Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-03-13

and have the pleasure of cutting the |
leaves of a magaZine;' and in went a |
fresh Harper's and Century.
At the end of a month or so it had |
grown TO be one of Eleanor's habits to |
put something into the hospital box. |
She settled that she remembered 1t on |
Mondays, because, she reasoned:
1t Is then that 60 into the gyInna-
sium and feel so well that L should be
likely to forget the sick except that on
no other day am 1 so sorry for them
MY invalids must keep up with the
times,' she would think, and slip in a
dainty souvenir program, hbretto of
the latest opera, q recent sermon OF
Philips Books, a book catalogue con-
tanning cuts of the new authors, a
circular picturing the manufacture of
exquisite china, a seaside advertisement
aglow with real seal-mosses, and in
paper covers SO light that the frailest
hand could hold them. THE Christmas
Carol and other stories that turn tears
to smiles When December 25 came,
she had ready for the box dozen
Sunshine calendars, 1t being the year IN
which that CHEEKY compilation was
made; but no one knew who thus
vivaciously said II times 365 comforting
things to the sick In hospitals, for she
kept her little mission to herself
Less honorable was the secret which
her father was keeping. and which
came to hight when the bills poured in
at New Years. He could not pay
them He knew it in the fall WHIT he
surprised Eleanor by saying that he
thought one hundred and fifty dollars
was a good deal to pay for a travelling
dress. But he had weekly put off the
evil day of settlement until after the
happy holiday season and until he had
once more given gifts which no one
knew how to thank him for so charm
ingly as Eleanor. When the failure
came, those involved IN 1t SAID to those
who were losers, urging the excuse that
has seen hard service since it was made
for Charles I, But he was such a good
husbs nd and father
Is it good, though? To let the wife
and daughter be thought eXtravagant
by outsiders who judge that the women
of a household know as soon as the
town does when The tide turns in the
family's prosperity, while generally the
women know of business affairs only in
season to beg that the failure be made
at least an honorable one. Such, GER
talnly, was the case with the Wood
worths. Mrs. Woodwork brayely gave
over her home and her husbandings to
the auctioneer before sweetening the
bitter cup by telling about it to callers.
Her first woful recital was also her last,
however, for Eleanor entreated.
Mamma, II trouble has come to
them. they know what We undergo. If
it has not, no words can tell them.'
Then the parent obeyed the child in
the good American fashion, but her
eyes grew older with the tears she
represSed, and 1t was to exchange some
new opera-glasses for a stronger pair of
spectacles for her mott er, that Eleanor
went IN town one lowering day. She
had found herself, after the failure, too
poor to wear her rich clothes, and not
rich enough to buy poor ones, so on this
occasion she donned her waterproof as
the least conspicuous wrap she owned,
and In its pocket her fingers touched
the program of 1.-The Tanning OF the
Shrew.' Her Quondam escort came to
her mind.
The Lad has more brains than l
credited him WITH she unused. He
comprehends what a difference there is
between asking me to furnish wedding
cake and Offering to provide me with
bread and butter. Is anything or any
body the same as on that careless
af, ernoon. / wouder2 Yes, my in
valids are still in the box,' glancing
toward the biz iron chest as she stepped
from the car. I've nothing but myself
to put In this morning. she added rue
fully. Il shall fill the place and stick
with half-conscious comparison of her
size and the opening. Tine place. her
nimble thoughts ran on. The place of
nurse, why notP and stick to my post.
Father acknowledges though he will
manage to give me my daily bread,
must work for my daily cake, and what
can L do better than nurse the sick in
hospitals?'
1t is not easy nowadays, however, to
secure even an unenvIable situation 1t
seemed to Eleanor as if all the invalIds
In Boston were being pulled along 10
convalescence In an ambulance, at
whose rope so many hands were tugging
that there was no room to get in her
fingers, even if she were willing to
exchange her dia amonds for bllsters.
But after cutting an amount of red
tape that outran the yards or ribbon on
her dressiest gown, she obtained the
place of nurse she coveted. Her face
was her fortune, not in the sense of the
song, for il was not handsome enough
to win her laird and lands, but in the
nineteenth century way, for it was
sunny and spirited enough to WIN her
position in which to support herself.
The first day in cap and apron recalled
private theatIIcals. She remembered
wearing them once, and hearing, Just
before the curtain went up:
Take off your rings, Eleanor. Nurses
don't wear solitaires-'
Now, nothing enhanced her own
sparkle, but she did not, as would the
heroine of a mans novel. look lovelier
for the absence of Jewels and laces.
That a woman owes large per cent of
her attraction to her clothes is a fact
never realized by man, and never so
forcibly by herself as when she is
absolutely too tired to change her dress.
Furthermore, when a man admires a
woman there IS always another woman
around TO be amused at his ignorance
OF the real causes of his infatuation.
In this case, 1t was the matron OF the
hospital who knew before the young
doctors did, why they looked twice at
Miss Woodwork. The shapeliness of
her form, the fineness of her simple
brooch, the moiulatlons of her voice,
the fresh flower on her tray, the COM
pliment she paid each event in her
inyalid's lives by donnIng new cap
all these trihes, while they merely led
the doctors to think Miss Woodwork
the bonniest nurse In the house, told
the matron that she was from the class
among whom to be pleasant is as much
part of the moral C, de as to be good.
"a woman reflected the matron,
may act like a lady if SHE'S lived
among interiors; but to always speak
ike lady argues that she's lived with
superiors.'
1t WAS reserved for Dr. Thomas
Seymour, least solicitous OF the medical
staff about getting Eleanor's morning
bow and smile. to discover that every
thing wise and sweet and patient had
heen done by her for an invalid before
she called him ~ administer little
heroic treatment. He never delayed
when she summoned He had conf
dence in the voice of the people. hence
ne had confidence in the woman to