The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-07-17

Ia a c!amosous appealing 10 the mercy OF the
In a mad expo>tulation with the deaf and fran.
Tic fire.
/ was reading my very best, and ] could
see that papa was holding his very
breath to hear me, when up jumps
mamma, as If she .had been shot, and
rushes away TO the kitchen as fast as
her feet would carry her. 1t seems that
she had left the range open, and my
reading of the fire reminded her of it.
That was all the profit or enjoyment
that she found in such splendid poem"
Mamma is naturally domestic, and
her family cares have prevented her
giving much attention to other things,
ii she had wished il ever so much."
Eva spoke reprovingly, and there was
a tiny underthread of tenderness in her
tone, the effect, perhaps, of some iinger-
ing filial affection that all her Unborn
and cherished selfishness had been una
bic to quite choke out.
Mr.. Ray expressed neither surprise nor
regret when Informed of his wife's de-
I termination to stay at home from the
wedding party. For himself, it was
simply his duty to act the part of cava-
/ lier TO his gay young daughters; but his
wife-why it was "just like her" to pre-
/ fer to stay ut home. For years, she had
! seemed 10 take little or no interest in
anything outside of her own house and
family. She had tOiled, and saved, and
| planned, in their earlier and less pros
porous days, to dress and educate her
children-those same children who now,
/ in the proud arrogance of a cultured
wOmanhOod, forgot those long years Of
childish dependence, that II mothers
I l.. 4 L. 1
the days and weeks OF sickness and pain
! that only her tender miuistratiOns had
made eudurable, and were now, uucOn-
sciOusly, it may be, but none the less
surely, strewing her downward path
with those sharpest of all thOrns, the
cruel outgrowth of filial ingratitude.
The time had been short for the prep
aration of Eva's new dress, and although
every available needle in the house had
been pressed into her service by that
energetic young lady, it was only by
the mothers sitting at her sewing until
near morning, the night before the
party, that the elaborately-trim
garment cotid be finished in time, of
which service Eva's characteristic ac-
acknowledgement was something ia this
/ fashion:
sit was too bad, mamma, that you
should have had to sit up SO late to fin
/ ish 1T. j would have kept you COM
pany, but kne1C that if / sat up after
eleven o'clock / should be as stupid as
an owl the night of the party. 1t was
SO provoking in Miss McStitchet TO dis
appoint US, and we've always been such
good customers, too. I've great mind
to say that she shall never make an
other dress for me as long as | live.n
That was all. Not a word of thanks,
of loving acknowledgment for the wea-
rying, tOilsOme service, not even a
smile, kiss, gentle reminder that she
should take few hours for rest from the
/ hum of busy preparation, that made her
aching head beat and thrOb vet more
wildly, while that strange, sharp pain
in her side, that had troubled her so of
ten of late, seemed at times like dag
ger thrust to her very heart.
She made no complaint, and the
young ladies were so completely en-
crossed in their preparations for the
evening, that the tell-tale heaviness of
her eyes, and the unnatural pallOr of
her worn and wearied face, entirely es-
capped their notice, until Bessie, tapping
with dainty finger tips the half-Opened
petals of q rose in glass of hot-house
flowers, turned to her mother with: al
wish you would arrange our bouquets
for us, mamma. You have the art of
making few flowers show to the best
advantage. But-what's the matter?"
T-I don't know. | think smelling
that heliOtrope must have made me
faint. feel strangely and she put
her hands to her head in a helpless, be-
wildered way, that awakened some feel
ing of sympathy in her daughters heart.
"Oh, well, well Let the flowers
alone; We'll arrange them ourselves
and you'd best go and lie down awhile
till your head feels better How thought
ful it was i'm papa" turning to her sis
ter, "to get these flowers for US; and
they are so well selected, too. It isn't
every man of his age that would have
had the taste, even if he had thought of
it, to make such tasteful selection"
Eva nodded a cordial acquieScence,
while the mother, dizzy and half-blind
ed by the pain in her throbbing temples,
cTept quietly away to the solitude and
silence of her own chamber, where, with
her face buried in her pillow, she strove
to stifle the cries that this new and
strange agony wrung from her white lips.
This terrible pain at my heart" she
murmured to herself between the spasms
of suffering, "grows worse and worse
every time. My mother and grand
mother died of heart-disease, and-per-
haps I shall go the same way.n
After time the spasms decreased in
violence and frequency, until when the
clock below rang out the hour of seven,
and her husbands step-he was always
punctual to a minute-sounded in the
hall, she rose from her bed, weak and
trembling, but free from pain, and lean
ing heavily upon the oaken balusters as
she crept wearily down the stairs, made
her way unObseTved to the dining-rOCm,
TO see that everything was in that per-
feet order that the delicate tastes of her
husband and daughters required.
y little careful Encouragement of
dishes, Il spot on the table-clOth, over
looked by the careless servant, covered
with n mat, clean napkin TO replace
the sOiled one in Ev9s ring, and the
supper-bell was rung, while Mrs. Ray
sank into her chair, so exhausted that
she scarcely noticed her husbands care
less salutation, as, smiling proudly upon
his handsome daughters, he escorted
them into the dining-room with merry
affeetation of gallantTy, while in the gay
gossip that accompanied and served as
a relish to the simple tea and toast, she
heard only n bewildering tumble of
words, in which she had neither lot nor
part, any more than the tea-urn itself;
that simply added its mite to the COM
fort, while it was powerless to contribute
to the amusement or entertainment of
the lively group gathered about it.
She had grown so timid and shy of
expressing an opinion, or asking a Gues-
tion even, so afraid of the half-concealed
amusement and the unconcealed sur
prise, that she had learned to look upon
silence as her only shield against the