Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-08-09
THE BREAKDOWN.

IlC OuSllb w llttN z l1idlllOu MOuldl
of mind" old Mrs. Alwyn said, in
speaking of her son and his wife.
There's nothing in POOR Martha, it
seems to me- I'm sure she don't even
appreciate his sermons"
Then people would sigh and shake
their heads, for Chaucer Alwyn wrote
ouch poetical sermons that the woman
who did not appreciate them must be
dull indeed. And somehow they liked
to think that this little woman with
red cheeks and the talent for puddings,
who kept herself and her house so
tidy, and who had dawned upon them,
to their surprise when they expected
bachelor pastor, was not the wife that
gentleman should have taken to him.
seif.s
AS for old Mrs. Alwyn, she believed
che earth bore the weight of no greater
genius than her son, and that he might
have set it ablaze with his performance
had he chosen the proper helpmeet. To
ner, also, Martha had come as great
surpr;se. She had no thought that her
son would marry until she chose wife
for him. And Miss Simpson, the
maiden la0y who wrote poetry, was
once heard to say as she came out of
church:
"And to think that man who can
preach such a sermon should have a
wife wholly without brains p
"He seems very well contented with
her, though replied the friend to
whom she spoke.
"That man. replied Miss Simpson,
"has a heavenly nature. He'd hide
his feelings if they killed him."
"But why did he choose her if he
wasn't suited?''
"Oh, she came round him when he
was mere boy replied Miss Simp-
son. They went to school together,
I have heard, and they were married
the day before he was ordained he did
not know what he needed in wife
then" and Miss Simpson rolled her
eyes in way which implied that he
knew now, and that a certain lady
would have suited him.
They had been married three years,
and there had been no children, but
now Mrs. Alwyn was devoting her at
tention to little bits of embroidery that
looked like portions of a dolls ward
robe. A cradle with pink drapery had
been installed in corner Of the spare
bedroom. Young Mrs. Alwyn would
soon have new object with which to
occupy that inferior mind of hers.
But why did she shut herself up SO
much? Why did she loez the door of
that best bedroom, and refuse to LET
even her mother-in-law to cross the
threshold before she had hidden some
thing away? What secrets could she
have? All the dainty needlework was
done under the eye and advice of the
more experienced matron. Surely
what was she about2
Old Mrs Alwyn asked herself thi:
question thousand times and coult
not answer it.
That it was something she thought
was very important seemed certain
from the flushed and anxious face will
which the little woman came from hel
hiding-place after a retirement of :
few hours. What was it?
Meanwhile poor Martha toiled owe
the secret task she had set herself, ant
only paused occasionally to lift he
weary hand from her brow and sigl
forth:
"Oh, dear me What viii boo
Chaucer do if 1 can't manage to ge
through with it ?"
Whether she completed her task o
not, or what it was, need not troubl
us now. Thepoor young mother grew
suddenly ILL., She had fever an
even wandered in her mind for awhile
and when she really began to groy
well her child was three months old.
Mrs. Alwyn, coming early one Sat
bath morning ap the room Of be
4 q