Purple Springs

rapture. The dripping of a tap, may have in it the element of annoyance-if we have to get up and shut it off before we can get to sleep, but a thirsty

ng only the primary hypothesis of human conduct, said she was "proud." She did not join heartily in their conversations when they met her, and had an aloofness about her which could only be explained that way.

over the country as a hard man. The women would have liked Mrs. Paine much better if she had talked more, and complained about him-she was too close-mouthed they said. They freely told each other, and told her,

e again the dead hopes of the years, and it made her face almost pitiful in its trembling eagerness. There was a dull red rage in her eyes too that day, that was not good to see, and she was determined that it should not be seen, and for that reason, she sli

her ears-a sewing-machine's soft purring in one house-a child's cry in another-the musical whine of a cream separator in a thi

nterested listeners were disappointed with the brevity of the conversation, and spoke guardedly and in cipher to each other after Pearl and Mrs. Paine ha

ng to buy? No! I'll tell you when I see you-we've too big an audience

I'm ready to back up. I don't pretend

, and the sound of the se

new and quicker way of making bread that had

rd was littered, untidy, prodigal, wasteful-every sort of machine had evidently been bought and used for a while, then discarded. But within doors there was a bareness that struck Pearl's heart with pity. The entrance at the front of the house was b

s a tense look in her eyes, an underglow of excitement, a trembli

til the children had go

r life-long habit of s

dens that wer

er yellow lights that rose and fell as she talked, and in some strange way reminded Pearl of a piece of bird's-eye maple. She was dressed in the style of twenty years before, with her linen collar inside the high collar of her dres

was as rosy and promising, and the future as bright to me then as it is to you now. But I got married young-we were brought up to think if we did no

brilliant coloring and her graceful ways. But now her face had something dead about it, something missing-like a be

her. Mrs. Paine, in her agitation,

and there was no sound in the house but the pu

y against women. We are weaker, smaller than men-we have all the weaknesses and diseases the

lways known that Mrs. Paine did not look happy; but such w

ess of it all. Nature is so cruel, and careless. See how many seeds

agerly; "it is not true that even a sparrow

bright face, her hopefulness, her youth, her unshaken faith in

aid, after a long pause. "You know the laws of this

in her eyes seemed to burn low

ture, and do what he likes with the money. He wants to sell the farm and buy the hotel at Millford. I won't consent, but he tells me he can take the child

e law it will be changed-any one could see that it is not fair. Lots of these old laws get written down and no one bothers a

ve made the world, and they've made it to suit themselves. My husband

hing in her eyes which made Pearl afraid-the very air of the room seemed charged

s done the best He could to be fair to every one. It's s

be born-I'm not God, but I take responsibility for my children. I did not want them, but now they

ike a washed ribbon. It had in it

gine things. You work too hard, and never go out, and that would make an archangel cross. You'v

butter money. The only trees we have I planted. I sowed the flowers and dug the place to put them. While he is away buying cattle and shipping them, and making plenty of money-all for himself-I stay here and run the farm. I milk,

ything else fails. Mr. Paine can be persuaded out of the hotel business if you go at it right. He does not

ly: "It's good to be y

ver entirely for selfish reasons. I wanted to talk

t!" Pearl

a risk, Pearl, don't do it. We need you to help the rest of us. When I listened to you the other day I came nearer praying than I have

aughed Pearl, "n

but don't do it, Pearl. W

re married?" asked Pearl, "I h

wn hearts are sore. That's why we want to keep you light-hearted and

hardly knowing

eeks; "And you are wrong in thinking that all men are mean and selfish. My father is not. We've been poor and all that, but we're happy. My father has never shirked his share of the

think of you tied down with a bunch of kids, and all your bright ways dulled wit

ee gather Pearl Watson will rise and make a few remarks unless s

uite well after her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. There was a close, protecting feeling about the gray darkness that suited her mood. It was a comfortable, companionable night, with a soft air full of

her. Perhaps, though, she had never been in love! She had married because she did not want to be an old

rk for other women. She tried to think of a future apart from marriage, apart from the hopes and dreams that had been so dear and sweet. Could it be that she was being called of God to be a leader in a new crusade against injustice? Was it her part to speak for other women? Since the day she spoke in the school there had been a glowing wonder in her heart whic

emed to have died away, not a dog barked or a tree creaked in the gray darkness which shrouded the world. Even t

n a waiting, quivering silence. It was as if her name had been

painfully into her throat, a smothering sense of

an't do it alone-but give me the desire of my heart, oh, Lord, and I will ne