KEEPING THE HOUSE IN ORDER.
Mrs. Fairchild was sick, and as there was no help in the kitchen, there was nothing for Mr. Fairchild to do when he came home at night but turn in for an evening of housework. There was always an accumulation of dishes to wash, rooms to sweep, and shelves to arrange, to say nothing of meals that must be either bought or cooked. He did not mind the work for a few nights, it seemed only a relief from his office work; but what puzzled and annoyed him was that nothing stayed in order. There was just the same dishes to wash and just the same rooms to sweep night after night; there was no change, no variety, in the work. After a week of it he became heartily tired of housework, but he had to keep at it just the same. In time Mrs. Fairchild's health returned, and household matters ran again in the smooth, comfortable way as of old, with this difference, that Mrs. Fairchild noticed that her husband never asked her when she was going to do this or why she had not done that. She was surprised to find that he was even wearing some of his clothes unmended. She chided him gently for not having told her of his wants, and he replied:— "Why, dear, I never realized how hard your work, even your sewing, was until you were sick and I had it to do. I tried to mend the lining of my coat one day; it took me an hour to do it, and I was actually tired when it was done. I never realized," he added, "what heroines good wives and mothers are to do the drudgery of housekeeping uncomplainingly and unflinchingly for months and years together, with often never a word of appreciation from those for whom they work." Dear, tired housewife, don't get discouraged because the house will not stay in order. It is a mountainous task to keep a house in order; don't try too hard; be particular indeed about actual cleanliness, but better tolerate a little disorder than worry your life out overdoing what will never stay done. Said an old housekeeper, who had learned to select what she could let go: "If it were not for the delusion women have that sometime everything would be done, they would not have the heart to keep on. This delusion is a mirage that keeps them always working." A housekeeper's work can never be finished. She is always working at it. Let her realize that there is no nobler work, no work that has a wider or more far-reaching influence, humble as it may seem.—Selected.