The Irish standard., 1907-10-26
Love lightens the Burden.

man who fancied that her lot in life
was a hard one, and that all Of its bur.
den fell upon her shoulders. There
were children six that she had borne in
WEAKNESS and pain, and nurtured with
deep anxiety and perplexity of soul
4 In their infancy there had been the
fatigue of days of caring for restless
little bodies, long nights Of broken
sleep, of ceaseless watching by sick
beds, and over and under and through
it all was the endless strain of trying
to make one dollar do the work Of
two.
They were all out of actual babyhood
now, but the load had not lightened.
In addition to putting her shoulder to
the wheel and helping to augment the
family: income, the woman. had new
troubles. and anxieties This child, to
her dismay, showed the evil tendencies
Of a. long gone ancestor who had dis
graced a fair family name. Another,
with a moral nature of perfect beauty,
was 50 weak in body that he was con-
slant care. The beautiful growing
daughter, had twist in her DISPOSE
tion that would be fatal to her lifes
happiness, unless it were trained out.
This little one had a grave fault, and
that one fearful weakness; and the
whole responsibility for it all seemed
to lie. upon the woman, who, still young.
had watched her roses fade slowly away
beneath the frost of time and trouble
that was whitening the hair above her
brow.
There came day when she forgot all
about the golden CLEANS Of heavens
own sunlight, that had shone down into
her heart through the clear eyes of the
child that looked trustfully into her
own and the unfailing tenderness and
sympathy of the man to whom her life
was linked-she could think of nothing
but the burden-the burden
ut is not just-it is not" she cried
aloud, and her trembling hands fell
helpless from the darn she was trying
to. set in little coat sleeve-a darn
that the 14.year.old boy was ashamed
of and had resented hotly, with de-
raand that she could not meet for a
new garment.
ut does seem enough for woman
to have borne all these children, and
now Il am having to help support them!
None Of them make any allowance for
that. They expect the same of me that
other mothers can give whose RESPONSE
bility ceases with the material care Of
them-the care Of their clothes, the
serving of plentiful meals, for the pro-
yiding of which she need give no
thought. Here must contrive and plan
end work until my body is dead tired,
and then whip my brain to turn out
work that only does injustice to what
little talent have just for the money
to help meet the ever growing demands.
It is all wrong-all wrong. My burden
is too heavy"
Her bowed head fell upon her folded
arms on her sewing table; she closed
her weary eyes and gave up, with the
half Whispered prayer that through
habitual repetition had become almost
second nature to her: Teach me Thy
will, o God. Lead me in a plain path"
As the darkness swept down upon
her a swift vision shut out self, and
another burden came before her. She
saw her husband as he was when he
Il had left her that morning for his work.
\ With his hat removed he had bent down
a TO kiss her where she had stopped to
pull weed from the garden path. He
II never omitted these little courteous
Il Kraces--he was refined gentleman to
his finger tips. she thought. with faint
throb Of pride-but he had not smiled
"A into her eyes along with the kiss.
She had not been very pleasant, at
breakfast; she had chided the children
q more than was needed, she had COM
Il planned at the inadequacy of the weeks
a allowance, and because the food did not
3 appeal to her she had made no effort
to eat, and had not returned her plate,
though he had besought her to let him
help her to some tidbit
"of course he could not SMILE" said
" something in her heart, reproachfully
sSmiles. are nothing but reflections OF
n sunshine, anyway-and shadows cast
reflections. Of: their, own kind
There was no gray in his hair, but
as her thought followed her husband
y down the street she heard him cough
@ and saw that he had grown thin, anc
Z that his broad shoulders had begun te
\, aroop of late.
Il ss He has to keep right on at work or