The Red Cloud chief., 1883-11-02

80 ~t' I'LL oNfI NAf lFI&a
tn barrel n IL her heart would break.
Her sister remarks had Gll~d her with
n vague apprehension and grief which
she could not throw OF. And there vi.
something a little singular about H.
Both tiirsc women had always been of
a deeply religious cast of mind. They
hsd -iudi Il the Bible faithfully. IL not
Understandings. and their ~rrliyion had
strongly iiuctured their daily life. They
knew Almost n much about; the bld
Testament prophets ne they did about
their nriShbor-; and that was saving =
COOL deal of iwo single women IN \
New England country toxn. siill thi.
religion. element in their natures corid
hardly hav" been termed spirituality.
IL deviate'l from that ~ much ~ ms
thing of religion which Is in one way
spirituality iiself-couid.
Both -iste : were crn!ncntly practical
in all AFFAIR." of life. down 90 their very
dreams. and Priscilla especially 80.
She had dealt in religion with the bare
facts Of san and repentance. future pun
ishmcnt and reward. She had dwrlt
very little. probably. upon the poetic
-plendors Of the Eternal CITY, and
talked abou, them still less. Indeed.
she had always been rcticent about her
religious convictions. and had aid very
little about them even to her sister.
III. two women. with God in their
thoughts every moment. seldom hai
spoken His name to each other. For
Priscilla To talk in the strain that she
had to-day. and fer a week or two pre-
yious. of and on, was. from its EXTERN.
deviation from her usual custom. Ger
tainIy startling.
Poor Mary, sobbing over the potato
barrel. thought il was n sign Of APP
preaching death. She bad a few super
,tltious-likc graft upon her practical.
commonplace character.
She wiped her eyes finally. and went
upstairs with her tin basin II poiatocs,
which were carefully washed and put Ia
soak nv the time her sister came in with
the empty basket.
At twelve exactly the two sat down
to dinner in the clean kitchen, which
was n Of the two rooms the cottage
bna>tcti. The narrow entry ran from
the front door 10 the back. On one side
was the kitchen and living-room; on the
other. the room where the SISTERS slept.
! There were two small unfinished lofts
overhead, reached by n s;cp-laddcr
through a little s%cut'le in the entry cell
ing. and that was all besides. The si.-
tiers had earned the cottage anil paid
for il wears before. BY work NJ a. tail
/, dresses. They had quit. a snug sum in
the bank besides. which they had saved
- H. l-- II. 49,.
no need for Prisc.l la and Mary to work
50 hard. people said. but work hard they
did. and work hari they would a. long
as they lived. The mere habit Of work
had become aS necessary Ia them -
breathing.
just "a soon a. they had finished their
ia al and cleared away the dishes they
pat on some clean siarrhcd purple
prints. which were their afternoon
dresses. and seated themselves nj the
| two front windows with their work; the
house faced southwest. so the SUM ght
strram"d through both. II was a very
wa IN day for the season. and the win,
dowS were open. In the ward outside
great clumpS If lilac bushes stood close
To both. They grew on the other side
Of the front door. too; u little later the
low cottage would look half buried in
them. The shadows Of their leaves
made n dancing network yer the
freshly washed yellow floor.
The two sisters sat there and scwcd
on some coar>c vests NIL IN" afternoon.
Neither made n remark often. The
room. with its gloss, little cooking.
stove. its eight-dav clock on the mantrl.
lis chintz-cushioncd rocking-chairs. and
the dancing shadows of the lilac leaves
on it, yellow floor. looked pleasant and
peaceful.
jus, before six o'clock n neighbor
dropped in with her cream pitcher la
borrow some milk for tea, and she sal
down for n minutes chat af or she had
got il filed. They hal ecu talking 4
few moments on ncighborhood topics.
when all of n suddeI Priscilla let her
work fall and raised her hand. Hush
whispered she.
The other two stopped talking. and
listened, staring nj her wondrringly.
but they could hear nothing.
What is il. Miss Pri,c.lla?" asked
the ~nrighbar, with roIni blue cyes.
She was u pretty Young thing. who had
not been married long.
Hush Don't speak. Don't you hear
that beautiful mu>;c:?' Her ear was
hand still raised warningly. anl hcr
eyes fixed on the opposite wall beyond
them.
Mary turned viSihly palcr than her
usual duh palcnesS. and %>huldcrcd. Il
don't hear any music she said. .'Do
YOU. Miss Moore?'
Moo" replied the caller. hcr
simple little face beginning Ia put on :
scared look, from a vague sense of q
mystery she could not fathom.
Mary Brown rose and went To tho
door. and looked eagerly up and down
the street. There ain { no organ-mau
in sight anywhere" said she. return
ing. "an'I can't hear any music. an
Miss Moore can't. an were both sharI
enough o hcarin'. You're jist imagin,
in il, sister.
II ncve imagined anything in nv
liie,' returned the other. ian il an,
likely I'm goin' TO begin now. It's tn,
bcautifulcst music. II comes from over
the orchard there. Can't you hear il:
But it seems TO me it's CROWN a littl,
fainter like now. 4 guess it's movin'
off. perhaps"
Mary Brown set her lips hard. The
grief and anxiety she had felt lately
turned suddenly 10 mreasoning anger
against the cause Of it; through hel
very love she fired with quick wrath a,
the beloved object Still she did not
say much, only: Il guess il must be
movin' off," with a laugh. which had
an unpleasant ring in ii.
After the neighbor had gone. howev-
er. she said more, standing before her
sister with her arms folded squarely
across her bosom. "Now. Priscilla
Brown" she exclaimed, Il think it's
about time to put a stop TO this. I've
heard about enough OF il. What do
you s'pose Miss Moore thought of you:
Next thing it'll be all over town tina,
you're gttin' spiritual notions. To-
day it's music that nobody else can
hear. an yesterday You smelled roses.
and there amt one in blossom this time
-