ng fishes, putting doilies on the chairs, sweeping floors and
washing dishes, busy with his household cares. Now the kitchen fire is
burning; to get supper he will start--mother soon will be returning
from her labors in the mart.

Poor tired mother! Daily toiling to provide our meat and bread! Where
the eager crowd is moiling, struggling on with weary tread! Battling
with stockjobbing ladies, meeting all their wiles and tricks, or
embarking in the Hades of the city's politics! But forgotten is the
pother, all the work day cares are gone, when she comes home to dear
father with his nice clean apron on! There's your chair, he says; "sit
in it; supper will be cooked eftsoons: I will dish it in a
minute--scrambled eggs and shredded prunes." It is good to watch him
moving round the stove with eager zeal, in his every action proving
that his love goes with the meal.

When the evening meal is eaten and the things are cleared away, then we
sit around repeatin' cares and triumphs of the day; and the high
resounding rafter echoes to our harmless jokes, to our buoyant peals of
laughter, while tired mother sits and smokes. Thus her jaded mind
relaxes in an atmosphere so gay, and she thinks no more of taxes or of
bills that she must pay; smiles are soon her face adorning, in our nets
of love enmeshed, and she goes to work next morning like a giantess
refreshed.

CELEBRITIES

He had written lovely verses, touching hollyhocks and hearses,
lotus-eaters, ladies, lilies, porcupines and pigs and pies, nothing
human was beyond him, and admiring people conned him, adoration in
their bosoms and a rapture in their eyes. He had sung of figs and
quinces in the tents of Bedouin princes, he'd embalmed the Roman Forum
and the Parthenon of Greece; many of his odes were written in the
shrouding fogs of Britain, while he watched the suffrage ladies mixing
things with the police.

So we met to do him honor; worshipper and eager fawner begged a tassel
of his whiskers, or his autograph in ink; never was there so much
sighin' round a pallid human lion, as he stood his lines explaining,
taking out the hitch and kink!

All were in a joyous flutter, till we heard some fellow mutter: "Here
comes Griggs, the southpaw pitcher, fairly burdened with his fame! He
it was who beat the Phillies--gave the Quaker bugs the willies--he it
was who saved our bacon in that 'leven-inning game!"

Then we crowded round the pitcher, making that great m