The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-01-19

"Well, / grew up and got married
about as early as / could, as girls go,
but Marianne stayed an old maid. l
don't believe she minded much. Some
times I've thought there might have
been something when she was young,
before l knew her, to set her against
it; anyhow, she never seemed to care
for any OF the young men. Her
mother and sister kept on getting more
and more helpless and she kept on
teaching. ! suppose they didn't have
much to live on except what Marianne
earned. All the spare time she could
get she spent in studying. / never
saw such one for books as she was,
always reading about plants and bugs
and stones, and going about trying to
find and make out about them. But
what she cared about most of all was
stars.
at Is curious how people grow to feel
about such things" went on Mrs. Mer-
ryweather, composedly. never snw
the day yet when good spring cleaning
or new recipe for cake didn't interest
me more than any amount of stars.
Poor Marianne used to talk to me
about planets and satellites and milky
ways till it was enough to give one a
headache to listen to her. never could
see that they did any body a mite of
good, they are so far of and we don't
really know any thing about them;
they just wink down at us and seem
unsympathetic somehow, If was in
worry or a trouble, should never
think of staring round for star to
comfort me. But Marianne was diff
ferent; she'd sit on the edge of that lit
tie stoop of hers half the night, if her
folks would let her. straining up her
poor eyes and trying to make out con-
stellations and porting over some
heavenly map or other that she had by
the light Of little kerosene lantern.
think it was that which made her
get old looking before her time. But
she didn't care for looks or parties,
even when she was girl. All her
mind was taken up by books, and she
seemed sort of lonely from the first
day knew her."
"What an interesting personm 1
said, involuntarily, as the picture of
the eager girl, a student evidently in
her very blood. with so little chance to
Stake the thirst for knowledge in this
arid environment, and 'lonely from
the first moment" rose before me. But
the remark was injudicious and did not
meet with favor.
"Well, you're the first that ever
called her that" exclaimed Mrs. Mer-
ryweather. She wasn't interesting
to people in general and never was in
her life. She hadn't grain of COM
mon sense, or bit of faculty, and she
never could have made good house
keeper. Then her looks wasn't any
thing to speak of, and folks do think a
sight of that, especially men folks"
''She wasn't pretty, you said?"
"No-though she had pretty things
about her, too. Her hair was natur-
ally wavy and it was quite good and
thick when / first recollect it; but it
fell of early. and she put on caps be-
fore she turned forty. She was sort of
queer-looking. and her eyes were too
big for any thing but an owl, and her
face was always worn and tired. That
wasn't wonderful, for her life was
never an easy one, not at the best. Let
me see, think it must have been about
five years after got married that old
Mrs. Denny died. She had long
sickness, and l guess it used up what
ever little money they were able to lay
by. There was only the sister left
then, and she kept on needing more
and more attention. Isuppose it was
some sort of decline, but she held out
for years; and Marianne was clear
broke down when at last she died, too.
''She was left all alone then. People
didn't pity her as much as they ought,
perhaps, for Samantha had been bur-
den; but 1 knew how she felt. She
looked older than ever after that, but
she kept on with her books and studies
in all her spare times, and she had
more spare times than she used to
have, because now there was only her.
self to do for.
ut was just then that Tom Burns
came home from Nevada"
"Who was Tom Burnsp"
'Why. Sarah Denny's son. Didn't 1
tell you that she married man named
Burns? Well, she did, and she died
young when this Tom was baby, and
he came and stayed with his grand
mother awhile till the widower could
look round and get married again.
Then he moved out West and took Tom
with him