The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1881-02-10
THE NEW CINDERELLA.
From an English Magazine.

THE NEW CINDERELLA.
From an English Magazine.
When the widow of General Spicer
married, my father swore that l, his
only child, should be her first care.
Unfortunately, promises before mar
rage are proverbially unsound, perish
able as pie crust. Those made by
Widow Spicer were singularly light
pastry; before the honeymoon was
over she forgot she had made any,
and thenceforth her maternal care Of
me was dead letter.
My father was an embarrassed man.
Mrs Spicer brought him nothing but a
ready-made family; one son Jack
Spicer, already in the army, and two
daughters When they first joined our
domestic circle Cornelia and Adelaide
Spicer looked to my juvenile eyes full
grown women; and yet it was curious
that five years later, when | had
changed from child to missy" Of
twenty, they were'still in their teens
and five additional years only seemed
to have the effect of making them
younger.
The Spicer girls were no beauties.
They took after their mother; they were
large-nosed, shrill-tongued women like
her; they spent their lives dressing and
dreaming of possible marriage, but
each year seemed to make the struggle
more helpless. Between them they led
my poor father miserable life. He
had always been a meek little man,
but from the moment he fell under the
yoke of the Spicer he seemed to lose
his identity and to be merged in them.
1t was quite enough for Mrs. Spicer to
say in her stentorian voice: - My
girls must have a season in town Will
liam. Cindy's schooling must stand
over for another year, and so it stood
over altogether. How l picked up 4
! desultory education Heaven only
knows The only branch that received
nay attention was millinery; the Miss
Spicers conceived that I had nice
taste for trimming and kept me pretty
| busy, and by-and-by Clementine, the
French, maid, transferred her work to
| me. She could not stand the temper
of 90 ces u9elles files" she said, and after
she left it was not found convenient to
Fill her place. The constant drains
made by the Spicers generally on ia
theirs purse were beginning to empty
that long enduring article The seasons
in town were becoming matters of great
difficulty and each took slice out of
the poor residue My stepmother was
killing the Dose with vengeance, and
the golden eggs were 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 sup
posed to have taken q fancy to either
| Cornelia or Adelaide, and it was hoped
that country house life might fan the
languid flame into healthy fire; but
the old saying: Opportunity and inn
portunity,' seemed to have the con-
trary effect on the Miss Spicers' adj
mirers; they made great inroads on the
larder, but no progress toward matri-
mony.
| During these visits / had strict orders
to remain in my own room. My step
sisters had strong dislike to any of
their so-called admirers seeing me.
Men have, unfortunately, preference
for fresh Young faces, and in spite of all
| the nostrums that the Spicers spent a
little fortune upon, each day increased
the difficulty of keeping up the fiction
of girl-hood To do them Justice they
worked hard If they had been little
kinder to me I could have found it in
my heart to pity them, for surely no
laborers put in a severer days toll.
Morning, noon, and night they were
digging in ungrateful soil, and harvest
seemed never ripe.
Adelaide, being the youngest, was
the most gushing: she adored dancing,
lawn tennis, picnics and billiards. Cor
nelia, on the contrary, was, as her
mother remarked, steady as church.
She haunted the rectory, where the
Rev. Alfred Pringle dwelt, solitary
widower. She made his life burden
to him, and marriage with her almost
a necessity; it was miraculous how he
held out
| My eldest girl is such help in the
parish" my stepmother would say, her
wide nostrils shifting the air; 'tshe
leads the choir, and teaches the infant
school, and is present at the mothers
meeting, the coal bag, and the Christ
mas dinner; you'd find it hard to get on
without her, Mr. Pringle."
! "It's wonderful how the children
obey Miss Cindy," the Reverend Alfred
says, shyly.
DO you mean Sir Williams unfor-
tunate daughter, Mr.. Pringle9 That
girls heart-break,' answers my
amiable second mother. "All the pains
my girls take seems to do her no
good"
She's perfectly incorrigible," says
Cornelia, with the air of martyr.
"a perfect tomboy," chimes in Ade-
laida.
"a horrid little BEAR" continues Cor
nelia with more acrimony than before.
She has an intuitiye feeling that the
rector does not agree in these structures.
Something in his expression rouses the
Jealousy which is always burning in
such natures as hers. No sooner is the
door shut upon the rector than she
| bursts out:
Mamma! that odious girl has been
tampering with Pringlep
Nonsense, Cornelia; as if he would
look at such child. Men Of his age
ike sensible woman for wife,
They do no such thing, and YOU
know that very well. What's the use
of making fool of me that way p
"Cindy is as forward as she can be-
n-Y~, Ill Il 4 i.