Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1886-04-10


4 She will|uIly ignored the small
s1sbank behind the Swiss clock; but
liberia, wise from experience, suf
& I.fered the, omission in silence. 1t
sEwas so like her small, ncrvous-tem
s pered sister to struggle on and on
aElike Spartan, and then stumble
3 at last in the slough Of desponden-
gfcy with helpless splash, THAT she
.|crept over to che sofa, and pro
y ceeded to administer on the half
& exposed cheek a series Of those
! carressing little dabs that 60 such
a long way toward soothing wo-
mans deepest woe.
4 When the storm of tears had
sllulled into irregular and rather
I childish sobs, Berta, with her
q cheeks flushed and her voice 9uiv.
4 ering with eagerness, began:
], ooh, Matilda, do let us go! If
live were among strangers we could
4 be no worse off than we are here
Hive we're starving to-morrow,stlo
know a;soul we could 60 to for
Hal penny3 Il don't. And Lam so:
! Head tired Of this2one { 70 ON, anti
] old Mrs. Beel's weak tea, and that
Tommy folsom incoming at us
from his side of the table.n
'.But where could we go7 and
what could we do when we got
Ethere7'
"Anything anything! Teach,
sew
Miss Matilda wriggled conyul-
sively from head to foot.
"And, if necessary scrub"
Miss Matilda screamed.
Berta laughed out in fashion
slightly boyish, bat wholly delight
full, because she enjoyed it to the
last echo, and sprang to her feet
with suddenneSs calculated at
the very least to drive Miss NATL
da wild.
eff arrange everything-every-
thing" she cried, breathlessly,
evil you let me have my way this
time, Teddy Say, will youa-will
you7"
And because Miss Matilda was
totally demoralized and weak from
her emotion, she helplessly ans
wered yes.
1t could be proved.if only some
one would take the trouble to do it
that there exists no one quite so
hopclessly irresponsible as wo-
man newly dismissed from govern
mental office-unless it be a man!
When Miss Darrell had cried
herself sick enough for Il prescrip
ton, she sank into Il state OF apl
thetic despair-and staid there
until Berta came home one evening
after weeks busy planning, with
two yellow tickets in her hand.
: "They cost exactly sixty dollars"
she cried, joyously. "And decided
on Goldville for two splendid rea
sons-you see, we shall have thirty
dollars and fifty two cents to aston
sIiUII a ;,l1ct VI U0iiiir0ru-.Ilr -ttrI0 uia'c
syllable, don't you think?"
nWhat's In name!" quoted Miss
Matilda, dlsmally.
But Bertha only laughed.
Miss Matilda almost wanted to
laugh herself, two days afterward,
when she found herself flashing
through State after State,which all
her life had only meant so many
red and blue splashes OIL the map.
There was no longer need to re
prove Berta for the reckless hand
ling of their future. The money
was spent now-and, after al, here
was a flavor of dangerous pleas
ure in daring fate to do her worst.
All her life she had walked with
out stumbling in the beatan path
that lay before her as prim as
Dutch flower garden, and now that
there had come a sudden and APP
palling end to her road, all the COM
fort she had got from Berta was
reference to "luts," that wasn't
sisterly, and another to "Jack,'
that was scarcely genteel.
Very WE'LL there was 10 longer
the despised rut to plod in. They
had desolate amount Of freedom
now to starve as they pleased, and
of course, if it suited Bcrta best to
have their bones bleach on the
boundless prairies of the West,
why"
And then she did laugh at her
own amazing stock of selt-pit y,and
it brought such sparkle in Berta's
warm gray eyes that it was worth
being hopeful Just to see them.
And,indeed, the girl was so cheer.
ily familiar with things she never
saw before and knew nothing about.
so worldly-wise in the matter of
checks and so equalto the baggage.
men, that Miss Darrell, in spite of
her thirty and something over
years, was beginning by the second
night to feel childishly, irresponsi
bly, happy, when-their journey
came to all end.
Came to such sudden and dis
astrous end, that she had been IT,
inc in an ugly heap under the stars
quite twenty minutes before she re
allied that there had been an acct
dont nnd that like as not she was