The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-04-30
AFTER THE FIRE.

sears seemed al the ume u occuIfeu tno
Gilman of q series Of misfortunes that had
bean falling for Eve years upon our do
voted heads.
First, we lost q dear father, who left the
family already mentioned-namely, mann
ma, Meta, Freddie, and myself. Meta was
but fourteen when father died, ! twelve,
and Freddie but three years Of Ege. There
was no money for US after the business was
closed, and mamma thankfully accepted an
offer Of her Uncle Gordon's to be his
housekeeper, and so secure q home for all OF
rs
Such a home | Uncle Gordon Crofts WINS
o man nearly seventy, strong and vigo-
rous, witha most ungovernnble temper,
misery and suspicious, who had lived
alone for about forty years. What sud-
den spasm of generosity made him open
the doors Of his wretched, tu~mble-down old
house to us we never knew but certainly
he repented the arrangement as soon as his
proposal was accepted
Not one meal passed our lips that We
were not reminded of its cost not an ar
tcle of our poor clothing was renewed
without deep groans over our extravaganza;
and we were put out at once-Msta and
myself-to learn trades, I being apprentice
cd TO a milliner, Meta to q book binder.
know now thai, scant MS our wages
were, they really covered the expenses OF
our poor food and worse lodging. As for
poor mamma, with all the homework, sew
ing, washing, and cooking upon her hands,
surely she earned the little she spent.
But, in spite of our poverty and hard
work, Meta blossomed into a beautiful,
modest, and tender girl 1 very
pretty.
When Brent Ellis discovered Meta's at
fractions, she was eighteen, still work.
spa nc n Innllin1.r IL, tIa nlan0 NJ hue
mess which Brent's father owned. Old
John Ellis, after storming and raging ike
a maniac at the presumption of one of the
hands in daring to be sufficiently attrac-
tive to win the love of the son and heir OF
his mngnihcence dismissed Meta at a
hours notice.
As he owned the only bookbinding estab-
hshment IN the town, and Meta knew no
other trade, affairs looked black enough
for US.
Brent himself was true rs steel, and want
Cd Meta TO marry him at once. But, in
spite of her gentleness, Meta had some
pride, and refused to enter n family where
she was not welcome. Mother, too, at THU
crisis, informed Brent that his visits had
better cease, and Meta did not speak one
word Of dissent.
l stormed, of course. I always do
storm when / am angry. But nobody
ever came roundt TO my opinion, no matter
how [ ryod and John Ellis certainly
did not. To be sure, he did not hear me,
or that might have made some difference.
Midwinter found us in this strait. Metz
ont of employment, helping mother about
the house, and patiently bearing Unc,s
Gordon's protests against her idleness and
fine lady airs; l trimming hats, and meelly
handed over my wages to our uncle 4
Freddie still at the town school, but with
An apprenticeship looming in the spring.
In january Uncle Gordon was takoh
Ill the first serious sickness of his hfa
lie would have no doctor until absolutely
forced to call one in by increasing pain and
Seakness, aud when the long delayed exam.
ination was over it proved to lave been
made too late.
In Just one month from his first pain
our uncle died, leaving a brief will, ~conferr-
1s all his property, the house 1nclnded,
tpon our mother, his ''well-beloved niece,
earah Norton"
But where was the property Not q
shilling was deposited in the bank, not an
Inch Of real estate was held in his name,
save the miserable piece of land upon which
the house stood, aud which barely yielded
vegetables for the table.
We turned the house upside down md
tnside out, but not n coin rewarded our
s.Arch.
Finally, we sadly concluded that the mis-
cry We had seen, the lamentations VIC had
heard, were the result of real, downright
poverty, and not the mere pretences of =
miser.
And we struggled along somehow,
mother sewing a Little, Meta doing house.
work, and l still at the milliner's. Wo
aid not starve. That is the record of tic
NEXT four months-a struggle for mera
lrAaI a-l ttA % nsR lf rNVNn1 axsFan.a
nothing more. And, to cap the climax,
came the fire.
II was q night in June-a clear, star
light highland l. though weary enough,
was leepless. Meta lay by my side, wake
svl as myself, and told me, in soft whisp-
ers, that she had met her lover that day,
chen on some household errand, md he
sad urged her sorely TO consent to marry
aim, though his father had not relented.
u dom know but | would" / said.
After ALL he is n man, and must be able
- care for you somehow. This life is kill
ng you"
And, as I spoke, Meta cried, II smell
gpoke 7"
There it was, coming in at the cracks Of
NE WORKOUT door, little threads ut first
bat filling the room rapidly.
We caught up some clothing, and rush.
Cd to the door. As we opened it, the
DANES burst out on the landing and stair
ease, forcing US to retreat.
Mother aud Freddie slept in rooms be-
sond ours on the other side, and we rushed
s;ross TO them. 1t took but a momen,
~ rouse them, and We all four scrambled,
Addressed, from Frcddie's window to q
Aed, and SO TO the yard.
BY this inc the ~neighbors were nwak-
med, and the houses about US were glow
ing in the flames shooting up from our old
souse TO the sky.
Fancy, IL you can, the group We FORM
~. as We huidlod together in the yard
md wn.ohsd everything we owned upon
srth being licked up by greedy tongues
Il fame, swallowed in clouds of smoke.
AstA and 1 could SEQ our bedroom closet
sid the sonnty stock of clothing there,
nd count the dearly purchased articles rs
sey were consumed
my poor black alpaca" Meta sa;d,
catching the lurid trimming creeping u,
die skirt. "We might have snatched that
Ishangs on the door"
Doe my bandboI topping over" I said
The bonnet viii have fiame-colored feath.
ss in two minutes"
Mother was too much crushed to share In
or grim jesting. and Freddie was tremS-
mug with excitement and terror.
The fremen did their duty brayely. b.
uero too late to save anything, and ds;.
found US homeless, With nothing Let of %
house but blackened walls and a al Chic
ney, clearly defined against the rosy sky d
Q June sunrise.
Then-I shall love him all my life 10.
that as We stood utterly desolAte sAf
dsSituts Brent Ellis, who had WORKED Ia
. giant at the ~fro-ongines, came, all bilJf
aaed and streaming with sweat, and said
: Marry me, Meta, this hour, SO thlt I mad
hsse a right to shalter all Of you. I kss