The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-03-24

James had a relapse of his intermit- |
tent fever. His wife knew nothing |
about sickness; 1 nursed him-I who |
had never known fatigue when he
needed anything in former years, would |
nOt fail7him now. L sat sup with him
night after night, and showed the cook |
how to prepare nice little dishes for
him, such as knew he liked-thRt is
to say, prepared them while the cook |
looked on. Whatever was wanted now,
up stairs or down, / was the one to plan |
and to do. At last began to think /
ought to return to Fanny; and seeing !
James fairly convalescent, I sought the |
train for my journey homeward. Sit
ting in the railroad car, a party of
young people took places in front of me,
laughing and talking with animation,
principally about persons knew noth-
ing of, except by name. Presently one
of them began to talk of my sons wife.
81 used to see great deal of them at
one time" she said; "but-"
"But what 2" asked another.
"Oh! well, they had mother-in-law
raging around lately, so 1 have kept
away.n r.E -.H-.E II
$50 have I.p .-I-a.s -A
Here followed laugh of derision.
"a mother-in-law p' exclaimed an
other, "that is hard; 1 do pity them, in
"But I Thearshe is of now"
"Glad to hear it. Have you heard the
new opera?"
| / was the mother-in-law on whose ac-
count friends kept away. remembered
the weary nights in that sick room; the
weary days when, suffering from loss of
sleep, struggled to keep my eyes open,
that l might attend to various little
! household duties, which of all this was
the ''raging arOund' which excited the
risible muscles of those lively young
people. thought of Fanny, her good
looks, her intelligence, her affectionate
nature, and found myself wondering
what her future was to be. But here
we are. There she was waiting to meet
me, dear child; but there was some one
with her, a most Insignificant looking
individual, with very prominent eyes
and large whiskers. Why did not my
heart sink with a melancholy fOrebod-
ing? ...-....-
How glad she was to see me again.
| She introduced her companion to me as
Mr.. Jenkins +; and whereas / was ali
anxiety to be alone with her, Mr..
Jenkins, with great flourish of polite
ness, walked all the way home with US.
Before could unite the strings of my
bonnet he told me that Fanny had
promised to marry him! was thun-
derstruck, having in the annoyance of
his presence forgotten my forebOdings
of half an hour before. / had read with
much attention, in various highly
lauded books, of the great and impera-
tive duty of bringing up girl to be a
helpmeet for noble mau-Jhis dapper
i little maniken He seemed amiable,
but so utterly Insignificant. He had
uninteresting parents, and weak, plain
sisters, all of whom made a perpetual
amusement of the engagement. My
parlor was given up to them entirely
that is, to him and his sisters. seemed
always "detrop" when entered, by the
sudden silence which followed the ami
mated talk. My coming was an inter
ruption. 1 began to sit up stairs. L al
ways walked alone.
Having avoided all society and all ac-
quaintanceship when my children were
young, that / might devote my whole
time to them, I found myself now
friendless and desolate. Friends, like
plants, must be cultivated. / found no
congeniality in either of the two fami-
lilies with whom my children were con-
necting 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
leeted, one which required a great many
repairs, and now my services were in
very great request; / attended to all the
directions Mr.. jenkins wished given to
the workmen; l stayed in the cold
empty rooms all day, when there was
nothing to sit on but an empty candle
box. | did the necessary quarreling
with plumbers, and bore the snubbing
of the upholsterers; and put the furni-
ture in the places Thought best, by de-
grees changing it all to suit his tastes.
! L washed all the china and glass; aud
sometimes fancied, when l got dirty do
ing all this, that was happy. I had so
long been accustomed to work for those
/ loved that it was hard to learn that
there might be any reproach connected
with it. l must do Fanny the Justice to
say that she was very kind and grateful
to me. ...
On the last day, after having some
cold tea out of pitcher on the corner oi
a mantel-piece, overheard Mr.. Jenkins,
who had brought friend in to admire
his new dwelling, say:
"Well, the carpets are down, the
furniture is all here, and ] think now,
when we get our servants, and engage a
baker and milkman, and are entirely
rid of the mother-in-law, we shall be
ready to move inn
Both my children married, ] had my
solitary little house to myself, aud very
solitary it was. 1 tried to get up some
spasmodic friendships with my neigh.
bOrs, but being hollow, these forced in.
timacies soon fell through. But
, ought not to complain; it is the way o.
the world .,~ r
|, only wonder if, considering the love
we have for our children, young or old
, the world is not apt to be little hare
upon the mother-in-law.-ESch0nge
: AGENTS FOR THE NEW WNORTHWEST
- rr .H-- q. - ~ H r a.. Ia