have been some quarrelling and
trouble.

As can be quite easily understood it is rarely possible for fellow-wives
to live together in the same house. In one village there were two
houses quite near each other. One was known as the "house of Hassan";
the other as the "little house of Hassan." The former is the family
house, and the other is hired by one of the sons for his second wife,
the first wife being in the larger dwelling. The quarrels are so
incessant that it is difficult for any one to be friendly with both
parties, and the second wife is ruining her health with inordinate
smoking "to kill thought." She seems very lonely and dull, but says the
arrangement is good, for when her husband is vexed with her he goes to
the other house, and when vexed in the other house he comes to her, and
she added, "If we lived together and he were vexed with both at once, he
would have to sleep in a hotel!"

A Bible woman was wont to visit two young women who lived in a large
apartment house, on different floors one just above the other. At first
they were believed to be the wives of brothers, but they were so much at
variance with each other that neither would enter the apartment of the
other, so had to be taught and read to separately, much to the
inconvenience of the teacher, who could not understand why two
sisters-in-law, as she thought, could not meet together to read. She
soon discovered that they were both wives of one man and that jealousy
was the cause of the disagreement.

Child-marriages have always been considered one of the curses of the
East. In Egypt thirteen is about the average age at which the girls are
married, but one is constantly meeting with cases of marriage at a much
earlier age. A woman of twenty-five, prematurely old, seemed to take
great delight in telling of her marriage when she was only seven years
old, about as far back as she could remember. Another often tells the
story how she escaped being married when she was only eight years old.
The guests were all assembled, the elaborate supper had been enjoyed by
all, the dancing women had been more than usually entertaining; the time
for the bridal procession came around, but where was the bride? Her
father searched all through the house for her. At last he found her
lying asleep in the ashes in the kitchen. His father heart was touched
and he said to those who followed him, "See that baby there asleep! Is
it right to marry her?" At the risk of bringi