The Washington herald., 1913-08-20
By FRANCES sHAFFER.

1t Is delightful, in the home. to see
mothers whose every act bespeaks the
love in their hearts for their own, re-
freshing to note them patiently, wisely,
molding little characters, an the while
guiding and guarding their small folk In
the tenderest fashion.
As We look upon them and try to meas
ure the extent of their work We count
them veritable queens among women and
nav that theirs was the true mother love.
and we add that women like that would
be royal whatever, wherever their lot in
life.
But wait.
Does the love that guides them stop
with their own. and put up the bars
against the little stranger-folk on the
outside who chance to brush up against
them in the travels Of life? Or is 1t the
brand that abundantly gives TO its own
and still has something to spare for some
tiny waif desperately in need of mother
ing?
That, II seems to some Of US, is the real
test of a women, not. perhaps, Of her
service as mother nor of the love that
reaches her owl. but of the real nobility
of make-up-yes. and the all-embracing
mother-love that is deep-rooted and does
not need the personal note to call ii out.
1t is easy enough to love the little home
folk; that is all taken for granted, for it
comes when the little ones come. We
look for devotion, for sacrifices. for
thought and service in their behalf. But
after all. what does that show, more
than the true blue of the love itself. for
that kind of service is natural? The big,
broad, the. noble woman is the one who
has the kind of love that responds to a
child-call when the spur of personal love
is missing. For it is nothing but real
nobility of heart that makes some women
sometimes they are mothers. often not
go far out Of their way to extend service
to 4 stranger-child whose only appeal Is
its helplessness and its exceeding need.
Some Love Only Their Own.
While a woman may be deeply con-
cerned for her own every minute of the
day. the whole story is not told until we
know something of her attitude toward
the little ones whose way is thorny and
unattractive. For sometimes it happens
that in her dealings with those who need
a bit of her fostering care, all sympathy.
consideration. and desire to serve quietly
slip out of sight, and coldness, hardness,
and indifference easily take their place.
They have love for their own, it is true:
and one would not take one bit from the
tender grace of that: but when it stops
right there, it is strongly STEPPED in self.
And folk have a right to be proud and
to cherish their memories of mothers if.
intertwined with the love and care that
never failed in the home. there was
generous bit to spare for little outsiders.
not friends on a par with themselves. just
needy little strangers that passed like the
ships in the night, seen and spoken very
briefly, then gone in the darkness. Be-
cause those are the acts that faithfully
betray the women, as well as the moth
ers
But the tests do not end with mothers;
they reach the whole world. We expect
men to be thoughtful, very considerate.
chivalric, and kind to the women within
their own home circle or among their
closest friends. They are courtly and
true because there is the personal element
of love or friendship and because-well.
because they want to be courtly and true.
But when they step aside from their
homes and their friends to women who
offer no real appeal of their own. and