SOLVING THE DIFFICULTY

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 39, 26 September 1907, Page 5

SOLVING THE DIFFICULTY

People blamed Pat O'Hara for marrying Nellie Lee, and the elders shook their heads, as they remarked to" each other : ' They are a foolish pair : Nellie can't turn her hand -to housekeeping, and the poor boy is taken with her good looks and bits of finery. She has never been accustomed to do anything in the house, having her mother and elder sisters, and they never think of asking pretty Nellie to soil her hands. She has grown un fit for nothing, except to Sress herself Up like a doll.'

Notwithstanding all the talk, Pat felt proud and happy on the day - when he, brought- home his young wife - and installed her as - mistress of his pretty cottage, just outside the town. ■ All went well for a short time. Pat was not hard to please, and kind neighbors helped Nellie at first ;• but they soon got tired and left her to her ■ own ,resources. The poor little wife could not cook," she had never been taught how to keep a house, and Pat was often obliged to go v back to his work with nothing better for dinner than bread and boiled tea. The house was dirty and in disorder, and Nellie soon got tired of keeping herself tidy. ■ * \ Twelve years passed, and what a change ! The once bright and handsome girl was now a care-worn woman, the mother of five children. She never knew when her husband would return' at night, for,- poor man, he dreaded the confusion of the house, with the children crying, the mother scolding, and everything in confusion. Pat found it more pleasant to pass his evenings where he would have peace and a comfortable fire in the public house ; besides, he had companions like himself, and a good deal of the week's earnings was left there. Nellie's eldest child, Kitty, was now eleVen years old ; Mollie nine, and Johnnie six. The baby was but a year old, and a child of three had died. One day when the children returned from school they told their mother that they were ' learning to cook and to clean a house.' Mrs. O'Hara did not heed them much, as each day they related to^ her about the various things they had learned. Kitty begged ' to be let* try something,' but the mother refused. ' Where' can I get things for you to cook ? ' she. said. ' We can't afford dainties.' ' But, mother,' said the child, 'we can c.ook vegetables. We .have plenty in the garden. Mollie and Johnnie can help too.' Mrs. O'Hara laughed at the ' nonsense- of children,' and .refused to have her house upset. The nuns told the -children to practise at home what they had been taught in school, but Kitty ;told theni that her mother would not let her. "Never mind, child,' said the Sister, 'we'll see her soon.' Accordingly, one day the Sisters called on Mrs. O'Hara ; the poor woman was in disorder as usual, anjd apologised for the state in which they found her and the place. ' I have so much to do, Sister,' said she, ' be- 1 tween getting the dinner ready and minding the baby, that I have no time to clean the house.' ' Why don't you get the children to help you |? ' said Sister Patrick. i ' Oh ! I could not be looking at them pulling the things about,' she replied ; " they would smash every- ' Thing.' ' i ! |T 'No,'! said the Sister, 'they would not; we,' find Kitty very handy ; she has a taste for housekeeping.' 1 It's easy for you to talk, Sister,' said s the woman, ' bift if you had a home like this, and a man drinking half his earnings, and coming in at all hours of the night, I wonder what you would do 'I ' ' I would try and find a way out of the difficulty, 1 laughed the Sister. ' Suppose now you allow the children to-morrow to do as they have been taught . ,inschool, and try just for one day to let them have the responsibility. I promise you they will not break anything.' 'Very' well, Sister, let" them do so, as to-rmorrow will be Saturday ; but I know what to expect:' The next morning Kitty said : 'Mother, you are to do nothing to-day after breakfast, 'but mind baby and sit in the garden.' '• I know I'll pay for my holiday,' said Mrs. O'Hara. - ' We have no meat for- dinner.' 5 Never mind ; we can have vegetable soup and colcannon,' answered Kitty. - Little Johnnie was to take part in the cleaning ;; so he got a coarse apron on and some whiting with cloths, arid the girls set him to work, rubbing spoons, tins and lids of pots. ■ They got the vegetables and put* them on to boil, having first cleaned and prepared therru Mollie then proceeded to take all the dishes off the dresser, and set about washing them, whilst ' Kitty cleaned and scrubbed the shelves. That task completed, they arranged the things in order again. By this time the vegetables were boiled,' and Kitty commenced .peeling the potatoes and chopped iip the cabbage for the colcannon, then mixed ui> the other vege- - tables and made the soup as she had been directed, Mollie meanwhile cleaning the knives and forks. They next got the table-cloth, 'which Mrs. O'Hara

