Show PLAIN SPOKEN tb gool stared of a wall i the amount of plain speaking that people will bear from one of whose good will they are assured is sometimes surprise to others in recollections of my mother susan lesley says that her mother had the greatest affection for both david lee child and his wife the pitted lydia maria but was often much tried with the amount of time hard labor and money which mr child expended on scheme after scheme none of which ever succeeded one afternoon mrs child came in to spend a quiet afternoon with my mother they sat with their sewing and knitting at the west window while I 1 sat with one or two friends in the hall near the open door there had been a looger silence when we heard my mother say mrs child can you tell ma what is the last thing that your husband is engaged in an amused smile played over mrs childs face yes mrs lyman he is carting stone for the new railroad 0 o hl baid my mother another pause then mrs child how much do you suppose your husband loses on every load of stone he carts to the railroad another amused look on the dear lydia marias face and she answered cheerily well mrs lyman as near as I 1 can compute it he must lose about ten cents on every load oh well now mrs child said my mother in the bravest and most cheerful tone if your husband has got hold of any innocent occupation by which he only loses ten cents on a load for heavens sake encourage enco him in it she had little patience with people who backed down in emergencies and considered it her duty to stiffen them up a little sho never had to go far to find an illustration to point her moral and adorn her tale some neighbors example would instantly come to mind look over the way at my neighbor hunts front yard she would say see that splendid hydrangea that elegant smoke bush that buckthorn hedge all in the most perfect order and nil kept so by her own hands always she has sickness sorrow death at every turn something sad and unexpected but who eve dreamed of mrs hunts abdicating she doit |