Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-08-07
THE MODERN RUTH.

It> was terrible breakup. The loving
husband, the tender father had gone to his
rest and Ruth and her mother had to face
the world alone.
Nor was this all. Mr.. Hunter was gen
orally considered one of the ealthiest
farmers in the neighborhood, but he was
now found to have died insolvent. For
years he had been living beyond his means
II told you So,' said one of the wSeacres,
''When he sent his darter to school in Bos-
ton, as if the schools here warn't big
enough: I knew how it would be.'' The
farm was mortgagcd for it's entire value,
and was Immediately foreclosed land when
the other debts were paid, there was not a
dollar left.
Ruth and her mother would have had no
roof even to shelter them, if Ruth had not
inherited, from a maiden aunt, a little
tumble down cottage, with all acre OF two
of pasture land, ON tie outskirts of the vii
lage. Thither the two mourners repaired,
with the few bits of furniture the Jaw al
lowed them, and began the hardest Of all
struggles, the battle with poverty on the
part of woman, u battle rendered the more
difficult in this case, because both had
been tenderly, even luxuriously nurtured,
and had never before known what it was
to have to deny themselves.
81 am such a burden to you, Ruth"
moaned the widow, who was now com
pletey broken down, not only in spirits
but in health also. eff it wasn't for me.
you could go off somewhere and earn your
living like a lady. You could teach music,
or be a governess, OF obtain situation in
a school. But while Pm an invalid, and |
suppose L shall now always be one, you are
tied to my bedside"
| Ruth was of different character from
her mother. She WAS more energetic, more
self-reliant, more heroic. She had also the
courage Of youth on her side.
''God will PROVIDE" she said. ''He
helps them who help themselves. What
with my needle, our COW, and the veget;t-
bic garden | shall make, we will get along
famously."
So this refined, cultivated girl, who had
been reared, as it were, amid rose-leaves,
went to work, uncomElainingly to support
her mother and herself For while too,
it seemed as if her confidence was prophet
ic. Mrs. Hunter recovered her health SO
as to he able to be about Every thing
:, went well. AT the end of the first summer,
Ruth, proudly counting up her gains, said !:
Mother, dear, we have not only supported
ourselves, but we have saved money we
are getting rlch.'
But, alas different times came. In the
fall, Mrs. Hunter fellill of rheumatic fever,
for the situation Of the cottage was low
and damp She had to take her bed again.
She was no longer able to help Ruth with
her needle. Poor Ruth could now earn
but little herself, her time being occupied
so much in nursing her mother. The doc
tors bill and the medicines soon absorbed
her small savings. She began to fall be-
hind. The cow, finally had to be sold, and
at last, i'll order to avert starvation, she
was compelled to mortgage the cottage.
In the two years that followed, matters
went from bad to worse. Mrs Hunter
still remained bed-ridden Do all she
could, Ruth was unable to make both ends
meet. The interest on the mortgage fell
into arrears. Lawyer Dent, who repre-
sented the holder, began to clamor for the
arrears. At last, in the third summer of
Ruths orphanage, came a legal notice,
that unless the interest WIS paid up i'll
full, the cottage would be sold.
l,e, L.
Ruth had gone in person to Lawyer Dent,
hoping to touch his heart. But he was
deaf to her tears and representations. He
had the reputation of being merciless, and
Ruth saw now that the character was de-
served. "There is no use in your coming
here" he said rudely, II am acting for
others and not for myself; you'd better
spend your time in getting together the in
terest that you owe. [ can't interfere
Bring me the money, Oh the law must take
its course"
When Mrs. Hunter heard the result Of
this interview, and when afterward the
formal notice was served she moaned fee
bly, and turned her face to the wall "We
shall have to beg, or go to the poor house,
OF die CD the road" she said. ooh that
! should ever have lived to see this day"
Ruth, herself, was at the end Of her re-
sources. For while she lay PROSTATE on
the bed, where she had flung herself beside
her mother, the two mingling their tears
But the brave girl rallied at last. She re-
membered that there was nothing in the
house to eat, and that she had no money
to buy anything with. At first she thought
Of going to the store and begging for lit
tie more credit; but when she recalled how
CURLY this had been refused, only a week
before, she abandoned the idea in despair
Suddenly it flashed upon her that She
wheat was being cut on the great Gresham
farms. In the old Squire's time, the pool
had been allowed to come with sickle
and cut what they wished it was Scrip
tural custom, which the Gresham's has
maintained from father to son, for genera
lions. The old Squire was dead, but Ruti
had no doubt but the privilege would still
be accorded, and looping up her skirt
to look as much like one of her rustic
neighbors as possible, she took her sickle
and went forth like her nalneSake OF old.