A LITTLE STORY WITH A BIG MEANING.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 5, 2 February 1899, Page 28

A LITTLE STORY WITH A BIG MEANING.

'Hestee!' exclaimed Aunt Susan, ceasing her rocking and iT^y^hZ^''* 0 JOU "»" *** »•» " 1 What do you mean ? ' was the startled reply ' He will marry the sweetest-tempered girl he can find ' Oh, Auntie ! ' Hester began. l^nin^K*^**???* m l un , til l have finished,' said Aunt Susan, leaning back and taking her knitting. • She may not be as good a natured.' Per ™ 7 ° U ate ~ m aCt> * tMnk nn ° fc ; she will be ' Why, auntie ' vnnr'l^ *"{! ?? m P osedl y continued Aunt Susan. 'To-day your husband was half-way across the kitchen floor bringing you a couple of fresh-cut cucumbers from the garden, and all you did was lit fl°" aDd T : .;T here> Wi i 1 ' jUBt see I™* footmLks on^ny clean floor ; I won't have my floors dirtied." Some men would have thrown the cucumbers out of the window. To-day you screwed up your face when he kissed you, because his moustache was damp, and said • " I never want you to kiss me a"-am " When he empties anything, you tell him not to gpill it Fro.n morning until night your sharp voice is heard complaining and fault-finding. And last winter when you were ill, you scolded him for allowing the taps in tbe kitchen to freeze, and took no notice when he said • I was so anxious about you that I did not think of the taps " ' ' ' But, auntie ' F ' 'Hearken child. The strongest and most intelligent of men all care more fora woman's tenderness than for anything else in the world ; and without this the cleverest and most perfect housekeeper is sure to lose her husband's affections in time. There may be a few more men like Will-as gentle, as loving, as chivalrous, as forgetful of self, and co satisfied with loving that their affections will die a f lo f n S< struggling aeath ; but in most cases it takes but a few years rffretf ulness and faultfinding to turn a husband's love into irritated indifference. ' But, auntie ' hn « Y fV W6l J' y °!J QOt de t d yet) and the BWeet matured woman has not been found . so you have time tQ becQme so sweet that your husband can never imagine that there is a bettertempered woman m existence.'