Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-16
THE FIRST CROSS WORD.

have never been in family whore the hus.
bind and wife seemed more So"
"Well done, Kate" said Mrs. Huntington,
laughing, "you have nsed the word aen, only
| twice in that short sentence. Aud now you
have begging way about you, as If you were
| really in earnest to hear something abou,
married life before taking the fatal step. 1t
| is well Henry is not here to see the look OF
sadness in the eye of his brile elect. He
| might fancy her henri was full Of misg, wings
instead ofwedding fnery."
Don't laugh vt me, Annette: talk with
| me q, you used to do. 1 love iienry, you
! know, aud yet have many misgivrgs about
married life. I see 30 few who are really
happy in this relatiou--G mean happy d,
should wish to be. You seem to coule nearer
to it than any one else. Don't you ever"
"Quarrcl! no, hot often, now. We had our
breaking in. believe it must coue to ull,
| sooner or, later"
do tell ME about il, will you. Annette T.
eyes, if you'are very DESTROYS Of it You
| may learn something from it, was 70.
mantle gil, as you well know, knte. Some
| few frieuds had, whom lovcl dearly, but
these friendships dill not quito SATISFY MY
hiut " noW1s nAppened thns his Dos'a.;os::;;...
we were first married, used To- ask myself
now. do find in this lie all which expect
cd to find :? Am rs happy as thoug gut
should be? My hoart always responded, yes.
ant more so. With us, the romance N mar.
ried lie, if may call it so, held N u long
time. For my part, I was CONSCIOUS If
pleasurable excitement Of feeling, when we
were together. enjoyed riding aud walking
alone wlth'him. The brightest hours of the
day were those in which We sat down aloue
together, to talk or read. For long time
felt gentle restraint in his prcsence. l liked
to bc becumingly dressed and TO feel in tune
When uull, l made On effort to be social and
cheerful if he was present. had great fear
Of getting into the way Of sitting down stupid
ly with my husband, or of having nothing
to talk about but the children aud the butch
er's bill l made n business of remember
every pleasant thing Which read or hoard or
thought, to tell him, and when all these sub
jeots were exhausted, VIC had each Ut us n
hobby we could ride, SO that we were never
silent fer want Of something to say. Thuswe
lived for a year or two. l wns very happy
fthink people were often surprised to see us
lo.tinue to enjoy each other society with so
much 2est.
But there was this about it, As yet had
nothing to try me. We were boarding; dad
no care, and his tenderness and interest was
q. sovereign panucta for the little ills and
roughnesses which must fall to US in our best
estate. This could not last forever. He be-
came more and more occupied III bis business,
md at length had u houseard Il baby to look
after. TIren, for the first tinic, our mutual
forbearance was put to the tes,. Hitherto,
VIC had been devoted to each other;' Row the
real cares OF life pressed upon us so as cften
really to absorb our energies WAS. the first
to feel the change. 1t seemed to me as if
something was ovcrshndowing us. Sometimes
| would get sentimental, and think be did MT
love me rs he once did. AS lock back now,
ON convinced that here was my first aerony
step. Indulgence in these moods weakened
my resolution. II WAS an Injustice TO him of
which ought not to have been guilty. 1t
left me, too, with q wounded feeling, rs il 1
had been wronged, which began to affect my
spirits.
~ had for some time carried about this
little sore spot in my heart. 1 kept the matte,
all to myself, for Was in part ashamed and
in part too proud to speak Of it. Here was
another wrong step. There is no security OF
happiness in married lite, but in the most per-
feet confidence.
lHeTo CtmS ochsun VI uuuip, chilly
weather. One morning | got up very irri,a-
bic. / had taken cold; my head ached, and
my baby had been worrisome during the night
In my kitchen had cross, ignorant servant
girl, and on this particular morning sue had
done her very worst for breakfast. Tho beef
steak was burned to n cinder, the eggs were
like bullets, the bread was half baked, and
the coffee, which was our main stay, was e1-
ccraol0 Ny husband was very patient With