Evening star., 1926-08-21


would do credit to professional
writer.
Again my hopes scared. The child
could write-there was no doubt of Il.
Miss Masland and Miss Eltinge, heads
of the Gardner School. believed that
she had talent that foreshadowed
genius. She had written goodish
bit of verse, too-some of 1t surpris-
ingly good. some of it very mediocre
and her short essays, book reviews
and criticisms were considered the
best submitted in her classes in Eng
lish composition.
But knew that Elizabeth was lazy:
that she as yet had no real ambition
to write. OF course. I realized that
her school work and her play life
kept her very busy and absorbed and
did not scold or nag her into writ
ing stories outside of her class assign
ments. But how ! did wish that she
would,
AS she grew older she took more
and more of the hOusewOrk off my
hands FOR again my health failed and
I did not have the strength to do the
heavy cleaning. She scrubbed floors
swept carpets, washed dishes. made
beds, even cooked a great many of
the meals. | cannot pretend that she
did 1t joyOusly singing blithely as she
swept and scrubbed. for she makes
no secret of the fact that she does
not like housewOrk and that she can
be just as happy in an unswept. un-
busted room as in an immaculate one.
But she knows that / cannot exist
in disorder. and. since ! am not strong
and she is. she does more than her
share of the work uncomplainingly
She never does any job Of housework
with entirely satisfactory thorough
ness, however. When | make my
rounds of inspection l find stains In
the sink. patches of overlooked dust
on the book shelves. a roll of lint
under a bed.
Her slipshod way of doing house
work is the only serious fault ! can
find in her outside of general care
lessneSS tnat extends to her personal
appearance. 1t has caused me To lose
my temper and rail at her more times
than I can count. and the fact that
she never answers back or in any
way attempts to defend herself against
my angry charges does not make me
great deal happier.
For 7 feel that these are occasions
| when l take advantage of the fact
that ! am the mother and she the
child. Our Comradeship is lost sight
of in parental discipline. Afterward.
when | realize that | have been un
| just, that | have expected too much
of her. l apologize. She protests that
! il is all her fault because she is not
| thorough. We forgive each other.
kiss and make up.
Work Benefits Elizabeth.
Because of her size and her pre-
cocious mentality. / have always eX-
| pected more Of her than is quite fair.
| but i'm the main I do not believe it
| has done her any real harm She has
taken the responsibilities which this
attitude of mine has thrust upon her
and has become a real helpmate and
compa niOn.
If there had ever been enough
money for servants | should unNlOubt-
edly have employed them. Elizabeth
would have been as free of home
duties as are other girls of her age.
| and she would have been far less well
prepared for the demands of life than
she now is. On the whole. l am not
sorry that she has had to perform
! menial tasks which were distasteful To
| her.
| In July, 1924, the two magazines of
| which I was respectively managing
editor and edltor-in-chief We're sold.
and | voluntarily abrogated my con-
| tract. asking only a months salary
| as notice | was worn out with too
much work and welcomed the chance
| to try my hand at frce-lancing Tor
| the magazines.
knew my health could not be
| counted on and | lay awake many IL
night. cold with fear that | could not
sell my stories and that Elizabeth
would be denied the things ! so much
wanted for her. but that same fear
| spur-red me to prOdiciOuS efforts, ami
| within a few weeks it was quite ap-
parent that | could make as much
money or more than l had earned as
| a magazine editor.
| Although the last two years have
been broken into repeatedly with long
illnesses. including two major opera
tions. have managed to make, in the
| six or eight months l worked during
| each year. far more than | had ever
earned before. If illness had not alb
sOrbcd my savings, that servant or
which l think of longingly at times
might we'll have been afforded, and my
cherished dream of taking Elizabeth
to Europe this Fail, rather than en-
| ter her in college at the age OF IL.
could have been realized.
Separated for Months.
| In spite of handiCaps. however. !
! have been q more or less regular con
! tributor to Il magazines and have held
! staff positions on two--nOt a had rec
! ora Tor the QrSt Two years Oh lTe"-
lancing. And this Spring, in spite of
! illness. finished long novel. for
which have high hopes.
| During the latter part Of 1924-1923
| and the first half of 1926 was forced
! by illness TO he away from Elizabeth
! for a total Of eight months. Three
| long hospital visits and two trips--to
! Florida and California-in search of
climate that would be beneficial tell
! tho story from my standpoint IN
nutshell but their effect on Elizabeth
cannot he dismissed so easily. She
| found herself deprived of the Compan-
ionship that exists between us, and
she learned how much she had grown
| to depend upon the love | had always
| lavished upon her She missed kee1lv
the mental stimulation of those brisk
conversations IN which she had taken
| her full share with my friends, and
| she almost lost that desire to do as
| most of my friends and / were
| doing-expressing ourselves in words.
| Writing became a chore. rather than
a pleasure. She wrote nothing that
WIS not demanded of her in her Eng
| liSh classes.