Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1881-01-06
BECKY HARLAND'S PLACE.

BECKY HARLAND'S PLACE,
Il don't know whether you will sui
Inc or not" said Miss Towers. reflect
lively.
81 will do my best, ma'am," said lii
tie Becky.
"Any objection to the country de
manded Miss Towers in Il brusquc, bus
iness-like way.
"No, ma'am."
81 never have kept Il girl before" sait
Miss Towers, grayely. but my broth
er is coming home this summer and
don't want to be obliged to he in til,
kitchen the whole time. Where hayt
you lived last?'
Becky Harland grew pink all over
81 never have lived ont before
ma'am; but my uncle died suddenly
and there was no more than enough
left to support my aunt, so | am going
to try to support myself
"Very right and proper" said Miss
Towers. "Well, Rcbecca. | will Try
you at all events. Six dollars 4 month
is very moderate wages, and although
you don't look real stout, yet think
can make yOu very useful about the
house."
So Miss Towers took Becky lIarlHnd
back with her to the old stone farm
house in the lIouSatonic valley. And
Becky was never tired Of helping Miss
Towers strain the milk, and work
over the butter, and feed the little
downy turkeys, and gather pink honey
suckles. And the roses in her cheeks
grew deeper, and the velvet bloom of
her lips seemed to catch the scarlet of
the wood Strawberries, and Miss Tow
ers declared, with an admiring gaze at
her little "help," that "shc didn't look
like the same child she was before, I'M.
she didn't"
Meanwhile the preparations for Miss
Towers "brOther" went briskly on.
I'll make up a lot o cocoanut pound
cake" Miss Towers said, with the re-
cipe-book in her lap. "TIats what he
used to be dcsput fond of when he
was a boy"
"Perhaps his taste may have chang
ed," said Becky, who was rubbing the
old mahogany furniture with waXcd
cloth, at the other end of the room.
81 don't know about that said Miss
Towers, with troubled air. 81 haven't
seen him since"
"Not seen him since he was a boy
echoed Becky,with wide-open blue eyes.
"Well, it does sound strange, don't
it?' said Miss Towers; "but you see
he went away from home when he was
fifteen, and he's been out in the world
ever since"
as he a very old gentleman, Miss
Towers?" imocently questioned Re
becca, as she rubbed away at the claw
foot of an antique pier-table.
"Oldw echoed Miss Towers, upliit,
ing both hands in ama2ement. "Why,
he's ever 50 much younger than am
as he?' asked Becky. "Why, Eve
been fancying him, all along, an oil
gentleman in Il wig and a cane"
Miss Towers burst into ii, of
hearty laughter.
"Well, that does beat all" she cried
wiping the tears from underneath her
spectacle glasses. "But after all, to u
stranger that don't know the family
story, it might very easily appear So
You see, child, my mother was Il wild.
ow when she married for the second
time, and Dear heart alive. what
does all that little turkey chick, squeak.
ing like a possessed creature? Run
Rebecca, and see. I'm afraid the old
speCkled hen has broke her string, and
is worrying il"
Rebecca was sitting in the twilight
on the door-stOne that evening, one
cheek resting on her hand, and her
eyes dreamily fixed on the far off wal
of woods, growing purple in the com
ing dusk. Miss Towers had gone tc
carry little basket of her ripest vii
son Strawberries to Il sick neighbOr
and Becky was all alone, thinking oycl
her past and pondering vaguely on hei
future.
"How strange it seems that | shonlt
be here" "when it is scarcely a yeal
since was the gayest little butterfly
in all the city balloons. The echoes
of the old waltzes and gallops cont
back to me sometimes, when am fall.
ing asleep with the moonlight on my
face, and the maple leaves rustline
softly at my open easement; and yet
am far happier here. That is, / SHOULD
be if l only could forget one thing.
wonder what girls want to be so willfu
and capricious forl Oh, DEAR" ant
Becky's blue eyes swan with tears rs
she remembered the handsome love-
who had been so true and faithful ant
constant until her own coquetry hat
driven him from her side. 81 would 81
like to know what Colonel FalcOner i.
doing now, and whether he is married
yet, and if he ever thinks of me.
would write to him if were Miss IIar
land, the petted heiress still; but littl,
Becky, who does housework for hel
daily bread-ah, never, never"
And Becky, anxious to escape from
her own haunting thoughts, jumped W
and ran across the dewey meadow t
meet Miss Towers, whose tall angular
figure was coming in sight, round thu
curve of the maple swamp.
"Bless and save the child" cried Mis-.
Towers. "Why, Rebecca, you wan
afraid?"
"No-yes-I don't know. Let mt
carry your basket Miss Towers, please? 2
"Rebecca, cried the old lady the mex
morning, as she drove the shaggy little
pony into the dooryard, returning from
the village post office, "l've got Il let
ter. He's coming tonight"
Gs he" said the girl smiling because
Miss Towers face was so radiant
"Then I'd better run out in the garder
and get fresh lot Of Strawberries be