Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-08-03
HER REWARD.

| -H"'I'Fe ht'htV.
HER REWARD.
"Oh Helen boarders I" exclaimed Josie
Marsh looking both indignant and distressed
81 did hope we should never come to that, "
said Fannie in an injured tone
'Aud TO think that father was once the
richest man in Barville :" almost sobbed
| Louisa.
al know it is very hard, girls" said Helen
| Marsh, as she carefully darned a long rent in
pillow slip, "but it must be done, and we
might AZ well face the fact first as last. We
are in sore need of money, you will all admit,
and the only way we can make it is 10y taking
boarders. We have four unoccupied rooms
in this house, and we ought to have made
something out of them long ago"
ut does seem such a degradation, though.
for US to take boarders," moaned Fanny.
And of course Helen would think it i'm.
proper to take in any one nice, said Josie
''If by nice you mean young gentlemen,
Josie, you may be sure will think it decided
ly improper"
Aud imagine waiting on stufy old women
and catering to their whims" said Louisa,
plaintively, ''or having the house oyerrun by
crying, dirty children"
The fiat has gone forth, said Fanny, I'VE
must make up our minds to the inevitable
When Helen says thing she means it, as we
all know by experience but l, for one, shall
see as little of her boarders as possible"
1T is shame that our Aunt Emma didn't
leave US her property" cried Josie. MY
soul burns with indignation whenever l think
Of it. II she had possessed single spark of
natural affection she would never have been
guilty Of leaving it away from US, aud we
would not have been reduced to such strait
as this"
Helen smiled, for Aunt Emmas lack of
natural affection" was Jose's hobby, and she
rode it almost daily. Aunt Emma had been
their fathers only sister, rich old maid who
had gone TO Europe when Josie was an infant,
and never been heard of since. That she
was dead no one doubted, but how she had
disposed of her fortune remained a mystery.
But having been very eccentric woman,
full Of absurd crotchets Of every sort, it was
generally believed that she had left her money
TO found hospital for lame cats and dogs,
home for aged spinstsrs, or some institution
of that kind.
The four sisters who lived alone in the
great old fashioned house, the only piece of
property which had been saved from the
wreck of their fathers estate, would have
been only too glad to have received only a
small slice of their Aunt Emma's fortune for
there was more pinching economy in the old
house than outsiders ever imagined, and it
was only by exercise OF the most careful man.
agement that Helen contrived to make both
ends meet. Helen was the eldest and most
energetic, aud consequently by far the larger
part of the care of the household fell upon
her slender shoulders. She was thoroughly
unselhsh, and so sweet tempered that her
sisters could impose upon her with impunity.
They never seemed to think that she could
grow tired, or have headache, but appeared
TO look upon her as a machine that went by
regular winding through its allotted work
They were even jealous of that portion of her
time taken up by the visits of young Tom
Harding, and looked upon the hours she spent
with him in the dimy lighted parlor, or the
sweet old orchard, as wasted, not caring that
they were a source of relaxation, rest and
happiness to her OF course tthe girls argued,
since she could never marry him. there was
no use or sense whatever in clinging to her
engagement to him. For Helen was actually
engaged to the struggling young physician,
whose practice was small aS yet, aud on whose
shoulders rested the burden of support of au
invalid aunt aud an unmarried sister The
engagement was already five years old, and
there was still no prospect of a wedding
But Helen loved Tom, and clung to him. deaf
to the reasoning and arguments of her world
ly-wise sisters.
Helen had not arrived at her decision to
take summer boarders without many inward
struggles of which she said nothing. 1t hurt
her pride to take strangers into her dear old
home for the sake of the money they would
pay her. and she dreaded the trouble and ad-
ditional labor her large family would entail
upon her She knew better than to expect
help from her sisters. She knew she must
shoulder alone the care and responsibility of
heE venture, and she would never have de.
cided upon it, had not the small income from
the railway stocks they owned suddenly be.
come inadequate to provide even a sufficiency
OF bread and butter for them ALL to say moth
ing of the clothing required for the outer
adorning and comfort of their pershable
bodies. Perhaps Helen was in measure to
blame for the selfshness of her sisters She
INDUCED them to a perilous degree, and nev
er complained or reproved them when they
shut themselves up in their rooms to read
novels and moan over their poverty, leaving
TO her the work and care of the home. But
it was not in Helens nature to find fault, and
though she saw the selishness of her sisters
she did not know how to check it.
The advertisement for boarders was duly
inserted in several of the city papers, Helen
giving her full name and address, much to
the horror of Louisa who declared that now
all the world would be oonversant with their
pitiable poverty.
Mrs Darby was the first arrival. She
was an old lady with false teeth, a false front,
small piercing gray eyes, and a mind above
the frivolities of fashion. She wore dresses
of the scantiest and plainest make, and bon
net so antiquated in style that Josie could
with difficulty repress peal of laughter when
she saw it. But Helen greeted the old lady
with the greatest kindness and assigned to her
one of the pleasantest rooms in the house,
attending to her numerous wants with such
eheerfulness and readiness that Mrs. Darby
was absolutely charmed, and blessed the
good fortune which had led her to this abode.
A few days more, and the four spare
chambers were all full and Helen was kept
so busy that she hardly had time to talk TO
Tom when he came, which fact caused her
keen regret, for she always felt better and
brighter after conference" with him, or a
stroll in the sweet old orchard.
Tom mourned because Helen's eyes were
less bright, her face less blooming, and her
step less elastic than formerly, but she laugh
ed at his fears that she would make herself
i'll, and was so cheerful whenever he came,
that he did not suspect her of conceRling a
heartache and guessed nothing of the tears Of
utter weariness she occasionally shed in the
silence of the night, when body and brain
were so oyerwrought that sleep was impossi-
BILE.
The venture paid however. The boarders
were delighted with the old fashioned house,
the big orchard and the quaint garden with
its lilac, rose and almond bushes, and neat,
box-bordered walks. They stayed until the
chilly days of October, and then left Helen
with enough money in the bank to carry her
through the winter Mrs. Darby did not 60
away with the other boarders. She said she
had no homo, and if Helen would keep her
all winter she would be much obliged. OF
course Helen consented, much to the dissatis.
faction of her sisters, who thoroughly dis
liked the old lady, and were decidedly averse
to her lectures on selhshness and friVOlity.
But they were obliged to make the best OF