Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1879-09-09
A MOUNTAIN RIDE.

Of course we girls all pitied Rachel
Tinkham. but we never quite made her
one of us.
She was such shy little thing, and
blushed if you spoke to her, and acted
afraid of her own voice. and wore print
dresses ali the time, and never was in
vited to our parties.
She lived in tumble-down old house
which had been a very grand mansion
once.
The Tinkhains had been great people
in my grandmother's day. Nothing was
left of their grandeur now, however, for
there had been wine in one generation
and whisky in the next, and dellriati,a
tre,nens in the third.
Rays father was the third. She had
a wretched time keeping house for him
Her mother was dead
I'VE" were the girls of Mrs. Bland
private school
A dozen of us were out upon the east
verandah one morning. We We're all
talking at once Some one, it seemed.
had said the high school girls were bet
ter scholars than we were.
Every well. So they are"
This was Kate Avery, and she was
standing up by the lattice where the
morning glory vines grew. and where a
hundred clusters OF little bells swung
out-blue and purple and rose-pink. If
Kate was anything. she was honest,
though she was handsome too.
I'VE have music and French CONVEX
sation, and Lou has phaeton, and
have two donkeys, and Queeny has been
to Europe; but" lowering her voice,
it's an awful secret though it's the
fy.11fh l,o fnrh
and miles beyond us in Latin and mathe-
matics."
Indeed they are" said I. "I'm what
lnademoiselle calls an 'idgi5' in arith
metic. really suppose that two and
two make four, but if one of those girls
were to tell me that they made five,
shouldn't dare dispute her."
THE fact is" said Kate, little Tink-
ham is the only one of us who is sure of
her multiplication table. But then she
doesn't really belong to US She would
not be here if it wasn't for sweeping and
dusting to pay her tuition. There She is
this minute
A small, tired-looking figure in coarse
dress came in sight round the corner. 1t
was Rachel with her load of books in
her arms.
She les worn that dress every day
for three rlonths," said Lou Stedman: !:
81 verify believe she goes to bed when
it is done up"
My dear, she can't. She has to wash
and iron it herself. Oh, there is Queeny p
cried Kate. 1t was such gentle, grace
ful girl who came walking fast to over
take Ray, caught step as she overlook
her, and began talking pleasantly.
Doesn't she look nice in that seal brown
suit? Ard isn't it just like her to carry
Rays books for her?''
Queeny's real name was Alice You
would have known why we called her
Queenv If you had seen her walk beside
little Ilnkham that morning, open the
gate, and stand still, erect, with that
grand way of hers, for the girl to pass
through. | believe we all rather wor-
SHIPPED Queeny.
Kate met them with her forehead all
tied up into hard knots, and asked Ray.
didn't she want to be an angel and
help her with those dreadful fractions? !
So they two sat down on the door
step, and the rest went into the school
room. Then Lou called out to Ray to
come and dust her desk. She said ssit
wasn't half busted" Queeny said:
Ray is busy, will do it;n and she.
oilchp 1nu iOOhlHS PiouucI tildn ever,
busted Louis desk herself.
1t was this morning, Friday, that
Mrs. Bland told us that Tomorrow
would be 9 Mountain day."
All the schools in our town drive to
the mountain once a year. Our day
always comes in September.
This time Mrs. Bland couldn't 90. SO
she sent along her cousin to matronize
us. She was fidgety person, afraid ol
spiders, and no good any way.
We are to start at nine O'Clock. y
Queeny said. Ray, can. you be ready
so earlye"
Queeny was a new scholar. She
didn't know that Ray never went with
us to such places. Now she flushed and
replied:
II don't think I can 60 to the noun
tain"
Certainly, you are going" Alice
said it in her queeniest way. "If Won
can't go tomorrow we will put of
going"
:. Saturday is my day to clean the
school-room. Ray answered.
1--WE will clean it. Let's begin this
minute" and off came Queeny's cuffs
and Kate's, all the cuffs, in fact, We
want ko WORK and had sY,ch {,,,, a,vo.-.