20 



HOME ANL FLOWERS 



baskets and tra3's of them sent to the sick 

 and sorrowing, and pale waxen blooms to 

 be clasped in cold, still fingers. 



He fairly felt her thoughts, and the 

 flower garden, which had not heretofore 

 appealed to him very strongly, began to 

 seem to him this last night, as it had ever 

 done to her, the ver}^ heart of the home, 

 and the essence of the happy past, to which 

 they were bidding good-by. 



"Edna," he said at length, "yon are 

 trying to shnt me ont of your thonghts. 

 Tell me what is in your heart." 



"Just this little thing, dear," she re- 

 plied, choking back a sob. "I'm rebellious 

 at the picture I see of this garden I have 

 so loved. I can almost see the rose bushes, 

 and all this, neglected and overgrown, as 

 renting people so often keep their grounds, 

 you know. They could not abuse the house 

 so that a few days' work would not make it 

 as sweet and clean as new, but after a little 

 neglect the garden would require years to 

 restore its beauty." 



"Is that the only thought you were shut- 

 ting me away from?" 



"Xo," she said, softly, "I was remember- 

 ing what Emerson said, ^Beware the 

 dream of thy youth, for it shall overtake 

 thee, even though thou wert on a desert 

 island.-' My nightmare for years has been 

 the dread of an unsettled, homeless life for 

 our children and ourselves, and tonight I 

 realize that my dream is al)0ut to overtake 

 me." 



It had grown quite dark, and she leaned 

 her head on his shoulder and gave way to 

 the sobs which had been choking her so 

 long. He put his arm about her tenderly, 

 but his own heart was too sore for him to 

 try to encourage her with hopeful words of 

 the untried future, and they stood silently 

 there until she grew quiet again. Then 

 they went into the dismantled house where 

 the four children were frolicking and 

 talking together of the morrow's journey. 



Chapter II. 

 "VThen ^Irs. Waring looked through her 

 tears at the House of Happy Hours, her 



heart sank within her, for she felt that she 

 was leaving the sweeter part of her life 

 behind her. To begin again, almost empty- 

 handed, to rear the little ones among new 

 and distasteful surroimdings, to give up 

 her pleasant social ties, and, above all, 

 that insistent responsibility which would 

 not be put aside — that necessity for her 

 to show courage and hopefulness in the 

 situation for her husband's sake — it was 

 all too much for her. All through that 

 day's journey she was possessed with some- 

 thing like despair. 



"I can't go on with it !" her heart kept 

 crying. "I want to give it all up ! To 

 think of the years I have spent in ceaseless 

 work, to make a beautiful home, and cre- 

 ate an atmosphere for my dear ones, and 

 then to see it all set at naught ! I can't 

 begin again !" 



That night, in the little hotel, after she 

 had put the children to bed, she turned 

 complete coward, and as she laid down to 

 rest she wished she might never wake to 

 face the future and its questions. She lay 

 long awake, listening to her husband's 

 breathing, interrupted now and then by 

 heavy sighs, and felt vaguely conscious of 

 a certain disloyalty to him in her state of 

 mind, but when she fell asleep at last she 

 was still wishing she might lay down her 

 burden. 



With action came reaction, and Mrs. 

 AA^aring realized that, no matter how weary 

 a mother may be, there is no place for her 

 to give up. Her duty called to her, and, 

 by a great effort, she put aside her despon- 

 dence^, and set to work to select a suitable 

 home nest. Of one thing she was deter- 

 mined. She would have to remodel her 

 tastes in many things, to conform to their 

 changed circumstances, but such ideals as 

 had been sifted and proven she would not 

 relinquish. She could not yet see a rift in 

 the future which would promise that they 

 might some day surround themselves with 

 the many beautiful belongings which had 

 gone with their home, but the faith she 

 had learned at her mother's knee brought 

 to her mind the thought that the most ex- 



