The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-10-26
MISS ASHBELL.

CONSERVATION was depicted on the
faces OF the family group assembled to
hear it., when | finished reading the let
Ter had lust received from attnt.
The group consisted of myself-Mary,
eldest daughter of the house and hearth
-bto#n; dark-byed; tall and eighteen j;
Helen, not quite as brown, haSel-eyed,
almost a. tall and sixteen; viii, brown
er, darker-eyed, head shorter, and ten !;
and Carroll, towering above us all, blue
eyed, fair-haired, gold mustached, and
tTentysone.
Aunt was, in fact, our great-aunt, sis
ter of our fathers mother, but the only
aunt, great OF little, that we had ever
known. We had met her hut two or
three times during our lives, as she lived
in far-away Illinois, and was too much
occupied with grains and herds to think
of frequent visiting, and we-well, we
were too poorly provided with gold and
silver 10 be able to take long and expen-
size Journeys. So what little visiting
there had been had been on aunts side,
with one exception, and then | was the
visitor. 1t was when | was about fifteen
this short but memorable visit took
place. Yielding to aunt's repeated So
licitations-I vas her namesake-l
started from home with the intention of
spending the summer months on the IL
linois farm. | arrived there safely, was
welcomed heartily, and entertained right
to~allY! hut before q week had passed
away had grown 50 tired Of the seeming
boundlessness of everything, and l0nged
so for the little cottage and lillIputian
garden where grew my three rose-bushes
~-one red, one white, and one creamy
yellow-that aunt seeing the longing in
my eyes, said, q Child, you must go
back" and back came long before was
expected, bat my dear father and mother
assured me not a moment too soon.
We children haG always heard twice a
year from aunt-Once collectively at
Christmas, and once respectively OH our
brthdays-and each time the kindly
note which exhOrted us to be good, in
dustrious and self-reliant," inclosed a
check larger or smaller according to
aunts gains OF the preceding year.
These notes we had been taught TO an
swer with many wishes for the old lady's
welfare, and thanks for her kindnesses,
ana hopes for speedy meeting; in
short, in manner betting the only
nieces and nephews of the Carmody
family when replying to the friendly
epistles of their only aunt, to say moth
ing of that aunt being the wealthiest
and the most influential member of that
family.
A few days before our father died he
called us together, and said, "My chill
dren, it isn't at all likely to occur, but if
your aunt should ask favor of you,
grant it, at no matter what inconveni-
ence. She has been my best and dearest
friend
Poor father! | suspect aunt had often
helped him out of pecuniary difficulties
He was an impractical dreamy sort of
man, fond of birds, poetry and flowers,
and didn't succeed very well in life
But, in spite of his dreaminess and want
OF worldly tact, and his being SO totally
unlike her in most ways, he was great
fayorite of aunt's and when we tele-
graphed his serious illness TO her she left
her vast possessions without a captain at
moments notice, and fastened TO his
side making her appearance in a bonnet
that Immediately suggested the prairies,
It was so unlimited as TO size and so bare
O. ornament, and which grotesquely OBJ
truded itself into the remembrance of
that sad time forever after
Since fathers death things hadn't
been very bright with us. In fact, they
hadn't been bright at all.
We found there was good deal of
money owing, and what remained of the
500 aunt gave us on the day of the
tuneral-she babe us goodbye the mo-
ment the ceremonies were Over-after
our very cheap mourning was paid for,
went 10 the butcher, grocer and Shoe
maker.
We were all willing to do. and did,
whatever we could toward supporting the
households; but, dearl dearl talk about
weeds | saw anything grow like bill
Carroll, who had an aristocratic turn
of mind, struggled with it, and |, who
had dress-making turn of mind, strug-
gled with that, and Helen struggled with
her books, hoping to become a teacher
in time and little VIII struggled with
somebody else's books, for he went into a
publishing house as errand boy-poor
fellow
Besides the struggles, we had mother
tl puI Htitl4c- ~ lew "NNnc aANSA w
lost our father, we lost our baby sister
A beautiful child she was, rs bright as a
diamond and as fair as a pearl, ana the
pride and darling of us all. Already
sinking beneath the blow of her hus-
bands death, when her little daughter
died too, my mothers heart was nearly
broken. From being sunshiny, ener-
getic, busy woman, she became Gstless