Section 1 of The Primrose Path. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox .org. Read by Jake Militsia. The Primrose Path by Bram Stoker. Chapter 1. A Happy Home. I wonder will any of them come, Jerry? The pretty little woman's face got puckered all over with baby wrinkles, more suitable to the wee pink face that lay on her bosom than to her own somewhat pale one as she made the remark. Jerry looked up from his newspaper and gazed at her lovingly for a moment before he answered, his answer being a confident smile with a knowing shake of the head from side to side as who should say, "'Oy, little Hombug, pretending to distress yourself with doubts? Of course all of them." Katie seemed to lose her trouble in his smile. It is wonderful what comforters love and sympathy are. She drew close to her husband and held down the tiny bald pink head for him to kiss and then, leaning her cheek against his, said in a soft cooing voice, half wifely, half motherly, "'Oh, Jerry, isn't he a little beauty?' Children are quite as jealous as dogs and cats in their own way and instinctively the urchin sprawling on the hearth rug came over and pulled at his mother's dress saying plaintively, "'Me too, mammy, me too.'" Jerry took the child on his knee. "'Ey, little Jerry, your nose is out of joint again, isn't it?' A mother is jealous as well as her child and this mother answered, "'Oh, no, Jerry, sure I don't love him less because I have to take care of the little mate.'" Further conversation was stopped by a knock at the door. "'That's some of them staying away,' said Jerry as he went out to open the door. As may be seen, Jerry and his wife expected company. The doubts as to whose arrival was caused by the extreme inclementcy of the weather and, as the occasion of the festivities was an important one, the doubts were strong. Jerry O'Sullivan was a prosperous man in his line of life. His trade was that of a carpenter and, as he had, in his experience gained from unremitting toil a considerable share of natural ability, was justly considered by his compiers to be the makings of a successful man. Three years before he had been married to his pretty little wife, whose sweet nature and care for his comfort and whose desire to perfect the cheerfulness of home had not a little aided his success and kept him on the straight path. If every wife understood the merits which a cheerful home has above all other places in the eyes of an ordinary man, there would be less brutality than there is amongst husbands and less hardships and suffering amongst wives. The third child had just been christened and some friends and relatives were expected to