The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-01-22
A Sketch From Life.

ckeLCQ EEOM Lllbs
aAnd all must 90? Can nothing be
saved ?" ENORMOUSLY questioned Mrs. Ar
thur, her hands folded across her lap,
her air betokening utter helplessness, as
she looked pitifully toward the beauti
ful girl she addressed.
tNothing, mamma" answered the
latter, drawing nearer as she spoke, and
kneeling by the others side, while she
laid her finger caressingly upon her
mothers pale cheek-"Only each other
but papa's death has taught US how
much that Is. Don't worry, dearest /
hope the sale will enable Us to buy fur
niture more suitable 10 the few rooms
which for a time must be our home, un-
til can secure some pupils and get the
little home in the country where you
and ] are to live, surrounded by birds
and flowers, and forget that the red flag
ever waved from our door"
They were brave words bravely
spOken-sO bravely as not TO betray the
effort they cost the speaker.
Six months before, Irene Arthur
reigned a belle in her fathers magnifi-
cent home, when, like a thunderbolt
from clear Summer sky, came that
fathers failure and death ia quick sue
cessiOn, with the lessons experience
hour Of need-little by little learning
the necessity of standing alone and see
ing hope drifting further and further
in the distance, until the present, with
It's absolute emergencies, reused her TO
action.
The small head, set so regally upon
the slight, slOping shoulders, held itself
mere regally still; the red, full-curved
lips were pressed more proudly to-
gether, as Irene buckled on her armor
for the fray.
The hardest part was now over Her
mother had been told the worst which
could befall them. She must now take
her from this spot, hallOwed by mem
ory, before the desecrating foot Of stran-
gers entered it.
a few days search, and she was re-
warded by finding in quiet house
suite Of rooms which met at onoe her
purse aud her requirements, in sad
contrast 10 the elegant luXuriance with
which she had been surrounded her life
long, but where, at least, her mother
was saved the sight of the red flag,
which seemed to her to be dyed in her
hearts blood.
SIS there nothing you would wish
to save, Miss Arthur 2n questioned a
voice at her side during the morning OF
the sale.
She turned haughtily toward the
stranger, but something in his clear,
blue eyes, bent upon her, witnessed the
words held honest meaning.
81 beg your pardon, sir, - she answered,
unable 10 disguise wholly the pride
these latter days had developed so for
cibly-"I have not the pleasure Of your
acquaintance"
at is for me TO beg pardon. I forgot
might not be known TO you personally.
though / am the auctiOneer appointed
for the estate. Your father once did
me a great kindness, and, though /
would not seem intrusive, l should like
very much 10 preserve any article you
may desire"
with many thanks, sir, desire to
receive no favors," she replied, coldly,
aud passed on, to take one fleeting look
ere she He'd 10 the place she must now
learn TO call home, to be haunted all
day by the sound OF the auctioneer's
hammer and the voices Of strangers,
desecrating the halls.
But when, in the dusk of the evening.
a cart stopped before the door, and, one
by one, articles hallowed by assoeia-
tiOD-her fathers chair, her own desk,
her mothers favorite pictures-were
brought in, the feelings so long repressed
gave way 10 a burst Of tears.
Who had done this thing? For one
moment the honest blue eyes that bad
met her own that day rose before her.
But no such delicacy belonged not TO
their owners rank in life. Nor was il
strangers work. Some one must
have known her well to have selected
the lew things IL had been such bitter
warfare to part with.
lneW Warn fnHaaF fffra orT a.,
sent 70 comfort her, as, in the weary /
Gays that followed, her eyes would rest |
upon them IN her bitter struggle for the /
daily necessities for herself-the Iuxu-
rles which to her mother had become
necessities.
Business had thrown her more tban
once with Earl Kenneth. the owner ofI
tne oiue eyes. There had been matters
connected with the sale which compeIIed
heE 70 meet him, until he grew 10 her
alui1s' as friend, and at times she
Noulu lorge- '.e social gulf which sena-
rated them-she, the onaa Svasi,I... Ia
bankers daughter; ; he, a man ,gbo -
risen from the humblest ratts -,
whose soul was that Of a nobIao,.,,
The friends she had once k,,,,,,, -
no longer knew. They rode; she Vail
and stood on the curb and let their c.
risges drift by.
Earls cneefy voice aud pleasant
smile, her mother, too, grew to welcome
with the few choice flowers or the early
fruit he ever laid so quietly in Mrs. Ar
thurs hand, growing paler and thinner.
But one evening, as he sat by Irene's
side alone, very calmly, very truly, yet
with q certain humbleness, he told her
that be loved her, and asked her to be-
come his wife.
az cannot hear TO see YOU strugglen
he said. "OBce, as you well know, !
could not have asked you to become my
wife, and, though you are fully aware
that I am a man who has only honor