Seeing Himself As Others Saw Him

Oh, waü some power the glftie gie us, To seeoursel ts as ithcrs soe ub ! "I really wish, Dora, you could have coffee fit to drink once a week," said Edward Naylor to his wife. " Why not try my inethod- pour in cold water and let it just come to a boil? " " [ did, thiH luorning," answered Mra. Naylor, pleasantly, " and this is the reduit. I knew you would fir.d fault with it." " Dora, any onc would think to hearyou speak, tliat í was in the h:ibit of finding fault. Tliank heaven, that isn't one of my failings. I ncyer tind fault. I uiake a suggestion nuw and tlicu, But"- and he tasted his cotí', again is eertainly better than we usually have. The flavor 8 excellent, but milii." ¦' Yery mild." "Are these fiittersor aro ihuy lead?" asked Mr. Naylor, shortly after. "Theyare f'iittcis. Kdvranl, and excellent ones, too," said his sister, Mrs. Fred Hastings, pitying his wife'l niortitication. " l'ni glad if" you can e:tt ihem," said Mr. Naylor. " Here, Fred, try a bot one ; perhaps it will be trille better," passing a píate to his .si.ter's husband, who was also Dora's brothtr. The two friends had exchanged sisters when they married uve years befure. " Now picase excuse me: I havo important business down tnwn that takes me away carli.:r than usual." He put on his bat and gloves and - pulled off a button. "Dora, why can't you sew on a button so it will stay? " "Those gloves are the ones you bought yesterday, Rdwurd." "The more reason why you should have lookodat them. Sale work isn't intended to be permanent. But no matter, I can do very well without buttons," said he, with aninjuredair. " Leave them home and take yourothers, do," urged his wife ; "I will sew on the buttons so tbat you can have ilieni this at' ternoon. Stay, 1 will do so now. It will take but a minute" "I am in a hurry, as I told you, and I should not have bought new gloves at all if' my old ones had been fit to wear. But a matter of one missing button is nothingfor me." Mr. Naylor1 a tone implied that nothine Ies3 than half a dozen could disturb hts equanimity. . "Dora, exclaimed Mr. Uastings, after he was gone, " does Kdward always find so much fault as he did this morning? " " Not always," replied Dora. She oiuitted to say that hc often did muoh more. "EdwarJ doesn't mean half what he says. It is a habit, and one that he doesn't know he has at all." " I can plainly see that he thinks himself a martyr. What an abominable combination!" said his outspoken sister. "One might take hiin to be an idiot, but I know he isn't, and he is kindhearted, and loves you dearly." " Yes, Kate, spoke up Fred. " Ned is a good fellow, and would be the first to condemn in others wliat he does hiuiself." "Oh," said h8 wife eagerly, I have an idea." " Keep it my dear, till you get another to go with it," said Fred teazingly. But Kate did not notice the interruption. " Dora, let us show Edward up to himself as he is, using Fred for a mirror, you know." " IIow? I don't think I understand exactly," replied Dora. " Why, let Fred find fault with me just as Edward does with you, and then he can see how he likes it. Of' eourse, he must not suspect that it is not Fred's real inanner. He won't for you knowit is tive years sinee we have met, and we only came last night. Fred is capital at thcatricals, and I will do my best to be as ineek as you are. And bright, talkative little Mrs. Hastings kissed hersister-in law, whileasympathuüu tear stood in her eye. " I will agree to it, if Dora does not object," said Fred, forhe was fully as indignant as his wife at Dora's treatment. Dora was as straightl'orward and oonscieotious as she was gentle ; however, Kate overruled her objections, and so the matter stood wheu Mr. Naylor returned in the eveoitig. He was unusually jileasant, 'and disagreeably surprised at Fred's faultfindipg maoner. Seemingly Kate could do ?othing without buing callud to account by her busband. " Kate," as his wife took up a book they were both reading, " will you, or will you not leave that book mark where I placed it?" " Why, I haven't touched it," she said, "it is at the ninth chapter. Isn't that the place?" " How do I know? If I did, should I be apt to nced a book-mark? " "Heoughttobe sumciently interested not to need one, had he not, Kate?" aid Mr. Naylor, pleasantly. " Yes- but Fred- " and she stopped and looked away. "But Fred- what?" asked her husband gloomily. " If you have any fault to find with me, don't hositate, I beg." "I was only going to say that you seemed to like to find fault," said Kate. 1 No, thank heaven: that isn't one of my failings. I only makeasuggestion now and tbsn. But what was you saying, Ned, wben Kate iuterrupted us? " " I've forgotten. But suppose we have some music. Do you remember how fond we used to be of inging 'Annie Laurie,' wc four? " "Yes, indeed," said Kate. "Let us siug it to-night." 