The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1885-05-01
SOMETIME.
A Practical Sermon Preached by
the Cellar Stairs.

was In no haste to 20 to the house.
THAT will do. thank you. Tim" said
Sister Senrles, nervously anxious to ex-
pedite his steps In the way Of obedience
81 think Mrs. Barney Is calling YOU
"les'm; she mostly always Is" an
swered Tim, philosophically, pausing to
arrange the harness with painful DELHI
| Grafton.
"But, my dear boy" urged Sister
Searles, reading something In his knit
ted brows, "you should really try to
please and help her all you know. She
Is kind to you"
"Oh. yes. she's kind. Only when |
see one of her kindnesses comm
dodge IL; 1t generally hits n fellow hard
enough to be uncomfortable" responded
| Tim. Then, having relieved his feel
ings by this statement, his conscience
| prioked him slightly, and he added /:
"lou see, she's always In such hurry.
She can't come and bring EN-; she has
| to pitch EN-"
Mrs. Searles meditated as she drove
down the country road.
"Well, never thought of that before,
but do suppose that's why the Bible
speaks of the Lords loving kindness aud
tender mercy because there IL SO much
kindness in the world that II isn't one
bit loving, and so much mercy that II
10 OillN uulN anu 0ol ltnutfntHHs ! u
tell Josiah that" For IL happened that,
while the good minister pored over his
books and studied theology. his wife.
going here and there, studied humanity.
And though he cooked his own sermons
she often seasoned them.
The baking was done at last, the cur
rents picked, and Mrs. Barney's dinner
ready.
"For the bounty bestowed upon us
may we be duly grateful" murnured
MIR. Barney. with head bowed low over
his plate. Then he looked NJ and re-
marked that he was tried OF steady
diet OF ham and eggs and didn't see
why they couldn't have little variety.
"Iou would see VI You had to cook
in the hot kitchen MS | do" responded
Mrs. Barney, more shortly than her
wont. sim glad to have whatever |
get most quickly and easily. When we
have a summer kitchen we can begin to
live as other people do"
"lf we amt all Ms old as Meihuseler,"
complained Master Tommy In an under
tone which was perfectly audible; "any-
way. the chickens will be, If we can't
have any cooked till that time" lie had
shifted the odors of the baking on his
homeward way from school, and, settling
his juvenile mind upon chicken pie for
dinner. had been grievously disap-
pointed.
Warm and weary with her morn
ing's work the questions and sugges-
lions fretted Mrs Barney. She felt
wounded and aggrived, too, as she
moved about silently after dinner. No
one seemed TO see she cared ms much for
things nice and comfortable Us did the
others, she said to herself. She cared
far more, indeed, since she was willing
N al N m nd ,,lu for
the sake Of having things all that could
be desired by and by. How many pres
ent comforts and conveniences had she
foregone for that, Those very cellar
stairs toward whose dark and tortuous
steps she was tending were an example:
they could scarcely be more badly built,
or in more inconvenient place. MIR.
Barney had wanted to remove them, but
she would not allow him to incur the ex-
pense, because n second removal might
be necessary when the house was thor
oughly rearranged.
No, she preferred to submit to the dis
comfort all this time.
"Too long time ii proved, for, while
she meditated, an insecure board slipped
beneath her feet, plunging her down the
dark, narrow stairway, against the
rough stone wall. and then upon the
hard floor OF the cellar. One
swift moment of terror. the crash of the
dishes that fell from her hands, flash
Of excruciating pain, and then she knew
nothing more. She did not hear Nealie's
wild cry from the room above, nor see
her husbands pale face Ms he lifted her
in his arms.
When she returned to consciousness n
strange voice-the physician's-was say
Ing:
mo bones broken, though it's n won
der her neck wasn't, falling in the way
she did"
Slowly she opened her eyes upon a
confused mingling of anxious faces, wet
cloths and bottles Of arnica and cam
phor, and gradually comprehended what
had happened and her own condition
not dangerously injured, but bruised
and famed, and with spraned ankle
that would keep her n prisoner for some
days at least. 1t was u sudden pause in
her busy life-an enforced rest. She
scarcely krew how to bear II for mo.
ment, ms she remembered all she had
planned to do, until second shuddering
thought suggested that she might have
left 1t all forever; then she grew
patient and thoughtful. Yet 1t
seemed strange to be lying quietly on
the lounge in the best bed room-the
room that had been kept 80 carefully
closed to preserve Its furniture until an
addition to the house should transmute
1t into back parlor; to watch through
the open door, only n spectator, while
Nealie fitted to and fro In the kitchen
beyond, speaking the table for tea.
How good the children were that
evening, how tenderly thoughtful her
husband was, coming to her side again
and again to talk or read to her. They
had not found much time for talking or
reading together these late wears, she
and David; she had always been so busy
when he was in the house. She had
dreamed of a leisure time coming,
though, when they should have many
evenings like this, except the illness.
She had not thought much of illness or
accident coming to mar her plans, or of
death suddenly ending them. But II
flashed upon her now how many little
loving words and offices and daily en-
joyments had been crowded out of their
little home, and In that brief retrospect
I've glance she understood the meaning
and the earnestness of Sister Searles's
entreaty.
"Why, it's all kind of real nice and
jolly-if you wasn't hurt" declared
Tommy, unable to express his enioy- |
ment Of the pretty room and the unusual
family gathering any more clearly.
Tears gathered in the mothers eyes,
but she had found her clue and she
meant to follow 1t. She had ample time
for thought In the days that followed,
when she was only able to sew little
now and then on garments for Tim, or
look over seeds for Nealie's vine plant
ing and slowly but surely she learned
her lesson, and brought 1t back to health
with her-to gather LIES pleasantness