Norwich bulletin., 1910-03-19
(written for the Bulletin.)

There is nothing like better than to snug down over the hearth fire with my sister-friend for one of our talks. tell her rything-atmost- except tte few things l tell the man who is a brother-friend to us both, and the many, many things I>never dream of telling to anybody. What should do without my sister-friend- b1ood-kin? With her, I may think aloud. I do not have to arrange my thoughts and painfully clothe them in fitting words before l dare speak. With her. never need be on my guard. may toss off whims and fancies, caprices and conceits at pleasure. Ac- cording to my mood of the moment, I may chatter the frothy nothings off the top of my mind, or utter solemn platitudes as though they were the mightiest common or uncommon sense,
 I may even pour out my sorrows and | troubles-and it is rare friend who will let you do that-or may go deep CT still and draw up from secret and | innermost recesses fragments of feel l ing which I would not breathe into the ear of any other friend or foe on | earth. I would not speak out these | innermost things to you, dear friends and neighbors mine; would not either bore you nor trust you with them. I would not hint of them to any one who would ridicule my con- | fidence, nor cenSure me, nor mis- understand. There is only one woman | in the world to whom can speak out of the core Of my heart; and to her. not saecause we have been friends from babyhood; not simply because I am sure of her; nor because ! | know she loves and trusts me as | love and trust her; not because she is herself a large and noble soul. quick to understand, quicker to ap- I passion on human weaknesses and fears and faults and faihngs. She l tells me that I am a help to her, that
 my questionings compel her to close
 thinking. and that in the effort to | comprehend my problems and seek | their solution. her own thought be-
 comes clarified. Perhaps this is true
 At all events there are few things
 Morris chair in front of my blazing fire and make her talk, while I curl
 down on the hearth rug to watch the flames leap and her enthusiasm kindle
 and listen to the tones of her voice.
 1 NYou can understand" was saying to her last night, "how much easier
 it often seems to carry ones burden
 in silence, and to work out from under 1t alone, as one best can. For there
 are not many persons in a million you can tell your trouble to with any hope that they will understand, and see why and sympathize, and not blame"
 | Tt is the blaming that hurts faithfully doing your best, and you alone know the real reasons why you must do what they are all so ready 1 to say you ought not to. You can
 not tell your reasons, often you have
 no right to explain there may bs others involved. Once, when I need
 ed money for a loved one who was l slowly dying, I asked a rich woman lof my acquaintance if she cared to buy from me a certain antique which she | had often said she would like to own but supposed I would never care tS part with. She was not in the mood to buy it, just then, but, to my amaze ment-for she considers herself a wo- man of breeding-She bestowed upor me a gratuitous lecture on economy
 and good business management.
 had gone to her with a simple business