Not all the strategy of life is on the fields of diplomacy or war.
An official tells a good story of the time when Hamilton
Fish was Secretary of State. It had been said that Mrs. Fish
sometimes carried her high ideas of courtesy too far--that it
was Quixotic.
One of her rules, for instance, was to return every call she
received. Her husband was continually holding public receptions,
and to these, out of courtesy, many women would come who had
no desire that Mrs. Fish should call upon them--who were in no
position to receive her properly if she did call.
One such woman attended a Fish reception, left her card, and
a little later was duly honored by a call from Mrs. Fish. The
Fish equipage dashed down the narrow street and halted before
the woman’s shabby little house. The footman opened the carriage
door and Mrs. Fish descended.
The poor woman of the house was in a dreadful predicament. She
was, alas, kneeling on the sidewalk beside a bucket of hot
water. Her sleeves were rolled back. She had a scrubbing-brush
in one hand and a cake of soap in the other. She was scrubbing
the front steps.
Bending graciously over her, Mrs. Fish asked politely:
“Is Mrs. Henry Robinson at home?”
And Mrs. Henry Robinson replied: “No, mum, she ain’t,” and went
on scrubbing.
(3073)
=Streams, Living and Dying=--See EARLY PROMISE.