The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-18
Her Reward.

L ~
that" said Fanny in an injured tone.
And to think that father was once
the richest man in Barville," almost
sobbed Louisa.
"I know it is very hard, girls, said
Helen Marsh, as she carefully darned a
rent in q pillow case, "but it must be
done, and we might as well face the fact
first as last. We are in sore need Of
money, you will all admit and the only
way we can make it is by taking
boarders We have four unoccuried
rooms in this house, and we ought to
Lave made something out of them long
ago"
cit does seem such a degradation,
though, for us to take boarders," meaned
Fanny.
"And, of coure, Helen would think it
improper to take in any one else, said
Josie.
"If by mice YOU mean young gentle
men, Josie, you may be sure will think
it decidedly improper"
"And imagine waiting on stuffy old
women and catering to their whims, "
said Louisa, plainiively, cor having
the house overrun Ivy crying, dirty
children"
'The fat has gone forth, said Fanny,
1--WE must make up our minds to the in
evitable. When Helen says thing she
means it, as we all know by experience;
but |, for one, shall see as little of her
boarders as possible"
cit is q shame that our aunt Emma
didn't leave us her property" cried
JOSIE Only soul burns with indigna-
ton whenever 1 think OF it. If she
had possessed single spark of afec
ton she would never have been guilty
Of leaving it away from US, and we would
not have been reduced to such a strait as
this.
Helen smiled, for "Aunt Emma's lack
Of natural affection was Josies hobby,
and she rode it almost daily. aunt
Emma had been their fathers only sis
ter, rich old maid who had gone to
Europe when Josie was an infant, and
never been heard of since. That she
was dead no one doubted, but how she
lad disposed of her fortune remained a
mystery. But having been very &c
centric woman, full Of absurd crotchets
Of every sort, it wa, generally believed
that she had left her money to found a
hospital for lame cats and dogs, a home
for aged spinsters, or some institution
OF the kind
The four sisters who lived alone in
y ~
piece of property which had oeen saved
from the wreck of their fathers estate,
would have been ONLY too glad to have
received only small slice of their
Aunt Emma fortune, for there was more
pinching economy in the old house than
outsiders imagined, and it was only by the
exercise of the most careful manage
ment that Helen contrived to make
both ends meet Helen was the eldest
and the most energetic, and consequent
" by far the larger half of the care of
the household fell upon her slender
shoulders. She was thoroughly unself
ish and so sweet tempered that her sis,
ters could impose upon her with i'm
punity. They never seemed to think that
she would grow tired, or have a head
ache, bu. appeared to look upon her as
a machine that went by regular winding
through it's allotted work They were
even Jealous Of that portion of her time
taken up by the visits cf young Tom
Harding, and looked upon the hours she
spent with him in the dimly lighted car.
lor or the sweet old orchard, as wasted,
not caring that they were a source of re-
Taxation, rest and happiness to her Of
course (the girls argued), since she could
never marry him, there was no use or
sense whatever in clinging to her en-
gagement with him. For Helen was
actually engaged to the struggling young
physician, whose practice was small as
vet, and on whose shoulders rested the
burden of the support of an invalid aunt
an unmarried sister. The engagement
was already five years DID, and there was
still no prospect for wedding But
Helen loved Tom and chung to him, deaf
to the reasoning and arguments Of her
worldly-wise sisters.
Helen had not arrived at her decision
to take summer boarders without many
inward struggles of which she said moth
ing. 1t hurt her pride to take strangers
into her dear old home for the sake Of
Al -. ,,,o,,l; ,,a,, Lar opJ Oh N