Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-04
THE REVOLT OF "MOTHER"
By MARY E. WILKINS

| well, l don't think youQ better,
good father an good home as you've
out an work for your Twin? Lots o.
girls have to that amt no stronger an
better able to than you be-"
Sarah Penn washed the frying par
with a conclusive air. She scrubbed
the outside Of 1t as faithfully as the
inside. She was a mastery keeper oi
her box Of a house. Her one living
room never seemed to have in 1t any
Of the dust which the friction Of life
with inanimate matter produces. She
/ swept, and there seemed to be no dirt
| to go before the broom; she cleaned
| and no one could see no difference
| She was like an artist so perfect that
he has apparently no art Today she
got out a mixing bowl and q board
and rolled some pies, and there was
no more flour upon her than upon her
| daughter who was doing finer work.
Nanny was to be married in the fall,
and she was sewi' e on some white
cambria and embro derry. She sewed
industriously while her mother cook
ed; her soft milk-white hands and
wrists showed whittier than her deli
cate work.
| 1--WE must have the stove moved out
in the shed before long," said Mrs,
Penn. Talk about not havin' things,
it's been a real blessin' to be able to
put a stove up in that shed in hot
weather. Father did one good thing
when he fixed that stove pipe out
there"
Sarah Penn's face as she rolled her
pies had that expression of meek Wig
or which might have characterized
one of the New Testament saints; She
was making mince pies. Her husband,
Adoniram Penn, liked them better
than any other kind. She baked twice
week. Adoniram often liked a piece
of pie between meals. She hurried
this morning, 1t had been later than
usual when she began. and she want
ed to have a pie baked for dinner.
However deep resentment she
might be forced to hold against her
husband, she would never fail In
sedulous attention TO his wants.
Nobility of character manifests it
self at loopholes when it is not pro-
vided with large doors. Sarah Penn's
showed itself today in flaky dishes OF
pastry. So she made the pies faith
| fully, while across the table she could
see, when she glanced up from her
work, the sight that rankled in her
patient and steadfast soul-the dig
ging of the cellar Of the new barn In
the place where Adoniram forty years
ago had promised her their new house
should stand. Gn
The pies were done for dinner. Ado
hiram and Sammy were home few
minutes after IL o'clock. The dinner
was eaten with serious haste. There
was never much conversation at the
table in the Penn family. Adoniram
asked blessing and they ate prompt
ly, then rose up and went about their
| work.
Sammy went back to school, taking
soft, sly lopes out Of the yard like a
rabbit. He wanted game Of marbles
before school and feared his father
would give him some chores to do.
Adoniram hastene6 to the door and
called after him, but he was out OF
sight.
II don't see what you let him go for.
mother" said he. II wanted him to
help me unload that wood"
Adoniram went TO work out In the
yard unloading wood from the wagon.
Sarah put away the dinner dishes.
pers and changed her dress. She was
going down to the store to buy some
more embroidery and thread.
When Nanny was gone, Mrs. Penn
went to the door. "Father!" she call
ed
well, what is it?"
II want to see you jest a minute
father"
II can't leave this wood nohow. I've
got to git it unloaded an go for a
| load Of gravel afore o'clock. Sammy
had ought to helped me. You hadn't
ought to let him go to school so early"
| 81 want to see you jest a minute"
Il tell ye can't nohow, mother"
Father, you come here" Sarah
Penn stood in the door like a queen;
she held her head as If it bore crown
there was that patience which makes
authority royal in her voice. Adonir-
am went.
kitchen and pointed to a chair. sit
down, father" said she; I've got
somethin' I want TO say to YOU"
| He sat down heavily; his face was
quite stolid, but he looked at her with
restive eyes. well, what Is 1t, moth
err"
"I want to know what you're build
in that new barn for, father?"
| 81 amt got nothin' to say about 1t"
TT can't be you think you need an
II tell We 1 amt got nothin' to say
about 1t, mother; an 1 aint going to
say nothin'."
/
| Adoniram did not reply; he shut his
mouth tight.
81 know you be- as we'll as / want
to. Now, father, look here"-Sarah
Penn had not sat down; she stood be-
fore her husband in the humble fash
ion of a Scripture woman-"Tm goin'
to talk real plain to you; l never have
sence I married you, but I'm goin' to
now. I amt never complained, an ]
amt goin' to complain now, but I'm
goin' to talk plain. You see this room
here, father; you look at 1t well. You
see there amt no carpet on the floor,
an you see the paper is all dirty an
| droppin' off the walls. We amt had no
new paper on 1t for ten year, an then
I put II on myself, an 1t didn't cost
but pinepence a roll. You see this
room. father; it's all the one I've had
TO work in an eat in an sit in sence
we was married. There amt another
woman in the whole town whose hus-
band amt got half the means you
have but what's got better. It's all
the room Nanny's got to have her
company in an there amt one or her
mates but what's got better, an tneii
fathers not so able as hers Is. It's all
the room she'll have to be married IN
What would you have thought, faith
er, If we had had our weddin IN a
room no better than this? I was mar
ried in my mothers parlor, with a car
pet on the floor, an stuffed furniture
an a mahogany card table. An this
is all the room my daughter will have
to be married in. Look here, father!'
Sarah Penn went across the room
as though 1t were a tragic stage. she
flung open a door and disclosed tiny
bedroom. only large enough for a bed
and bureau, with a path between
There, father" said she-"theres al
the room I've had to sleep in forty
year. All my children were born there
the two that died an the two that's
Twin l was sick with fever there
She stepped to another door and
opened it. 1t led into the small, III
lighted pantry. Here" said she, rs
all the buttery I've got-every place
I've got for my dishes. to set away my
victuals in, an to keep my milk pans
in. Father, I've been takin' care o1
the milk Of six cows in this place, an
now you're goin' to build a new barn
an keep more cows, an give me more
to do in It,"
7 She threw open another door.