The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1886-10-21

the second Mrs Brown was In
stalled as mistress, Mary became the
Edrudge and maid OF all work. and was.
nurse to hall a dozen more little
Browns, who, like their mother, ruled
her witha rod of iron. Nor Of Mary's
marriage with a sturdy young fellow,
Who,for the lack of a little timely help
and the pressure of a large family, was
kept with his lose to the perpetual.
grindstone.
Hedidn mot tell how Mary pinched ana
W0rked;and sat up until late hours. and
struggled to help her family, until I'M.
consequence of Doctors, bills, and.
babies, and poor crops, John was,
aorced to give a mortgage onhis house..
when he 1.-THE father) might have lift ID
them out of their poverty. He might.
even have given them q better house;
the Oldest inhabitant could not re-
member when the ugly. ramshackle
affair had been built. Some ancient
ancestors had put up a. couple of
rooms; then added on q few more,
until, what with patching and prop
ping up, Johns inheritance was an
offense to the eye. Mr.. Brownthought
bitterly of all this through the
long journey. Too late, too
late seemed written in words of fire
on every tree and shrub. At last the
house was in sight; a poor, miserable
place enough, but now in the month
OF June, sweet with climbingroses and
honeysuckle that the mistress's hand
had trained to the porch.
"Who-o-o, Dandy"
The children were in the yard. With
a shout they ran to the gate, and as
the old horse stopped somebody rush
ed down the steps, and with a cry Of
'"Why father, why Fanny!" Mary, in
her famous clean calico apron, and
with cheeks like roses with the pleas
ure and excitement Of the visit, was1
In her fathers arms-her father, who
held her as he had never done before,
and kissed her with tears running down
his face. III
"My child" he said presently, '.you
we're dead and are alive again! Thank
God!"
"Who father" questioned Mary,
"what on earth is the matter?" And
she looked with frightened gaze at her
sister, vaguely wondering if her father
were stricken with some sudden in
sanity. For answer, Fanny drew|the
telegram from her pocket and gave it
to Mary.
otis all a wonderful mistake" K
claimed the elder woman, glancing it
over, and hugging father and sister
excitedly again. eve have a neigh
Dor Mrs. Mary Harris, who died last
evening; she hada brother livingnear
you. and by the way, his nameis Brown
Richard ~Brown-your name, father.
They carried you the telegram instead
Of him. What a pity he won't hear
OF it so to get there to the burying!"
And SO between hysterical sobs and
smiles and everybody talking at once,
and asking questions that no one
dreamed OF answering, they went in un-
der the bower of roses and honey ),
suckle; and presently John hobbled
from the field on chrutches, and the
story vas told all over again. ii
And when Mary slipped out into the
kitchen to get supper, old Mr.. Brown
followed, and she was again folded
tight in her fathers arms; while the
tears streamed down both their facess
It was as if she had been raised from
the dead.
: my child" whispered the old man,
81 hain't been the best of fathers to
we; l ma shut my eyes and my heart
when l ought to ha' been the one to
help ye; never mind bout it and we'll
knock this old rattletrap down to- Z
morrow, and Illshow we how to build y
a housed" PSI Z
i And so heidi, and a very comfort
able house it was, where John did not
have to stoop when he went in and
out of doors. And would you believe
it? The letter, all the more harsh for
being SO brief, never did reach it's des-
tination. Old Mr.. Browns .chirograr
ply was.of a very inferior sort, and .
the postmaster couldn't puzzle out
the address, much as he desired to do
SO; then the letter VAS forwarded to-
the Dead Letter Office at Washington,
and in due time was returned to Mr..
Brown, who quietly consigned it to.
the flames. g.,
AZ f@EE IAN f"