The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-01-16
to spoil the water. Mother would never
have DUNN in her davs

A AhONiCl uSCu W Sdy dill IIlSu dIs
selfish; and 1 begin to think she wa.
right Mary muttered, as she went tc
the kitchen for the plate of hot biscui
John was so fond of for tea.
Her husbands appetite was good
but from fatigue and overheating her
self Mary could not eat. His ride and the
society of the genial squire had acted
like tonic; but there is no tonic ir
the air of hot kitchen.
"A commonplace life, she said; and
she sighed, as she cleared away the tea
dishes, while John titled back in hi:
armchair on the cool, drafty porch and
talked over things with neighbor Jones.
'Why don't you buy Widder Patch's
cranberry medder?' asked Mr.. Jones;
1T is going dirt cheap and you can af.
ford it, The sum was named, figures
that astonished Mary, and she was more
surprised when she heard her husband
say:
= have half a mind to buy it. I've
hal an old bill paid in, and, to tell the
trth, affairs in the money market are
sosqually, l don't know just where to
sal it down.
No tears came to Mary's tired eyes,
BIT her heart went out in one mighty
So as she stood, dish-pan in hand, be-
fee the disordered table, and thought
hw cheaply she had sold herself, really
fc her board and 81 week, to man
wo had promised to love and cherish
hr until death. The beautiful piano
Sc had brought to the farm was never
oened, but looked like gloomy cas-
KIT wherein was buried all the poetry
o her life. The closed parlor' had
Ing since assumed the grimness and
nlstiness of country best parlors, of
which in her girlhood days she had
made such fun. John was rich man !;
md in spite of his marriage VOWS and
his glowing prayer meeting talk, was
blowing burdens grievous to be borne
10 press on her slender shoulders, in
order to salt down his dollars.
Had she not a duty to perform ?
Ought she to allow him to preach
aid never to practice? Had she not
rights to be respected? :? which were not
b her husband; for, she reasoned, if
h allowed her to do what could be
Dine by hired woman at So a week,
ten he rated her at that price.
sWidder Patch has had tough time
o't,' said neighbor Jones; she is 60
ig to the Westward to Tom, if she
sdls the medder, and Jane is going out
t. work. She tried sewing, but it don't
aree with her. DR.. Stone recommends
busework as it's healthy business
"Tis healthy business chimed in
bhn. 'Now my wife is a good deal
bitter than when 1 married her. Why
Sc never did washing in her life, un-
tt she came to the farm I think wash
ig and general housework is much
htter than piano-playing and reading.
$50 l say to the girls who poster me
, buy an organ; better play on the
dashboard enough sight, was the ele-
5 s;sat ant response.
'Are you going to buy that cranberry
meadow, John?' Mary asked, as she
saw her husband making preparations
to 60 from home.
'Yes-why7'
'Can you afford it?'
'We shall have to figure little closer
in order to do it, but it is going cheap.
you will have to give up Tom Birch,
won't you, and do the chores yourself?'
4 have thought of it; but Tom is
poor and to give him home is deed
of charity. No we will save some
other way
'How much do you pay Tom2'
Three dollars and his board. And,
by the way, he says you didn't wash his
clothes. Washing and mending was in
the bargain
Il think Tom will have to go, for I
have hired Jane Patch. She will be
here tonight. Two dollars week I
am to give her. You want to practice
sBear ye one another's burdens, as well
as preach from the text; so l will give
you chance. l will sit on the cool
piazza after tea with a neighbor, while
you do the chores. I think the time
has come for some of my burdens to be
lifted. By exchanging Tom for Jane
you will have 81 a week for the cram
berry meadow. You say strong, active
Tom is in need of home; he can make
one for himself anywhere. 1t is a deed
Of charity to give Jane home, and an
sct of mercy to give your wife little
est
Before John could recover from his
stonishment, Mary walked out of his
SIGHT, and, taking the children, went to
tie shut parlor. Throwing open the
windows to let in the soft summer air,
With baby in her lap, she sat down to
he piano and began to play a Song
Without Words, piece John had low
d to hear when he used to visit her in
Ter home where she was a petted girl.
The song crept out through the open
Indows and around to John as he sat
a the porch, and memory compelled
him to give the song words. Not mu-
sical poetry, but rather sombre prose,
wherein washing, ironing, hard days at
the churn, hours of cooking for hungry
men, stood out before his minds eye in
contrast to the fair promises he had
made the pretty girl he had won for his
bride.
Jane Patch came that evening, and
at once took upon herself many of Mrs.
Clark's cares, and no one greeted her
more cordially than did the master of
the house. Nothing was ever said about
her coming, and Tom Birch did not 60
away; so Mary knew her husband could
we'll afford the expense.
She told me how she helped to make
one man thoughtful and unselfiSh as we
sat on her cool piazza one hot August
night; and l was glad that one woman
had grit enough to demand her rights.
If John Clark had been poor, his wife
would have borne her burden in pa
tience. but she had no RIGHT TO help