A full pint-measure is really just as full
as is a gallon-measure. The husband used
to remind himself of this fact when he was
tempted to be impatient with what he
called, when angry, her * * shallow nature. ' '
^'Perhaps, after all," he would muse, ^'she
is wiser than I. Things don^t hurt her
long. As for me — ^well, I won't let them
hurt me. She and I will just have to rub
along as other people do. And, thank God,
there's the baby to keep life endurable 1"

For the dissatisfied man soon found that
the knowledge that he had a son to love and
live for did much toward making the future
bright. The baby was a healthy youngster
and learned early to laugh and coo with
joy when his father came in morning and
night to see him and play with him. Dan
had never been called upon to minister to
any of the little creature's wants, to walk
the floor with him, or to hear him cry when
he wished to sleep, as is the case with
fathers in less luxuriously appointed house-
holds. The baby was the brightest spot in



246 THE TIE THAT BINDS

his life. He no longer tried to hide from
himself the fact that he was disappointed
in his wife. He was sure she was also dis-
appointed in him. But they had the child !
As long as Daisy had her baby and her
social pleasures she looked no deeper into
conditions. She did not neglect her child
as the woman of to-day terms neglect. To
be sure, she did not nurse him as old-fash-
ioned mothers do. She did not want to in-
jure her figure, she pleaded with doctor and
nurse, and, sooner than excite or anger her,
these professional accessories to the ar-
rival of a human being into a well-to-do
family held their peace. The child was
normal in every respect, and an intelligent
nurse looked after his physical wants when
the trained nurse who had been present at
his birth had completed her engagement.
