Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-12-20

cnce 10 SO gentle rule was SIMPLY a de-
light. l anticipated her wishes before
they were expressed, and an ever-deepen-
ing sense of the sacredness and dignity of
nv charge made me impervious 10 small
Sights and moved me to fresh efforts.
was no longer tormented by my old
feelings of uselessness and ineficiency
The respondent fears of my girlhood (and
girihood i. often troubled by these IN
wholesome fancies). that there was no
specisi work for me IN the human vIne-
yard, had ceased to trouble me. | was a
bread-winner. and my food tasted all the
sweeter for that thought
was preaching silently day by day my
new crusade. Every morning 1 woke
cheerfully to the simple routine of the
DAVIS duties. Every nj rht l lay down be-
tween my chlIdreus co.'s Eltn satisfied
conscience and mind at rest, while the
soft breathings of the little creatures be-
side me seemed to lulu me to sleep.
1t was 8 strangely quiet life for girt of
two-and-twenty, but | soon grew used to
it. When | felt dull read; at other times
/ sung over my work, out of pure light
heartedness, and | could hear Joyce's
shrilI little treble joining in from her dis
taut corner.
Il wish | could sing like you, Merle"
Mrs. Morton once said to me, when she
had interrupted our duet; your voice Is
very sweet and true, and deserves to be
cultivated. Since my baby's death my
voice has wholly left me"
1T will come back with time and rest
! returned, reassuringly; but she shook
her head
Rest; that is word / hardly know.
When | n GIRL I EnpNU Ii 70 ,ufrrli
be such a fatguing thing. There are
too many duties for the hours: one tries
to fl them in properly, but when night
comes the sense of failure haunts ones
dreams"
That is surely symptom of over
work" was my remark in answer to this.
Perhaps you are right, but under the
circumstances it cannot be helped. If only
] could be more with my darlngs, and
enjoy their pretty ways; but at least it is a
comfort to me to know they have so faith
full q nurse in my absence"
She was always making these little
speeches TO me; it was one of her gracious
ways. She could be grateful to servant
for doing her duty. She was not one of
those people who take everything as a
matter of course, who treat their domes-
tics and hirelings as though they were
mere machines for the days work; on the
contrary, she recognized their humanity;
she would sympathiZe as tenderly with a
sick fOotman or a kitchen-maid in trouble
as she would with any of her richer neigh
bors. 1t was this large -mindedness and
beneficence that made her household wor
ship her. When | learned more about her
former life, marveled at her grand self
abnegation. | grew to understand that
from the day of her marriage she had
simply effaced herself for her husbands
sake; her tastes, her favorite pursuits, had
all been resigned without murmur, that
she might lead his life.
She had been a simple country girl when
he married her: her bees, her horse, and
her fathers dogs had been her great in
terestS; to ride with her father over his
farms had been her chief delight. She
had often risen with the lark, and was
budding her roses amid the dews.
When the young rising politician, Alick
Morton, had first met her at q neighbour
ing squire'S house. her sweet bloom and
unconscious beauty won him in spite of
himself, and from the first hour of their
meeting he vowed 10 himself that Violet
Cheriton should be his wife.
No greater change had ever come to a
woman. In spite of her great love, there
must have been times when Violet Nor
ton looked back on her innocent and
happy girlhOod with something like re-
greet, if ever a true-hearted wife and moth
er permits herself to indulge in such a
feeling.
Mr. Morton was devoted husband, but
he was an autoCrat, and, in spite of many
fine qualities, was not without that sell
fishness that leavens many a mans ma
ture. He wanted his wife to himself: his
busy ambition aimed high; politics was
the breath of his life: unlike other men in
this, that he lived to work, instead of
working to live.
These natures know no fatigue; they are
intolprant of difficulties: iuaction means
death to them Mr. Morton was com
mittee man; he worked hard for his party.
He was a philanthropiSt also, and took
up warmly certain public charities. His
name was becoming widely known; peo-
pie spoke of him as u rising man who
would be useful to his generation. If he
dragged his wife at his triumphal chariot
wheel, no one blamed him; this class of
men need real helpmates. In these cases
the stronger nature rules; the weaker and
most loving submits.
Mrs. Morton was q submissive wife;
early and ls.e she toiled in her husbands
service; their house was a rallying point
for his party. On certain occasions the
great drIwing-roOms were flung open TO
strangers; meetings We're held on behalf
of the charities in which Mr.. Morton was
interested; there were speeches made. in
which he largely distinguished himself,
while his wife lowered on the outskirts of
the crowd and listened to him.
He kept no secretary, and his CORE
spondence was immense. Mrs. Morton
had clear, characteristic handwriting,
and could write rapidly to dictation, and
many an hour was spent in her husbands
study.
This was at first no WEAKNESS to her
she loved to be beside him and share his
labors. What wife begrudges time and
work for her husband? But she soon found
that other labors superyened that were
less congenIal TO her.
Mr. Morton was overworked; the de-
mands on his time We're uuceasiug. Violet
must visit the wards of his favOrite hos
pitfalls. and help him in keeping the ac-
counts She must represent him in SoCie-
ty. and keep up constant intercourse with
the wives of the members of the party dur
ing the season. She worked harder even
than he did. Her bloom faded under the
whitening influence of late hours and hot
rooms. Night after night she bore. with
sweet gracouSueSs, the weary round of
pleasures that palled on her. 1t was a
martyrdom of human love; for, alasl in
the hurry of this unsatisfactory life, the
Divine voice had grown dim and far off to
the weary ear OF Violet Morton; the clang
ing metallic earth bells had deadened the
heavenly harmonies.
Sometimes a sad, pathetic look would
come into her ewes. Was she thinking, /
wonder, of the slim, bright-ered girl bud
ding roses in the old-Iashioned garden,
while the brown bees hummed round herf
Was the fragrance of the lilies-those tall
white lilies of which she so often spoke to
me-blottlng out the perfume of dollhouse
flowers and the heavy scents Of the crowd
ed ball-.ooms
Ii was matter of intense surprise to me
that Mr. Morton seemed perfectly uncon-
scious OF this immense self-Sacrifice. He
could not be ignorant. surely, that a
mother desires to he with her children,
and that woman's tender frame is .us-
ceptibe to fatigue. Selfish as he was, he
loved her too well to impose such intolera-
bic burdens on her strength, if he had
only known them TO be burdens. But her
cheerfulness blinded him. How could he
know she WAS overtasked, and often sad
at heart when She Deyer cOrnD1aiDai