The Red Cloud chief., 1882-01-05
SSHE."

written was invariably used to dcsig-
nate 4 woman of such fine pcFSOneiJe
was one of the unsolved mysteries to
the rood people of B.
But though a mystery, it was never
thclcss a fact; for while Mr.. IIazlett
lad been wont 10 speak o. his first wife
Familiarity as .'Bess." he always re-
fcrred TO his second choice aS she"
When farmer Hazlctt brought home
his second wife there was much shak-
ing of wise heads, and gloomy signs for
the memory of the gentle wife SO
speedily forgotten, MANY wise fore
bodings and prophecies about the ulti-
mate tate of the poor children, now
under the ~proverbial iron of a step
mother.
These children. be it remembered,
were examples of i~nfantile ignorance
and childish worthlcSsncsS, held up by
pious parents after much the same
fashion of the mythical Ounce in n
backwocds school: TO be pitied,
laughed at. and held aloof from; TO be
talked of in whispers as a disgrace to
the neighborhood, that such ignorance
and rudcness could exist in its charmed
precincts.
Their ignorance was dcplorablc. And
though the children were miracles of
rudcncSs, it was alone from neglect that
they were SO.
They had been allowed to run loose,
ami grew up wild ms savages. as 4 mat
ter of course. For the farmer was in
tcrested in no earthly pursuit of pleas
urc. out the growth and improvement
of his South Downs, his Suffolk pigs
and Alderncy cows, and his trained
horses and dogs. Too INDECENT, when
he came INTO the house 10 rest, TO utter
a word of c~xpostulation to his noisy
children, they went unclided for their
rudcness, and were untaught in the
simplest things.
And his poor ovcr-workcd wife,
whose fingers were SO busy, and body
so tired, she had not the spirit 10 teach
them, the strength to correct. but
worked her way through the turmoil
laboriouslv; for the ~neighbors had been
wont to observe that she had no knack
of arrangin. her work, though she did
nwclL. And SO it happened. her resi-
never came, till the pulSeless hands
could no longer work
To be sure, the children went TO the
district school when thev pleased, and
STAYED at home wien thcy willed. But
thelittle they learned there was forgot
ten during the long vacations.
BESIDES, they did not Ike the school
and the scholars shrank away from
them. This avoidance WAS due, in
part, To their savage way OF playing
but more from an aversion, whici
sprang up from this occurrence. Mike
came 10 school one morning during hi
first term, unaccompanied by jim. Tn,
teacher who had not learned the pecu
liarities of the family, thinking. per
haps. the boy was sick, asked kindly:
Where is your brother, Mlchael?'
..He,?
Where is your brother??' more dis
tinctly.
..What dye say?"
where is your brother?:"
"ls it my pap you want?"
And after, with childish arroganc
and hauteur. the other scholars he'll
themselves aloof rs much as possible
There must be something uncanu
about a bow who did not know what In
word brother meant. p
And the poor little waits grew {
hate the school, and shrink from tn
teachers. But of the many evidence
of their ignorance, none was more wide
" known through the Mortified neigh
borhood than the incident | am abou
10 relate.
OF all things. to be forever treasure
in their stunted minds. was the mcmor
of a party given by their parents OIL
winter. The TerpSichorean art nevc
won Drawer plaudits nor awakened MOI
sincere admiration than that felt b
these poor little savages.
But that the memory of these festiv
ties should crop out so unexpected,
on the solemn occasion of a funera
was horrifying in its absurdity. Abab
brother OF the elves died. The churc
was undergoing repairs, and it -ws
thought best TO have the services al Ii
house. Noticing several arrivals, on
of the boys asked grayely of the paste
How soon are you expecting ii
dancers?"
They supposed every crowd mu
dance.
These uncouth sayages numbert
three: Jim, Mike and Pug; the latt'
ckristened Benjamin. but taking b
name from the shape of his nose.
There was a young lady, Dolly, WI
had attended the academy, and Was
welcome guest at the village partie
She had taken charge of the househo
after her mothers death. Dolly tri,
to keep the tovs in check, but tn
scorned her poor show of authorit
= and she gave up in disgust, b
interest in them diminishing
proportion to her increasing fancy for
muStached young clerk, who, be
known, was proportionately smitt
with her charms.
Also two little ones, Nettie and Oh:
lie; too young TO be either noticeat
ignorant, or more than ordinarily m
chievous. Still they were a handsol
family. Dolly was very pretty. VI
red lips. and rosy cheeks. and compile
ion clear as ivory. Her eyes We
black as sloes, and her hair We'd W
the ravens wing. The two little OF
were lovely little blondes, when tn
faces and bibs were clean. For I
others it was q puzzle TO guess wi
they might look like. with proper lr
Their faces and hands we're 9Sair h,
from a of mother earl ann,be
grew in all ways-opes, rad .s Goals
. axe as SO MANY brush-heapS
ni s.,oa and unkempt. They were t
nsstrong, and when pressed into Sc
20 could work pretty well. thou
thew were almost sure to manage to
more mischief than their work anon
The idea of Farmer Hazlett marry,
again had not occurred to any Of
"A neirhbors until the deed was do
Then .sPoor Dolly and "Th