The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1880-12-10

THE NEW CINDERELLA.
When the widow OF General Spicei
married my father she swore that /,
his only child, should be her first care.
Unfortunately, promises before mar.
riage are provcrbially %unsound, per-
ishable as pie crust. Those made by
the Widow Spicer were singularly light
pastry: before the honeymoon was
over she forgot she had made any.
and t~henceforth her maternal care oil
me "a a dead letter.
My father was m embarrassed man.
Mrs. Spicer brought him nothing but
a grown-up family: one son. Jack
Spiccr, already in the army. and two
daughters. When they first Joined our
domestic circle Cornclia and Adelaide
Spiccr looked to my juvenile eyes full
grown women; and yet il was a curious
fact that five years later, when | had
changed from a child [ a missy of
twelve. they we're still i'm there teens
and five additional years only seemed
70 have the effect of making them
Younger.
The Spicer girls were no beauties.
They took after theirmothcr; they were
l~arge-nosed. shrill-tongued women like
her; they spent their lives dressing and
dreaming of a possible marriage, but
each year seemed 10 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 mohent 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
fathers purse we're beginning to empty
that long enduring article. The
seasons in town were becoming mat
tiers Of great difficulty and each took a
slice out Of a poor residue. Ny step
mother was killing the goose with a
vengeance, and golden eggs we're
spent for no good. Each season saw
the return OF The Miss Spicers crosser.
older. thinner. sourer. Sometimes
they would bring with them some man
who was supposed TO have taken a fancy
70 either Cornelia or Adelaide. and il
was hoped that country-house life
night fan the languid flame into n
healthy fire; but the old saying: OPP
%ortunity and importantly seemed
y have the contrary effect on the
Miss Spiccrs' admirers: they made
great inroads on the lardcr, but no
progress toward matrimony.
During these visits | had strict orders
70 remain in my own room. My step
sisters had a strong dislike to any Of
their so-called admirers seeing me.
Men have. unfortunately, a preference
ior fresh young faces. and, in spite of
All b nostrums hal the Spicers spent
. little fortune upon. each day increased
The difficulty Of keeping up the fiction
q girlhood. To do them Justice they
worked hard. II they had been a little
kinder to me ! could have found ii in
my heart to pity them. for surely no
iaporers put in a severer days toll.
Morning. noon and night they were DIG
gins In ungrateful soil, and the harvest
seemed never ripe.
Adelaide. being the youngest, was
the most gushing; she adored dancing.
i~awn-tennis, picnics and billiards. Cor
heiIa, on the contrary, was, as her
mother remarked, steady rs a church.
nhe haunted the rectory. where the
hev- Alfred Pringle dwclt. a solitary
wiiower. She made his life a burden
. nm. and marriage with her almost a
necessity; il was miraculous how heheld
out.
My eldest girl i such a help in the
parlsh," my stepmother would say, her
vide nostrils smiling the air; sshe leads
lhe choir, and teaches the infant school,
ma y President Of the mothers meet
the coal bag. and the Christmas
Inner; you'd find 1t hard to get on
her, Mr.. Pringle."
ITS wonderful how the children
hey Miss Cindy," the Reverend Alfred
'ays, shyly.
DO you mean Sir Williams unfortu-
laie daughter. Mr.. PringleP That
'llrIs a heartbreak,- nv amia-
M second mother. "All the pains nv
'irls take seem TO do her no good"
shes perfectly incorrigiblc, SAYS
with the air Of d martyr.
aide. ~