employed the "half hour," in meditating on this subject.

"Wife," said he, as she came in, "I have a plan to propose to you, and I
wish you to promise me beforehand, that you will accede to it. It is to
be an experiment, I acknowledge, but I wish it to have a fair trial. Now
to please me, will you promise?"

Mrs. James hesitated. She felt almost sure that his plan would be quite
impracticable, for what does a man know of a woman's work? yet she
promised.

"Now I wish you," said he, "to set apart two hours of every day for your
own private use. Make a point of going to your room and locking yourself
in; and also make up your mind to let the work which is not done, go
undone, if it must. Spend this time on just those things which will be
most profitable to yourself. I shall bind you to your promise for one
month--then, if it has proved a total failure, we will devise something
else."

"When shall I begin?"

"To-morrow."

The morrow came. Mrs. James had chosen the two hours before dinner as
being, on the whole, the most convenient and the least liable to
interruption. They dined at one o'clock. She wished to finish her
morning work, get dressed for the day, and enter her room at eleven.

Hearty as were her efforts to accomplish this, the hour of eleven found
her with her work but half done; yet, true to her promise, she left all,