. eyes, folded
her lande meakly upon hcr breast, and
pitled herself With tender sadness, az alo re:
silent, with her long lashes Bwocplng her marble
check, whllo all her fatnily, who had boon so
often harsh to her in little everyday matters,
would be 80 vo.y sorry for all the unkind things
they had eyor done to her, aud the hero OF her |
girlsh droams, with his eloquent eyaa and mu-
slcal voice, would feel TINT liz heart was buried
in her grave. Where ia the man who did not !
cherish sweet conviction, on attaining his ma
lority, that Ao nas born for tho accomplishment |
et great things, mud that tho ronaon 10 lived
through the whooping-oougll whom the doc
dsownns school @ fellows '''sSsa ~Isa
he rose for The third titno. and, In Short came
safely through all juvenile eieknesaes alll
waa because Destiny had marked him
Tor ier own7 Then with what rnoful little
griuaaco man rooalla the ideal vito OF his
gouth. she was always to woar tile dalnttest Of
gloves, eud tho most bewtchin8 OF slippers
ind rosebud III her hair, aud, WHOM ho was not
with lIori she was to DO nothing but dream Of
lin, and watch for Ills coming. It mover 90
,urred to him but that gloves, and flowers, and
Ibons wero as much har natural belongings az
lazxling plu1nago was hunmtng- birds. .Alaa
or the day wllols first tho young Aunlmnd saw
.;s angel With her tlreas-sllrt punol up
,uk Of tho dirt. and hor Hweering-gloyeA