The Wife 151 



made when the children unite their destinies 

 with those reared in other households. While 

 she is thinking and planning for all this, we 

 wonder whether her husband has neglected to 

 keep accounts not only with farm, but account 

 of the debt he owes to his wife. Has' he writ 

 down large somewhere in his memory the hour, 

 the day and the year when he put himself under 

 most sacred obligations, — when he became a 

 debtor? Has he cast up this account yearly to 

 see whether he had any credits to place over 

 against that debtor charge which as yet stands 

 unbalanced by an equal credit charge ? 



Is he as mindful of the debt he owes to his wife 

 as little Bud is to the debt of love which he owes 

 to his father, and which he proposes to liquidate ? 

 There are many accounts which should be bal- 

 anced besides those with corn and cattle. In all 

 these pages and those that follow, the attempt 

 is made to impress upon the reader the unhappy 

 effects of carelessness, — carelessness in conduct- 

 ing business, carelessness in discharging duty to 

 other members of the household, and, above all, 

 carelessness in rembering benefits received. A 

 careless memory tends to produce ingratitude 

 and selfishness. 



Of course one's gratitude is due first to one's 

 family, but all broad-minded persons have, or 

 should have, many friends from whom benefits 



