Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-06-22

pared for the speech that came nsxt.
You are spelling those children, Je-ni-
na-conplete,y spelling them | an
really 2stonished 81 you-"
1t was point upon which the lsdy's as
constituent had become chronic, SO JeEni-
ma did not attempt 10 Jesse, il, and mo
neDtary silence eLsued
"Ah," said Aunt Hester, IN more gra-
cioug tone, after her eyes hAd sczaae1
every other article in the rooEa7 AID rested
finally On the bonnet " " nat Co you pro
pose 10 do with that, my dear
IL don't know answered JeElna, rsth-
CT dis5onsolstely.
Il recolle11 that bonnet. / thought II
looked familiar, and / REMINDER now. II
was one my daughter Sassa wore fo- sea
son on 30, and then gave 10 your mother,
pursued Aant Hester, growing compla-
cent over he memory Of fy-gone benevo-
lence. sit is vey excellent braid, with
q gress deal Of wear ia IL Out Of shape,
% be SURE, tut | think IL could he made
over into q very suitable bonnet for yoa-
The "very excellent" article had sp-
pesred old and ugly enough before, but 1t
looked trife older and uglier 10 poor
Jemima DOW, though she scarcely knew
Why gSBE I'll a GODGt DI III 1o2<<s
and fell 10 wondering little drsariIy why
it was she never hsd anything Dew-any-
thing al her Own. II seemed TO her Tat
all her life abe had been obliged 20 build
upon other peoples foundations. To make
straight where others had bluDdered, and
take up things where others had stopped
Her work never came 10 her in the raw
material Il was always what somebody
else lad used, or spoiled, or begun. Back
through the twenty eight yesrs Of her life,
10 nearly as she could remember, ii had
been the same Housekeeping cares had
fallen early upon her childish shoulders,
when her invalid mother died Then
there had been the constant planning and
working 10 procure what her careless, i'm
provident father did not provide, " econ
omize where he wasted pretty sister TO
be sDubbed by and worked for, until she
made runaway match with gentleman.
ly scamp and the same sister 10 console
and care for during what remained Of her
brief life, when she came back, deserted
and broken hearted. Rob and Teddy
were the legacies she left. Well, they
were not Jemlma's own, either; but they
were wonderful comfort 10 her The
very thought Of them made her pause sud.
denly In the midst Of her questioning
whether she would not have bulIded bet.
ter and more successfully If she could have
laid her own corner stOnes-rearcd
structure Of her own instead Of filing
breaches In the broken walls Of others
Those two little faces stopped the train of
might have beens," and made her muir
muir, woman that she was, "Dear boys!
/ wouldn't give them up for anything
ut can be wbitened, pressed into
shape, and made very preseDtable," broke
In Aunt Hcster's voice.
"True." answered Jcmima, slowly,
Of her life instead of her bonnet.
" Yes, hope 1t will be made prcsentable
at last, though it does not look SO now"
"Why, it's the best Of BRAID" inter
posed Aunt Hester, with some severity
She fancied the remark was a slight dis
Of daughter Susan's taste j.
thing not TO be tolerated.
That tone aroused Jemima from her
reverie at once. She discovered the good
qualities OF the braid Immediately, and
Aunt Hester, somewhat modified, took her
departure.
"Send 1t To a milliner's and have 1t
and made over: advice very easy
10 give, but not quite 30 easy To take, IN
der the circumstances" commented Jemi-
ma. left 10 herself again. mo, most ex-
cellent bonnet, you will have to submit TO
being sewed over by my own fingers, and
no others, and take such bleaching as /
can give you. Pity, considering your past
grandeur, but II can't be helped"
She was an energetic little woman, and
so In very short space Of time she had
arranged in the back yard closely COW
cred barrel, with pan Of Goals sprinklcd
with birthstone placed In the bottom Of IT,
and the Anticipated straw fastened near the
Lop, and bft To whiten In the smoke. Rob
and Teddy were duly advised OF the con.
tents Of the barrel and warned not to mo-
lest IL; and then Miss Jemima went cheer
lily back 10 the house and to her work of
1arning small stockings and planning for
iiminutiye jackets. The out .ofdoor
world was very lovely that spring morn
Ing, and she stole glances AZ IL now and
then through the little window-delight-
ing In the fresh green grass and blossom.
laden trees OF the tiny yard In front, and
with kindly, human interest the
occasional passers by on the road beyond
These last were not many, for IL was only
a quiet village Rad but presently there
passed team with an unusual load--a
large, heavy milestone. The driver
walked beside IL as 1t moved
slowly along, and following 1t short
distance behind was another person,
whom Jemima scanned more closely-a
man some thi'ty-three or four years of
age, medium sized, bronzed and bearded,
and dressed in plain suit of gray. There
was nothing very remarkable in his APP
pearance; nevertheless, he was person
age of some interest to the villagers as be
ing the owner of the mill over the hill.
The former owner had failed to make 1t
profitable, and for year or two it had
stood idle. When, therefore, 1t was known
that II had been sold, and was to be re-
paired and put in running order, there was
a variety of opinions and some shaking Of
heads among the sages of the little place.
There were some who carried their disin
terested kindness so far as to inform the
newcomer that It wouldn't pay" he
would sink money" etc. To all of
which Cade Barclay listened good natur.
edly, answering but little, except with his
frank, sunny smile, and then went steadily
on his way, apparently quite undisturbed
by their predictions.
OF the merits of the question or the
man Jemima knew nothing; but there was
a quiet, resolute air about him, certain
self.rel.ance and determination betraying