Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-07-02
have cause to regret her singular expert

economy Of the house had been upset and
reversed "A spirit of IRONY perneatel
the establishment. The shortening
of the hours Of labor appeared to have
multiplied the opportunities for things
to get mixed and to go crooked. That is
to say, it so struck Mr.. Wellington. He
could not possibly accustom himself to
the situation. He thought about it,
dreamed about it, and in mild, but
definite form, swore about it. My wife
is treasure" he would soliloquize: "but
she is a woman. also; and say what you
will about EN-, the best of women have
their drawbacks If it isn't too much of
one thing it's too little of another. Mrs.
Wellington would be perfect if sine
wasn't so logical. And she wouldn't be
so logical if she had little more sense of
humor." Sometimes it seemed to him
that he would almost be willing to spare
her wonderful gift of philosophy if she
would only manifest instead of it
capacity for seeing the ridiculous side of
affairs. But she was obdurately and in
defatigably serious, and there was an
end of the matter.
1t must not be supposed, however, that
Mr.. Wellington was himself always in
clined to give preference to the humor
Gus view of the case. He would have
been glad to do So but the fun was too
frequently of that grim character which
easily becomes a pain. Such, for ex-
ample. was an experience he had one
night with the twins. Next to his wife,
he loves and prizes those two infants
When they smile and crow he is in
ecstasy; when they fret and cry he
suffers the keenest distress. So, when
they were taken that night with a
joint and decided collie his anxiety knew
no bounds. Mrs. Wellington sat at one
side of the table reading, and the nurse
girl at the other busy with drawing
lesson, and neither of them gave any
heed whatever to the moaning twins.
"The children are sick, Mr.. Wellington
declared, "or hungry, or something's"
but the remark attracted no attention.
He rocked them to and fro, with grad
ually increasing concern, and frequently
repeated the statement-and still there
was no response. The nurse took the
precious pair from the cradle and began
walking the floor with them. Mrs. Well
ington looked up from her book after a
time and said, placidly: Richard. dear,
this is an eight-hour house, and there's
nobody on duty now; the children will
have to shift for themselves.
If this burden had been anything on
earth but the blessed twins. Mr.. Well
ington would have dropped it in wonder
and dismay. As it was, he stopped sud
denly, and drawing his offspring to his
breast with clumsy fervor, said just one
word. 1t was "Je-ru-s' lem" The exact
impression that he intended to convey
by this abrupt specification Of IA
remote and sacred city was not APP
parent. Perhaps he did not him
self know precisely what he meant
perhaps it was not what he
really wanted to say. Mrs. Wellington
looked at him interrogatingly, and the
nurse girls pencil fell and her face
turned pale. If this is joke" she went
on directly, Il must confess that | can't
see the point" The idea OF Mrs. Wei
hngton being guilty of "A joke was SO
grotesquely improbable that even she
]
is any amusement to be derived from
hearing two children cry in this pitful
way" he continued, Il am too stupid to
comprehend it, The kids are sick, or at
least unhappy, and being their father
I'm not able to feel funny over such a
thing" he carefully replaced them
in the cradle, and rocked them with
rapid and dizzying vigor.
Richard dear" Mrs. Wellington said
in kind but firm accents, your devotion
TO your children does you credit. 1t
shows that you have a good heart. But
where sentiment and logic conflict, the
head and not the heart should rule. 1t
| is unfortunate that children are so con-
stituted that they can't accommodate
their little aches and aspirations to the
demands of reason and principle. But
reason and principle remain Just the
same. I'm sorry our dear twins have IL
be neglected; being their mother. my i'm
pulse is to comfort and delight them at
any cost to myself; but | am an eight
hour woman, and this is an eight-hour
house and must be CONSTANT. If YOU
care to give them some paresor.u u
soothing syrup, Richard dear, It might
help them; but as a matter OF logic, | aHl
bound 10 let them alone"
This episode of the twins and their
colo persuade Mr.. Wellington thoroughly
that the eight-hour system was not practi-
cable for domestic uses. That could not
be IA sound or wholesome doctrine, lac
had to believe, which caused a mother tc
turn her back on her own children be,
cause their wants We're not expressed and
their rights asserted within a given one
third of the twenty-four hours of a day
The more he pondered over it the sureI
he was that Mrs. Wellington, with all hel
ability, had for once in her life Numbered.
1t was giaringly clear TO him that while
eight hours might answer for some kinds
OF labor, it would never do TO limit house
hold work in that absolute style. he haG
the utmost respect for his wife's courage
of conviction and purity of motive anc
design, but he could not shut his eyes tC
the fact that her perseverance in thi!
matter was gradually transforming theil