Arizona republican., 1922-04-09

Outwardly Agatha was the meekest
and most self effacing little woman.
Inwardly-but nobody knew what she
was inwardly. She scarcely knew
herself All the thinking. reasoning
part of her had been restricted so
long.
AS the years went on she saw what
her husband was doing to her chill
dren. not what he had done to her.
He was dominating to the ruination
of their individuality. If they did
ANYTHING or wished to do anything
there always arose the question:
'eWill father permit it?" frequently
he did not permit it. sometimes
Agatha thought he prohibited merely
for the sake of exercising his author-
ity. But she never let the children
know the way she felt. She taught
them tc respect him in the highest
manner, to heed him, to obey. For,
after all, he meant we'll. Besidess
only in this way could she have peace
from the narrowing fear that she did
not always mentally subject hersen
to Aer husband in the way women
are commanded in the Scriptures.
jefferson Dence died suddenly at
his office He was gone before
Agatha realized it-gone forever out
of the house he had built with the
expectation of living in 1t until he
was at least four score years and
ten.
There Agatha was: there were her
three children without the guiding
power that had controlled their lives
for so many years. Edna was nine
teen. Louise seventeen. Vincent SIX
teen: but they might have been ten
oil nf
ability to act or reason We're con-
cerned. Their father had always di-
rected their thought until they
seemed to have none for themselves.
And they did not believe in their
mother. Agatha knew that even be-
fore they came to her crying: What
shall we do? How are we going to
live now that father has gomez
Agatha could not answer. The
shock of her bereavement had thrown
her into a nervous illness. The doc
tor made her go to bed, and she lay
there for q week under his care. All
that week she thought. Suddenly
she began to feel individual, strong,
determined. Jefferson was gone for
ever. She must learn to do without
him, to help the children to do with
out him. For her children's sake she
must choose to do the right thing.
She arose from the bed with her
will and purpose almost as unsteady
as her feet. Jefferson had left plans
for the children's future, but she
never had agreed with him that Vim
cent should enter a mechanical
school and Edna and Louise an art
institution. 1t was going to be a
great experiment to do something
with them that her husband had not
recommended. But as her body grew
strong her determination also
strengthened. She gathered the chill
dren and they had a plain talk to-
gether. She found out what they
wanted. for they had wanted some-
thing quite different from what their
father had planned for them. Vim
cent wanted to go to military school.
Edna wanted to do plain teaching,
Louise had a longing for physical cul-
ture. They seemed overcome when
Agatha informed them that their
wishes were to be gratified.
Agatha sent them away that fail.
It was very hard. She had great
deal Of leisure and she began to read
and go out among people. That VIM
ter was the great reconstruction per-
iod of her life, and she knew from
her children's letters that they We're
passing through the same experience
When they wrote her for directions
she always replied by telling them to
reason it out with themselves. You
must learn to be women" she told
her daughters. "You must learn to
be a man." she told her son. Thrice
during that winter Agatha's children
came home to her and each time she
saw fresh changes in them. They
were all becoming self-reliant, quick
to decide, ready to plan out their own
lives. Their enthusiasm frightened
and heartened her.
Spring came and Agatha began TO
look forward to her children being