Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-10-12

mother delighted her son by joining in tn
cheerfulness of the feast Traces of tn,
lost beauty of her girlhood came out in he
face, and the son was touched to see how
carefully she had dressed herself in her
| best, and made his wedding supper ready
Afterward he took his mother in his arm
and held her, and kissed her over and over
again, as if it had been Hannah herself
He had not kissed her before since he was
boy-they were of stern New England
stuff. you've been the best mother man
ever had" he said, brokenly. give gol
you good daughter to help you now, and
you'll have it easier" but the poor little
woman only burst out into tears. Hannah
had put on clean calico apron over her
turned up wedding dress, and was begin
ming to clear away the supper.
"We haven't left great sight of any
thing" She said. 81 shall never forget
how good the peach was. You must be
tired out, mother, so you set right there
and rest. and if / don't do things right you
can show me tomorrow"
But at the word mother fresh tears be-
gan to flow.
"Poor Elizal if she had only lived-all
the girl | had," said the respondent
woman.
For one moment all the joy of Hannah
Parish's wedding day faded out of her
heart, and weight of apprehension took
its place. Dams mother might have re-
membered him and his happiness. Then
the sound of Dams joyful whistle came to
her ears, as he went about his evening
work out of doors. "Pll hurry with these
dishes and get time 10 have little walk
with him on top of the hill" thought
lot, and | expect poor mother Parish's got
to be mine"
1t is impossible to tell just what the
common words of our everyday speech
mean TO other people. They have but
relative meaning; association and expert
ence, and especially the depth and clear
ness of our thought, determine the signi-
ficances of words and phrases. The elder
Mrs Parish had been a teacher for year
or two before her marriage; this had
great affect upon her whole career, and
gave her a spirit of conviction rather
than suggestion toward other people, and
at times vast responsibility for their con-
versation.
She had occasion to correct her son often,
and now it was evident that his wife had
a very slip-shod way of expressing her
thoughts. Those mistakes, of which Mrs.
Parish was conscious, gave here great an
and one day she was SO far dis
turbed as to compare such delinquencies
with the beautiful way In which Eliza
had always spoken. 1t was one Of the
trying things of every day that the elder
woman took pains to pronounce again, in
a different, snappish way, certain words
with which her sons wife had been care
less. But she was limited in her own
knowledge of polite speech, and once Han
nah gently reminded her that the minister
pronounced the adjective in question after
her own fashion. He had used it several
times in the long prayer that morning.
They were washing the supper dishes
together most amicably, but at this differ
ence of opinion and fall of pride, Dams
mother gave Hannah a reproachful look,
TUNED away, took faltering step or two
toward the cupboard, then went to her
own room and prepared to pass the night
in tears.
"There, don't mind her one grain" said
Dan, who was sitting on the doorstep.
"She will have these spells, and the more
you mind 'em the longer they last. She
got sort of excited and wore out getting
the house ready, and now the excitements
gone, she feels unstrung. She said this
mornin' you was good girl, and she didn't
know as l could done better Twas
good deal for her to profier, l tell you;"
and he looked up afiectionately at his
young wife. "She's always crosswise Sun
day evenings, after she gets tired goin' to
meetin'. | expect | shall miss footin' it
over to see you and keep company" he
added, and they both laughed.
"Poor thing Sunday nights a lone
some time to set all alone" said kind
hearted Hannah. "Pm glad we're here,
Dan. | don't mind her much, and it's the
best way to stand our ground so fairs we
can. She needs US to be with her. There's
lots of good things about your mother.
thing grandsir used to say: she's like
COW that'll give good pail O milk and
then kick it over. 1t makes me feel bad
when ! see how she must have worked be-
fore We was married. never saw a house
so spick an span from garnet to cellar"
Dan had a sad consciousness that this
was partly done out of his mothers pride
in her reputation as housekeeper, but
he had wisdom enough to keep things of
that sort to himself. He was joyfully
happy and delighted in Hannah's af1ec-
ton for him, after having been disap-
proved so long by his mother. "She'd go
through fire and water any time, but she
trips up on nothin', and then blames other
folks for the fall" he said to himself
"Come, Hannah, let's go down the orchard
lane" he added; and away they went, and
fingered about the old place until after
moonrise, making plans for their work and
their life together. 1t was pitifui to
think how much pleasanter it was to be
out of doors than in, but they could be
happy anywhere. The Sunday before had
been rainy, and that morning they had,
in the country parlance, appeared OUT
Hannah had worn her simply wedding
finery, and they had walked up the aisle
to their pew arm in arm. The heads of
the congregation had turned as if a wind
had tossed them like heads Of clover, and
after the service there was great hand
shaking and congratulation. 1t took soci-
ally the place of the formal wedding with
invited guests, but if it had been the Sun
amer Their lCdL ilOlUeE COuiu
not have cried harder through the hymns
and prayers or held her handkerchief to
her face more constantly during the long
sermon.
''S'pose she has seen trouble" said one
indignant neighbor, as they walked home
together along the country road. "So've
all the rest of US that's come to her age
She's got a habit o pityin' herself, and
wants everybody else to jine in. She
pressed my hand comm out O meetin', as
if she was too fall for words; but l says,
There Ann Parish whatever the years
has brought We, we've got the smartest girl
in town an the best hearted for a darter-
in-law.' She made out to wag her head
an say yes. But, there, It's one of her
down times, an nobody can rise her out on
'em till the pinted time, not if We blow
bar ~, With o,,pDoyv1nr