Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-09

oaAC, UuJ WQ1L SnAll we
do to clothe ourselves? Dear mel What
p t.Soa mat ny boys were all girls!"
hoo, HIe acre. cried Ruth, throwing
! PACK her magnificent chest and holding
ga an arm, which, although as beauti-
iui as rose-tinted marble, was as round
ana strong as Hebe's. 'See here! lam
as strong and well as the average young
m ran' lhanks to my always being 9
lonn-Doy! SO I'm going to be the man
OF the family! There is that patch. of
ground back of the house-it will be
just the place for a nice garden, and
when you find the table supplied with
fresh vegetables, / rather guess You'll
thlnk I'm worth something's"
WELL Agnes observed, smoothing
down her apron, "if the girls will see
to the household affairs, I will apply
Tor the school down in the village"
ooh, Agnes!' and mammals small,
White hands made a gesture of horror
and protestation.
Agnes was the beauty of the family
a slender, graceful girl, with a face
like a flower; all soft curves and deli
cate tints, lighted by a pair of iustrous
eyes, purple as pansies. She seemed
porn to commandment, however, in a
naughty, imperious way, but with a
gentle g%raciousness that was charming
to see, because it was so unaffected.
She was the only one of US girls who
bad a romance. I was too homely,
Ruth, too void of sentiment and jamie
too young. But ever since the early
age of eight, Agnes had had her devot-
ed lover-Guy Hunt, only child of one
OF the richest men in town. The infan-
tile affection of these two had been
something interesting to witness.
They had been solemnly welded with
an old brass curtain-ring, and were ever
afterward inseparable companions. On
reaching maturity the feelings of neither
had changed, but the old saying, ''The
course OF true love never runs smooth"
had been verified in this instance.
Unfortunately, the old squire was the
man with whom my father had had the
lawsuit, and, not satisfied with having
his enemy under foot, was disposed to
crush him. He sternly forbade his son
to speak to Agnes, but l am glad to
say that Guy was too noble to Heed so
unjust a command, and had Agnes
given her consent, the two young folks
might have been married Immediately.
But u pretty sister held beneath her
gentle exterior a most indomitable
pride. She would enter no family I'M
welcomed, and-wel, I can't exactly
say how it happened, but any way, she
and Guy had a dreadful quarrel. But
when We timidly asked her about it,
she looked at us in a way that made US
tremble in u shoes, and said: eff you
love me, girls, never mention his name
to me again"
And with this we were forced to be
content. Despite mothers protest, Ag-
mes took up her drudging life of school
teaching with a patience that made us
wonder. How she, with her fastidious-
ness and love of beauty, could endure
mingling with the ~dirty-faced, tangle-
haired, quarreling urchins who daily
gathered together in the little red
school-housc at the foot of the hill, /
for one, could never see.
Ruth, cheery-faced and strong-armed,
was the ''man of the family" The
vegetables she raised were marvels of
perfection, and went along way toward
lessening our table expenses. We kept
a cow, and Sc had plenty Of milk and
butter.
We all tried to help along. I, being
lame. was of little use, though occa-
sionally my scribblings brought back a
check, and that, OF course, made great
rejoicing.
jamie waited on mamma, and that
kept her busy; for poor m had
never been used to doing anything for
herself, and now it was too late for her
to try.
Aunt Betsey, strong, rugged and SEN
sible, was the handspring of the house
hold machinery. And so we managed
to struggle along through n year, at
the end OF which we found ourselves
well in body and considerably better off
in purse.
Zone hundred and thirty-three dol
lars, girlsn' said Ruth, nj May morn
ing. II think that is pretty good, con-
sidering that we have the cow paid for
and a dozen hens in the hen-house.
We're getting along famously! By
house and buy a new stove for the par
lor."
'Here's a letter." said jamie, who at
that moment came in from a walk to
the village Post-ofice.
'It's for me, isn't itP" Agnes asked,
holding out her hand. II wrote to
New York for the price of a new pri-
mary geography"
cit isn't for you, Aggie, it is ad-
dressed to mamma"
"For me?' and mamma raised her
pale face with a look of languid Curl
osity. "Dear me, girls 1t looks
just like your uncle Johns handwrit-
ing"
For the past year poor NJ had
been tlattering herself that the heart of
a miserly old uncle would be touched,
and that he would lift us all out Of the
slough of poverty into which we had
fallen. Her white fingers trembled
with eagcrness as she tore open the
coarse, yellow envelope and proceeded
to read the scrawling, black, spidery
lines. At first her face was full of per-
plexity, then, as 4 realization Of some
awful truth dawned on her mind, her
expression instantly changed to wild
est CONSERVATION. At last she sobbed
out