Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-01
PAGES 8 TO rs.

her position IN the heart and home Of her
/ uncle without e5pousing the cause 81
either; and her father-Was too prudent not
to recognize the near and prospective ad-
Fantages Of such q mediator. Accustomed
to her parents extravagant denuneiations,
and her uncie's more repressed but practical
contempt Of them, the unfortunats girl
early developed a cynical disbelief in the
virtues OF kinship in the abstract and 4
| philosophical resignation to its effect upon
her personally. Believing that her father
and uncle fairly represented the fraternaI
| principle, she was quite prepared for the
/ early defectlon and distrust Of her Varn-
bond and dissipated brother Stephen. aa1
accepted it calmly. True to an odd stand
ard,pf justice, which she had erected from
tn1 crumbling ruins Of her own domestic
ylife, she was tolerant Of everything but hu-
4 nan perfection. This quality. however.
Htal to her higher growth, had given her
BeeuliaF capacity for business which en-
deared her to her uncle. Familiar with the
strong passions and prejudiees Of men. ahs
mad none Of these feminine mean1etsss, s
/ wholesome distrust Of which had kept her
uncle "a. bacheioFs fb=W4s net strange.
therefore, that when he died, two Years 40.
it was found that he had left her his entire.
property, real and personal, limited only by
a single condition. She was to tundeffaks
the vocation Of sole trader, and carry
on the business under the name Of -.
Forsyth" If she married the estate and
property was to be held distinct from her
husbands, inalienable under the "1larrie1
Woman's Property Act, and subject dur
ing her life only to her own control and per
sonal responsibilities as a trader
The intense disgust and diseomfture of
her parents, who had expected 70 more
actively participate in their brothers sor-
tune, may be imagined. But Il vas NOT
equal to their fury when Josephine. instead
of providing for them q separate maints-
nance out Of her abundance, simply offered
to transfer them and her brother to her own
house on q domestic but not q business
equality. There being no alternative but
their former precarious shiftless life in their
"played-Out' claim in the valley, they
wisely consented, ressrving the sacred right
Of daily protest and objurgation. In The
economy Of Burnt Ridge Rancho they alone
took it upon themselves to represent re
shattered domestic altar and its outraged
Lares and Penates So eonscientiouslv did
they perform their task as TO even Occasion
ally impede the business visitor to the ranch
and to cause some Of tine more practical
neighbors to seriously doubt the young RifI'a
commercial wisdom. But she was frm.
Whether she thought her parents neoss.l-
ty or whether she regarded their presence il
the light Of q penitential atonement f6r
some previous disregard Of them, no one
knew. Public opinion inclined to thelaflsS.
The black line Of ridge faded out with her
abstraction, and she turned from the win
dow and lit the lamnon her desk. TIE geI-
low light illuminated her face and figure.
I'm their womanly graees there was 10 trace
Of what some people believed to Be q mascn-
line character, except q singularly frank
look Of critical inquiry and patient attsn-
ton in her dark eyes Her long brown hair
was somewhat rigidly twisted into q knot
on the top Of her head, as If more for
security than ornament. Brown vas also
the prevailing tint Of her eyebrows, fhick|Y
set eyelashes and eyes, and was even 1n1-
gested in the slight sall0Wness Of her con.
plexi0n. But her lips were well cut an1
fresh c0lored, aad her hands and feet snail
and finely formed. She would have passed
for prettygirl had she not suggested lono.
thing more.
She sat down and began 70 examine pile
Of papers before her with that concenIra'|on
and attention to detail that was Character.
istie Of her eyes, pausing ni times with
prettily knit broVs, and Der penhoIdsI b..
| tween her lips, In TIE semb|a111 a IonI
.e--...,- ~ t....- - 80. = -. Z.
1s7t ~ .-...e -. ~ -t- .'I
~. VII .-ns1 y .o.l''n.es ,yIso,'.r' -4- 'Nt
Rrs ue~n e. "otA A.eAiJ ana .'194
listening. 1ne sound q rough voices ana
her iatner's queruioqs accenfs Vas broken
upon Dy c9lnYatea ana more nmii.ar ~
'sfanee. Al rignS Ii SPEAK p per 1I
oace. ~ an tnere, ana me door opened p
the we'll known physician Of Burnt Ridge.
II hn4n|
Look here, he said, with an abruptnoI
that was oulV saved from being br1rnnn |r