Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-01-17
THE LUCKY CLEANER.


had gone TO his rest, and row Edith
and her mother had to face the
world alone.
Nor was this ell. Mr.. Miller had
been generally considered as one Of
the wealthiest farmers in the neigh.
borbood, but be was now found to
have died insolvent. For years he
bad been living beyond his means.
Il told You so, said one of the WISE
acres, when he sent his darter to
school in Richmond, as If the sch ools
here warn't good enough l know
ed how it would be- z
The farm was mortgaged for its
entire value, and was Immediately
foreclosed, and when other debts
were paid there was not shilling
left.
Edith and her mother would have
bad no roof even to shelter them if
Edith had not inherited from mai
den aunt little, tumble down cot.
tage, with an acre or two of pasture
land off the outskirts of the village.
Thither the two mourners repair.
ed with few bits Of furniture the
law had allowed them. and began
the hardest Of all struggles, the bat.
tie with poverty on the part of wom-
en--a battle rendered the more diff
cult 10 this Case, because both had
been tenderly, even luxuriously nur.
tured, and had never before known
what it was to have to deny them
selves.
Il am such burden 10 you, Edith
moaned the widow, who was now
completely broken down, not only
in spirits but in health also. eff it
wasn't for me you could 60 off some
where and earn your own living like
a lady. You could teach music or
be a governess, or obtain situation
in school. But while am an in.
valid, and | suppose shall always
be one, you are tied TO my bedside
Edith was different character
from her mother. She was a more
energetic, more self reliant, more he
role. She had also the courage of
youth on her side.
we shall get on famously,' she
said. What with my needle, our
COW, and the vegetable garden
shall make, we shall get along fam
ously.'
So this refined, cultivated girl, W ho
had been reared, as it were amid
rose leaves, went to work uncom-
plainingly to support her mother
and herself. For while, too, it
seemed as if her confidence was pro-
phetic. Mrs. Miller recovered he.
health so as to he able to be about.
Everything went well.
AT the end of the first summer
Edith,proudly counting up her gains
said: Mother dear, We have not o,
ly supported ourselves, but we have
saved money. We are getting rich 7
But alas different times came In
the Autumn Mrs. Miller fell sick of
rheumatic fever, for the situation of
the cottage was low and damp. She
had to take to her bed again. She
was no longer able to help Edith
with her needle. Poor Edith could
now earn but little, her time being
occupied 80 much nursing her moth.
err. The doctors bill and the medi-
cines soon absorbed her small saw
ings. She began to fall behind. The
cow finally had to be sold, and at
last, in order to avert absolute star
walton, Edith was compelled to mort
gage the cottage.
In the two years that followed
matters went from bad to worse.
Mrs. Miller remained bedridden. Do
all che could Edith was unable to
make both ends meet. The interest
on the mortgage fell into arrears. A
solicitor named Jupp, who represent
ed the holder, began to c!amor for
the arrears. At last in the third
summer of Edith's orphanage, came
q legal notice that unless the inter-
est was paid in full the cottage would
be sold.
The day before the notice was
served Edith had gone in person to
the attorney, hoping to touch his
heart. But he was deaf to her tears
and representations. He had the
reputation of being merciless, and
Edith saw that the character was
deserved.
Its no use your coming here p
he said, rudely. Il am acting for
others, and not for myself. You'd
better spend your time in getting to-
gether the interests you owe. can It
interfere. Bring the money or the
law must take its course =
When Mrs. Miller heard the re-
suit of this interview, and when, af.
forwards the formal notice was
served she moaned feebly, and turn
ed her back to the wall
we shall have to beg or 60 to the
poor-house, or die on the road = she
said. 'Ob, that | should ever have
lived to see this day =
Edith herself was at the end of
her resources. For while she lay
PROSTATE on the bed, where she had
flung herself beside her mother, the
two mingling their tears. But the
brave girl raised at last. She remem.
bered that there was nothing 10 the
house to eat, and that she had no
money to buy anything with. At
first she thought of going to the viii
lage store and begging for little
more credit, but when she recalled
how curtly this had been refused
only week before. she abandoned
the idea in despair.
Suddenly it flashed upon her that
the wheat was being cut on the great
Whestlsnd farms. .In the squire's
time the poor had been allowed to
come with q sickle and cut what
they wished. 1t was a scriptural
custom, which the Wheatlands had
maintained from father to son for
generations. The old squire was
dead, but Edith had no doubt that
the privilege would still be accorded
and, looping up her skirt to look as
much like one of her rustic neigh
bors as possible, she took a sickle
and went forth like Ruth of old.
Her heart did not begin to fail her