Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1862-03-07
aYour aistsr said You were sick. and

so come to see if could be of any use
to you," she said, in gentle tones, which
of themselves carried certain comfor
with them: "You have changed terri
! bly, since spring. I must hear all about
it; butd want you to eat what I have
brought you-here is some wine jelly
and Bit of cold chieken--they will do
you good"
The poor girl looked at the viands
with the involuntary greediness Of hun
ger. Thens she blushed deeply, and said
| in loM voice:
= lein very grateful. Madam, but il
you plAase twill wait until you leave
me. kfaw me n present to attend to
you." 80 - see Efls
sNo, indeed!'' Mrs. Stirling spoke
in her pretty absolute fashion. 81 am
not going yet. want to talk with you
awhile, and shall not do so until you
have taken something to strengthen
you. Little Jane has lunched already" /"
So the gay bright lady sat and waited,
feeling in new prospect of being actively
useful, a genuine glow ofdelight. When
the girl had finished her generous meal
and taken up her work again, Mrs. Stir
ling began to talk to her.
s.Is this consumption, Annie2" she
asked, gently. Your cough alarms nae. ~
"No, ma am, 1 am very sure it is moth
ing of the kind yet. There is no con-
sumption in the family. Ny father was
country minister, and had strong
and healthy constitution. He died
young, but 1t was from violent fever,
caught in attendance on sick stranger.
1t was grief which made my mother fol-
low him in three months She had al
ways been delicate, though not sickly,
and she lacked the strength it requires
Ito live and suffer. It is seven years
since she died, on the very day little Jane
was born
elbow old we're you then?"
Fifteen, and there were no living
children between us two"
sand have you supported yourself
and her ever sinee!' -
"Oh no! My fathers books and fur
nj ture sold for enough to keep US some
time, and my aunt who lived here,
brought US to Boston We both lived
with her. She took care of Jane, and 1
worked in shop, and earned enough to
buy our clothes and help Aunt Martha
with the living. 1t is only since she
died, three years ago, that l have been
all alone with Jenny"
"You came out of the shop then?''
eyes, because could not have Jenny
there with me, and she had no one else
to see to her; and indeed l have made
more money since, l have embroidered
so much"
"But surely yen have suffered more
than ssuai shis summer
"Oh, yes, ma am. The ladies that 1
worked for are mostly out Of town, in
the summer always, and SO winters I
try to save something to help US through.
But last winter was so hard that had
not as much work as usual, and this
summer we have not been very we'll off
[ had to give up the comfortable room
[ used to have because could not earn
enough to pay for it, and 1 suppose the
dampness here has not just agreed with
me- ..
She tried to smile, but the tears came
instead Mrs Stirling took her hand
with a comforting pressure.
Don't cry. Better times are coming
to you now. | am sure | can influence
you a great deal more work. You shall
have enough to do, and we must see
that you move out of this damp, un-
healthy place.
Sister Annie smiled sadly.
"The landlord has seen to that,
Madam. l can only stay nere three
days longer. He wants to let the room
to a tenant who will pay more; and I
have been troubled for fear l should
not be able to so out and find another
place
"Well, you must not feel anxious
just leave that till to morrow. Then
if you are not able to go, I will find
place for you. 1t cannot be a difficult
matter to find one as good as this. At
any rate. tomorrow you shall see me
again; and in the meantime the pay for
the work little Jane brought home will
make you comfortable.
So saying, she put into the girls hand
twice the customary price for the en-
broidery she had done, and without
waiting for the thanks. which trembled
on Anne Hadley's pale lips, she went
ouk of the room, down the stairs, and re-
turned home after this, her first charity
visit.
On the way she stopped but once, and
that Was not to look into any of the
windows gay with autumn goods, or to
exchange her hundred dollar notes on
the Suffolk Bank for silks or satins.-
She only went for moment to neat,
respectable looking house on Myrtle
street, and then hurried home.
She met her husband, when he came
to his five clock dinner, with beam
ing smile. The meal was we'll cooked
and neatly served; the wife opposite
him was young and fair; and when John
Stirling rose from the table and went
with her into her evening room, it is no
wonder he said to himself that this be,
ing in ones own home wasn't SO bad
thing after all.
"Wh hat is it Nellie?" he asked after
while, in answer to a questioning,
hesitating look in his wife's eyes. She
drew nearer him
"You are sure, John, you can spare
me that five hundred dollars without
putting aside any rightful claim''
II hope, Nellie, if had not thought
SO, l should not have given it to you,
much as | love to please you"
"Then what, she spoke hesitatingly,
"what if [ wanted very much indeed to
use it for something else?''
IL do not understand what you can