Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-30

poor wife and Margaret! Why, oh
why did l 60 on to this depth of ruin?
Why did l not take warming from the
foolhardiness of others and stop when I
might have saved something from the
wreck. Too late! too late! I must 90
down and drag them down with me-"
And so round and round in the tread
mill of thought and anxiety and dread
he paced the weary way till worn-out
succumbed, and the wife and
daughter first learned from his dying
lips the story of their destitu-
Mrs. Ellslie's attachment
to her husband had been true
and perfect. Too much overcome
by her bereavement to comprehend the
other misfortunes that had befallen her,
she quietly folded her hands over her
broken heart and speedily followed the
husband of her youth and love, And
now poor Margaret awoke from the
stupor of grief to find herself alone and
destitute. Some brief space was al
lowed her to realize her position, and
then she went out into the world, that
had hitherto been to her so bright a
home.
Ours is not the usual story of faithlesss
friends who forgot in the hour of adj
versity the friendship which had been
their pride in days of prosperity. Eager
hands were stretched out to assist poor
Margaret in the rough paths which her
feet must tread, and loving proffcrs of
friendly aid were made in all sincerity,
but she had an independent spirit. and
while she felt deep gratitude for gen
erous and appreciative love, she shrank
from a state of dependence which she
felt must be her destiny if she did not
otherwise assert herself. A small pit
lance remained of the large fortune
that her father had once possessed; the
sale of her valuable trinkets increased
the fund materially and enabled her to
remove to a distant city and establish
herself in a school for young children,
in which she had moderate success.
And now there stretched out before her
prospectively the long, dry, dusty road
Of daily duties, uncheered b ,one hope
of change or variety, for in all the
weary months of her great sorrow she
had never once been gladdened by word
or token from the absent lover, and she
had at last accepted the theory that the
change in her prospects had wrought a
corresponding change in his sentiments
and that she had nothing more to hope
in and from him. As if her cup of sor-
row were not full and bitter enough,
but must be filled to the brim and
drained to the drcgs, poor Margaret was
laid upon a bed of sickness. The over
wrought nerves avenged themselves
upon, a frame weakened by care
and unaccustomcd labor; the throbbing
temples and labored breathing warned
her to give herself a respite from tho
teaching of her little flock, and it was
with a great thrill of terror and heart
sickness that she faced the stern neces-
sity of acknowledging herself too i'll for
further effort, and felt in its full bitter
ness what it was to be friendless and
alone. Who does not know all the tor
turing considerations that rushed upon
her-the loss of her means of support,
the diminution of her scanty resources,
the horror of debt incurred without
means of payment, the ever recurring
mental calculation of how many weary
days of closest economy she could sub.
sist upon the small sum remaining to
her. She hoped fervently that she might
die; life had 80 few attractions and death
no fears.
But. though her disease was slow and
lingering, she became at length con
scious that she was beginning, little by
little, to gather up her shattered forces
and creep back into the life that had in
it SO little promise. Some Immediate
step was necessary to gain the means OF
meeting pressing needs. She had re-
tanned through all her misfortunes the
last loving birthday gift of her father. a
costly watch, and the fateful ring that
she now looked at shudderingly and
cared no longer to keep. She found on
inquiry an honest and accommodating
ieweler who was ready to undertake the
sale of her %valuables, asking only a
moderate commission, and to her great
relief was soon put in possession of a
sum that she hoped would enable her
to tide over the time until she
could again find remunerative en-
ployment. Out of the many adj
vertisements for lady copyists, sales
women, workers in fine needle-work,
etc., which she answered she was at last
so fortunate as to meet with one honest
want which she could honestly satisfy,
and after weary months of hope deferred
she found herself the hired and tolerably
we'll paid occupant of a writer's desk in
an insurance office, and here at last the
tired wings of our storm-beaten bird
might fold themselves in needed rest.
Her work was neither laborious nor un-
congenial, her remuneration ample for
her needs and secure in payment, her
hours of rest abundant, and her home in
the quiet family of achildless widow was
one in which she had the assurance of
giving quite as much as she received in
pleasant companionship and %pecuniary
aid. And here we mightleave our little
heroine to fight on in the brave battle of
life IN which she has hitherto met with
such varying success; but were we to
do this our story would be without its
lesson.
Coming one evening to her home at
an hour rather later than was her
tom. after a day of nervous depression,
feeling more keenly than for a long
4;.,o boforo bo. ,ttor Loneliness opI