him, and went down. I was just carrying in the breakfast when, Mary, haven't I got a clean handkerchief?' I ran up again. He hadn't. No, it's a fact, out of a dozen, not one clean. I gave him one of mine; but, auntie, I do believe you could have lit a candle by my cheeks; I never did feel so mean in all my life. Well, we had breakfast, at least, he did. As for me, I swallowed tears and digested sobs. I went with him to the door; I always did that. He put on his overcoat; there two buttons he had asked me to sew on the day before were yet missing. He drew on his gloves; they were full of rips. Oh, dear! how I hated myself! I wished he'd say something cross; but he didn't; he kissed me as usual and went away. Well, if I ever cried in my life, it was when I went back to that kitchen. If I had buried him, I couldn't have shed more tears. I might better have gone to work though; for while I cried the fire went out, and the grease hardened on to the dishes, and the water got stone cold. I felt sick of life; and actually wished myself dead. I went up-stairs after a while, and thought I'd go to bed and never try to be anything again. As I passed the bureau, I happened to see my rings on the white cover; I had drawn them off when I went down to the kitchen, after dressing. I took them up mechanically to replace them. As I drew on my pearl one, there flashed over my memory, as distinctly as though I had only heard them the night before, the words Charles said to me when he first slipped it on my finger: I will be a good husband to you, darling, and do all I can to make you happy.' And my answer, I will be a good wife to you, Charles, and do all I can to make you happy.' A good wife!' I said to my self, bitterly. Was I? Poor fellow, not a shirt to his name, with buttons on, not a whole pair of socks in the house, not even a clean handkerchief. I had heard about the stings of a guilty conscience, but I tell you, auntie, I never knew what they were till then, never! I went down those stairs on a double-quick, as the boys say, and in less than no time I had a fire kindled in the stove. As I went to the pantry for the dish-pan, I caught sight of a pumpkin Charles had sent home the week before, but which I had never found time to make into pies. I seized it at once and began paring and stripping; then I went back for something to stew it in. Will you believe it, auntie, there wasn't an identical thing there for me to put that in; everything had something baked or burned or crusted on to it. Can I ever get them clean, ever, ever?' I said to myself. Another sting from conscience,— -a sharp one too. I took up my porcelain kettle and scraped and scraped and washed and rinsed and wiped, and finally got my pumpkin stewing. Then I cleared my table; and, auntie, I worked till four o'clock in the afternoon in that kitchen; but it was in order when I got through, and I had taken time, too, to wash out a couple of handkerchiefs and dry and iron them. I was too tired to go over the whole house and give it the righting it needed, but I did sweep and dust the parlor and our bedroom, and get myself cleaned up before Charles got home to tea." "And she had the best pumpkin pies I ever ate," interrupted he, and there was a tender pity in his tone; for he never could bear to think of that slavish day. "After tea, I sat down and sewed the buttons on his coat, and mended his gloves, and then brought down the basket of socks. 666 You surely aren't going to darn all these to-night, Mary?' he said. 666 Yes, I am,' I answered, and I did. Oh, how tired I was that night, and yet I don't think I was ever happier. I had conquered myself, and I felt a new strength in my heart. The next morning, right after breakfast, I ran out and engaged a woman to come the next day and wash. Then I put the rest of the house in order; and such drawers and closets! Why, if there'd been an earthquake, they couldn't have been more tumbled. Well, it took me a whole week to get fairly righted, and I kept the woman two days, too, and had her wash and iron up everything. Then I went out laid down a rule for myself, and out of them " A VIOLET FANCY. By Mrs. H. L. Bostwick, and hired Betsey, and she has been with me ever since. Some folks have called me extravagant and thought I could get "Evolved the science of housekeeping, along with a little girl; The idea,' they Mollie," — and, he snatched a kiss, say, of paying two dollars a week, when" and made yourself the dearest little she could get help for fifty cents!' but wife and mother in all this wide world!" my lesson had taught me that this halfway economy is death to comfort. Betsey is a competent woman, and, by her careful