The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-10-28

h~,Sh+ - strange the way we were .o.r
iaTm4s;ns Ro round. Well, you've s 80
It's an awful thing to own, ouv ri
Gods truth that we can t trust 70 J. ,;nnor.
1nr sight. she has such a craving - uamse.car
don't let her rave money !. ~ com
tickets even. She hasn't a niis sa,d hnv it
If the fit was on her sne - oovoes
~ +he saloons. She has bribed the negroe.
oat II for her with her anon l:s'
sbeSH give them her clothes ahy - 10
That,s whv Doctor fetched her mere w b y
100 SaIlv and I. It's wonderful now 81.
cI;nos to Sally and Sally to her. Iney nana
either of them. had a sister ana they ~
been raised together, and it was always' ,,d
want Ro,' or I want Sally, ana one ~ RI
not be easy without the other. .nd
was a beautiful then, LADIES' proao bird
;Fraid Of nothing-ah, me! remember tne
time she and Sally famed the roam o0
irving to break it. That was the sou.
tarv time Cousin Gordon tried to diclpllit
Ro' He found out something ana no toon
ali the hlame-pretended she'd done IL an
hv her lone %self-never a word about HaiIy'
HE took her dolls away fora week. wei,
if YOU please, Sally hears about IL IMlo y
Tempe; and off she runs to COUSIN or WI
and takes all the blame Tor nersel an nf
brings her dolls to be taken away instead u
Ro's Cousin Gordon couldn' It help Laughing.
We'll. chicken says he, I don't know
which of YOU to believe. l reckon ousnt
to lock all the dolls up, but don't take on.
i've given Ro back hers He was JUST
+ hound nm in Ro. The only child. under
stand He never crossed her; neither dld
her mother. Sometimes 1 think there Is
excuse for Ro. Her father died ana her
mother was a poor, weak, plnlhg invalu
| that the doctors wouldn't cave stay wen
| when the Lord let her acne. no was
raised on stimulants. Her ma was per-
netnal, imagining she had this or that or
t;other thing the matter with her, and then
it was Where's the paregoric?' or the
drops, or the soothing syrup, and by ana
nv twas where's the wine?' or Give us
| an eeenog,' or Make a hot punch Tor MISS
Ro'@always flying to some stimulant.
! Maybe l ought to have noticed things more
| hut Ro was so sweet and pretty, ana ~
| fond of Sally l couldn't. Then she met up
with the Doctor and they were married.
And he has been a good HUSBAND 10 ne!'
Oh. he has, ladies. Ii ever man kept MS
morriage vow he has. He was a South
CAROLINA, man, from Charleston, and ne
had a large practice, but he threw it all up
and came here to the plantation, thinking
he could watch over her better. All, well
r. did no good. For awhile after her mar.
rage Ro was all right; then, after her little
Raou} came, she got in a weak, plnlng way,
and took spirits to help her, and the habit
was firm fixed on her before anybody sus
pected anything. Maybe at first she coulc
have stopped, but now Doctor says IL " d
disease. She went on from bad to worse
Whv. Miss Adams, she was dead drunk
ven. ma'am, that's the only word for it
when she took little Raoul out in the yaro
and the poor little child was drowned. YET
the Doctor never gave her a r%eproachfu!
word. But she has reproached herself anc
! will till she dies. Yes, ma'am. She was
like q, mad womanf for awhile. She stopped
taking the stuff for most a year, Till htti'
Sally came"
"Does the child know?" Grace asked.
