on the cup, Queen Victoria was watching
the race. When she was told that the _America_ was in the lead, she
asked what boat was second. "Your Majesty," replied the naval officer
sadly, "there is no second!"

So, between wife and mother there is no second place, and it is
possible for each to own the whole of the loved one's heart, without
infringing or even touching upon the rights of the other.

Few of the passengers on a lake steamer, during a trip in northern
waters a few years since, will ever forget a certain striking group.
Mother and son, and the son's fiancee, were off for a week's vacation.
The mother was tall and stately, with snow-white hair and a hard face
deeply seamed with wrinkles, and with the fire of southern countries
burning in her faded blue eyes. The son was merely a nice boy, with a
pleasant face, and the girl, though not pretty, had a fresh look about
her which was very attractive.

She wore an engagement ring, so he must have cared for her, but
otherwise no one would have suspected it. From beginning to end, his
attention was centred upon his mother. He carried his mother's wraps,
but the girl carried her own. He talked to the mother, and the girl
could speak or not, just as she chose. Never for an instant were the
two alone together. They sat on the deck until late at night, with the
mother between them. When they changed, the son took his own chair
and his mother's, while the girl dragged hers behind them. At the end
of their table in the cabin, the mother sat between them at the head.
Once, purely by accident, the girl slipped into the nearest chair,
which happened to be the mother's, and the deadly silence could be
felt even two tables away. The girl turned pale, then the son said:
"You'll take the head of the table, won't you, mother?"

The steely tone of her voice could be heard by every one as she said,
"No!"

The girl ate little, and soon excused herself to go to her stateroom,
but the next day things were as before, and the foolish old mother had
her place next to her son.

Discussion was rife among the passengers, till an irreverent youth
ended it by saying: "Mamma's got the rocks; that's the why of it!"

Perhaps it was, but one wonders why a man should slight his promised
wife so publicly, even to please a mother with "rocks!"

To the mother who adores her son, every girl who smiles at him has
matrimonial designs. When he falls in love, it is because he has been
entrapped--sh