Page:Scouting for girls, adapted from Girl guiding.djvu/229

Rh naturally and most deeply to a woman and is most worthy of her best efforts. However independent and self reliant a girl may be, the finding of her life comrade, the settling of her own home and the bringing up of her little ones are the biggest happiness that can be had in this world. Nature never meant a man or woman to live alone, and though bachelors may think themselves happy and free, they cannot realize the intense delight that comes with the home, the married comradeship and the children. There a woman has her real opportunity and her kingdom, and at the same time her responsibility. She is the making or the marring of the house, and her influence will rule her children all through their after life. If she recognizes this and shoulders her duty with that idea in mind she can in forming her children's character do a tremendous thing for each of them and a valuable service for the nation.

But to be the right sort of comrade to her husband and her children a girl must have known work herself. She must have gone through the struggle against failure and have enjoyed the triumph of success to be able fully to sympathize with her partner in his troubles and to be of use in helping him through them. A house mother is a money spender not a money getter, and her work is really much harder than his. A wise educator has said:

"I will undertake to guarantee the stability of our American democratic institutions if you will see to it that American wives are taught how best to spend the money their husbands earn. Somewhere in that last ten per cent of a man's income are hidden away his present