'Where is the ïnusic, Dorar asked Mr. Naylor. " I'in sure I don't know. I hav'nt ssen it in a long time." " I do wish, Dura, you had your sensea about you a little oftener. My mother used to say that she could go io the darkMt night and find any article in the house. But perhaps we can sing it from memory. " But loi bonnle Annlv i .:mri-, I would lay lue diwn and dfo. humaied Mr. Naylor in his melodious tenor. " How much easier it is for a man to die for woman - in song- than it is to live for her and make her want to live, too," said Kate. " Poor sis,"- thought Mr. Naylor, looking kiudly at her- no wonder she feels the difference! Will you play the accompaniment, Kate? " Sho replied by seating herself at the piano and playing a beautiful prelude. " You are playing horribiy out of' tune, Kate," said Fred coinplainingly. " You knowmy ear is perfect, and yet you will persist in spoiling the harmony." " I didn't know." " No, that's it; 'ü' you did you might DOBsibfcget to bc in time, a tolerable player. But jlay on since Ned asked y nu. i eau endure a great deal. ' ' Kate continued. " Horrible! wretched !" exclaimed Fred. " Odd chords, you know," exclaimed Mr. Naylor. "Yes, the oddest ones I ever heard," said Fred, sarcastically. Mr. Naylor said no more, but only thought hia brother-in law's conduct detestable. But the othors knew that it was an aliuost exact repetition of Mr. Naylor's the evening previots wheti Dora instead of Kate had played the piano. After their guests had retired, Mr. Naylor said to bis wite, " I pils poor Kate." " Why ? " asked his wife unconcernedly as she begun putting her hair in criuips. " Why ? " he echoed. ' Can't you s-ee that Fred is a perfect bear ? But of course you can't; you never see anything." But his wife did not reply, and he said presently, " How long will you stand at thatglass, frizzing hair that looks a great deal botter plain? " " I thought you liked it bettercrimped ; you said tto last week." 'Tfou are the most exasperating woman, throwing a nian's speeches back at hiin in that way ! I may have said so last week, but now I think you look botter with your hair plain. You are just like Fred. Yuu want to liml f'ault all the time and then inake it appear that I am to blame." "Yery well," caid his wife briefly; and shu turnad down the gas that he might not see her tears. The four sat down the next morning to an excellent repast, but Mr. Naylor said as he cut his steak, "I wasu't aware before, Dora, (hat you considered sole leather a tit substitme for beef." "It i.s not very good, I know, Edward, but it was too late to change it when I found it was not the surloin 1 ordered." Fred elevated his eyebrows expressively. "Ned, if you cali this tough, you should see the steak Kate treats me to. Soleleather! why, sole-leather is tender by comparison. Uurs is more like rubber. I assure you this is choice eating to me, accustoined to so much worse." Kate bit her lip, and her face flushed in the effort to avoid laughing at Fred's extravagance, and bcr brother's surprised look. Finally she burst out into a hearty laugh. "You see how little she cares for ujy comfort," said Fred. "Hysterics!" thought her brother, no wonder. He ingenieuily chanjred the conversation to more agreeable topics, but his mauner to Fred was a trifle cold and constrained. Thus matters continued for two or three days. W henever Mr. Naylor "made a suggestion," as he delicately expressed it, Fred capped it by finding faalt with Kate, until without thinking himself in the least to blame, yet out of pity for his sister, he began to be more prudent of "suggestions. ' ' Fred, however, found plenty of margin for complaint. "Kate," said he, coming from his room where he had been tumbling over the contents of his valise, "I have a dozen shirts here and not a single button on the whole dozen." "Very true," said his wife, "you asked me to remove them, fancying