The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1880-01-31
OBED'S SUBSCRIPTION.
MARY WAGER FISHER.

"sLet him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall That was the parson's text
this morning. and it recalled circumstance
in our early married life about which / sat
thinking all through the service, and which,
had been moved by the spirit to arise and
relate, would have been novel illustration
for the text"
"Relate it to me-" urged. at will do
for a supplementary discourse"
NV friend, at whose house / was staying,
led the way out on the back piazza, and after
placing me in a shaker rocker, seated herself
in another and began:
.sObed and / have been married 10 years,
you know. He, at the time of our marriage,
had been at the bar but
year, and in a great city like B it
his way among the best lawyers in the coun-
try. 1t has been only within the last year
or two that the receipts of his practice have
allowed deposit in the bank over and above
our living expenses. But L had a little in
come, with which and my Yankee capacity
1 managed to make both ends of the year
meet. Obed had plenty of money in pros
pect but none in pocket; so, upon the whole,
we were extremely poor, pinched for money
at every turn, but nobody suspected 1t. L
had handsome outfit when / was married.
and it lasted me for five years without the
actual purchase Of new article. / was my
own child's nurse, seamstress, chamber-maid
and house-maid, as we could only afford one
domestic. 1t tires me now when look back
and live over those years of self sacrifice, of
most tiresome economy, in order that we
might keep out of debt. But We were young
and hopeful. and we often had
little laugh at our own expense, as when
r. II. L l~.I
say, Nell, you are dressed like princess,
and haven't dollar in the world one would
think to see you that we rolled in wealth,
while would gayly remind him that 'all
that glitters is not gold / remember / had
one costume of unusual beauty and richness
which he never liked me to wear because it
seemed to him like making false impression
and so it lay folded in my trunk until halt
runined, in order, as Obed said to avoid the
appearance of evil He is always quoting
st Paul you know
'One secret of my cheerfulness during
those trying years was that my faith in Obed
was as deep as the sea and firm as the ever.
lasting hills. / no more believed it possible
for him to do what he thought to be wrong
than it was for him to fly. He is not bril-
liant fellow, as you know, but for solid quail
ties, as honesty, integrity, pureness of heart
earnestness, charitableness Of judgment, &C
curacy of knowledge and high and keer
sense of justice, I have never known his
equal. never thought of his yielding tc
temptation. or abandoning any good cause
because it was weak. In my estimation h
was as a bulwark of strength. / suppose thai
endowed him, in way, with my owr
decision and firmness, which have always
made it as easy for me to say no as yes in re
gard to anything about which my conviction
were clear.
1.-THE greatest trial we had to contend will
was our inability to be liberal and thorough
ly hospitable This suburban town wher
we now live is much weather. now thar
then, but even then it was aristocrat