handling and frugal saving of ALL flowers are beautiful to eyes odds and ends, more than makes up the That read aright their varied dyes, extra wages; and then, I feel perfectly By trodden way or lonely lea, right in leaving all the kitchen work to In bower of art or forest free; her, because I know it will be well done. Yet loveliest in the uncultured wild, But you mustn't think, auntie, that I They mark the spots where God has smiled, have never backslidden. Bad habits are And bring, where'er their beauties shine, not cured in one week. Many and many Sweet lessons from the Heart divine. a hard struggle I had to keep to my res- Yes, flowers are lovely, and most blest olution never to get behindhand, unless Their ministry; yet first and best it was from unforeseen sickness; but II prize among a hundred pets got the harness on after awhile " "And a graceful fit it is too," said her husband, with a proud smile. "The fact is, auntie, housekeeping is a science. You needn't laugh, Charles; I tell you it is. And no woman, I don't care how strong-minded she is, need be ashamed to study it; for it is the base on which happy homes are founded. Only think of the condition we'd have been in, if I had gone on as I commenced. What a pig's nest the house would have been by this time, and what a shabby, seedy, sour-faced individual you'd have been, and what a frowsy-headed, hollow-eyed, slip-shod slattern I'd have been, and baby squalling and dirty and so drenched with catnip and anise and peppermint that she smelt like a bundle of herbs, - just think of it! It's awful now; isn't it?" and her face assumed such a comic-tragic look that Aunt Annie and Mr. Seymour laughed till they cried. "Laughing's good for digestion," said the little wife after awhile, "and so you may laugh on; but I can tell you, young man," and she playfully pulled his whiskers, "you'd have laughed the other side of your mouth, if I hadn't mustered up courage and scraped that kettle when I did. That was the starting-point, and you ought to take off your hat to it every time you see it on the stove; for, with every simmer of that pumpkin, I Sweet, human-looking violets. Yet barred awhile its blest estate, And came to bloom in earthly bower. LEND THINE AID. By Cousin Maggie. CHAPTER I. MARION FAY had come up from her city home by invitation from Uncle Jonn Fay and his family to spend a part or all summer, if she did not get homesick. She came the more willingly as her friend and confidant Mary Gray (who with herself was an acknowledged belle of C) had just become engaged to Ernest Steele, the best and noblest young man of their acquaintance; and Mary was so engrossed with her lover that Marion was quite lonely, and she declared that she would go up to Uncle John's, and there amongst the cornhills and potatoes she should undoubtedly find one of nature's noblemen who, when she brought him home in his thick boots and home-made trousers, as her accepted beau, would throw even Ernest quite in the shade. She did not know much about farmers excepting Uncle John, and, of course, formed her opinion accordingly. affecBut and Cousins Hal, Will, and little Rachel The Anvern farm was contiguous to Uncle John's, and the Anvern farmhouse, an exact likeness of the Fay mansion, was within sight, an eighth of a mile distant. Frank's father and Mr. Fay had been strong friends from youth, and now that the son was left an orphan, with no near relative but a maiden aunt who kept his house, Uncle John and Aunt Maria, as he always called them, felt a strong sympathy and care for him. He was almost as much at home in their house as his own. Frank was superior to many farmer boys in appearance and education. It is a sad fact that too many of our farmers are shamefully ignorant, considering the May was decked with a profusion of advantages of our free institutions. If a dewdrops, violets, and roses when she boy is destined for a farmer, too often a went into the country. She stayed through little knowledge of arithmetic, writing, strawberrying and haying, and now, when and reading is considered education blackberries, early apples, and pears were enough for that occupation. As they ripening, was as far from being homesick grow up, they often feel a deep mortificaas ever. And no wonder. Her uncle tion on account of their ignorance, and was a well-to-do farmer, and in spite of when mingling with men of superior athis heavy boots and coarse clothes, he and tainments sometimes lose their self-respect Aunt Maria knew what comfort and beau- and native independence of character, and ty meant. He was wont to say that his become the tools of men who are often as children should never leave him, if