Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-11-24

N~~~-NONN-~ONONO~~~O~
a LIZABETH MARTYR was thir-
~. ty yeas old when she married and
G@ went to Pennsylvania to live. She
carried with her much of the prejudice
and near-sightedness which is apt to be-
long TO people who have lived in but one
section of this country. She had been
the most intense of a club of Truth
seekers" in a New England town; with
weak intellect had grappled with some
of the mightiest problems that face man
kind; had fancied herself a Buddhist, an
agnostic, a quietist and ritualist. The
deity which she really worshiped and the
only subject of which she never wearied,
was-Elizab Martyr.
All this selfshness and conceit. how
ever. was only the fruit of her limited
mind and bad training. Underneath was
an honest. affectionate heart, stitled just
now and forgotten.
Three years after her marriage to Ste
phen Pollard. her mother visited her for
the first time. The Pollards lived in
village in the midst of the rich farm
lands of Lancaster County. The album
dant crops. the full, easy habits of life,
delighted Mrs Martyr, who was used to
the stormy fields and ecouomy of Con-
necticut.
What a Thanksgiving day you will
have tomorrow. Elizabeth" she said, as
she sat with her daughter, looking down
over the valley glowing in the red mist
of a late Indian summer.
Thanksgiving! Why should l keep
Thanksgiving said Mrs Pollard, with
an impatient shrug.
Mrs. Martyr turned her mild blue eyes
in amazement on her daughter.
MY child. In such a beautiful homer
Il never was meant for housekeep-
er. mother; am bored to death. l have
no time for study with perpetual fussing
about the wash, or the marketing, or
baby's meals. Then these negro servants
with their familiarity and incompetence,
madden me. l began to study Senskrit
lust before l married, but with this house
and baby to look after l have not read a
line for year. Stephen makes a fetch
of his home. but l Go not"
''No, / see said Mrs. Martyr. with q
sigh But You have many friends here
Elizabeth? The society is good?"
Il find neither society nor friends
There are plenty of women who wish
to be intimate with me. There are two
of them now coming up the Hill to cal
upon You. Mrs. Grier viii talk TO YOU
of Jelly and pickles and cordials by the
hour. and Mrs. Watson viii lecture upor
the crest and possessions and ancient
rlories of the family of Watson. Intel
lectually the whole community IS pie
beian. I've tried TO hold myself alcof
but it is impossible"
Mrs. Martyr made no reply, but css
IL he,
knitting nj her daughters flushed, lower
ing face. She saw that the old self-es
TEEN and unrest of Elizabeth's natur
had reached a ranker growth in the fore
ed repression Of her married life. Thi
was her first outbreak of complaint, an'
the spoken words seemed to startle her
sc
u cannot thank God she said pres
emily. "for giving me a lonely life, how
ever well fed or well clothed l may be.
Lonely? Your child. ElizabethF
Mrs Pollard smiled involuntarily
Then she scowled again.
Betty is but baby. What compan
ionship can she give me?'
Her mothe hesitated: then she sal
boldly: You have the companionship o
good man who loves you. You ought
above all. to thank your God for that.
"Oh, certainly" said Mrs. Pollard. dry
".
She was not going 10 explain TO he
mother how tiresome she found stephen
good humor and ineesssnt devotion, no
how she had snubbed him when he want
ed 10 bore her with his anxiety about hi
clients How petty were all these inter
ests. The Wyndham viii snit and tn