Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1920-03-10
A DOMESTIC
LESSON
By JESSIE E. SHERWIN

Copyright. 1920. Western Newspaper Union)
"When Serena Bartlett married Will
lizard Farson." observed Mr.. Abel
Ward
Better get it right. as you never
do objected Mrs Dorcas Ward. you
mean Selma"
Il don't Her name is Serena, as !
have every reason to know. Think
I've forgotten making out all kinds of
documents for Serena, daughter of
John Bartlett when he died and l
was employed in the county clerks
office back there at Farmington?
"SELINA-Selinal Poor spelling,
Abel, as well as failing memory"
This was too much for the self-opin
donated Abel and he left the room,
slamming the door after him.
Always stubborn and always
wrong" he ground out, as expressing
his opinion of his arbitrary wife.
Guessing at things as usual and
never getting them right" commented
Dorcas. Il hope I'm not in my dotage,
that can't remember simple famil-
lar name"
1t was a sample of the weekly,
sometimes daily, quarrels and hicker-
ings in the Ward family. AT the end
of twenty years of quite comfortable
and harmonious domestic life, Abel
and Dorcas were forming habit of
contrariness and contradiction that
babe fair to wreck the family institu-
ton. 1t had been accentuated more
recently by involving Leila, their only
daughter, in the general ensemble.
She was away at school approaching
creditable graduation, and it and her
first love experience were married by
the temperamental idiosyncracies of
her parents. Her prospective fiance
was Gerald Eyre. Abel had liked him
from the first, and took pride in be-
lieving that he came from "the well
established Eyre family" whom he
had heard of when a lad. That was
enough to arouse the 'arverse spirit
of Dorcas. She made Leila miserable
by expressing a dislike for the lover
whom Abel favored, and whom she
told he was thinking of the Ayres, NOT
the Eyre family, which led to the
usual battle of discussion and vari.
ance.
Abel was so wrought up that when
he arrived at the Office he made
confidant of his partner as to the nag
ging spirit of his wife In general, and
the Serena-Selina incident in particu
lar.
"All right go and see this Serena
lady and get her to establish your
claim. Prove thereby to your wife
that you are correct. Follow up that
system a few times and you will prob
ably break up her really unpleasant
disputatious pastime."
Now it was singular in way.
though quite natural, that the same
thought should have occurred to Mrs.
Ward. That was why at the same
hour husband and wife arrived at the
home of their old-time acquaintance,
forty miles distant by rail. Dorcas
looked suspicious and Abel confused
as they met Unexpectedly on the porch
of the lady's home, but, before they
could explain or recover mutual eQua-
nimity, she who was now Mrs. Par
sons, appeared at the door of the
house. She was attired In mourning,
looked sad and troubled, but she well
coined these old-time friends in
pleasant way, showed them into the
parlor and looked questioningly at
them as she noted that they were pal
pably embarrassed.
May as well tell just what we came
for" blurted out Abel, and he recited
with the words:
"Just tell Dorcas that it's Serena,
will your"
"No, Sellnaw interposed his per-
sistent shelpmeet.
you are both in error" continued
Mrs. Parsons.
"Tben what is it?" challenged Abel.
at is, and always has been, Cyra-
thea"
Abel sort of shrank down in his
chair and Dorcas cast a vagueful look
at him, as If he had cheated her out
of a treasured possession.
"Wip you let me say something that
is in my heart, dear friends?" sug.
gested the lady seriously. 1T is plain
that you are entering a perilous ex-
perience in wasting your time and
hurting one another's feelings, prompt
ed by trivial matters on which you
disagree. 1 speak from experience"
and the speaker sighed sorrowfully.
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