The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-02-04
A QUIET HOUSE.

A QUIET HOUSE.
"Dear me-" sighed Mr. Turmoyle, as
a burst of shrill, childist laughter
| sounded from the nursery down the hall
stairs and into the sittingroom where he
was making out some accounts. Il
wish those children would be quiet!
Amt it most bedtime, Tillie?"
"They are probably undressing" Mrs.
Turmoyle replied quietly. "I1l go and
see If they are ready for bed.'
Do keep them quiet until they areI'
There was an interval of profound ST.
lence, and in about half an hour TIE
mother returned.
They are all asleep now,n she said.
Tom had dressed the kitten in Bessie's
dolls clothes"
The accounts finished, Mr. Turmoyle
leaned back IN his chair.
Il wish you had some management
with those children, Tillie," he said. al
went over to Stones on business last
evening, and you would not have known
there was child in the house And
Stone has five while we have only three. ="
perhaps they were abed.n
"They were all in the next room" was
the triumphant reply. "Stose is proud
of them, and well he may be. There is
Willie, just the age of our Tom, study
ing Latin, instead of dressing kittens in
dolls clothes, and Amy, who will not be
four years old for three months, reads
well and knows the muitipl ration table
through. Look at our savagesr'
"They are getting along well at school,
dear. | think Mark is too yeung vet to
study. The others did not go to school
till they were FIVE"
"And Tom just manages to write
decent letter at twelve, while Willie is at
Latin grammar. And as for manners,
why, Tom will make more noise, alone,
than Stones five children, Il together"
Mrs. Turmoyle, being Z woman of
sense, did not continue tEe argument,
but mentally resolved to ae Mrs Stone
the next day and talk with Ter about the
wonderful secret of having i've children
and quiet house.
60 am sure l can't do it, the gentle,
loving mother thought, witt sigh.
Seated the next morning in close con-
versation, the ladies presenied a contrast
as marked as the atmosp ere of their
own houses. The tiny, blus ered woman
who had no heart to sul2ress Toms
had left a home where constant
care only secured cleanliness and
where childish disorder was manifest
everywhere but in the best parlor. She
looked at the tall, dark-haired woman
opposite her, noted the exquisite morn
ing dress, faced with light silk, spOtless
and unrumpled, and thought, regretfully,
of marks of ten chubby fingers upon her
own, printed there when her boy baby,
her darling Mark, just succeeded in fore
ing piece of his sweetest candy into
mammals mouth. She noted the dainty
order of the sitting-room, where every
chair stood primly in its appointed place
and not even thread rested upon the
carpet, and remembered Marks stable
for his "spress cart" and horses under
the lounge and Bessie keeping house on
the lower shelf of the bookcase.
Visions haunted her, also, of snip
pings of paper bits of string and odds
and ends of dolls finery upon the table.
Drifting from one scrap of matronly
| talk to another, the ladies came natural
| ly to the care and management of chill
dren, and Mrs Turmoyle complimented
her neighbor upon the appearance Of her
house and the proficiency of her little
ones.
q cannot understand how you &ccom-
plish it," she said, frankly.
"By SYSTEM" was the reply. "The
education of my children begins, | may
say. in their cradles. As soon as they
can walk they have their own proper
place in the room and are trained to per
| feet silence when older persons are pres
| ent.n
Mrs. Turmoyle thought of the noisy
chorus of shouts, the eager recital OF the
days pleasures or accidents, that greeted
papa, aunties or uncles in her own nurse
ry, and wondered if Tom, Bessie ant
Mark would be trained to sit quiet in ont
place for hours at time.
"At two years of age l teach m,
children their letters, and after that the.
are sent to school. All of them wer
entered, at three years of age, at a pri
vate school, and five at a public one. Il
the intervals of school hours my boy
have geographical puzzles, spelling
games and problems, and my girls ar
taught sewing"
But when do they play:"
"Their games and puzzles are suff
cient amusement for the boys, and l al
low the girls to cut and fit clothing for
large wax doll"
'FBut do they not have any hours 70
running, balls, kites and other out-doo
play?"
Il disapprove entirely of out-doo
! play. 1t ruins clothing and makes chi
dren rude. They have outdoor exel
else in a long walk to and from school.
As she spoke the hall door opene
; quietly and fall of footsteps crosse
the hall to the sitting-room. Five Chi
) dren, three girls and two boys, came
; with languid footsteps and pale faces, ,frol
, which all childishness seemed strickel
; Spotlessly clean, with shiny hair and po
ished boots, they followed in orderl
) fashion the lead of the eldest, who stoo
before his mother, waiting for permissio
!, to speak.
"Wen, my SOM" she said quietly.
; "There is no school this afternoon
: The senior class is to be examined"
. said wearily.
"No schools Very well, will set yc
some sums after dinner, and find yC
: some words to study in the dictionary
Silently the five sat down until Il
visitor departed, uncomfortably co
: scious of ten weary eyes and five palli
pinched faces.
j, Crossing her own doorway Mrs. Tu
= moyle was greeted by merry duet.
!. "No school, No schoolr'
Then the tenor solo:
Won't you make some bobs for n
kite, mamma? There's a splend
4. windm
/ Followed by sweet soprano:
and oh, mamma, you promised &
9 first holiday you would trim my dol
a bonnet"
e "I amt kite, toor' struck in Mark.
= "Oh, let me get my breath" cried t
'e little woman. where's your hat, Tom
lr "Oh, forgot" Tom said, sweeping
y off with profound bow. Here, ia
l. this chair And let me take your bonn
and sacque up stairs. You are tire
Never mind the bobs if you are We
J tired"
p I'm help make them," said Bessi
y "and I'll go watch Tom, mamma, if "
is don't feel like making the bonnet"
Is Wen see after dinner" said Nj
ID Turmoyle, looking from one round, TO
Is face to the other, marking the stur'
le limbs and dancing eyes. To be sure q
hair of all three must bee reduced from