Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-07-19

spent all her energies for two years in feed
ing dying hoDes and trying TO nurss and
kesD alive the half extinct fires a dying Life.
In svein, alas! And bow bittar
was that knowledge, vhsa, Il camo
upoa ~, how her whnlo hart mas
rent an torn by the issue e u dsisated
sAuggia sfssls
When Il WAS ovsr, Ben found hsrssif at
terly alone in the world, her beautiful homo
gone, every ono Of those nearest and dearest
to her passed away, and then she found
what the practical sids Of life meant
She had been SO timi in feeling % appa-
rently cold in manner. that she had never
made very many intimate friends, though
every one respected her character and abl-
tiles; Z vague respect and approval which
rarely seemed to ripen into any very
warm interest Shs had been so per-
fsctly content with her own home and what
its four walls contained that she had never
INDUCED in any aspirations beyond it Now
it seemed as il the only contemporary world
that she knew any thing about had sud-
denly disappeared, been swallowed up by
an earthquake, and she left alone, trem-
bling on the brink Of the ruins Of the past,
to make feeble and hopeless efforts at form
ing an acquaintance with q new world and
a new race Of beings
Why she did not have recourse to her old
teachers or her old schoolmates at this time,
she was never quite able to explain, even to
herself Perhaps she felt embarras ed by
the thought that she had left them under
a cloud and that they would all think OF it.
She herself tried to think Of it as little as
possible She had quite enough else
to think Of She went into board
Spr,- sho WOULD nd ~
the moment, on going into the city to got
employment Bells finances would not ad-
NIT Of waiting and corresponding, looking
hero and there t. fin1 q position suitable to
her education and anteceisnt|. She was
Obliged to take the nearest thing she could
find in order to live.
We'll, she said to herself, IS she settled
down as best she could in her new home of
one room in . boarding house. well, one
should never be ashamed of doing any hon
est work that comes in ones way"
II would not be quite true t, say that she
did net experience a certain sense of humili-
alton however. To feel that her clear. regu-
lar handwriting, her accurate arithmetic.
these purely mechanical requirements, stood
her in better stead than all the acquisitions
on which she had prided herself, stung Bells
vanity pretty sharply.
But she reproyed herself bravely for be-
ing too foolish and snobbish, and went on
her solitary way thinking that perhaps it
was for the rest Of her life.
But adventure had not yet done with Bell
Her employers partner an idle young man,
who had nothing to do with the business in
reality. but TO lounge in once in a while and
look after the profits of the money which no
had invested. fell deeply in love with Bail
So he sail, at least, and everybody else said
SO too. His infatuation for Miss Fraser,
that pretty bookkeepsr, became a current
topic among his intimates, greatly to B,lr s
disgust She was almost ready to throw ur
her situation in despair.
Yet she was at that moment tho envy OF
half the young ladies in town.
Alfred Stratton was rich, good looking,
had fine house, and was devoted to what
he considered artistic tastes
As natural result Of these tastes, he had
fallen in love with Bells faultlsss profile and
her exquisitely fine and statue-like complex
ion He Lad sketched her half dozen
times before she had ever noticed his exist.
ence, had two partially compietsd pictures
Of her, and openly lamented his inability to
do any thing in marble, which alone was
worthy of her.
knew that she was not beauty, and had no
taste for being a1ored in that ridiculous
style.
And yet this distas.eful admirsr was
very good sort Of person indeed, for
anybody who could fancy him. He
could offer his wife everything that money
could buy; and Bell began to have the
keenest possible realization Of this tempta.
ton. At word she could regain all and
more than all that she had lost in a worldly
point OF view; rest, ease, comfort luxury,
security for the future. all were just within
her grasp.
Heaven sends almonds to those who have
no teeth" said Bell grimly, put On her
shabby waterproof, took her seeiy UNI
brella, and trudgei of through the rain 10
her days work.
She might have been lounyiny in her
own elegant library at that moment, pity
ing poor working women on their
daily march She might; but she couldn't
she wouldn't She would be true to her
ideal, though the heaven, should fall She
did not love the man lie might b, all very
well-for somebody else. but never Tor herr
Shs shivered at the thought Just a mass
Of shams and shallowness, well giided," was
her somewhat severe criticism upon her
would-be lover
what does he really caro- about mer
Bell said to herself in an indignant though
inaudible soliloquy, she splashed along
the flooded sidewalk. III my features were
two or three hairbreadths out Of the regular
line which they happen to observe, or If l
were no: so pale ami colorless 1. at could
wear any hideous fashionable shade with
impunity-that i, If | only had monsy
enough to buy the unutterabiy ugly things
when would lie ever have thought abou, met
That is what would like 10 ask The real me