studs would be better." "Where are the stnds, then?" "Why, I don't know, I am sure." "No, you never know where anything is. My mother used to say she could find any article she wanted in the darkest night. Would it be asking too much of you, Mrs. Ilastings, to offer a sugestión?" "I should suggest, said Mr. Naylor, sarcastically, "that they are in the one you have on." "Oh, thank you, so they are. You see I have to look out for ruyeelf entirely. Kate is so indifferent. As for the buttons, I did ask her to remove them for they might as well be off aa only half. I never mimi one missing button. "Don't you think, Fred," asked Mr. Naylor, as they walked down the streel together, "that you are a little hard upon Kate?" "Hard upon Kate," echoed Fred, what can you mean ?' ' "Finding so mucb fault with her." "Why I never find fault, I only offer a suggestion now and then." '"Forcible ones, Fred, or so they secm to me. Kate never used to be so careless and indifferent as you now seem to consider her." "You don't know her so well as I do," said Fred shortly. Mr. Naylor flushed with anger. "Well, it not croditable either to your heart or mannera to speak of your wife and my sister in that manner." "Humph!" muttered Fred, very emphatically. "Kate is very sensitive." "Kxactly," said Fred. "And she is so good a sister I am sure she can not be other than agood wife. That you can not appreciate her does not alter the facts," said Mr. Naylor, incensed still more by Fred's indifferent manner. At 'this point, however, it cbanged. "Ned, you are right ; Kate is all and more than you say of lier, and I appreciate her fully. I would not wound her feelings for the world. "Then I must say you show your affection for her in a peculiar way," said Mr. Naylor dryly. "That's all." "Do you appreciate your wife? "I hope so," said Mr. Naylor, surprised at the question. "Is she a good wife ?" "Certainly she is. When I married her fivc years ago," said Mr. Naylor, "she was the one woman in all the world for me, and I have never changed my opinión rogardiog her." "Sensitive?" asked Fred again briefly. "Yes, rather. Why?" "Only this. [ have been trying lately to show my appreciation and love lor Kate in the same manner that you show yours for Dora." "I don't understand you," said Mr. Naylor stifly. "Nor I you," retorted Fred. "You say you have a good wife and that you love her as well as you did five years ago ; yet you find fault with her ; so muoh that Kate notioed it and suggested that 1 iuiitate your inanners and let you nee how much you admire it." "You don't mean to say." "I do mean to say that I have copied your uianners faithfully and as unicli a possible literally." Mr. Naylor walked hastily forward sume distance in advanee of his friend. He was mortiüed and angry, but just enough to own after due reflection, that Fred's words were true and justifiable. He had taken Fred to task for what was a copy of kis own marnier. It will seem strange, but Mr Naylor had never considered himself a fault finder. True it is that "men are more apt to use .spectacles to behold other men s fault, than lookingglasses to behold their owd." At tast he waited and Fred caught up with him. "Is this true?" he asked. "les, uiy doar fellow," said Fred, "you lound fault with Dora almost oonstantly trom tho very first evening of our arrival." "I believe you aro right," said Edwsrd ('rankly ; "I have, but 1 novcr intendcd it. i t is a mi.-erable habit l have got oto. " Tlioy reached the office just then, and no more was said until they reached houie in the evening. Dort met them at the door, with hor huir combod sraoothly back, a f'ashion he dctested and one that was very unbecoming to her. "Dora, why wilt you - not wear your hair always that way, it is so becoming?" said Edward, recollectiug hiuaself just iu time not to find fault, but violating truth so uianilestly that a general laugh followed. Kdward did not proiuise lus wife tliat he would amend his ways, but he did him self'; nor did he trom "that time tbrward" do altogether different. Uld habita have tos .itrong hold to be loosened at once. His lapse into fault-finding had been gradual : his reform was also gradual. But in tire years more when Fred and Katc vii ted tliem a second time, he had bocuiuc as retuarkable f'or being easy to pleasc, as he once was difficult, and Dora looked lar happier, as might be supposcd.