The Red Cloud chief., 1880-12-30
THE NEW

fsts paSi siucllHte.
- ~
THE NEW CINDERELLA.
When the widow of General Spicer
arried my father she sworc that I,
s only child, should be her first care.
unfortunately, promises before mar
age are pr~oycrbaily unsound, per-
liable as pie crust. Those made by
ne Widow Spicer were singularly light
astry: before the honeymoon was
yer she forgot she had made any,
nd thenceforth her maternal care OF
he was a dead letter.
My father was an embarrassed man.
irs. Spicer brought him nothing but
grown-up family: one son, Jack
fpicer, already in the army, and two
aughters. When they first joined our
Domestic circle Cornelia and Adelaide
Ppicer looked to my juvenile eyes full
crown women; and yet it was a curious
act that five years later, when | had
fhanged from a child to a missy of
we've. they were still in there teens
Ind live additional wears only seemed
% have the effect of making them
Younger.
ffhe Spicer girls were no beauties.
They took after their mother; they were
arge-nosed. shrill-tongued women like
her; they spent their lives dressing and
dreaming of a possible marriage, but
each year seemed TO make the struggle
more hopeless. Between them they
led my poor father a miserable life.
He had always been n meek little man,
but from the moment he fell un-
der the yoke of the Spicers he
seemed TO lose his identity and to be
merged in them. The constant drains
made by the Spicers generally on my
iathfrs purse were beginning to empty
tfSf long enduring article. The
seAEQns in town were becoming mat
tershf great difficulty and each took a
slice out Of a poor residue. My step
mother was killing the goose with n
vengeance, and golden eggs were
! spent for no good. Each season saw
the return of the Miss Spicers crosser,
o1ler, thinner, sourer. Sometimes
f3ey would bring with them some man
who Was supposed TO nave takena fancy
10 either Cornelia or Adelaide, and it
was hoped that country-house life
might fan the languid flame into a
healthy fire; but the old saying: OPP
ortunity and importantly seemed
to have the contrary effect on the
Miy Spicers' admirers: they made
great Inroads on the larder, but no
I-pzpgress toward matrimOny.
" During THESE visits L had strict order
TO remlin in my own room. My step
sisters had a strong dislike to any of
their so-called admirers seeing me.
10 ave, unfortunately, a preference
ffoy Ash young faces. and, in spite OF
falf e nostrums that the Spiccrs spent
a lit{le furtune upon, each day increased
the difficulty of keeping up the fiction
of girlhO,d. To do them justice they
workA ard. If they had been a little
lindefso me l could have found it in
nv heanto pity them, for surely no
laborers put in n severer days toll.
Morvilug. noon and night they were dig
in mgrateful soil, and 1.-The harvest
N(cemelnever ripe.
AdeSa being the youngest, was
thkmssushing; she adored dancing.
law Avs, picnics and billiards. Cor
&,n the contrary, was, as her
mother remarked, steady as a church.
She haunted the rectory, where the
Rev. Alfred Priugle dwelt. a solitary
w,0wE[ She made his life a burden
TO him. and marriage with her almost a
necessity; it was miraculous how he held
out.
"MySlest girl is such a help in the
narish," my stepmother would say, her
wide ~nostrils shifting the air; "she leads
the chair. and teaches the infant school,
ord Is President of the mothers meet
inv the coal bag, ard the Christmas
dinner; you'd find it hard to get on
without her, Mr.. Pringle."
Its wonderful how the children
ohey Miss Cindy," the Reverend Alfred
mean Sir Williams unfortu-
80 daughter, Mr.. Pringle? That
n:rTs a ~beartbreak," nswer my amia-
sacoud mother. "All the pains my
III take seem to do her no good"
h..shes perfectly incorrigible," says
c--ncIia with the air of a martyr.
..IsAfect tomboy," chimes in AIDE
"A horrid little bear" continues
cornelia with more acrimony than pc
60 She has an intuitive feeling that
rector does not agree in these strict
,ras Something in his expression
.a,Ses the jealousy which is always
burning in such natures as hers. no
sooner is the door shut upon the rector
than sheI5ursts OUT: Hoo,
~MapIsa. that odious girl has been
,~amperii1g with Pringle"
Nonsense, Cornelia; as II he would
l,ok at such a child. Men OF ms age
i;Ee asensible woman for a wlfe.
.Thev do no such thing, and you
,,ov very wen. What's the use oil
dr. fool of me that Way
..cSndv n as forward as she can be- ,
.u.rks adelaide, v%iciousiy; "ana
IS not such a child either. noticed
IA Pfingle watching her at the school
And why didn't You teimer T
Eorneiia. ~iercely. land i would
sent her home. It's just ilke Sou,
dTs.tc.a-LeIaide. You are as jealous
All iealous of such a buzuz as o-
p,:,alet Oh. thank you. hope sn"
ret something better than aD.rrns Cor.
..Sour grapes, my dear, re. ..nh. va
nelia, laughing scornfuiiy. I'D
needn't be 50 .proud. l can en- fNyou.
Pringle e9esHt care WV
therer" - cries
"You ill-natured creas&
Cornelia, dissolving into4 saw their
.Hold your tongqfere's some one
mother, hurriedly; s." At once The
driving up the ax{sition. Their s:sin-
spicers fell MI the Generals WIDOW "
ing wasAS1s<k4n ing the family hnen ~
-.1
P5ust about this time !yMIaR Re-
: Lavender cam home to .ne sor;es of
port said he meant 70 glses -nsrties.
and what not' She whole neighbour s.Il
I. once" = nv ssepmothsr $, said b 70 io %s
Nthers ssthere's no time :"