Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-09-01
Trot into the office, and I'll he in there

Zinthn was already perched on Mr..
Browns high stool when he entered,
and began looking over the letters.
.sTell this man," said he. putting a let
ter before her, ''thatwe will fill his order
on the 10Th inst, if we can get the cars.
Put your date up there-so; the printed
heads will help you"
81 know how t odo that" said Zintha,
simply. 81 did it for MI. Brown when
he wanted to go to a party. Iknow it
all the way down to Yours respect
fully"
foreman, when the letter was finished;
land if you a get rid of that baby Of
Hansen's, l can give you plenty Of work
until the boss comes back"
Zintha's eyes sparkled. At noon she
hurried home to Mrs. Hansen and told
her the good news. Hans was fast
asleep
'May 1 60 again this afternoon?"
asked Zintha.
81 care not where you are" said the
tired woman, 'while Hans is sleeping"
81 will earn some money for you,
Mrs. Hansen" said the girl, ssand you
shall have a new dress to wear to the
church."
81 can not have a gown while my man
cares so much for his beer returned
Mrs. Hansen, rather grimly. s'With
plenty babies comes plenty trouble, and
all goes wrong. But you are a good
girl, Zintha, and | do wrong to speak
you a cross word.'' -
Zintha thanked Mrs. Hansen twice,
and hurried away to set the table.
When the dishes were washed and the
house made clean and tidy, she returned
to the Office.
Zintha had written letters for nearly
two weeks when the proprietor of the
yard returned. He frowned q little
when he saw a young, girl seated on the
Office stool. but the foreman whispered
a few words to him and gave him some
letters to read; then he smiled and said:
Equal to Browns, anyhow"
When Brown returned, Zintha was
told that she need not go away, for The
business was increasing, and the fore
man bought a little chair for her, which
he placed in the private Office. All day
long Zintha wrote and wrote, and when
night came she went back to the Han
sens house to sleep on her hard bed
with little Hans. She often thought of
the kind lady in the Pullman car, whom
the children had called Aunt Sue, and
she said to herself, ''Now 1 can write
her a fine long letter, if she ever writes
to me-" "
Gone day, when the train came in
from California, the expressman left a
box in the station addressed to Zintha
Dierke, and a boy in the telegraph Of
J flee hurried away with it to the lumber
yard.
Great was the Joy of Zintha. Her
employer opened it himself, and seemed
greatly pleased when the young girl
t ''.tucks to let down as Zintha crew. Gas
the accompanying letter stately, and
all manner OF pretty presents from
Vesta, Hal, and the dear, kind lady.
, CHOW, Zintha,'' said her employer
that afternoon, 81 have a little plan for
you. My foreman has a spare room in
his cottage, and his wife, who is a good,
motherly soul, will board you until we
hear from your father. It is not a nice
place for you at Hansen's, since he
drinks SO much, and is too far for you
to go to your evening lessons. Now
that your kind friends have sent you
, these gifts, l think you had better send
| them at II C to your new room, and I
will see Mrs. Hansen for you"
"Ah, l can never thank you," said
Zintha, land these kind friends, who do
j. SO much for me.n
! 1'Never mind the thanks" he replied,
brishly. "I've a girl Of my own, and I
mean to give you a chance to surprise
, your father when he comes"
Y So the boxful of pretty presents went
q to Mr.. Gordon's house that night, and,
before Zintha slept, she wrote this letter
!. to her friends in California:
most DEAR N KIND PEOPLE: The heau-
4, tful box came to me this day, and I could cry,
I my heart ie tba is e So happy y, I am writing now every
y y master pays me for it. l learned to write, as
you told me to do, and twice every week l say
8 the tisss Schools s'G It IS very cry b Mao afafa and Il I f fhen Il
the dear God and you. The sweet words you
Q wrote me have made my fortune. I copied
= = kind friend gave me a book. How pleased my
Z : dear father would be! l hear not a WORD from
i him yet: And I am tired waiting. My muster
,. thinking Of him. All, dear lady, that is never
I l always think of him and pray for his return.
tb pray for Tor YOU Mt too %oo dear IL lady, for l can \, not
pretty Clothing made me too happy. to sleep.
Some time we may meet again, and then l may
pc wiser and better able to tell the beautiful
thoughts 1have of you and the pretty children.
ZINTHA DIERKE."
J. Why Aunt Sue cried over that little
/ letter no n could tell, and ever Gen
eral Perkins, her brother, sat very still
for a long time after he had read it.
t Six months after the box reached lin
tina, General Perkins himself walked in
to the office at the undergrad, and
3 there he found a tall, slender girl, bend
ing over some writing. He chatted
some time before he made himself
known, and then Zintha's happy face
, made him ample return for .'the bother
OF stopping over to humor Sues whim.' u
He tried in vain to persuade her to leave
her position and go with him to Los
, Angeles, when he should return from
I the East, but she only answered:
81 thank all your kind family, Gener.
, al, but my dear father must find me
:, here when he returns" Her refusa.
did not prevent the General from stop.
, ping again OF his way back to the
orange groves, to leave a large bundle
, Of books and some presents from New
! York friends to whom he had told Tin.