Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1876-02-10


one life's work to grieveiover much'
Miss Middleton saw that she must besti
herself to keep the wolf from the door. Ii
| sending away her lover she had sent ava,
her mothers only boarder and il becam,
her TO do something by way of compeusa
I ton. But what could she do? She n,ie,L
| teach. pernaps. II there we're any pupils tC
! be had able to pay for their tuition; bu
| there were none, and the young woman de
| termined, as all fairly educated youn.
women lido in such cases, to write for the
magazines. Nothing is SO easy as to write
! and Miss Middleton found the labor Of pro
| ductlon so very light that. by the most
moderate calculation she could make, she
thought herself certain to earn more mon.
ey every month than she dared mention
even TO her mother.
She hoped that the publishers would pay
only in checks, lest the abundance of mon.
ey in the house should tempt burglars
She wrote her manuscript upon beautiful
paper Covering both sides, of course)
with delicately sharpened pens. aud tied il
together at the top with the jauntiest blue
ribbon imaginable.
Then she sent it to an editor, who, after
keeping it fortnight, returned it with a
very polite letter indeed, explaining the
crowded state of his columns. and suggest.
ing the probability that some other editor
less absolutely overwhelmed with manu-.
scripts than he, would eagerly accept it.
The next editor was "A trife less elabo.
rate IN his epistolarv style, but polite aud
encouraging, nevertheless. The next re-
turned the manuscript with printed cir,
culsr. very neat and extremely rich in
courteous generalties, but rather les.
pleasant to receive than a written reply to
her pretty note would have been. Finally
il came back without any note at all. and
so soiled by much handling that she threw
it into the fire in disgust with it and with
herself. The editors had not been unhind
however. Had they not let her down gent.
ly aud quietly: She had written gram
matically and with a profusion of pretty
phrases. But she had nothing that she
really wanted to say to the public. and
nothing that the public wanted to hear,
and il is the business of editors to stand
Tor the public IN this matter OF periodical
literature.
Miss Middleton was "A sensible woman
and she saw all this. She knew when She
threw that manuscript into the fire that it
was worthless, and that writing was not
her proper business in the world; but she
was discouraged and fairly frightened as
we'll. The family income had ceased when
Mr.. Brecse went away. and the family
purse vas well nigh empty. Miss Middle
ton sat by the IRE until 1t died out. think
ing. thinking. but nj! To no purpose. She
must DO something. was tie thought of one
moment; there was nothing that She could
do, was that OF the next. She threw her
self on her bed at last and slept. She had
nothing TO be thankful for. She had said.
and -he thought 50 still.
The next day came letter from a lady
in the North. whose name she had never
h@"rJl befnre. The lady apologizad for
that She had got her address through a
friend, and knowing of nd one else to
whom She could apply for the Information
she wished, &c. &c. &c. The gist of the
letter WAS that the lady writing it had two
daughters whose health suffered somewhat
from the severity of the northern winter,
and she wished Miss Middleton would tell
her ii there was any young lady of thor
ough refinement and culture who would
take charge OF the girls as boarders and
pupils in private house at the South.
Somehow the description the lady gave OF
the kind OF person with whom she desired
to place her daughter fitted Miss Middle
ton herself with remarkable precision, and
after a letter or two had passed each way
it was decided that Mrs. Hepworth'
daughters should become Miss Niddlcton'-
pupils at once, and that their mother
should join them little later in the season
as Miss Middleton's boarder.
| The girls were presently installed as pu-
( pills in the little cottage. They cried lit
! tie between whiles, of course, but there
was 30 much to see. so many places t.
! -. aff,th a
rery much to write about 10 mamma. that
they were obliged to grow cheerful merely
because there was no time for anything
| else. II was so constant a wonder to them
| to gather flowers in nidwinter, and [,
walk in the green woods in January, thai
| the South seemed very fairy land to the
| youthful maidens. Then. too. they die
what everybody else did who came in con
tact with Miss Middleton. They tell in love
with her, in word, and she, in spite o
| the heat lightning in her nature. which
| flashed up above the horizon in her eye,
every moment-or perhaps, because OF i
loved everything that she happened no
| to hate, aud finding nothing to hate in hei
! pupils, she became sort OF tigerish youne
mother to them presently, brooding owe
| them as a black cloud broods over youn!
! thunderstorm.
| Then Mrs. Hepworth came, ana sh
played rainbow to Miss Middleton's temp
est SO that the two soon became somethin:
more than the best of friends, and Mis-
Middleton declared that if she thought al
Yankees were like her new friend sh
would love tie whole race-except the car
pet-bagger who, as she had heard, ha,
bought Middleton Hall at the tax sale, an,
was actually living in the old mansion
Him she could never do else than hate
without high treason to her soul.