The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-11-15

question, Praise her for that and he
leit IL as a rebuke. He read no further.
LOT Thought came too busy, and in A new
direction. Memory was conyictipg him of
injustice to his wife; she had ALWAYS made
MS nome as comfortable as her hands
could make II, and had he offered the
llght return of praise f6r comfort he had
experienced. He WAS not able to recall
me uihe or occasion; as he thought that
mrs. Lee came in from the kitchen, and
taking her work basket from the closet
paced II on the table. and sitting down
without speaking, began 10 sew. Mr. Lee
glanced almost stealthily at the work in
her hand, and saw that il was the bosom
ol shlft she was stitching neatly. He
knew 1t was for him she was at work.
Praise your wife" The words were
before the eyes of his mind and he could
not look away from them; but he was not
ready for this yet. He still felt moody
and unforglving, The expression on his
wlTes face he interpreted to mean i'll ma
ture he had no patience. His fell upon
the newspaper spread out before him. and
NE Icdu lne sentence:
A kind. cheerful word, spoken in a
gloomy house is the little rift in the cloud
That lets sunshine through.
Lee struggled with himself awhile lon~
ger; his own i'll nature had to be cons
quered first; his moody, accusing spirit
had to be subdued. lie thought of many
things to say, yet feared to say them, lest
his wife should meet his advance Will a
cold rebuff, AT last. leaning toward her
and taking hold of the linen bosom upon
which she was at work, he said in il
voice carefully mouulated with kindness:
gu are doing this work very bcnuiifui~
ly, Mary"
Mrs. Lee made no reply, but her nus,
band did not fail To observe that she lost
almost instantly that rigid erectncss with
which she had been sitting, and that the
motion of the needle had ceased.
My shirts are better made and whittier
than those of any other man in the shop,
said Lee, encouraged to go on.
care they" Mrs. Lees voice was low,
and had in it slight huskincss; she did
, not turn her face, bat her husband saw
! that she leaned little toward him. He
| had broken the ice OF reserve and all was
| easy now. His hand was among the
clouds and few feeble rays were already
struggling through the rift it had made
Yes, Mary" he answered softly and
I've heard it said more than once what a
good wife Andrew Lee must have"
Mrs. Lee turned her face toward hel
husband. There was a little light in hcI
eye, but there was something in the eX'
| preston of her countenance that a litIlt
puzzled him.
DO you think so?" she asked quito
soberly.
What question: calculated Andrew
starting up and going round to the side
of the table where she was sitting
"What question, Mary" he replied, Ms
he stood before her
YES darling was his warmly spokeI
answer. How strange that you should
ask me such question.
IF you would only tell me so now ant
then, Andrew, it would do me good.
Mrs. Lee arose, and leaning her face
against the manly breast of her husband
stood and wept.
What strong light broke In upon tht
mind of Andrew Lee; he had never givcI
! his wife even the smallest reward of praise
in all the loving interest she had mani
tested daily until doubt of his love hat
entered her soul and made the light al
around her thick darkness. No wonde
that her face grew clouded, nor what h
considered moodishness and i'll natur
took possession of his heart.
you are good and true. Mary, my owl
dear wife. l am proud of you, your hap
piness. Oh, if I always see your face il
sunshine my home would be the deares
place on earth
How precious to me are your words o
love and praise, Andrew said Mrs. Lee
smiling through her tears into his face
with them in my ears my heart cal
never be in shadow
How easy had been the work for An
drew Lee lie had swept his hand acros
the cloudy horison, and now the brigIl
sunshine was streaming and flooding til
home with JOY and beauty .-POpula
Monthly NagaziHe.