The true northerner., 1876-12-01

save the miserable lOC OF lanu upon
which the house stood, and which barely
yielded vegetables for the table.
We turned the house upside down and
inside out, but not one dollar rewarded
our search. Finally we sadly concluded
that the stinginess we had seen, the
lamentations We had heard, were the
result of real, downright poverty, and
not the affectations of miser reluctant
to open his purse.
And we struggled along somehow,
mother sewing little, Meta doing
house-work, and 1 still at the milliner's.
We did not starve. That is the record
of the next four months-a struggle for
mere bread, and the saving of actual
existence, nothing more.
And, to cap the climax, came the fire.
II was night in June-a clear, star
light night = when heaven seemed to
smile upon earth, and /, though weary
enough, was sleepless. Meta lay by my
side, wakeful as myself, and told me, in
soft whispers, that she had met her lover
that day, when on some household er-
rand, and he had urged her sorely to
consent to marry him, though his father
had not relented.
ct don't know but i would" i said.
"After all, he is man, and must be
able to care for you somehow. This life
is killing you"
And as L spoke Meta cried:
"I smell smoke 7"
"Smel it !" I cried, starting up. 81
see it !"
There it was, coming in at the cracks
of the worn-out door, little threads at
first, bu filling the room rapidly.
We caught up some clothing and
rushed to the door. AS we opened it the
flames burst out on the landing and
staircase, forcing us to retreat. Mother
and Freddie slept in rooms beyond ours
on the other side, and we rushed across
to them. 1t took but moment to
rouse them, and we all four scram-
bled, addressed, from Freddie's win
dow to shed, and so to the yard.
By this time the neighbors were wax.
ened, the fire-bell was ringing, and the
whole block about us was glowing in the
flames shooting up from our old house
to the sky.
Fancy, if you can, the group we
formed, as we stood huddled together in
owned upon earth being licked up by
greedy tongues of flame, swallowed in
clouds of smoke. Meta and could see
our bedroom closet and the scanty stock
of clothing there, and count the dearly
purchased articles as they were con-
sumed.
"My poor black alpaca" Meta said,
watching the lurid trimming creeping
up the skirt. "We might have snatched
that. 1t hangs on the door,"
"See my bandbox toppling over" L
said. "The bonnet will have fame
colOred feathers in two minutes.
Mother was too much crushed to share
in our grim jesting, and Freddie was
trembling with excitement and terror.
The fremen did their duty bravely,
but were too late to save anything, and
dawn found us homeless, with nothing
left of our house but blackened walls
and tall chimney, clearly defined
against the rosy sky of June sunrise.
Them shall love him all my life for
that as we stood utterly desolate and
destitute, Brent Ellis, who had worked
like giant at the fire-engines, came, all
blackened and streaming with sweat, and
said +:
Marry me, Meta, now, this hour, 80
that I may have right to shelter all of
you. Come, love, come. have little
fortune of my own my father cannot
touch, and it will keep US from want, if
no more"
But Meta only thanked him gently,
and chung closer to our mother. We
began to realize our scant raiment in the
daylight, and were glad to accept the
offer of a neighbor for temporary shelter.
Others came forward, and we had soon
an incongruous assortment of cast-off
clothes at our disposal, and arrayed our
selves as we best could, presenting a
ludicrous appearance enough, if any of
us could have raised spirits enough to
laugh.
But we were not exactly hilarious |
Utter and entire destitution seemed to
have fallen upon us, at last, after our
long fight with that traditional wolf who
had prowled so near our doors for the
last five years. We salted our cups of
charity y-offered coffee with our tears,
and were blind to the charms of griddle-
cakes Hospitality pressed upon us.
Neighbors focked in to offer advice
and consolation, and we were touched
by most generous offers of home and
food from several, until we could "look
around"
Where2 What could we look for 2
Our only home lay in ashes, our sole
possessions were entirely consumed
For three days we were numbed by
despairing sorrow. eve" means the
three women, for Freddie seemed to
look upon the whole business as a
pleasurable change in the monotony of
his existence. He had not been 30 well
fed-indeed, may say well stuffed-in
five years for all the neighbors called
him in, whenever he passed, to offer tit
bits. He had an entire suit of clothes
that were out-grown by one of the richer
boys, and, fitting Freddie, clothed him
better than he had been clothed since
his father died and, best of all, he
took holiday, nobody having sufficient
ly recovered their wits to send him to
school.
As soon as the ruins of our home were
cold enough to admit of visiting, par
ties of boys began TO dig in the ashes
for half burned property, and Freddie