he ignorant, and always more shrewd and could keep them by making home at- selfish. True there are many who do not tractive to them. Everything on his become thus degraded, but it is only when farm was pleasant and in apple-pie order, they have mental and moral strength to from the broad-roofed farmhouse, with withstand the deadening influence of. igits large, airy chambers, cool, tasteful norance. Not until the farmer and meparlors, and large kitchen lined with cup-chanic are as well educated as the men boards, dressers, and sinks, to the great of other professions, shall we become a barns with their closely-packed mows, truly democratic people. and clean, well-ventilated stables. Then there was the grove behind the house, where picnics were sometimes held; the pond with its little sail-boat beyond, and Blackberry Hill, covered with tangled briers and poplars beyond the pond. Uncle John and his wife were kindhearted, sensible, 'well-informed people, Frank had received a solid but not showy education, and had seen enough of the world to give dignity and self-possession to his manners. He was not at all egotistical. He would sit a delighted listener while Marion read from her Italian and French books, translating as she read: and she began to feel new pride and pleasure in her acquirements at the hearty and unaffected admiration of one whom she saw was superior in many respects to most of the men of her acquaintance. She sung him her best songs, rode ⚫ with him, and walked with him; went to picnics and rustic parties and never once missed the society of her city beaus. The berries were ripening upon Blackberry Hill, and an early day was appointed to gather them. The morning previous, Marion despatched a letter to her friends at home telling them of her rustic gayeties, and assuring them that she should stay at Uncle John's until the snowhills frightened her away; then, taking a book, she nestled down upon the sofa under the parlor window. She heard Frank and Hal coming up the walk talking gayly. young men, and had he been a millionnaire, she would have been his choice of all others. But he was a farmer, and his only capital was a farm worth ten thou sand dollars, perhaps, and half as much more on interest. He had sense enough to know that it would not do for him to take a wife whose only efforts in the way of housekeeping were to, now and then, gather an exquisite bouquet for the parlor vases, and whose aunt and cousin, by common consent, took care of her room and wardrobe, not only because they were kind and generous, but because they had an idea that a girl of such varied accomplishments could have no time or taste to do vulgar work like making beds, dusting rooms, or washing muslins. Frank had a vague notion to that effect; yet his strong common sense revolted at the idea. He thought accomplishments should be as the fruits and flowers, ornamenting the substantial repast. If there was not time enough to learn all, then omit one of the ornamental branches, and substitute that necessary accomplishment, "So you have bought that splendid new buggy at the village? Harness black Juan' before it, and you will have the handsomest turnout in town," said Hal. "I suppose you are getting ready for a wife, hey? Of course, it will be Cousin May. You seem to think a 'heap'-housekeeping. As he walked homeof each other, as the Westerners say." "Your cousin is a bewitching girl, and she would make a millionnaire a splendid wife; but she does not know enough to be a farmer's wife." Marion was shocked. The man whom she had just decided to be the embodiment of kindness and generosity, to make such an ungallant speech! It was too bad. She hurried up-stairs to her room, and cried real tears of mortification and chagrin. She was really angry with poor Frank, and did not want to see him again; so she hastily packed her trunks, determined to go home next day. Frank passed the open window as she made her hurried exit from the room, and catching sight of her, he knew she must have heard his careless expression of thoughts which had tormented him for some time. He scarcely regretted it though, yet hated himself that he did not. Of course, she would resent it; and here their pleasant friendship must end. But perhaps it was best so. The truth was, Frank was as susceptible to the charms of a pretty, accomplished girl as other ward that morning, he cursed the whole system of American aristocracy, which considers labor, or even a knowledge of household duties, a disgrace to a lady. His mind reverted to the terrible rebellion just begun, caused by that very system united to a cruel love of dominion; and he resolved to lend his strength on the