Kept hidden' away (it was seldom used", the washing being enough, without that added on), spread it on the table and laid thje clean knives, forks,, and -spoons, aa they had been taught to do. When the father came in to dinner, the .children called mother, and both ' she and her husband looked with amazement ■at the table. 1 Good gracious ! ' exclaimed Mrs. O'Hara, ' what have you been doing ? ' The children laughed. ' We must have dinner now, while it is hot ' said Kitty. She then helped them to soup (such a luxury had been unknown to Pat since his marriage). , Then came the wonderful dish of -colcannon/ The parents were delighted, and confessed that they had not got such a dinner for a long time. , ' I never thought you could make such soup without meat,' said the mother. ' What lovely bright spoons,' said the father, as he held up one. ' I shined it'! ' proudly answered Johnnie. When the father was going out, Mollie caught him at the door, and taking his hand, said : 1 You must be home at seven this evening, father ;.• we are having cakes for Tea and they must be eaten hot.' ' I don't know,' said he ; ' I may aneet some one to Help me.' ' Promise for this time,' pleaded the child ; 'we want you.' 1 Very well, Mollie,' said he, ' I'll try.' The children had a busy evening. Johnnie was put to" clean the Windows, and the girls washed and polished all the utensils, till everything shone, They then washed the tiled floor. They had some cold potatoes left from dinner, so they made potato cakes. When seven o'clock came, the father returned, much to the surprise of his wife. 'You see, Mollie,' he said, 'these cakes iriust v be eaten hot.' Everyone seemed pleased with the day's .work, and the mother said she would have let them try before, if she had 'known they could do so welh ''You though^ we could do nothing, mother,' said Kitty, { and we mean to keep the house like' this always.' Fl'rnn day there was a in the cottage. Ihe mother took a lesson from the children, and gave them a little spare room to which they carried their books and playthings, which before had been thrown in various places. Mis. O Tiara found time now to' keep herself tidy. The husband came home i early " and was delighted to find a bright hearth and a cheerful family waiting to greet him. He seemed interested in his children, and was much amused to heat Kitty instructing her mother .as to the quantity of ingredients to beused in various dishes. Moreover, he took the pledge, and brought home all his wages, so that better food could be procured, which gave the children an opportunity of displaying their knowledge, and the mother soon became a thrifty 'housekeeper. They had family prayers at night now, as Pat was home early ; therefore they could retire at a reasonable hour and rise in the morning in time to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in turn each day. m Det us take a look three months later at the cottage. The sun's dazzling rays are shining on the bright window-panes. Mrs. O'Hara has a spotless white apron on, and her hair 4s braided back from a smiling happy face. She and her husband are sitting in the porch, jpach a hand of baby, as he tries to walk. ' .You look something like your old self, Nellie ' remarked the husband. ' What an iflle good-for-nothing girl I was, Pat when you married me,' she replied, .' but experience has taught me a useful lesson, and I thank * God that the children will be able to do something for themselves in after life.' c Never mind, little woman,' said he, 'I- am proud of my house now ; it is fit for any one to enter.' Why! here are the Sisters coming to visit us.' The good nuns praised the children for their industry, and Mrs. O'Hara thanked Sister Patrick for the suggestion 1 she Had made some time ago, .of 'finding a way out of the difficulty.' , Moreover, at Sister Patrick's further suggestion, the family always assemble together at night, father and mother and children, to recite the c .family Rosary,' and it seems to have brought a wonderful blessing on Pat O Hara s home—' Messenger of the Sacred Heart.'

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