The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-01-02

e once marry, who was there to care fc
e these frail and helpless ereaturesP a
{ Eready the house was in disorder and an
: archy; the meals III cooked and ill-sers
IS ed, the rooms neither swept nor busted
n only her interference had kept the Httl
d girls in comfort and cleanliness; it a.
most seemed to her that Nellie impiorel
? her from the. grave to befriend her chill
t dren, and at last she resolved to give u
? herplace at Rockford and accept 81
q Potter's invitation, and the end of IN
D week saw her installed in the new posi-
e Anne was born manager. He
practical talent was heightened by he
! intellectual force, and ittoek busa shor
time for the domestic machinery.to &c
into running order.
Mr.. Potter had less to do with house
hold affairs than ever, and went on ever
, more smoothly than I'm his wife's feesl,
} and gentle reign. He was glad to bt
spared trouble; his selfish soul .desiree
ease and peace at home above all things
, but he desired &c for himself At first
while Anne was comparatively guest
and his grief fresh for Helen, he &C
knowledged some restraints of civility,
and showed that he could be a gentle
man if he chose; but as the novelty
wore off he laesed into bis old WAYS and
became as moody, as snappish, as in
considerate as ever. Anne was dis
posed to ignore his unpleasant ways and
try TO excuse them; but in thinking Sc
ricusly one day about poor Neilie's
thwarted and miserable life, It came to
her mind that perhaps she owed some
duty TO Mr.. Potter as well as to the
children; was it possible that he was
unaware of his own disagreeable be-
haviOr? Was it not really his duty as a
father 90, set better example to his
family? Above all was it the part of the
Christian, such as he professed to be, TO
live such a selfish, dnlovely, unchristian
! lifeh There was but one answer to this
and Anne was not a woman to shrink
from obvious duty however unpleasant,
though she would rather have
encouetertt school full of heath
/ en- children than to try to evan
| gelize Ben Potter in his own house
But she must use tact, discretion, per-
/ haps sharpness in dealing here, and at
lacking mans faults puts his self.
respect on the defense; she must take
other grounds; however, she fell back,
after deyising athousand ways in which
to approach him, on the Bible admoni-
ton, "Take no thought how or what ye
shall speak, for it shall be given you in
that same hour what ye shall speak,"
and if ever that promise applied to
daily life was it not now?
Thatvery evening the hour came. Mr..
Potter had not found the day agreeable,
an intricate case had worried him, a
debtor had failed to pay an overdue
note, and he had overeaten at dinner
Here were reasons enough for dyspepsia,
and though he managed to preserve an
aspect of silent disgust at the tea-table,
no sooner was Anne left alone with him
than he gave way to inward irritation,
snapped at her efforts to mend the fire
into blaze and brightness, and at last
burst out savagely: "Let thatfire alone,
will your"
Anne looked at him steadily, gathered
up her work and left the room her own
quick temper famed up so swiftly she
dare not trust herself to speak she did
not know how her flashing eyes spoke
for her. At first the man was angry;
what business had she to reprove him
for mere snappishnessP Could not a
man do and say what he liked in his
own house? What was mans house
for if not to be free to do and say what
he liked therein? His memory recalled
Nelly's conduct when such doings and
sayings occurred in her lifetime; how
she shrunk and quivered, the tears fill
ing her eyes and her lips trembling till
he was enraged at sucn " FUSS" and
went on out of more evaporation.
Then came back the dead face of that
vanished Nelly, the look of relief and
peace that reproached him from her cof-
fin; sense of justice babe him acknowl- /
edge that Anne pursued the better
course; that Helen had suffered at his
hands and suffered needlessly; she never
left him to sulk in solitude; she always
dressed herself to soothe his moods; it |
was she who apologized. as if she had !
made-him cross; she who covered and |
cringed and even provoked him by her |
timidity and terror as towards always |
initiate tyrant.S He did not like this
tram of thought; neither did he like to |
be left alone this stormy night with his |
own reflections; for the wind howled |
and the rain beat and something re-
called to him an old story of house
that was founded upon sand, and he
could not Danish it..
Anne, meanwhile, went up stairs to
the nursery and sat down by her Sleep
ing darlings; her thoughts, too, were
not comfortable; what if the course she !
had taken should separate her from
these children who were dear as hearts I
blood to her? Hot tears dimmed her |
eyes as she faced the possibility; but |
she knew she had done the thing she !
thought right and best; she must trust |
the consequences to God, whatever they |
were; and bending her head above the
tranquil sleepers she prayed long and !
ferYently for. strength to do her duty |
whatever it was, and for their good and |
peace in this world and the next who /
ever might minister to them here. Then |
she went to her room Gained and |
strengthened.
But she made the mistake most COM
mon to women in judging of men; she
had not considered Ben Potter's sense |
of justice. 1t would not have been like |
him or ike most of his sex to resent
slight vexation by real injury; there
are exceptions, no doubt; men can be
as unjust, as dishonest, and as cruel ash
the law allows, even to those for whom |
they have professed deep affection; but
is most often the case that they meanto
be and are OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES to
their wives-and nothing could have
been further from Mr.. Potter's thought |
than TO send Anne away from his house
hold after all she had given up to take
charge of it simply because he was vex-
ed with her.
She was surprised the next morning
when he welcomed her with a pleasant |
smile, for he could be very pleasant
when he felt ike it, and said: "Anne,
you shouldn't have been vexed with me !
last night; when am cross you must |
lay it to the right cause; it is dyspepsia |
that is cross. not me. ~ -fF