The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-12-14

sid to her; ut 10 not like losing q bieaer
child. Bhe RdT hot bontradfccede them, but
tn hsr heart she-thoaGhf it yould have been
easaeaIk-she had been. both bigger and older.
To . daughter who had borne the heat and
the toll Of the day With her. she could have
looked for. love and sympathy, and talked
OF many things which had vexed and pleased
them here ON earthrbut what could a ra-
diant angel, who had only lived on earth
Tor one week Of unconscious -babyhood, care
In heaven for 2 mother whom she had never
loved or known on. earth? It had always
seemed to Mrs. Brandon that her mother
hood had passed from. her forever when
she pressed her last kiss on the little waxen
face, with, its pathetic, half-opened eyes
cleaning like silver threads beneath the
And that had been the FIRST disappoint-
ment of her life. The second filed her
heart with a greater bitterness, as she sat
at her husbands side as they dug his grave
out in the family burying ground. She
thought OF the pastAthes long, gray past
which had ended yesterday when he had
closed his pain -dimmed eyes. lust as the
a had done Is years before, and left her
without a farewell word or look. She had
sat up late to darn and patch, and risen
again in the gray dawn 20 make coffee for
him and set the machinery of life in motion:
asking for no reward but kind words and a
little love. Yet both had been denied her,
Deep down in her heart, and it was all that
Kept 1t from breaking, she mad always hoped
and believed that she wou:G be taken awav
from the old home first, so that her place
might be empty, if only for a little while.
and her husband miss some of the atten-
lions which he never thought to appreciate
now.
1t had been dull work sometimes, living
through the years, mending mis- clothes and
cooking and washing, while he treated her
with co%ntemptuous Impotence, because
womanfs work seemed so little compared
to what he meant to do, but somehow never
did.
Blu he will 'preciate it when 1 am gone
and the grass is growing over my grave"
she often thought to herself. wistfully, as
she, watched him ride way through the sun
lit helds, with some new project seething
in his brain, and turned to the dull silence
OF her childless home again.
He don't praise the living much. but he
respects dead folks more'n anyone I know
Of" &C.,
She would think with a certain curious
pride and pleasure, as she lit her fire and
shelled the peas, of the day when there
"ouiu De no one 10 put out his clothes, or
make his shirts. or cook his meals iust
as he liked them. She fancied she could
hear the little odd break in his voice as he
told some neighbor of what a good wife she
had been. and how he missed her; and she
always hoped someone would remember to
curl her hair and pin It down with hair
pins close to her face, so that she would
look nice. and he would not mind kissing
her goodbye. ., ...
But yesterday he had died and gone
where he never could and never would need
her again. His last conscious look had
been one of Impotence, because she could
not understand what he wanted, as he
tossed his aching head on his tumbled pill
low. This had been the second and bitterest
disappointment of her life.
Outside the roses shattered their dull pink
petals on the vivid green OF the grass; the
chickens scratched unmoles,ed in the beds
OF nasturtiums and phlox, and the cows
stood and chewed their cud placidly in the
sunshine. All the earth seemed to rejoice
IN the beauty of a perfect DAY. Only those
two were unconscious of it-Mr. Brandon
asleep in his Sunday suit, and this quiet,
fearless woman, in black muslin, by his
side.-New Orleans Times Democrat.