96

A WORD WITH THE WOMEN.

Hold him close and kiss him many times.
He's such a little fellow, and the world
looks larger this morning than ever it did
before! Such an absurdly little fellow!
But then, it's the first day of school, and
school is a thing that must be, so keep the
tears back and kiss him many times and
send him off. His eyes are like stars with
excitement. He trembles just a little. You
must give him courage with big words of
comfort. If there is any crying to be done
on your part, it must be after he is gone.
Aren't his legs comical in the new cheeked
trousers, with the tiny buckles at the knees
--such baby legs, that it will really
be a marvel if they can carry him
in the opposite direction from his
mother. His curls are gone, and the manly
little head under its new cap is not the
baby head you have been holding on your
arm these by sweet, anxious years. It is
the head of some beautiful little boy, like
your baby, one firm and tough and mannish
--your baby was so tender and so fragile.

No woman of any sense would cry. Of
course not. You say so over and over.
Boys must go to school. If they are going
to be citizens of a republic, men who must
make their way without favor, who must
face poverty and fight in the competition.
They would better start in at the public
school at the beginning. You have thought
that all out. You want to prepare them
for the struggle. You can't do that by
coddling them until the last moment, and
then throwing him into the arena where
men are flying at each other's throats.
You must see that he is trained, and the
public school is the great training ground.
A boy has to find out how to hold his own
there. It is the great leveler. Your name
counts for nothing there. Your wealth is
not even known of. The dirty boy has
just as much chance as the clean boy. In
the school room the boy who has the best
brains, and on the play-ground the boy
who has the best muscles, is the one who
wins. And that is as it should be, perhaps.
You have got back to the old primitive
law, that it is the strong who wins,
and that, whatever the proverbs may say,
the race is very apt to be to the swift.

So he is going out to be educated. And
when he comes home to you at night there
will be an alien expression in his eyes and
you will never again be the central figure
of the universe to him. Another woman
will represent more of wisdom to him than
you do. He will obey her better, perhaps
than he does you. He will begin to observe
that there are a great many fascinating
things in the world. His conading
gaze will no longer be concentrated on you.

But what would you have? You didn't
want him to sit and stare at you all his life,
did you? You didn't want him dangling
at your apron strings? It was a bewitching
little tug he used to give your skirts,
wasn't it? And it always made you laugh
when he wiped the tears out of his eyes
with the skirt of your dress. No, you didn't
want him at your apron strings. But still--

Have you not heard it said that
after an amputation a man feels
his lost leg aching and pricking for many
and many a day? The pain you suffer now
that your baby is gone is not all mental, if
you stop to dedue it. It is part physical--
a very large part physical. Maternity has
tortures and love that cannot be explained,
and for which there are no names

What if they should be cross with him--
he was used to being treated with such
gentleness! what if someone should
strike him! But let them try that if they
want to know--How ridiculous again! Of
course, if he goes to the public schools he
must conform to the discipline.
"A boy would better not be, than
not be trained." Some old Greek
said that. And your boy must be trained.
You know it. You said so last
night to his father. And his father went
out for a walk and came home very silent
and thoughtful. And when you kissed the
boy's father good night your eyes were not
the only ones with tears in them. The two
of you stood by the little iron bod moment--
the bed where the boy was. Such a
bonny boy! Legs tough and strong, round
and rosy, neck and face brown and beautiful!
A grand head--a wonderful hand.
Long lashes on the cheek, lips shut gently
--Infallible sign of breeding! Hands brown
and scratched up with his funny little experiments.
They are very small hands with
which to tear the world open. But that is
what they have been trying to do. For
doesn't a boy want to know how the world
looks inside? You both kissed him softly
--the future gladiator who was going out
on the morrow to be trained.

And now he has gone. You don't care
about sewing much today. There isn't a
book in the house worth reading. The
shopping can go till some other time.
There isn't anyone you care to call on.
The orphans you were going to visit can
wait. You are sorry for them, but they'll
have to wait. You and selfish and hurt
and you want the world to go away and
leave you alone for a little while. You've
surely a right to lock your door and weep
a little--weep for your lost baby!