The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1897-05-28
AN EXPERIENCE MEETING.
The story Of Life. 81, Told by Three
Women.

:
which was not strange, a. she was near
iug the end % the -prilg ordeal Of the
hDlse-r-ealiu-. Every muscle ached
every nerve Wa stretched ~ that a1Tel-
8ztiDn that ID guiyered with the slight
est iTrIt41t. and a. she dropped into z
chair one afternoon % quiet little Fred
d., who had taken upon himself 10 b.
unusual Y fretfUl, she felt that the bur
den Of life was greater than she could
bear.
And Mr.. Homer had held high ideals
Of life. She had hoped and dreamed Of
. service for the world and the Master
I life had looked 20 full Of activities and
avenues Of usefulness. she had surely
thought % enter in and possess some Ot
them. IL came over her like a great
wave a. she sat rocking the fretful
child; all the unfuifiled hopes and
lCngings, and aspirations Of her life.
I How poor the reality looked bes ide
them the humdrum round u hOusehOl
labor. absorbed IN 4 succession Of pref
I ~, never ce2sing cares and duties. nav =
/ ing no share in the grand work Of the
world, spending the best part OF her life
I in the drUdgeTy necessitated by narrow
means that many q woman knew moth
I ing Of; practicing petty economies,
mendinZ dingy old carpets. and she
. =
the one she had been working on that
afternoon: obliged 10 deny herself on
every side her love Of the beautiful.
Next door they were having the house
/ freshly painted; across the street,
new carpets had gone that day. How
unequally the good things Of this ma
/ terisl world were divided, and her share
/ was all denial.
And the worst Of all was that George
I never seemed 70 realize il. He did not
I seem 10 think it anything for her to be
confined al home with the children. He
thought the Old thing looked veil
enough, and that morning he had even
jOked about housekeeping, a. though
/ she were simply doing it for her own
amusement. Mrs. Homer told herself
I that if any one worked and shaved for
I her as she did for George and the chill
I dren, she knew she would appreciate il
more than they did she almost wished
! she could die, and then perhaps they
would ind out when too late, what they
/. had lost.
Thus the poor, Overtired. nervous wO-
man, in a mOTDid fancy went over heI
sickness and death. She had arranged
Z and carried out the details Of the fun
Z eral, and was erecting a som bstOne Il
/ herself in the midst Of her sOTrOwing
husband and children, when the gate
clicked and she saw two Of her ac-
| guaintances-One Miss Spence, a teach
I er, and the other a Miss Ferrand, q
| seamstress, who often sewed for her
| coming up the walk.
well, here / am, or what's left OF
me-" was the SALVATION, "and the end i,
not yet. But you don't know what
I spring cleaning J., or this everlasting
grind Of housekeeping. / wish / were
teacher too, Helen Spence, then | might
keep myself looking nice, and " hen
I schOO. was out could have the rest OF
l the time 10 myself
"Why, Mary Homer exclaimed her
I friend.
Il don't care, I do" was the reply
"What does my life amount 70? 1t j;
one round Of sewing and cooking and
cleaning, and when / come 20 die, the
clothes will be worn out, and the din
ners ate up, and the house all full oil
dust, and what will there be to show
that / have lived?T
"YOu forget your family was the re
ply, "IOu know the hand that rock
! the cradle, rules the world
THAT answers for a sentiment, but
can't even rule my own spirit; besides
I half nv time is in doing things that
I anybody else could do a. well for them
and that keeps me 20 tired and eros,
that / often question whether / don't
do them more harm than good. / had
I hoped to accomplish something in thi.
world, and ! am doing nothing and for
getting what little / ever did know
Shut up here ! often think ! am in the
world, vet not Of the world though not
I BY any means in the sense that those
words were first spoken
"Oh! you are having a discouraged
[ spell, :" said her friend. Il know all bout
what those are, when / get so tired OF
the routine Of the schOOl-TOOm; Bor doe.
my work end when / leave it. There
are almost always exercises to look over
or work 10 plan, and its perplexities
hold over from one day till the next
and / am 80 anxious to make an i'm
preston on my pupils for good, but
they are with me 80 few hours at a
time, and 80 soon pass out from under
my care entirely, and forget all I have
tried to do for them, that / often fee
/ am accomplishing nothing. When
come To die / can say that have heard
50 many lessons, and set so many
copies, and what have ! TO show for ito
But you teachers do have a great
influence over your pupils urged Mrs
Homer. "My children are always quot
ing their teachers, and / often think
they listen more to what they say than
to what / do"
THAT isn't often the case, can tel
you, and too frequently the home in
fiuence spells the little good seed we
can SOW. tell you, you needn't think
a teachers life j. without its trials and
crosses, for it Is full OF them.n
Mrs. Homer smiled; the cloud wa.
lifting a little. well, / guess it i.
something as you say, but Miss Fer
rand has neither children nor house.
hold cares TO yeX her. When her sew,
ing is done she may 90 home and read
or 90 to the prayer-meeting. (She is al
ways at prayer-meeting, and people
give her so much credit for itl. Her
day work ends at six; mine anywhere
from nine to midnight Miss Ferrand
believe you are the one / envy"
Miss Ferrand was a quiet little wo-
man who said little and that with a
timid air, but at Mrs. HOmer's word a
faint color mounted to her cheek and
she answered gently:
ut il true that / have no household
cares but you must remember that /.
because / have no home, no fireside OF
nv own, such a. IL so dear 70 every
woHan's heart; that ] 20 from my
work often among Indifferent strangers
to lonely room. To have had little