Daily globe., 1879-05-18
MISS ASHBELL.

MISS ASHBELL.
Cnsternation was depicted on the faces
Of the family group assembled to hear it,
when finished reading the letter I had
Just received from aunt.
The group consisted Of myself-Mary,
eldest daughter of the house and hearth
brown. da1k-eyed, tall and eighteen;
Helen, not quite as brown, hazel-eyed,
almost as tall, and sixteen; Will, browner,
darker-eyed, a head shorter and ten; and
Carroll, towering above us all, blue-eycd,
fair-haircd golden -mustached, and twenty
one.
Aunt was, in fact, our great-aunt, sister
of our fathers mother, but the only aunt,
great or little, that we had ever known.
We had met her but 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 poor
ly provided with gold and silver to be
able to take long and expensive journeys.
So what little visiting there had been
had been on aunt's side, with one excep-
ton, and then I was the visitor. 1t was
when l was about fifteen this short but
memorable visit took place. Yielding to
aunt's repeated solicitations-I was her
namesake-I started from home with the
intention of spending the summer months
on the Illinoisc farm. l arrived there
safely, was welcomed heartily, and enter
tanned right royalty; but before a week
had passed away had grown SO tired of
the seeming boundlessness Of every thing,
and longed so for the little cottag 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, "Child, you
must 90 back" and back I came long be-
fore was expected. but my dear father
and mother assured me not moment too
soon.
We children had always heard twice a
year from aunt-once collectively at
Christmas, and once respectively on our
birthdays-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 answer with many
wishes for the old lady's welfare, and
thanks for her kindnesses, and hopes for
speedy meeting; in short, in a manner
betting the only nieces and nephews of
the Ca1mody family when replying to the
friendly episues of their only aunt, to
say nothing Of that aunt being the wealth
lest and most influential member of that
family. qi .ss
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 ever aunt should ask a favor of you
grant it, at no matter what inconvenience
Poor father! I suspect aunt had often
helped him out of pecuniary difficulties
He was an impractical, dreamy sort Of
man, fond of birds and poetry and flowers
and didn't succeed very well in life. But
in spite of his dreaminess and his want Of
worldly tact, and his being so totally un
like her in most ways, he was great ia
vorite Of aunt's, and when we telegraphec
his serious illness to her, she left her vas
possessions without a moments notice
and fastened to his side, making her ap
pearance in bonnet that immediatel,
suggested the prairies, it was so unlimit
ed as to size and SO bare of ornament, an(
which grotesquely obtruded itself int
the remembrance of that sad time foreve
after. ,~..
Since fathers death things hadn't bee,
very bright with us. In fact, they hadn'
been bright at all.
We found there was good deal q
money owing, and what remained of tn
two hundred dollars aunt gave us on tn
day Of the funeral-she bade us "goo
bye" the instant the ceremonies wer
over-after our very cheap mourning wa
paid for, went to the butcher, grocer anc
shoemaker. ,,-
We were all willing to work and a
did, whatever we could toward supper
ing the household; but, dear! dear! tai
about weeds! Inever saw anything gro
like bills.
Carroll, who had an artistic turn {
mind, struggled with it, and l, who ha
dress-making turn of mind, struggle
with that, ann Helen struggled with hi
books, hoping to become teacher
time, and little Will struggled wit
somebody else's books, for he went int
publishing house as errand-boy-po
fellow! . ~
Besides the struggles, we had moth
on our minds. A few weeks after we 10
our father we lost our baby sister,
beautiful child she was, as bright as
diamond and as fair as pearl, and Il
pride and darling of us all. Alreat
sinking beneath the blow of her husband
death, when her little daughter died t.
my mothers heart was nearly broke
From being a sunshiny, energetic, bu
woman, she became listless and apathet
sitting in her room day after day gazi,
upon the picture of the loved ones,
rocking back and forth, her hands clasp
before her, looking with dry eyes up
vacancy.
20 that she could be made to wee
that she could be reused from this drea
full speechless gloom into which she
fallenr' was our continual prayer, for
terrible thought came to us often that ,
should lose our mother in much VOL
way than we had our father and sister
that her brain would at last give way