The record-union., 1898-10-16
THE MINISTER'S
STRANGE WOOING.

now nearing tnat critical tlme-udngef-
Gus alike to infant life and masculine
constancy-known as the second sum-
mer." That he would pull through
seemed improbable.
And yet, never was woman more ten
derly loved than the late Mrs. Lay;
never was wife more deeply or truly
mourned. Her husband felt, from the
depths of his soul, as he stood by her
cOffined form, that for him life was
over; henceforward it would be exist
ence-Which he prayed for grace to en-
dure
He prayed more and more as the days
went by. You see, it not only wrenched
his heart; it upset his life. His wife
had been a gentle, self-effacing crea-
ture, who, deploring her own lack of
gifts, saw to it that her husband had
abundant time to cultivate his. The
domestic machinery in his home was
so perfectly adjusted and so unobtru-
sively oiled, that nobody ever thought
of there being an engineer, until one
day it stopped. And the Rev. Melanc-
thon Lay, with all his great knowledge
Of Assyrian antiquities, could not make
1t go-no matter how he tried.
Nothing seemed simpler than the or
dering of a home till one has it to do.
Then, if that one happens to be man,
he inevitably finds in his soul a grow
ing respect for feminine grasp of de-
tails.
The minister had one little daughter.
He registered vow beside her dead
mother that he would never be separ-
ated from her. She should not lack a
fathers care, at any rate, poor child!
he realized at the time. II naturally
necessitated keeping up an establish
ment. The parish bestirred itself to
find him suitable housekeeper.
Old Mrs. Nixey undertook his case
first. But Mrs. Nixey, while thorough
ly orthodox, could not cook, and Mr.
Lay could not show her how-and after
few months of dyspepsia which gave
a decidedly medieval cast to his the
ology she was allowed to go.
He then secured a good cook and a
nursery maid and abandoned the idea
of housekeeper. AS every woman of
experience knows, the domestic carry
ALL when drawn by a double team, is
apt to be jerky unless firm hand holds
the reins and cOmpels steady pulling on
the part of both steeds. Mr.. Lays an
ticipated quiet was soon invaded by
wars and rumors of wars below, which
Myrtle brought in great excitement to
his study.
These resulted in the summary dis
missal of the belligerent powers. He
could not have Myrtle brought up in
the atmosphere Of strife. That would
never do.
The next incumbent was a young
widow who presented herself at this
juncture as a housekeeper that loved
to cook and was fond of children
wages not SO much an object as an
agreeable home. The young minister.
in the integrity of his heart, took her
as great gain to himself
and Myrtle till a worldly wise deacon
pointed out to him one day that the
widow was obviously playing for
stakes. Then the shocked and alarmed
clergyman gave her notice with pre-
cipitation that set the whole neighbor-
hood laughing.
After this Annie's mother came to
live with them, and there was a lulI
Lay household affairs
Myrtle's grandmother was a most
estimable lady, but of a painfully con-
ScientiouS turn. She lived during the
hight of the mother-in-law joke, and
being somewhat deficient in a sense of
humor took these inane newspa per
pleasantries more seriously than their
hight and depth warranted Nobody
should say that she ever tried to run
her sOn-in-law-or his child-or his
house, Melancthon was the head of
the family, she told old Mrs. Ashton.
and she should always consult him
about everything. And she did-with
scant discrimination as to times and
seasons-to the poor mans distraction
She could never be made to see that
it was the interruption that hindered
him, not comprehending that when a
thread is broken it is broken, whether
it is severed by the sharp cut of ques-
ton or its ends untw;sted by an hours
talk. In her heart she thought Me-
lancthon a little unreasonable How
could it be an interruption just to say
veal or ''mutton?"
The same circumstantial conscience
pursued him in regard to Myrtle's 3
clothes. Should she get pink or blue
for her hat? Did he think she'd better
have calico or gingham? No; he must
decide-she was his child, it was for
him to say, etc.
He told her at last, being anxious to
get back to the less complex subject of
cuneiform characters, to get whatever
Myrtle wanted. But it was no part
of this good lady's plan to consult a
baby, however scrupulous she might
be about the baby's father, and she re-
turned from the store one day with a
brown checked domestic gingham. She
made it by pattern she had used for
her daughter Annie.
When Sunday morning came there
was civil war-and no wonder 1t was
down to her shoe-tops. Myrtle de-
clared it was a horrid old thing and
she wouldn't wear it! And her in
censed and injured grandmother
couldn't make her Her screams brought
her father from his study. He tried
to pacify her. 1t looked wrong to
him, but he could not tell wherein, and
he praised her pretty dress" and her
dear, good grandmother" till Myrtle
in a fury said it wasn't pretty-and she
didn't love her grandma-she was a
mean old thing-thats what she was.
Then her father told her sternly she
should wear the dress and go with her
grandmother to church, and Myrtle felt
deserted of God and man, and threw
herself on the floor and cried passion
ately (as we all do inwardly to our
dying day in such a case).
Il want my mammal
1t almost broke his heart. But he
made her go. And the hrtle 5-year-
old rebel sat upright in the pew, hold
ing herself distinctly aloof from her