The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-02-07

ing school, she SAID, but ned lost ner place
through i'll health. all the fall she had
been i'll, bnt was now better, though lit
tie behindhand.' Alb, owes her board,
probably, thought; no wonder she looks
anxious. Il want work 30 badly, even if
it pays but little, for then shall know just
what have to depend on. Indeed, l must
do something recognized the quiet des-
peration in her voice; l had heard 1t 60
often.
Jewell, you may come tomorrow, and i
will give you q corner and work. You
must do your best, and will help you all l
cam
"She thanked me and departed, and as
she vanished down the diDgy staircase she
left behind q curious feeling that she was
out of place in the factory, that some mys-
terry shrouded her like the black veil she
wore. That night L dreamed of her in my
! sleep Her image rose before me clothed
like Sister Of Charity. aid whispering,
'You must be tired; there are so many still
to talk to, and while 1 looked at her she
was D longer nun, but that unhsppy
queen, and my work--oom a prison, and
she swept over the floor and held her head;
it sched with the crown and the weight OF
woe.
"She was there next dav, uncrowned ex-
cept for her beautiful and abundant hair.
No mystery about her in the bright sun
shine of the win!ry morning. l did 10.
have much time to notice her, except to
congratulate myself on my accurate judg.
ment in regard to slender fingers, for the
garment which she finished ana son. 10 me
by Eugenie, my little Jewish handmsiden,
If not perfect, had enough of promise in it
to point to better things, and | was sstis.
fed.
"'Miss Nettis's eyes are blood-skot, and
her head aches so that she csn't see; may
she go homer Gays Eugenie.
"And who is Miss Nettie? 1 asked.
"Oh, the tall young lady in black, with
the ring, you know. She seems so differ
ent from Mary Mcclure and the rest who
came yesterday that didn't know what to
call her, so 1 asked her if she wouldn't tell
me the short OF Marie Antoinette, SIS 1 am
alway in hurry, and she sSid, ''Just call
me Nettie"'
"The request to 90 home was not an un-
usual one. so many have headache or grow
nervous the first day in a strange work
room. The noise Of the machines, the con-
hnenent and anxiety, are distracting enough
until use becomes q second nature. Alter
that che was in her seat egularly, though
often late on the short dark mornings. She
would come gliding in noiselessly, with
checks brilliant from her rapid walk, but
how soon the color fadedl
"'You just ought to see Miss Nettie's
shoes, Miss Dolores says Euge1ie; they
are worse than my old ones, if anything
could De worse, when they wear out all
over, and fly all to pieces every where and
| q q NJ poin xTrct
too, with the snow and slush, and she walks
five miles TO work every morning, and
back at night in the dark. She has lonely
lot TO pass too. and she runs all the way by
for fear some enc will grab her and kill
her
"Think of it, Felicial To rise in the cold
and da knees of January morning when
the fires are all low and the world asleep;
to dress by candle light. and quietly cut u
crust from the Loaf, and yash it down with
a cup of last nights tes. Do this in a very
poor home, miles from your work; let stern
necessity drive you out into the nippipg
eager air of a winters dawn; walk quickly
over the frosty ground to your accustomed
place with the shoes that need to be half
soied and heel-.apped,' and with your poor
| frozen feet on the treadle, and your fingers
|
hours of your life into the garments you
are fsshioning, and by way OF spur remem-
Der when you stop working you stop eat
ing"
"But, Dolores, if the fires st home are
low, there is surely FIRE in the factory"
| "You remind meof the princess who won
dered Why the starving people did not eat
cake when they had no bread. Yes there
is fire in every mandatory. We have
one stove on the third floor of an old ware.
house, with the stair. way open from the
street, hatch ways, elevators, and doors that
never stay closed, immense windows tina;
rattle in their frames, and draught sweep
ing over the floor that freezes the very mice
in their nests. have seen fifty girls who
never warm all winter except at twelve
o'clock, when the sun shines out. Every one
is warm then. But you seldom hear com
plants of the cold; for 10 operate you mUsl
sit near the window where it 10 light, and
you can notpsss the stove around very we'll
Il is only in case like Nsttie's that it
seems especially hard"
''She could have lived nearer, surely2"
ayes, she could; but, Felicis, once your
feet are SGT in that steep downward path
called poverty, you go down with run.
You are not only poo yourself. but all your
associates are poor. Youhsve heard tina! in
a wsgon-load of potatoes jolting over a rough
road all the small potatoes go to the bot
tom. Being i'll sll the fall, Nettie left her
trunk voluntarily aud all her little treasures
with the woman TO whom she was in debt
about twenty dollars, she said. She had
been staying until she could procure work
with q friend whom she called Anna, and
who, having married, had little home
the one in which Nettie was now. Hus-
band and wife were kind to her, but now
alas he was lying i'll, almost at the poin,
of death, having unsvoidsbly inhaled the
poisonous vapor in the laboratory where be
was employed. 1T seems so unkind Ia
leave them Just when | have work, and
they are almost depending ON my board i,
she said, when urged her to come nearer
to the factory, and pointed out 10 her the
TACT that our employers were quite deaf &c
any such reasons for unpunctuality.
"'Miss Nettie has new dress, Miss Do
lores,' said Eugene one day, 'and q new
pair of shoes and a new boarding place. II
it waen't that she has the headache so often
she could do even better than she doe
l think she just lodges with this woman sne
speaks of, and does not boa.d with her, but
gets her own breakfast and supper
"'Why do you think so, Engenie2'
"Well she does not bring anything but
bread for lunch, and it never has any but.
ter on it. If she boarded, they'd have x
| LIZA hor huttar or ba- hraa6 axya-, 20 IL xra.