The Great Falls leader. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1888-1890, 1888-09-01
THE PAINS OF FEAR,
THE EXQUISITE TORTURE ENDURED
BY THE TlMlo WOMAN,


BY THE TlMl0 WOMAN.
Its Dangers-Mothers Who Make Their
Motherhood q Long Drawn Agony.
Peril Everywhere.
Think what that poor. dear, timid
woman undergoes who nightly looks
under her led for the burglar she be-
heves to be secreted there. who goes
round the house after the servants are
abed TO see that all Is safe. and that no
ticket Of leave man is pro6ting by bis lib
erty to 90 her harm. With what sense
OF dread she locks the doors Of those dark,
underground places into which she dares
not peer Ghosts and robbers-she turns
trembling hand, then beats retreat with
ever the same feeling Of nameless terror,
the same sensation Of being followed BY
some vague horror. which she has not the
courage to turn round aud confront.
Night after night this torment Is re-
newed. as unfaiingly as that which the
old hag inflicted on the merchant Abudah.
II the night has Its ter1ors so has tho
day its dangers. Such person as this in
the country dies thousand deaths in
quick succession: and the one is as u,r.
necessary as the other A tramp lettering
on the highway means robbery first and
assassination after few harmless COWS
going home to be MIXED, and driven by q
chhd. are as dangerous as stampede Of
buttalos, heads down and tails aloft. Cat.
tie in field. however well worn the pub.
lie way across, make that field taboo; for
Is not each dull. slow. grazing OK, each
mild eyed milky mother Of the herd, "
each tangle polled yearhng calf, as dan.
gerous as wild bull. man mad" and to
be approached only with caution and In
forcef That distant. barking collie; that
restless. neighing horse prancing up to
the gap IN the hedge, through which he
thrusts bis socially inquisitive nose: that
wayside encampment Of travelling gypsies
all the circumstances of the country are
so many causes Of fear to the timid Pc
destrian. beating along the public road
for constitutional, and taking no pleas
ure in what she sees.
In carriage she fares no better Up
hill she Is sure the horses will lib; down
hill they will slip and fall, or the pole will
break. and then heaven have mercy on
her soul' On the plain road, put to a
sharp trot they will run away; indeed,
they are running away If they whisk
their tails they are about to kick; if they
cock their ears they are sure to shy She
them and their driver; and when they
have to meet another carriage. or pass q
numbering cart, she pinches her compan-
ion black and blue in the spasm of her
fear
The torment Of fear is hard to bear
when 1t Is centered on ones self What
Is it when it spreads itself abroad and in
cludes others-the beloved-in it's meshesf
For the beloved. indeed, is no security
Every railway journey includes smash;
every sea voyage Is foregone shipwreck;
II an epidemic touches the outside fringes
Of the district. 1t is sure to make leap
into the home where the dear ones live.
The smallest cold Is bronchitis; and when
the little people cough they have whoop-
ing cough. no less
Some mothers make their motherhood
long drawn agony by the fears with which
they encompass their young Is the nurse
q quarter Of an hour beyond her usual
time1 Straightway the grave is opened
aud the cherished and adored lie therein
stark and cold Wild wanderings to and
fro. wild surmises as to what can have
happened, angry re lection of any common
place explanation as to u longer walk than
usual, a longer session under the trees
than was calculated on, passionate tears
of frantic despair. passionate outbursts Of
as frantic wrath, when lol the nurse
comes quietly up to the house door with
her charge as fresh as flower and as gay
as lark. and that voluntary descent into
Hades proves itself as futile as it was un.
necessary
These fears accompany mother Of this
uneasy kind all through life. When her
boys 20 to school she is sure they will be
mauled by the bigger rufians of their
class. MANNED for life in the playground,
overworked underfed. put into damp
sheets and morally corrupted She suffers
more than they from the dire necessities
of learning. and wishes that there was
lings could bowl along at railroad speed,
wherein to descend. She thinks the mas
ters cruel and the curriculum inhuman,
and wonders how so much can be ex.
pected from such young brains and grow
Ing bodies
All through life it is the same cry Of
evil The fortunes of war take her sons
here and there. and the mother frets over
the possibilities Of disaster, as If that pos.
sible event were proven fact and chance
had no side alley for escape And when
1t comes to matrimony the whole thing is
renewed under another name; for surely
was there never the girl born who was a
tit wife for the son of such a mother.
while the finest man extant makes but
poor kind Of q care taker for her daugh
teri So she perverts the great gift Of love
and the divine glory Of maternity into
scourge, and not q blessing, and weeps
behind her mantle Of self made mourning
because she has not the courage to bellows
nor the common sense to hope.-The Fo
rum.