The Portland daily press., 1884-01-04
Long Calls.

1t is not always wise to make rule that no
one is to be admitted during the evening; on
the contrary, guest may be heartily welcom-
ed, if il is known at the outset that he has
come in for short time; that he is cheerful,
aud friendly, and amusing, and, in short,
worth listening to and entertaining. But the
illy-concealed gloom that settles down upon
one tired face after another, while the clock
strikes the succeeding half hours, and each
member of the family in turn comes despair
ingy to the rescue of the fslterig g CONVERSE
tion, is deplorable thing. Weare responsible
for the state OF our consclences, and II we have
allowed them to become so dull that they
do not give us the unmistakable wsrniug to go
aw ay, then we must not fret II we are warded
off, dreaded, and called bores l was delight
ed to hear some one say, not long ago, that she
did not think she had any right TO spend two
hours at time with any friend, without
special invitation since it could not fail to be
an interruption; and il gave Joy to my heart
that one person SO respected the rights of 9th
ers. Picture some one, who has assured him
sslf that he is not likely to find amusement
under his own roof, setting forth in search of
more agreeable place in which to spend the
evening. He hunts from door to door; finding
that one family has honestly paid its money
and gone TO play, another ls dining out, the
third enjoying its invited guests, while at the
fourth he is met at sight with the information
tnat the ladies are engaged. Perhaps at the
fifth he gains an entrance One person rises
hurriedly from the sofa; another puts down her
book with sigh; another comes reluctantly
from desk, where some notes and letters
must be written at some time during
that evening, and the stricken group re-
signs itself to the demands of friendship
and society. The master of the house returns
presently to his avocation, with brave excuse.
| 1t may be eight o'clock when the guest comes;
| it may be nine, and he may be kind-hearted
| and unobjeetionable; he may even be profitable
| and enter aiming; but he stays until after ten;
| everybo thinks that he never means to go,
| and inwsrdly regrets his presence. For half
| an hour he could have felt sure of welcome; !;
| in that time he certainly could have said and
| done all that was worth doing, and have been
| asked to stay longer, or to come again soon,
| when he took leave. There is no greater COM
| pliment and tribute to ones integrity than to
| be fairly entreated to sit down fol- ten minutes
| longer. OF course we treat each other civilly
| in an evening visit, but it is a great deal bet
! ter to come away too soon than to stay too late.
! In busy overworked and overhurried city
| life, nothing is so precious as q quiet evening
to ones self, or even a part of one. We all
wish-or ought to wish-to make life pleasant
for ourselves end other people, and are ready
| TO be generous even with our tune; but no one
| likes 10 be plundered and defrauded. L. 10
the underlying principle of our neighbor's ac-
| tion and conduct towards us which makes us
| thankful or resentful when he comes to visit
| u.s. January Atlantic.