Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-09-29
TAKING BOARDERS.

ct was scandal" the neighboIs
said, chat Miss Della should be obliged
to take boarders, after all she'd been
through; and heavens knows boarders
did not help a body to work out her
salvation. And so much money in the
family, too, taking it by small and
large. Wasn't her Uncle Eben, over al
Dover, wellto-do, and not chick OF
his own to care for, except the boy he
had adopted, who was no credit to him?
It was odd, now, that a man with poor
relations should take to a stranger
when his own flesh and blood was
needy; but sometimes it does seem as
if folks had more feeling for strangers
than for their own kith and kin.
There were cousins in the city fore
handed and fashionable, wno were
never worth a row of pins to Della, and
there was her great-uncle Johns wild
Ow, a-larkin' on the continent, a-gam-
inc at Baden-Baden, and trying the
waters of every mineral spring in the
three kingdoms, for no disease under
the sun but old age She had been
known to say that her folks were too
rich already, and probably she would
endOw some hospital with her property.
Plainly, wealthy people were of no val
ne to Miss Della. To be sure, She had
never seen her great-aunt's niece since
she WAS child, when her uncle John
had brought her into their simple life
for months visit, with her French
maid and dresses, her Jewels and
fallals, which won the heart of her
namesake. Since then Uncle Johns
widow had become q sort of gilded
creation, always young and beautiful;
for, though Della had received little
gifts from time to time across the seas
for the last fifteen years, she had
neither heard nor seen anything of the
being who had inspired her youthful
imagination, and was quite uncertain
if such person SIS Mrs. John Rogerson
was in the land of the living. Dead or
alive, she seemed to have made no ma
teriai difference in Delia's humdrum
life. After having nursed her father
through 4 long sickness, Della found
that he had left a heavy mortgage on
the homestead, and her mother an
her mother and herself on the high
road to the pnor-house unless they
should bestir themselves. As her
mother was already bedridden, the
stirring naturally fell upon Della, and
she advertised for summer bOarderS:
Good board in the country tG the riverside, al
seven dollars week. Large chambers, broad
piazzas, fine views, berries, and new milk One
mile from the station. Address
DELLA RoGERsoN,
Croftsborough, Maine
Cheap enough" commented an
elderly lady who happened upon it
Della ROgersOn. An old maid, | sup
pose, obliged to look out for herself
I've good mind to try her broad piaz
zas and new milk. If don't like il
tnere'll be no harm done"
And so Delia's first boarder arrived
an old lady with false front fair, brown
wrinkled skin, faded eyes, a black
alpaca gown and hair trunk. Delia
made her as welcome as if she haC
been q duchess, lighted fire in Mrs
Clements room, as the night was damp
and brought out her daintiest cup anC
saucer. with the fadeless old roses
wreathing them. "Wonderfullv kind.
reelected Mrs. Clements, as she combeC
out he wisps Of gray hair and confdeC
the false front to a box "'Wonderfu
kindness for seven dollars week
She's new to the trade. She'll Iearr
better. Human nature doesn't change
with ATTITUDES. She'll find it doesn'
pay to consider the comfort of pow
erty-stricken old creature" But. il
spite of her worldly wisdom, Mrs
Clement was forced to. confess tina
Della had begun as she meant to holC
fhnr,-rn NJ I'D /,
demand her attention, to multiply he,
cares. The fret and jar Of conflictins
temperaments under her roof was
new experience to Della. When Mrs
GresOme complained of the mosquitoes
with an air as if Miss Rogerson were
responsible for their creation: of the
flies, as ifthey were new acquaintance
Of want Of appetite, as though Delis
had agreed to supply it, along will
berries and new milk; of the weather
as if she had pledged herself there
would be no sudden changes to annoy
her boarders; of the shabby house anC
anuquated furniture, "tOO old for com
fort and not old enough for fashion,
then Della doubted if taking boarder
washer mission. "What makes vol
keep,us, my dear?' asked Mrs. Clement
after a day when everything and every
body had seemed to go wrong. "Why
didn't you ever marry? You had
lover, | dare say?"
Eyes; long, long time ago"
Tell me about him-it?"
There isn't much to tell. He asked
me to marry him. He was going t.
Australia. l couldn't leave father anC
mother, you know they were boil
feeble, and he couldn't stay here
That's ALL
"And you-you"
" Now all men beside are to me like
shadows
And have you never heard of him
since?"
Eyes. He wrote; but where was the
use 1t could never come to anything
1t was better for him to forget me and
marry. l was a milestone about his
neck. | didn't answer his letter"
''And supposing he should return
some day, would you marry him ?"
Il dare say" laughed Della, gently,
as if the idea were familiar, ''let the
neighbors laugh ever so wisely. I've
thought of it, sitting alone, when the
world was barren and commonplace.
One must have recreation of some kind.
you know Everybody requires little
romance, a little poetry, to flavor
everyday thinking and doing. I'm
afraid you think me silly old maid,
Mrs. Clement"
I'M