American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-07-26
THE FORGETFUL HUSBAND,
A Domestic Sketch.

"Oh dear! what shall 1 doP The
hoop has burst off my wash tub, and
my suds are all over the foor!" said
Mrs. Alden, in a tone of dependency,
to her husband, as he came in to wash
his hands at the sink, after oiling his
new horse-rake.
"That is bad. Jenny. You will have
to let your washing go till tomorrow !;
then you can borrow Mrs. Seldom
tub.''
"But this will all fall to pieces if it
stands, and we are expecting company
tomorrow"
81 can't help it; can't stop the work
to go off with it now. You must make
hay when the sun shines if you do at
all Can't you tie it up, so that it will
do to-daya I should think you might"
"Perhaps so, if you will help me.
What can takeP'
"Oh, any thing for this time; but re-
ally ought not to stop minute.
Where Is your clothes-lineP"
"The colored clothes are on it, to
dry"
"Hang them on the fence and let's
have it quick
So Mrs. Alden trotted out and moved
her clothes and took the line down,
while Mr.. Alden stood in the door and
whistled impatiently.
"Do mop up this water, Jenny. How
can you stand in such puddleP There,
forgot to get you new mop-handle,
but you can make it go to-day, can't
YOUR
s'I suppose I shall have to. You
promised to get one three weeks ago,
when you broke this"
"I know did, but I never think of
it-a man has SO many things to see to.
There, that will 60 this week it doesn't
leak much. don't see what made it
break
The hoop rusted out. The old tub
has done good service; it has been in
use Is years."
"There, confound it What did you
leave the wash-board there forp 1 have
broken it all to pieces"
at is worn out and rotten. I wish
you would get me a new one. 1 can
never tinker it up again.
Rub your clothes with your hands;
my mother always did, and she never
had dashboard in her life.''
Alden marched off to the hay field,
before he met with another catastrophe
to take up his time.
He was hardly out of sight before a
tin peddler's cart stopped at the door,
containing q collection of all articles
used in family, from wash-tubs down
to broomsr mops and pins.
"Any thing in the way of trade, Mrs.
Alden, to-dayP" asked the man.
"No, think not. My husband does
not like me to buy Of peddlers. He says
I always get cheated"
Shave you not as good q right to
have suitable apparatus to work with as
he hasP He has a new horse-rake and
hay-tedder, and his wife is washing in
tub tied up with rope, and a wash
board that looks as if Noah's wife
brought it out of the ark, and a leaky
WATERFALL; dipper without a handle;
broken mop-handle-bless me! Mrs.
Alden! What lis the usep You had
more money when you were married
han he had, and would have tools to
work with that were comfortable, to say
the least. He never stops to think what
a thing costs, if he needs it, or if it will
make his work easier. 1t tires you more
to get along with these things than it
does to do your work"
Mrs. Alden sat down and looked the
property over. 1t was ridiculous to get
along In this way. The peddler was
right; she had more money than her
husband when they started life, and she
had worked harder than ever he had.
She had managed every way to get
along and he never thought she needed
any thing new or convenient. Her set
ting out was almost worn out and moth
ing was ever replaced. "You must
make it do; it costs every thing to live!"
and so she had dragged along year
after year, and things wore out and
were not replaced. A big lump rose in
her throat as she sat there thinking.
"What do you ask for your wash
tubs?" she inquired at length.
1.-TWO dollars for the large ones; q |
dollar and quarter for the next size.