The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-02-07
MARTHA. BURDEN BEARER.

1T is the. same old story" ex-
claimed Martha heatedly. ED COM
ing home every night to a disorderly
house, with half-cooked meals set in
the hot kitchen and no cloth, the chill
dren dirty and Nora a perfect fright.
This morning, mother, she had on
silk kimona, one of her wedding
things, positively greasy and half
buttoned. Even her shoes were run
down at the heels and unlaced, al |
though it was eleven o'clock in the
day. ...
Hush, my dear" There was gentle
reproof in the tone.
ooh, I can't hush, mother When
one thinks what a good boy Ed, was
and how he was used to everything
nice-and decent-it makes me boil
inwardly. Why did he ever marry
Nora?' She rose in her emotion and
paced the room, clenching her dainty
fists in her excitement.
Mrs. Harrington gazed pensively out
of the window. The same question
had forced itself before her own mind
more than once, yet she answered in
a tone that struggled to be loyal,
Marriages are made in heaven, my
dear"
Martha dropped to her knees beside
her mothers chair and gaZed earnest
ly at the calm face, family marked
with wrinkles and framed with a mass
of curling grey hair that added dig
nifty to the motherly form.
do you really think that marriages
are always made in heaven, Mother?
that it is impossible to make mis-
take? Don't you," with increasing
earnestness, "think that Nora and Ed
have made a mistaken
A shade of anxiety crossed Mrs.
| Harrington's face and her lips trem-
| bled slightly. Yet she smiled brave
| ly into her daughters eyes.
Il would hardly say that. They
went together long enough to know
whether they were suited or not
| Seven years, mother
| For a while the two were silent.
Evening was softly falling. A gentle
| breeze stirring carried to them the
odors of old-fashioned flowers, Of hon
eysuckle, lilac and arbutus.
Mother" said Martha softly, eff 7
ever thought there was any chance
that John and I would make such q
miss of it, could never bring myself
to- She did not finish the sentence,
but buried her head in her mothers
lap. For fully fifteen minutes she
knelt there while Mrs Harrington S
soft hands caressed the bowed head
and soothed away the doubt. The
mother wisely refrained from speech
1t was seven years since her son had
married Nora Graydon, the reigning
belle of the town. The match had
been seemingly a successful one and
1.-THE first years dream of bliss. There
were two children, the Cherub, Mar
tha's namesake, aged five years. and
Billy-boy, who was almost four. When
the second baby arrived Nora seemed
ever, with trip to the lakes and
came home, a rayishing picture OF
beautiful womanhood. But all pride
in her home and all interest in dress
and personal appearance seemed tc
have died in her. Martha, paying hel
an unexpected visit, had found the
house in a turmoil, the children badly
behaved and poorly dressed, Nora {
picture of slovenliness. Her untidi
ness was the more striking because
she persisted in wearing silk and lace
garments that rarely saw cleaner OF
an iron. Buttons, hooks and eyes
when they fell off, disappeared for
ever, since pins and safety-hooks coult
be purchased in abundance for small
sum. The once fastidious girl hat
changed to a negligent woman wht
- apparently had no other interest il
life beyond eating and sleeping. He
hair had lost it's beautiful gloss, he
eyes their luster, her once transpar
ent skin was blotched with pimple
and wrinkles were forming in her flat
6 by white flesh. Her form, too, wa
rapidly losing it's former youthful sup
pleness. No wonder that Mrs. Han
;, rington's heart bled for her son; tina
:, Martha should lose her perspective
and wonder, if life could turn out 81
badly for her brother, what the fate
- had in store for herself.
l. While they sat there Mrs. Harring
tons eyes CHANGED to rest on an oil
2 motto embroidered in vari-colore'
n silks by some gentle hands of a pas
generation-'Bear Ye One Another
+ Burdens" 1t hung on the wall of tn
sitting room in a shabby brown franz
= that had stood the storm and criticism
of ,innumerable house-cleanings and re
adjustments.
V "Why, that little sentence ha
helped me all my life Mother Hal
}. rington would say when protests be
d came too strong for argument. Gu
e faults are our burdens, my dears, an
particularly burdensome they ar
when we do not know we posses
# them. When l feel inclined to crit
f else or condemn this sentence ha
lcompelled me to be charitable and t
e help bear the burden of human ills.
And now, in this new crisis, wit
= her sons life threatening to lead
the breakers, and Martha standin
with reluctance and doubt on tn
II Tho Jift1o. COZ