Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-02-27
Worn Ont.

No, she was not strong. she hal never
| been very strong. Farmer Grey knew
| it when he married her. Eight child
rem called her mother. She made all
their clothes and did her own house
work, and yet mother was not strong"
Farmer Grey said il often, and alwaysl
regretfully. Perhaps he was unselfish
enough 20 wish that she were stronger
for her own sake, but ! fear not. He
was a very robust, active man, and ex-
ccedingly anxious TO 'get along" in the
world. Therefore, l fear that his
regret for mothers feebleness was SIM
ply regret that she could not do more
to aid him in his getting along"
schemes.
She herself regretted that she was
not stronger. - g..
Father works so hard she would
say, Il feel that 1 am not as much help
to him as l might be if ! were rea
strong woman.
What more would she have done?
What more could she have done? And,
most of all, what more Shoaid she have
done? 49,. ,I--.tL.-.. 60.
She kept the house in opler She did
q loving, God-fearinS mothers duty BY
her children. She was up early and to
bed late. She was very busy every
hour in the dav She milkti aud made
butter, worked in her garden, cooked
for ''hands. raised and sold chickens,
but never had Il dollar of her own. u,
; She could, and did, .'when father was
rushed go out into the fields. and drop
rE fnr l.alf dax- H.,
her hot, stu1ys little kitchen and get
dinner for fourteen people, and yet
mother was not strong" NJ.
She often wondered if she would ever
be strong. She would sit down on the
kitchen doorstep some nights long after
all the others were in bed dreading the
coming of the morrow, and hoping it
wouldn't be so very bot, She was
afraid she might give out. She
would lean her aching head against the
tnpainted Door frame, cross,her tired
hands t1istlessly in her lap, close her
eyes, and ':.wonder" about many things.
Some of her neighbors, with families
only half as large. as her own. kept a
strong hired girl in the kitchen the year
around.
She often wondered vaguely how it
would seem TO have a girl in her kitchen:
she wondered how il would seem for.her
to be away from home over night
The fOndest hope of her life for ten
years had been that she might visit her
mother who lived tWO hundred miles
away. She said she wouldn't be afraid
to go "such "a long ways .alme,s and
father had often said she should go if
''such and such thing turned out weit.'
These things often turned out WELL"
but mother never made that visit, no,
necer. .H..A- I'D &. . i.--a q itlS 80
''One thing and another" she said, |
kept her at home;" and one day a
message came bringing the news of her
mothers death. she would have liked |
to 60 even then to see once more that |
beloved face, even though it was cold in
death. t..-. .,- ..-.' '...'., -.
But father said that. seeing us she |
couldn't do any good there was no use |
wearing herself out making the trip
so she stayed at home, grateful to father
Tor his thoughtfuness in not wanting
her TO ''.wear herself out. y -,
But she was so utterly worn out one
day, SO worn out m body and mind and
soul, that when she clasped her tired
hands over her breast insleep they, were
never unclasped again in this world.
There was no responses of:S"Yes. I'm
coming, when father called her in the
gray dawn of a November morning. I
One Father who had truly loved her,
Ind who had helped her bear her heavy
burdens through all these twenty years,
rad called her in the night, and think
she was glad to say: Yes, Father, I'm
coming. - L. Sharp, in Detroit Free-
Press.