side of justice and the dignity of labor. He would enlist. He had never realized how necessary a reform was until now. Meanwhile, he would not go to Uncle John's again while Marion stayed. He disliked to meet her as much as she did him. He did not have to stay away long, however; for early next morning, in spite of the astonished remonstrances of the family (all excepting kind, discreet Hal), Marion left for home. A week later, and Frank began his soldier life. CHAPTER II. It was a late summer day of unrivalled beauty, and the fashionable city streets were thronged with its beauty and elite. But Mary Gray sat alone in her boudoir reading. There came a light rap upon her door, and, ere she could answer, should I ever be the mother of children, Marion Fay walked in. I "Is it really you, dear May?" said Mary, greeting her affectionately. am glad you are home again; but I thought you were not coming until you had had a sleigh-ride?" "I heard mysterious accounts concerning you, and thought best to come and see about it. Is it true that Ernest has gone to war, and that you have renounced balls, etc.?" "It is true that Ernest has gone to war, and that I do not care, now that he has given up the comforts of his former life for his country's service, to engage in my former frivolous amusements." "So you dress like a Quakeress, read ancient history, and shut yourself up in the house when all the world are enjoying this glorious day, and all because Ernest has enlisted!" "He has freely offered his life for his country, and I can do no less than all in my power to aid the cause." Pray how will you aid the cause by reading these musty books, and shutting yourself up in the house in Quaker at tire?" "I do not shut myself up. I took a long walk this morning before the dew had left the country meadows, and carried what comfort I could to a poor family whose husband and father was killed at Manasses. I call upon my friends, and receive their visits as often as is necessary." "But you have not told me how all this is going to help the country." "As far as my influence goes, my example will be partly or wholly followed. So, if I dress plainly, I check extravagance; if I discountenance follies, there may be a slight gravitation toward wisdom; if I try to make myself like the mother or wife of Washington, others may seek the same high goal. Thus I have commenced taking lessons in housekeeping of my mother, that if ever I am mistress of a home, I may manage it with the wisdom and prudence which is ascribed to them. I am studying the history of nations, that I may become an intelligent and just patriot, that I may, be capable of making them such; for a mother has the power to, and does generally, make her children what they are, great and wise, or wicked and unworthy. With all these self-imposed and new duties, it is impossible for me to continue my former idle, and I am sorry that it is so fashionable life." Marion sat in round-eyed wonder. She but dimly comprehended the import of her friend's words; she only felt that Mary had changed, and had got far beyond her former self. The reason for this change she did not appreciate. But Mary had parted with one who had won, not simply her heart's best affections, but her deepest reverence for virtues which she knew were rare in the gilded life she led. He had gone to meet certain suffering and peril, and perhaps death, for his country's honor and her life; and Mary had heart and soul enough to realize the solemn sacrifice, and energy enough to emulate his example. She smiled at Marion's expression and said, — "Forgive my egotism, dear May; but the truth is, I am determined to gain you for my first convert, and to do this I wish to convince your reason. To make our republican institutions permanent, the people must be moral. First, they must be just, then firm in that justice. They must also be intelligent; for ignorance often in many ways thwarts a righteous end. To attain the highest strength, moral and mental, habits of industry must be formed. You and I can see that the idle young men of our acquaintance are either dissipated or so shallow as to be disgusting. Our American fathers, the founders of these institutions, were eminent for all these virtues; therefore, the nation became stable and prosperous. Their children inherited most of their parents' sterling qualities, and wealth and greatness flowed in upon them. But with wealth came pride of place and power and idleness, with its enervating influences, until even our Northern society is rotten to the core. Had we been what we shou'd have been, the South would not have ventured to rebel, looking, as they undoubtedly did, for discord |