Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1874-07-02
THE MODERN RUTH.
BY THE AUTHOR OF 'coBwEBs," ETC.

1t was terrible break-up. The lov-
ing husband, the tender father had gone
to his rest, and now Ruth and her moth
er had to face the world alone.
Nor was this all. Mr.. Hunter had
been generously considered one of the
wealthiest farmers in the neighborhood
but he was now found to have died in
solvent. For years he had been living
beyond his means. "I told you so,"
said one Of the wiseacres, "when he
sent bis daughter to school in Boston,
as if the schools here warn't good
enough; knowed how it would be-
The farm was mortgaged for its entire
value, and was Immediately foreclosed;
and when the other debts were paid,
there was not dollar left. [
Ruth and her mother would have
had no roof to shelter them, if Ruth
had not inherited, from maiden aunt,
little, tumbledown cottage, with an
acre or two of pasture land, on the out
skirts of the village. Thither the two
mourners repaired, with the few bits of
furniture the law had allowed them,
and began the hardest of all struggles,
the battle with poverty OH the part of
women, battle rendered the more DIFF
ficult in this case because both had been
tenderly, even luxurionsly 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
pletely broken down, not only in spir-
its, but i'm health also. "If it wasn't
for me, you could go of somewhere
and earn our living like lady. You
could teach music, or be u governess,
or obtain a situation in a school. But
while Pm an invalid, and I suppose l
shall now always be one, you are tied
to my bedside.
Ruth was of Il different character
from her mother. She WAS more ener-
getic, more self-reliant, more heroic.
She had also the courage of youth on
her side.
"God will PROVIDE" she said. "He
helps those who help themselves. What
with my needle, or cow, and the veget-
able garden l 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, uncomplainingly,
to support her mother and herself. For
awhile, too, it seemed as if her conf
dence was prophetic. Mrs. Hunter re-
covered her health 50 as to be able to be
about. Everything went well. At the
end of the first summer Ruth, proudly
counting up her gains, said, "Mother,
dear, we have not only supported our
selves, but We have saved money; we
are getting RICH" ,
But alas, different times came. In
the autumn, Mrs. Hunter fell i'll of
rheumatic fever, for the situation of
the house was low and damp. She had
to take to her bed again. She was 10
longer able to help Ruth with her
needle. Poor Ruth could not earn but
little herself, her time being occupied
SO much in nursing her mother. The
doctors bill and medicines soon absorb
ed her small savings.
She began to fall behind. The COW
finally had to be sold, and at last, in
order to avert absolute staIyalivll, Ruth
was compelled to mortgage the cottage.
In the two years that followed. mat
ters 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 Oh the
mortgage fell into arrears. Lawyer
Dent, who represented the holder, be-
gan to clamor for the arrears. At last
in the third summer of Rutli's orphan
age, came a legal notice, that, unless
the interest was paid up in full, the cot
tage would be sold.
The day before this notice was served,
Ruth had gone in person to lawyer
Dent, hoping to touch his heart. But
he was deaf to her tears and represen-
tatiOns. He had the reputation of be-
ing merciless, and Ruth saw now that
the character was deserved. "It's no
use your coming here" he said, rudsly,
81 am acting for others and not for my
self; you'd better spend your time in
getting together the interest you owe.
| can't interfere. Bring me the money,
or the law must take its course"
When Mrs. Hunter heard the result
of this interview, and when afterward
the formal notice was served, she moan
ell feebly and turned her face to the
wall. We shall have to beg, or 90 to
the poor-house, or die on the road"
she said. ''Oh that should ever have
lived to see this day"
Ruth herself was at the end of her
resources. For awhile sac lay pros
trate OH the bed, where she had flung
herself beside her mother, the two
mingling their tears. But the brave
girl rallied at last. She remembered
that there was nothing in the house to