"Oh, no, ma'am; we never let her com
into the room when her mas been taklni
f. And she's careful, too, poor thing, ant
tries to hide it from the little one. You al
mustn't think, neither, that she hash
tried to quit it; indeed she has. Sue
scenes! Whole days she'd do nothing bu
take on, Just crying and screaming an
tearing her hair-and the house going t.
rack and ruin, till Doctor'd beg Sally t.
come and straighten out things. The
maybe for a month or two she would no
touch IL drop-wouldn't want tho ma
ter, all at once the craving would come o
her and there would be the same scene
over again. She has a place somewhere t
hide it in. expect she bribed the niger
to get it for her with clothes, They will d
ANYTHING for finery. And l can tell 20
that for all she feels so bad about it ST
never let's on about her hiding place. Wie
she came here Sally tried a new way 70
tell me- she says, when you must have
and I'll get it for you myself, or Docts
will, only promise to stay in bed ana
: quiet till it's over Ro promised, but l e.
T pect she can't keep her word.' began
recall my occasional glass OF ciare' az I'LL
! ner WIFI, "a guilty twinge.
at makes me want to Danish liquorfro
t really "la san s" ID gg.1b aBBFsAh the satsafret: s"''"
: II don't know" answered Mrs. Asbur
, hand master. Thefault's letting it be ma
ter. To my mind it's a cowardly thing q
the blame on the dumb drink instead oftl
living, responsible human being with a WI
, and a conscience that takes it. The tro'
ble's back of liquor. The Asburys nave d
: ways been a headstrong race, cOntrollil
everything and everybody but themselve
: And there's a kind OF longing for excit
} ment in the blood. Ro's like all her kin.
: she can't control herself. That's her bel
, Two rings mean me. Excuse me ladies'"
"She's right" said Grace; sit all com
l from that. And hat was II OF the ma
ural consequences of slavery. Look
Z. Mrs. Ravenel, for instance. She has a
. sorts Of fine impulses, but they are worl
(; than useless, because she never has had tt
power 60 restrain herself"
Poor woman" l could not help sayin
show she must have suffered
2 ooh suffer-" Grace repeated, with a rir
: OF scorn in her voice; 'she abandons he
t self to suffering, just as she does to , hisk,
: What good does her suffering do? 1t can
q -o~~1o 49, l-. --..1 -
, her up stairs screaming and tearing he
| hair and neglecting her household dutieI
{ Her suffering doesn't make her reform,
notice, or even tell where she keeps he
3 stock of spirits. And don't you suppos
! there are others who suffer? You pity he
/ pity her husband and Miss Sally. Mis-
Sally has to bear all Mrs. Ravenel's bu1
dens in addition to her own, but she is tn
kind OF a creature that carries a load unit
it brushes her and then drops dead, an
nobody thinks OF pitying her because she
everybody wretched and goes into hys
terics because she is SO sorry! | may b
sorry, but-das gent nicht."
So she talked. As usual, she had the hes
OF the argument, but, in spite OF logic. M
sympathy chung to the poor, weak, remorst
- "a oAC CAuSc VI dill Uni
shame and VICE..
The days passed. Everything went on q
usual in the large, well-ordered household
Miss Sally in her dainty frills and lace
smiled at the foot of the table, Miss Asbur
shivered at the head, and complained q
imperceptible draughts, the Doctor was tn
same copions spring of information an,
lavished his Latin and poetry upon us ms
as before. One could detect no differenc
beyond Mrs. Ravenel's absence from tn
circle. If her husband knew of Mrs. Asburv'
confidence to us he made no sign.
"Well," Grace remarked, II dare "a
people get accustomed even to scandals a mr.
take them easily" Yet Miss Sally's fac
did not look as though she were takin
things easily when l saw it, one morninp
from MY window; she leaning against tn
garden lattice where the seven sisters rose,
climbed to swing over her head, talkinet to Dr.
Ravenel; he stirring the earth with bis cane
and the birds twittering and ~circliny ahov,
them.
Freddy" said Grace, who was LOOKING
too" did it ever strike O what a pity 4
is DR.. Ravenel hadn't married Miss Sanv
Great heavens! What is that?"
1t was a single scream in a woman's vo;co
a scream OF such thrilling agony that in.
voluntarily Wo clutchpd aacb o+l