The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-08-01
MOTHER and Son.
A COMPLETE SKETCH.
BY Frank H. Irons.

industrious, frugal temperate-a working
man, strong and able, and the Widows only
stay and support.
This widow was one of the many children
of a drunken father, and dissolute mother.
In pig stye she had b EN- pure and gentle.
She turned from vice'and uncleanliness as
things uncongeniaL When she was very
young she had gone out to service, away
from braws. vice and dirt, into a clean at
mosphere, where there was love. gentleness,
and purity. These entered into her COM
position. and at IS years of age Mary
Mayne had the reputation of being the
incest girl" in all the town.
AT l9 she fell in love with George Barrett
a carpenter, steady and sober, and him she
married. Her married life was of short
duration, but it 9ould have been happy
but for her family, who hectored, harried
and annoyed her. They disgraced her with
their wrong doings More than once she
and George appeared in the police court as
witnesses, and as guarantors of the good
behavior of the Maynes.
George was good tempered, and loved his
wife. She kept his house neat and tidy,
provided economically for his comfort, was
calm, and never lied about domestic mat
ters to him. She was comfort to him al
ways. If she had covered up the short
comngs of her father, or hid the evil doings
of her mother, she would have made
breach between herself and honest George
Barrel; but this she never did. So George
had love for her, and what is more, re-
fidence in her, and in her truth and relia-
bility always.
In his turn George plain. frank and
always to be relied upon by Mary. She
shared his troubles, and partook of all his
joys. They well mated. There were
secrets between them; they were genu-
inc people, with genuine-if commonplace
feelings, thoughts, aspirations and desires.
They built castles sometimes. Not gor
geous castles in the clouds, but modest,
commonplace castles, such as you might ex-
pect from people of this sort. Just as far
away from them, doubt, the more
stately mansions. They might as we'll
have built the more pretentious establish
ments; but they were modest, even in their
imaginations
When Mary was 20 years old Tommy was
born, and there were two happy people in
the world that night. George was proud
of the new addition to the family; and
Mary. after a few days. was just proud
as anybody could be. And at her work
she sang, and was as full of joyful sounds
as free singing bird
After this the castle building went in
the same manner; not more extravagantly,
but there were few more things to make
the enjoyment complete.
The real castle became more comfortable.
1t was small enough; but George had been
money saver and the castle was their
own. The house had three four rooms
in it. and was painted white outside and in
side. There may not be much character
shown in the finishing and decorating of
what called poor houses The col
orS are often selected for economy and by
painter who has a reason of his own for
selecting them. The artist of the brush
let's you think that you are picking them
out, but he doesn't really let you do it.
But pure white paint, though the house
painter may sheer at it, is a sign that the
house owner had his own way in painting
his house.
Into this white house-the executive man.
sion of an Industrious workingman-there
came one day the bearer of the worst It'd
ings. Up the clean pine board walk on
each side of which green grass was grow
ing. he came, white faced and ill at ease
He hesitated, slouched in his step, tried to
kill all the time he could between the gate
and the door. Ted Collins was not used
to such work as this. He could do any
thing in the making of such a house as
Mrs. George Barrel lived in. He noticed
with critical eye, that the house was well
built--was good job"-then he hesitated
at the door, and, finally, deliberately
knocked thereon savagey.
My God, Teddy" the young wife ex-
claimed as she him standing there
rs it anything that's gone wrong with
George? Oh, what has happened?'
Dear child. do not anticipate your woe
Let poor Teddy do his dismal errand as
well as he may. Shrinking will not avail;
nor will falling in a faint bring to life that
beloved husband, whom Teddy left at the
foot of the scaffoding, tainted entirely:
tainted because of blow on the head from
life into long quiet, dreamless Sleep
Maybe someday, there will be a meeting
NO, not some day, nor some time; but after
days shall be no more and time shall have
been changed into that which, for want of
better name, but without conception Of
or idea concerning, we call eternity
The newspapers next day said a word:
A carpenter had fallen and was killed He
was careless. No blame attached to any
body; it was pity for his wife and child:
but he had left no estate, he was not
man about whom the public talked nor in
whom the public was interested. AS news
the item was only a stckful There, wasn't
even a scare line" at the top of the an
nouncement; only a sub-head which noted
briefly. Carpenter Killed" Not even his
name. Well, what would you have? The
newspapers print what the people want
Inc great democratic public are Interested
IN knowing about Mr.. and Mrs. Money
bags. When they have joy or woe, or
give ball, or are born die, the news
papers can afford to give space to such an
item: but poor George Barrett is dead and
that is all of it.
And his widow had not vet reached her
2lst year.
After awhile life was hard The rela
tons came down like the wolf on the lamb
They tore their son-in-law's meager es-
tate asunder. The poor may have more
pity than the rich but they haven't much
They rioted on whatsoever substance they
could get, and they cared no more about
where the means for the pleasure came
from than does the railroad president
when he tits the pitcher and let's little
5udiciOus water flow into the corpora tion's
stock.
This is pitful, but it is true Notwith
standing the progress of the age it is
true. And poor Mary Barrel was almost
utterly despoiled by those who should
have loved and shielded her. if they had
been much better than brutes, before she
realized that she was being plucked and
plundered at all sides.
She pulled up at that, asserted herself
and her parents whined. She was willing
to give them everything she had for de-
cent uses-not because they deserved any
thing at her handS-they didn't. Not that
she had not escaped from them to the
benefit of every moral and respectable i'm
pulse. which their influence would have
driven out. Poverty she did not mind
and it never had occurred to her that it
was anything to be ashamed of. And vice
She knew was not an attribute of poverty:
nor any more certainly vice, being prac-
ticed by the poor than by the rich but it
did seem SO terrible to her that those who
had not enough for bread should spend a
part of the bread money for rum.
Then commenced a struggle Her rela-
tions, thank fortune abandoned her. We
shall see no more of them in this story
for, before it ends, they shall have died.
where else for it is so hard, having be-
gun wrong, to get right again. .
The cottage Mary retained She could
not keep it quite as trim on the outside
now that George had gone The white
paint had been mixed by an honest work.