The Washington herald., 1912-04-07

around, but my wife keeps it lDEGYM
on the sitting-room mante nv Nh
piece, account of the as i ~ N
sociation. You know how IHAp1A ]
women feel about those %
things. Well. that vase has
been through every spring ClEwN l
house cleaning since we've ysa s4zazsz3
been married, and today It l
hasn't a chip or crack in Is "a
1t. It's Just as green and - ~
purple and hideous as it ever IL "A
was. Our best china has u ~
been smashed to bits. and lz<S----l
our looking glass has crack 4
running right across il, but
that old eyesore still sits up
on the mantelpece and grins at me. I suppose il
will haunt until die It's the same way with
the family herlooms we keep in the attic There's
lot of shabby marbletopped tables, and funny old
pictures, and crippled haircloth sofa and heaps
more of that kind of junk Nothing ever happens
to them. It's only our best furniture that gets
broken and scratched"
!, How about y, your spring gardeningf." suggested
the Bachelor. That's not as bad the house clean
ing. is itf
Its nerve rackng," the Family Man said
Things never go right. Either plant the garden
too early, and heavy frost comes along and kills
things, or else wait too late The weathers beau
tifui, all my neighbors' gardens are made and they
begin to joke about my being so late. decide III
start planting the very next Saturday and /
arrange everything with that end in view. Then on
Saturday it rains cats and dogs, the garden is sea
the vanity of all earthly hopes. After the things
have really begun to grow I'm always anticipating
some accident to the garden, and I'm seldom dis
appointed. One day | come home and find that
the maid has dropped rug out of the window on
Hover bed, and broken off all my fine tups and
hyacinths The next day find three large dogs
playing tag and leap-frog in the vegetable garden,
to the total destruction of the early June peas"
"Well, old man.. said the Bachelor, hunted look
on his face, I've just remembered that this is leap
year, and as soon as get off this train I'm going
to hnd hole crawl into 1t, and hide until 1918 comes
around That's what your little picture of domestic
life in the spring has done to mew
"Now, just see here" said the Family Man, decid-
edly don't you get Il into your head that I've been
knocking domestic life in the spring or any other
time. I've simply been telling you, apropos of the
in hand with spring. Everybody has troubles and
take 1t from me, the troubles VIC married men have
aren't in it with the that aflict you bachelor
chaps The springs not all trouble ether-it's a
pretty good old time of year in lot of ways The
airs never quite so sweet as when you wake up in
the hrst spring mornings, and lie and listen to the
birds that have just come back from the South to
set up housekeeping. man doesn't know what
living is until he gets out lovely spring after
noon and begins to spade up his garden with every
thing getting green and beautiful around him, and
the apple blossoms so sweet you smell 'em for
milesp'
The Family Man rose and gathered together his
bundles as the train pulled into his station.
"Young man." he said. severely don't you ever
let me hear you refer to the spring again
unpleasant time OF year."
"Well, what do you think of that?" murmured the
Bachelor to himself. in profound disgust after
he's been rectng the of spring for the last
half hour"
He rescued the immense hat-boX from the rack
where the Family Man had left it. and followed his
friend meeky down the aisle. AS they started off
on their respective ways homeward, the Family Man
called back to the Bachelor, beaming the top
of his mountainous burden:
"Sayl" he said. 1T begins to feel like real spring
weather. doesn't it7"