Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-07
WHEN TO Be CHEERFUL
At Untimely Moments 1t is
Cruel.
A CASE IN QUESTION
A LoNG-SUFFERING WIFE HAS
HER SAY AT LAST.
She Made Him Promise to Reform or
Lose His Liberty Tenn
porarily.
A CASE IN QUESTION

Copyright, 1909. by Grace Dufhe Boyian,
Written for The Evening Star.
To be cheerful under all circumstances
is to be neither sensible nor kind There
are times when the heart quivers at tie
sound of a laugh. and the soul would hide
from a beaming face as a wood flower
shrinks from the sun. And honestly thiul,
that the man and woman who cannot re-
press their light-hearted babhle In the
presence OF real sorrow are more cruel
than the people from the other extreme
who bring sour looks into the place Of Joy.
One can hustle the skeleton away from the
feast, but no one can catch and subdue the
imp of untimely and unwelcome cheerful
ness that hops and skips over the ashes
of grief, or. like the grim inquisitor Of old.
tickles the feet OF the victim on the rack
until over his groaEs of pain he shrieks
hysterical laughter.
The habit of going to see mourncrs to
cheer them up a bit" should BE- prohib-
tied by law. If. ever one should be left
alone with God II is at the time of great
and overwhelming grief. IL there Is a
friend close enough to enter then he should
come in silence and with uncovered head.
The foolish, empty words take for
comfort; the rough, well-meaning hands
with which We try to soothe may be for
to the end of tears and intrudes his cpin-
ion that lit will be all right after awhile.
and one may as well take il easy" should
be sternly dealt with.
The people who take a light view of the
SORROWS of others are quick enough 10
whine and cry at any troubles of tn-ic own.
From optimist to pessimst is but pinchod
toe. l knew an aggressively hopafd man
to become a raven of forebodiuc all on che
summer day, and all because his shoe was
too tight. 1t was the only occasion when he
was not actively assuring Other people that
their troubles and illnesses were matters
calculated to be taken humorously.
Those Who Know Sorrow.
am not speaking now of the man or
woman who knows sorrow and is acquaint-
ed with grief and yet shows a cheerful face
to the world Such have warmed their
hands at the fires of life. as Leroy Arm
strong once said Of great souled Amber"
and fool for those who have come in out Of
the tempests. They can weep. with those
who mourn and, when the tears are dried,
show with much kindness and tenderness
That after all the darkness comes light, and
while weeping may endure for a night en-
JOY cometh in the morning. They do not
make light of misery or smile in the face
of woe.
Great cheerfulness in adverse circum-
stances Is often the pose OF the shiftIess
and dishonorable. The man who preys
upon his friends is generally of this type.
I1c uotS MOI pay utDlS, Out ne says
That's all right" and the hunger of his
family is stayed by the same satisfying ex-
preston. 1 heard Of farmer whose fences
were down and cattle astray and wife over
worked and children unlettered who drift
ed along on that plank for a decade or so,
and then
Hiram said the woman. one morning
as she handed him his breakfast coffee
Johnnies throat is sore. / am quite wor-
ried about him."
''oh, he's all right" responded the father.
The mother set her lips, but said nothing
Then one of the boys came in and report-
ed that the neighbor's cow had broken in
the garden again and eaten the cabbages,
and little girl told with alarm and grief
that her kitten had been killed; but the man
answered every complaint with unfailing
cheerfulness
II want you to fix that cIstern this morn
ing. Hiram, his wife said after a pause
won't do. The. ladder and the buckets are
all there. and 1 want it made clean ana
ready for the next rain fall"
"Oh. thatIn be all right" he protested.
IL can be very dirty. guess one Of the
boys had better attend to il anyway"
Had to Work Himself.
He had been accustomed to do all work
by Juvenile proxies. but this time his wife
firmly insisted on his performing the task
himself He lost some of his good nature
going to the place, but she accompanied
MN anu Itlptu DIl Ifle long ladder
down into the deep pit and encouraged him
to descenA. But when he was fairly on
the smooth floor, and stepping grumblingly
about in the half darkness. she drew up the
ladder and went away. Half way to the
house she heard his loud calls but she kept
on her way unfiinchingly. There was a red
flush on her cheek and her eyes were full OF
victory. AT noon when the children had
their dinner they asked with little interest
for, their father. But she made short re-
plies, and they We're too Indifferent to care.
But soon the little boys came in with wide
eyes of fright and told how a demon roared
and beloved somewhere from the garden
At night she went to the cistern and bent
down. He saw her face and greeted her
with bitter reproaches. But she answered
them by saying, That's all right" with his
own unvarying cheerfulness. But then be-
ing woman, and a long suffering one she
had more to say.
Hiram Jenkins" she said, 'for ten years
you have made that answer to every sor-
row and every pain and every misfortune
that has come to me to the children
You have sat here and let the farm go to
ruin and the cattle die and if | had not
shaved day and night We should have been
In the poor house. 1 have never had a
chance to talk to you confidentially before;
but I've got IT now: and I'm going to say
what l have been saving up years TO say to
you. You say you are a good-natured man
and you made me believe so at first by your
easy, smiling ways of looking at things.
But now know you brute and cow
ard. and now L have said it, Now / have
You Will either turn over a new leaf and be
a man and forget that one particular say
ing of yours: It'll be all right" Or YOU
will stay down in that cistern."
There was a moments silence and then a
promise. The ladder went down and the
new Hiram came up.
So;r<s - A.. NJ;n><a~-xl r.nx-