The Green Forest tribune., 1910-01-14

lile 4u5u were OFQGreQ out, anu IH6 rent was overdue, and there was no money to satisfy the demands of butcher and grocer.
 But then Maggie was a woman and could hardly be expected to appre- ciate the manifest advantages of be- longing to the union. She scowled tierceIy over the sum of money that Dennis turned into the unions treas ury every pay day, and in moments of extreme irritation she had even been known to calculate the pounds of meat and potatoes that the money would buy. And she had hinted more than once that, but for the union, she could live like a lady and hold up her head with the best of them. As it was she took in washing to fiil up the gap in the weekly income.
 An what's the trouble now?" she asked with considerable asperity.
 Dennis shufTled uneasily."
 We want an eight-hour day" he mumbled. Maggie ironed towel with short vicious strokes of her flat iron, and Dennis wished that the sil- ver-tongued agitator who had ordered the strike could be there to convince her of the justness of their cause. She was so obviously in a bad humor and not inclined to listen to reason. An is it eight hours ye want?" she cried, emphasizing her words with thumps of her iron. Eight hours work for a strappin' big man like yer self, Dennis Murphy It's lazy ye are. An them unions has too many grievances altogether, that they have" Which was not at all nice speech for the wife of a loyal union man to make
 Eight hours work is enough for any man, Dennis protested
 An for any woman? How about the women, just answer me that, Den his Murphy?"
 And Dennis thoughtlessly conceded that woman should not work longer than eight hours a day Whereat Mag gIe smiled calm, wise smile that should have warned him of trouble ahead
 An whatll we live on the time the strikes on?' It was a question Mag gle had often asked in the eight years of her married life, and she well knew Dennis answer, for it had never varied.
 Sure, and ye won't mind takin' in a bit of eXtry washin', Maggie. darlin', just to help us along till l do be earnin' money agin'."
 Maggie thought she minded very much indeed, but she, neld her peace. And the next morning Dennis noted with great satisfaction that the wash boiler stood on the back of the stove and Maggie seemed to be making preparations fer large days work.
 Sure and I'll not begin till we're out of the house. Dennis" she said. The steam do be unpleasant"
 And Dennis, as he went off to dis cuss matters with his fellow strikers. reflected that if all other wives accent ed the situation in as proper a spirit as Maggie did the strike was like to be a huge success.
 Maggie marshaled Molly and young Dennis and the baby into the kitchen
 The strike is On" she announced. an It's a bath yell be afther havin'.'
 And the children gasped. for strike" they understood. but to their unaccus. toned ears bath" had most terri. flying sound. And their mothers preparations filled their small souIs with dread, for she had filled the bie wash tub with water, hot and cold and she laid violent hands upon her offspring and stripped them of their clothes.
 An it's drownded we'll be-" Molly walled in terror, as she began to com. prehend her mothers intentions con, corning them
 Sure" said Maggie in deep dis. gust, 'an' it's ignorant little brats ve are not to know a bath when ve see one. There do be people as takes one livery day"
 And from sheer inability to answer so astounding a statement tha obI dren were quiet while their mothe, soaped and scrubbed and rubbed and for lack of bath towel, stood them to dry before the kitchen stove. And she combed their hair, not in tbe sketchy, everyday way, but win thoroughness that brought tears r. their eyes. Then. wonderful to rala+o she sewed the rent in Molly's frock and darned the knees of Dennis stockings and replaced missing bnt tons
 Now be off wid ye," she said 4Fo, once yell go to school loolSin' as 9e should"
 Then she picked up the babv iron, the kitchen floor. "YeIl not nlav i, the coal-scuttle this day" she said with emphasis, and she put clear starched dress on the protesting cbill and put him in big clothes basket with an empty spool for a plavtbipo Q
 She looked at the clock, and he, sides shook with silent lanob+or Eight hours for work" she said "ar two Of them gone already. I'll have to hurry a bit or I won't get through and it's against the rules of the nnio, to work overtime"
 Late in the afternoon Dennis bo took himself homeward. His hons, had strangely unfamiliar look. fo there were no clothes drying in tb, back yard and Maggie was not on th. mite of back porch bending over tn, wash tub.
 Dennis opened the kitchen doc with strange sinking at his heart he feared Maggie must be sick. With in, the fire burned brightly and tn, floor and table were scrubbed to tn, last degree of whiteness, but Maggi was nowhere visible. He tiptoed soft iy through the bedroom which was fl