The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-05-03
THE COLONEL.

~. ". Riley, in Indianapolis Journal
THE COLONEL.
Few families could be in more desper-
ate straits az to money-matters than the
Dilloways were, and in few could the
facts have been taken with more diver
s;ty of opinion. There. was Mamma
Dilloway, a stately, gray-haired matron,
who felt so wronged by circumstance as
10 be on the edge of a quarrel with the
universe. There was Margaret, the
beauty, who was in too miserable health
70 care about mon ,ymatters andpassed
the day on the sofa in languor and in
difference. There was Kate, whose
situation as q teacher was the mainstay
Of the house. There were the younger
enes, Ethel and Fred and Harry, on
whom the world was Just beginning to
east a shadow, whose appetites and
whose legs grew with every day beyond
the bounds of provisions and trousers.
And there was Brooks, the proud and
suffering eldest son, whose beginnings
had all come to naught-who cursed
poverty as it had cursed him; and there
was Maria, the other daughter, who
WOO AOb OCdubJ, OuG WIN, bAC-
less had that quality of absorbing and
shine into shadow, and who rather
reiished the tussle with their wants, and
always expected victory.
Il seemed to Mamma Dilloway, on the
morning that Brooks was summoned to
Colorado to take the books of an old
friend who had fallen i'll, that now the
worst had come, and she should never
sos her son again.
ION the contrary, mamma" said
Maria, who was performing a pas seal,
1.-THE universe, you must think, is not
such a very ill-managed affair after all.
Perhaps we couldn'tdo better ourselves.
King David was quite right" said she,
pausing in her waltz. 1.-THE dance is
the expression of joy, and just now,
I'm sure. of religious joy; for if ever
anybody was THANKFUL
"Mariai" exclaimed her mother.
"You know, mamma, you're as glad
as T."
81 don't know any such short-sighted
thing" said Mrs. Dilloway. Colorado
is a long way of, and mining life is very
rough, and mines are very uncertain;
and if Brooks falls i'll while all alone
there with nobody
"Justt the way Clever Alice reasoned.
I'll tell You what, mamma; I'll go with
him. Mrs. Byrnes offered me enough
for grandma's cashmere shawl to pay
my way, and I need an outing, and may
find something to do myself"
And before Mrs. Dilloway fairly
knew what had happened, Brooks and
Maria were on their westward way,
having left the whole family aghast at
the vision of. loneliness, oppressed with
anxiety, and wretched with something
like grief. They could scarcely have
told you how they dragged on an ex-
The weather fitted with their feelings,
and nothing broke the monotony Of
their trouble.
you'll have to come back, Maria, -
wrote Kate. s.The house is getting SO
damp with mammals tears that the
walls will mildewpresently. Margaret,
too, turns her face to the back of the
sofa, and the tears roll down, one BY
one, for dreariness. The gloom has
ven infected Ethel, whose dolls are
always going to funerals. There seems
to be nothing to do, nothing to ex-
pect, nowhere to go. My quarter hasn't
yet been paid, and we have short COM
mons, I can tell you. The table en-
phasizes our low spirits three times q
day; but mamma will have it set, il
it is only potatoes and milk. You were
all the life and comfort we had, and
now you are gone. But you have had
your outing now, and unless you want
me to go to an insane asylum, you will
have to come home and leave Brooks to
his fate.">
The answer to this letter was of q
fortnight's later date. 'Come home,
indeed said Maria, "when I'm having
the first good time in my life! Such q
new and strange life, tool Such an at
mosphere, and such scenery world
OF pictures. / suppose you think of us
in . desert; but a you muster a dozen
superb young Sauls, Englishmen and
others, every morning with galloping
across country, every evening with
music and dancingp You know so many
English of the first water come over to
hunt the buffalo, and some to take ur
land for ranches. There is 8 Mr.. Chol
mondely, and Captain Arundel and his
sister, and Mr.. and Mrs. Cecil
and / don't know how many. others, first
and last-a new one always turning up
Sc yo1 see the time passes quite differ.
emily from time at home, where you sc
seldom see a marrying man, that wheI
you do, you think he belongs to another
speeies. o and l must not forget the
Coienel! Now, what do you think of &
real British nobleman, of a family titleo
since the Conqueror-or is it the Flood
Colonel Sir Guy Temple! Perfectl,
charming and rich beyoud calculation
Tin mines in Cornwall. By the way
didn't Brooks write you that he has
little mine HIMSELF He has given mt
half of it"
And so the letter ran on, and grea
cheer it brought into that dull plac,
where it was read.
ssThe Colonel" said Mrs. Dilloway
refiectively, as Maria knew she would
Colonel Sir Guy Temple. Those ole
titles think more of themselves thai
half the ducal houses in the realm, yo,
know. / didn't suppose any one blu
the Prince of Wales owned tin mines il
Cornwall, though. I wonder if Maria
dresses"
..O, they don't need dresses, mamma
in that life"
mot need dresses, Margaret, CRIED
Mrs Dilloway, holding up her hands
81 mean, mamma, her riding-dress
that she made from the waterproof
you remember, is as good there as
velvet court-train would be in London
"Poor Maria isn't really pretty" so
liloquized Mrs. Dilloway; .'but that
the way things 60. What a pity, Maj
garet, that you couldn't have gone on
with Rrooksr'
so. Maria's brightness is just as goot
for her as beauty" said Kate.
'.H she only could be comfortably
established! That would help all tn
rest, too. It's too good to hope for
though, in this family"
"Well, perhaps she will be. She Ger
tainly has q chaLce."
Aud somehow the gray weather wa
not quite so gray to Mrs. Dilloway ant
her daughters; it half seemed to then
rs if the cloud might be about to lif