Women -- Canada; Women -- Conduct of life; Women -- History; Women -- Social and moral questions; Women -- Social conditions
Mrs. B. set out to be a "family friend" to the family of her washwoman.
Mrs. B. was a thoroughly charitable, kindly disposed woman, who had
never favored woman's suffrage and regarded the new movement among
women with suspicion. Her washwoman's family consisted of four
children, and a husband who blew in gaily once in a while when in need
of funds, or when recovering from a protracted spree, which made a few
days' nursing very welcome. His wife, a Polish woman, had the
old-world reverence for men, and obeyed him implicitly; she still felt
it was very sweet of him to come home at all. Mrs. B. had often
declared that Polly's devotion to her husband was a beautiful thing to
see. The two eldest boys had newspaper routes and turned in their
earnings regularly, and, although the husband did not contribute
anything but his occasional company, Polly was able to make the
payments on their little four-roomed cottage. In another year, it
would be all paid for.
But one day Polly's husband began to look into the law--as all men
should--and he saw that he had been living far below his privileges.
The cottage was his--not that he had ever paid a cent on it, of course,
but his wife had, and she was his; and the cottage was in his name.
So he sold it; naturally he did not consult Polly, for he was a quiet,
peaceful man, and not fond of scenes. So he sold it quietly, and with
equal quietness he withdrew from the Province, and took the money with
him. He did not even say good-by to Polly or the children, which was
rather ungrateful, for they had given him many a meal and night's
lodging. When Polly came crying one Monday morning and told her story,
Mrs. B. could not believe it, and assured Polly she must be mistaken,
but Polly declared that a man had come and asked her did she wish to
rent the house for he had bought it. Mrs. B. went at once to the
lawyers who had completed the deal. They were a reputable firm and
Mrs. B. knew one of the partners quite well. She was sure Polly's
husband could not sell the cottage. But the lawyers assured her it was
quite true. They were very gentle and patient with Mrs. B. and
listened courteously to her explanation, and did not dispute her word
at all when she explained that Polly and her two boys had paid every
cent on the house. It seemed that a trifling little thing like that
did not matter. It did not really matter who paid for the house; the
husband was the owner, for was he not the head of the house? and the
property was in his name.
Polly was graciously allowed to rent her own cottage for $12.50 a
month, with an option of buying, and the two little boys are still on a
morning route delivering one of the city dailies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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