Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-08-06

young and helplessl Say you felt
sorry for me, John. just once, for
Truths sake say is ;bhn, dear do!'' 4
Don't zee no kinder use tellin' !
pack o lies just to butter 8 woman's
vanity, = answered bhn, between puhis
at the rusty pipe had just lit him.
"Al I thought on the matter was,
There's sstrong young 'ooman, and
here's weakiahd1d RAN. What want
is a body TO turn in and take care o.
the bit I've got, and what she wants is
a home. All right got what bar
gained for, and you got what you bar
gained for, and so honofs is easy-and
I says no nore!'
Not another word, not one-and
there I sat, till the fire seemed some-
what to get into my brain; and that
night, for the first time in my life I
fell asleep without a-saying my pray
ers.
never bothered John with any of
my foolishness after that once. l kept
the house tidy and did my duty out and
out; and I think he liked it all the
better.
Perhaps, if the good God had given
me little child it would have kept me
in the house after work hours; but as it
was, l took to gadding the gay streets
just to keep my heart from breaking
like; and the more gadded the more I
hated those four cuddy rooms over the
junkshop; and John-especially John!
My husband didn't believe in fnery
and such, and so Mrs. Dagger used to
get me enough plain sewing on the sly
to keep myself nice in; and it was one
of those days I was busy home that the
junkshop took iu-took as i'll as a
jrnkshop could without a-blowin' the
last breath out of his poor, wien old
body; and there sat helping the poor
soul out the best could, when along
comes Eflie-being his niece, and gay
sort of laughing young thing that
| danced down at the Varieties, and no
fit company for settled woman the
| likes of me.
Well, the way that girl and me raced
the streets together, and took to steal
ing off to theaters, unbeknownst, was
enough to make decent married
woman hang her head for shame-not
that I ever did anything worse than
chatter with folks l had best left alone;
but, somehow, it always felt as if my
proper place was them cuddy rooms
over the junkshop; and what's more,
that black cat thought so too; I could
see it in his eyes.
Effie was one of them coaxing little
Irish things with blue eyes that had
silver hickers in 'em, and once she
had taken a notion to me, she didn't
rest day nor night till she had per-
suaded me into the ballet at dollar
night and found.
set my face dead against it at first,
but when / thought of them big sill
yer dollars and how they would buy
warm frocks for the children and a
blanket shawl for mother, not count
ing the good things all around, why,
took and give in to her; and the
next thing l knew, there was
tricked off in cloud Of fluffy skirts
all over tinsel, with wax beads round
my neck and req dabs> on my cheeks
spinning around with whole jam
of other girls out on the big, flarine
stage.
If John had been. little kind tt
me that day-had praised the dinner
or said something nice about the
rooms. I would Attacked out, ever
then; but John wasn't kind.
He had missed silver piece out o.
his pocket. and he asked me about il
in such a suspicious sort of way thai
it set my face to flaming like torch
as if he wanted to say jailbird wasn''
to be trusted-only, he had no proof
So went--went with the determine
ton to take the money and send il
home to mother. John might kill me-
if he d mind to, but 90 into the mid
die of the lights and the music and the
gay crowds and the flash and sparkle
1 would would, and, please God
I'd do what was right and honest on &C
count of the little ones and mother; ant
did!
This was the beginning of my double
life, and it kept ME pretty spry. Their
was my housekeeping, and the plail
sewing on the quiet, and the rehearsal
one hour a day, with fine if late
not counting the work it cost me to g
! on making believe was happy owe
: that junk-shop with John.
But liked the dancing, once I hat
got used to it; and never did, and
never will, get tired of the plays-the,
t always used to come on after tn
ballet, down at our place; and I woul'
, stand in them wings and watch an
[ watch, till at last Miss Cardeck-rea
, name, Simmons-took to drivin' M
( off regular. '.Made her nervous" sh
said She wasn't q nervous sort to loo
t at, either, being one of them big pink
neutrality-suspicious. women. wit
1 three times her fair share of lungs. Sh
l certainly was genius to holler!
, But she had her way about me, jus
as she did about every other body, fror
I the manager down to the call boy, an
SO then I used to steal up the shifter'
+ ladder and watch her from the flies. !
t One night, when new play wa
5 billed, she fiared up as usual while tn