Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-03-17

self IN your own 'ooh'' o'ly oho 'h"s
! win exact In return you must
never make any mischief or quar-
rel with anybody In 10Y house about
anything. And Vt sometimes you are
displeased, you must go to your room
and pout 1t out alone, and only join
us again when you feel pleasant, For
| won't he worried, and least of all
have my wife worried by anybody
Now mother what do you say :"
"Shc only said you arc agood man;
Solomon B., and the Almighty
will reward you, and ! thank you
from my heart, | will do my part,
$50 | never had any trouble with
her. We all lived together twenty
years and then my wife had IN attack
of pneumonia and died-and soon after
that my own mother was left a widow
and came to live with me. My mother
Is only sixteen years older than am,
and being so lively and smart she
seemed quito like younger sister to
my mother Henry, and they got on
easily together. But after n while
when the Children were about grown,
| got 80 Lonesome that ! coxed n real
nice sensible lady, from Philadelphia
not handsome but just as good rs gold
to marry me. / told her all about my
old ladies, and l found she had two
mothers living with her, her own
mother and her husbands mother.
They had neither OF them any proper
ty, but she owned u house and took
boarders to support them all
swell, l made the proposition to
the old ladies that l had: made to
my mother.in.law, and they both
agreed to it. Then I went home and
built an addition to my house, and
soon brought my second wife and her
two mothers there. We had some oc-
casional pouting at first, but | always
held two points without yielding-l
was master of my house and would
not let anyone bother my wife, SO
pretty soon my fout-in-hapd learned
to t.avel smoothly together.
"Ah, me! I looked forward to a
happy old age with that dear wife,
but in two years she was killed by a
railway accident. / was with her on
the train and was badly hurt, lying
for weeks in state OF Inconsistencies.
When I recovered my w'te's grave
was green. l felt so bad and my
health was so poor that I did not care
for a woman again until my children
were married and I vas left alone with
nv four old ladies. Then | met a
pretty little romantic widow, who was
$50 sorry for ne. She wrote poetry
and painting pictures, and was dying
nil the time with consumption-tbat
scourge OF our city; and I thought, as
she had a struggle to take care of her
husbands mother, l would smooth
her passage to the grave.
$50 I married her and her mother.
l meau-welI, you know what mean.
I treated her mother.in-law just as l
did the other ladies, and that wife
lived seven years after all. | rade
her so happy that she adored me, and
we had the esweetest baby you ever saw
Oh, what lovely creature that child
was-a little angel! She lived only
three years and then faded away. But
Ihave several pictures OF her, painted
by her mother.
"And did you have no trouble with
the mother-in.law :"
"Not while her daughter-in.law lived
she was always taking care of her sick
child and grand.child. But when
Emma was gone and all seemed quiet
again, the old lady wanted to marry
me !"
"What Emma's mother-in.law.'
"Yes. She was q handsome woman
still and she knew it, about my age,
and no relation whatever, so she set
her cap for me.
And that made commotion in the
house
swell, yes. Yes, it did. l never
knew my mother to get in real rage
till then. She told me to 90 right off
and get wife-the younger the bet
ter !! Then I got mad stormed away
at my old ladies together; threat
ened to break up housekeeping and
turn them out upon the world, away
from the pleasant home they had so
long enjoyed that they really believed
it to be theirs. Finally l declared
l would leave them in there to fight
like Kilkenny cats, while | would live
at a hotel IN the city. And l kept