Evening star., 1922-07-30

house always made Aunt Emily look a
thousand years old, 'they wore on her
So" they upset so the perfect order
Of her wonderfully kept house" And
yet they did their best not to wear on
her. by keeping away from her as much
as possible. They never went home
from school until IL was actually supper
time, and always played in our yard. not
their own.
THE result was that Aunt Emily was
left quite to herself in a Sahara
desert Of lonely housekeeping and des-
perate economies with the poor pittance
which was all that Uncle Charles could
earn. Her thin face grew grim and
dark. as she mended and patched and
turned and dyed and performed miracles
on tough necks of mutton and cheap
curtain materials. All Of it she did with
superlaeive skill. but burning and raging
inwardly (and many times not SO very
inwardly) against the necessity of doing
1t at all. and crying out bitterly with
many fits of hysterical tears that she
was killing herself for her family, and
nobody gave her a bit Of credit for it.
Oh, yes. everybody lodged when Aunt
Emily hove in view, Father as much as
the rest. in spite Of all his extenuations.
Whenever we did have to go there. on
unavoidable errands, we children would
stand in the doorway, and assure her
volubly that we couldn't come in. be-
cause our feet were muddy. This
oh hn rf hai
told severely to hurry along. then, and
not get the whole house cold, with that
door standing open.
Then came the climax In their mis-
fortune. as If they were not already suf-
ficiently singled out for misery. Uncle
Charles fell on the stairs and hurt him
self terribly. threw several vertebrae
out of position, I believe. SO that he lay
almost wholly paralyzed from the waist
down. And not a penny of savings to
pay the doctor. not even tho groo
bill at the end Of the month. 1t e. s
disaster r-absolute, black. irreparable
disaster. Aunt Emily was stunned into
silence, a dreadful gray silence. as Of
some one whose grudge against fate is
rising to mania 1 remember hearing
father say to mother, after he came
back from his turn at spending a night
of care for Uncle Charles, I'm afraid
of the woman. I positively am. She
looks as though she'd 30 mad" well.
It's not out Of sympathy for her poor
husband, that's sure" mother answered
acidly.
What do you suppose was the result
of that terrific accumulation of emo
ton in Aunt Emily? What was the
momentous, tremendous decision to
reach which, in 1885. it was necessary
for her to rise to that pitch Of frenzy?
Why, nothing more nor less than this
and in those days 1t was a decision
both momentous and tremendous for
any married woman with children
she put on her bonnet-yes, bonnet-it
was in the last days of bonnets. when
only young girls wore hats-and
marched down town to ask for work
in Emery's Emporium.
She got it, Of course. Even IL it had
not been Aunt Emily the humane head
of the firm would have felt under some
obligation to the wife OF a faithful en-
ploye of such long standing. And in
addition to this 1t was Aunt Emily
Of course, she got what she went after.
She was put-well, don't know that
I ever heard just in what small corner
she was put at first, as an experiment;
something easy and simple to suit her
supposed inexperience of business and
her supposed feminine incapacity for it.
The life at home was organized some
how, anyhow, as best they could with
different cousins taking turns to go in
and help out with the work. Uncle
Charles did not suffer any pain. and was
quite himself as far as his head was
concerned, his body like a log in the
bed, but his eyes bright his fine sens1-