The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1889-12-11
All the while Hazel had been rattlin,

All the while Hazel mad been rafting
on, Lou looked rather sober, ind final
ly said
Il don't know what women have to
do with clubs. / should think they
had enoug.l TO attend to their homes,
their husbands, and children, if they
have any, without running off to
clubs.
81 suppose they enjoy clubs for the
same reason that men do. i thought
if you belonged to five, could at
least join one"
What had changed Hazel so? She
surely was not the sweet, docile girl he
had married six months ago. His
house was always in perfect order, his
meals well cooked and nicely served,
but he seldom found Hazel there; she
was continually gone, from morning
until night, but he could get no salts
faction by complaining. Finally, her
mother-in-law came TO visit them-a
sweet-faced old lady, whom Hazel
loved at sight. She had been there but
week, when one day she said:
"My dear child, / am an old woman,
but it hurts me cruelty, Hazel, to see
YOU and Lou drifting so far apart.
Why is it? What makes Lou so
wretched and unhappy? Can't you
tell me, dear? You have become very
dear to me, child"
why, has Lou said he was unhap-
Ply? L was not aware of it. He never
told me so. L will ask him." And
away went Hazel. more of a puzzle
than ever to the elder Mrs. Adams.
Hazel had just come in from long
drive, and after removing her things,
she went directly to the library, where
she found Lou on the sofa, reading.
Kneeling down by his side, she said /:
"Are you sick, or what is the mat
ter? Your mother tells me you are
very unhappy and wretched. Why is
it?"
Nothing is the matter more than
usual, Hazel, only / am sick of living
this way, and heart-sick as well as
wretched."
But why, Lou? Explain yourself.
You are speaking in riddles.
Simply because L have lost my
wife. She has never any time to de-
vote to me now, although the house is
always in perfect order and everything
else ali right. it takes something
more than good housekeeper to make
home happy, Hazel You belong to so
many people now, who all seem to have
n better claim on you than do" And
at that the strong man groaned.
Lou, my husband, can it be that you
think have enjoyed the life we have
lived for the past two weeks? Far
from it 1t has been anything but
pleasant to me"
Lou jumped up, with eyes dilated,
saying:
Hazel, what on earth do you mean Z"
Simply this, and nothing more, that
the first few months of my married
life, despite my love for you, were the
most unhappy of my life. You left me
for your clubs and your bachelor par
ties, and you did not even hesitate to
escort other ladies to masquerades and
parties, while l was home, lonely,
homesick and heart-sick. You played
billiards, smoked to your hearts con-
tent, and went TO wine suppers when
you knew L disapproyed of them. 1
resolved when l married you not TO
weary you with useless complaints,
and what to do L did not know. Finally,
j resolved to give you lesson that you
would not soon forget. Has IL been
sufficiently long? / have simply fol-
lowed in your footsteps, and through
Fred De Forest, who has proved him
self true and loyal friend to us both,
/ have shown you by actions palmer
than any words, how miserable a wom-
ans life can be made. Now, it is for
You to decide whether our life shall be
a happy, useful one, or one spent in a
fashionable, aimless way that will
waste our health, love and fortune.
One thing there must surely be, and
that is, no double standard of morality
for us. If it is wrong for me to do a
thing, it is equally wrong for you; and
where a place is unfit for me to go, it
is surely not fit for YOU.
"My darling, the lesson, although n
a bitter one, has been of infinite good
to me, and will never be forgotten. L
can safely promise you that club-life
has lost its attraction for me, and that
in the future you shall never again
complain of neglect. l have found
out the true way TO make home happy,
and, as / always said, that / have the
dearest and best little wife in the
world.