Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1880-06-05
4 SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER.

'i' A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER.
dorothy Dorothy waldor' scream.
ed Miss Lorinda Cross ("cross by
rho name and cross by nature" the chill,
f,r dren-yes, and many OF the grown-ups
-of the neighborhood declared herl,
II! MS she bounced upon the huge loaf Of
bread which SD. had taken from the
oven and put into -" big stone crock
only half an honr ago. just before she
turned her straight-up midtown back
on the kitchen, to stalk to the garnet
amer .tlSt idle hussy. Molly''-the
mAdd,of ll-woyk - .. who had been
twice as long rs she ought to have been
making the beds thcren
l said the huge loaf. / should have
r. said half the huge loaf, for only that
5r,, proportion Of the newly-baked bread
remained.
yHr DOROTHY Wal-do-o-o!" again
screamed. Miss Cross, in an ascending
Scale, with an ominous tremolo on the
s last note
.i73o Yes. aunt" replied sweet, fresh
young voice; and pretty young girl
r. came In from the garden with a basket
OF cherry-red cu-rants in her hand.
A tiny thing she was, with round,
dlmpicd. rosy face, innocent child-lke
bluc-gray eyes, and fair hair. some
r short tresscs of which hail escaped from
the braid into which they had been
bound. and were making delightful
~ use of their freedom by curling in the
! n most charming mannr about the low
frank brow and little pink-tippcd ears.
o. About "sweet SIXTEEN stranger
would have pronounced her; but Dolly,
3D.. as her youthful companions, much to
''' the disgust Of her aunt Lorinda called
her, was older than that by year ana
Il half.
An orphan at the age of twelve, she
had been left. to the care of the only
~ relative she knew. her mothers elder
sister-a woman hard in speech and
i'I manners, and anything but soft in
heart. This maiden lady soured irrev-
ocably on her twcnty-fourth birthday,
which should have also been her we'd
ding day; but at the very moment she
was fastening the orange blossoms in
her hair had come the news that her
betroihed hpd eloped with the girl
friend she had chosen for her bride
maid. Lorinda tore the bridal wreath
into Fragments and scattered it TO the
winds: never mentioned the false pair
from that hour. baRished forever all the
"A r. ever. possessed (truth to tell, she had
never possessed much), and became the
hardest worker of her sex that ever
worked upon Il farm. Ia a mans boots.
coat and hat, early and late, hot
or cold, wet or dry, with set
uj mouth, lowering brow and silent
lips, she toilcd side by side with her
st,frdy old father, until the day he was
struck down Ivy the pitiless sun, and
died u few hours aftcr-dicd Just in
time 70 be saved the pang of hearing
that his youngest and favoritc daugl-
ter was lying at the point of death,
q widowed and friendless, in a far-away
4 city. Lorinda buried her father-if
she wept for him, none saw her-pro-
l NOTED Il man who had been long in his
,fa employment To the position she used
herself to occupy, and started for her
sisters bedside. When she returned
10 Fernvfilc again. she brought dear
little. fairhaircd, sott-cyed Dorothy
with her, and some of her neighbors
fancied that since that time she had
D. been shade less stern; but if she had
been. 1t was so slight shade that il /!
was almost impossible to perceive it, |
True. she did less out-of-door work, |
and devoted part of the time thus saved |
o. teaching her niece to sew, and cook. |
md cburn and other like ,ccompl;sb. |
mcnts: but never were the lessons no.
compapicd by AN approving smile or
kindly word, much less n LOVING kiss.
Z Ever, TO the gentle. winnino child Lo. |
rioda Cross remained n cold. stern |
woman. But Dorothy. God bless her, |
was so sunny in disposition that the
stern ways and dark face of her aunt
could not cloud her Young life. And
though shut out from that infexible
woman heart, she found the doors of
o all other hearts wide open to her The
dogs. the cats, the hens. the chickens.
b the horses, the COWS. the calves, the
very geese, regarded her with adora-
tion. The farm laborcrs blessed her
pretty face whenever she came among
. ( them; and rs for Molly--poor, hard
worked Molly!--she would have kissed
the ground the little feet trod upon.
~ What wonder. then. that Dan How
o. ell. the young surveyor, who lived half
n mile away, in the old stone cottage,
and whom she had known from the
very first day of her arrival in Fern
vile (when he, then tall. bright-faced
boy OF fifteen. passing her aunt's gate.
q and seeing the sad-looking little girl
IN her black dress ha s standing Dy IT. 81.
" rabbit she had ever seen-a rabbit he
~ had been coaxing Abner Brown for
month past 70 sell him. and which now