Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-08-22
MT. Wayt'sNife's Sister ~~
 By MARION HARLAND.
By MARION KIRKLAND.


 Q cup of tea and cut and piled him with bread and butter until he asserted that he was "right-up-an'-down chirpy, jes' as strong's enny man. Couldn't he rake out tho furnace, or saw wood, or clear of the snow, or clean shoes. or scrub the stairs, or mend broken things, or wash windows, or peel pertators, or black stoves, or sif' ashes, or red-up the cellar -or-or-somethin' to pay for his dinner?" "I ain't no beggar, ma'am- nor neber will be!''
 Hetty hired him as general utility man." at ten cents forenoon and his breakfast for a week-then, for a month. He lodged wherever he could in stable-lofts, at the police-station, under porches on mild nights, and when other resorts were closed, in a midnight refuge, and never touched a drop of liquor or tobacco in any form. At the months end, his girlish patroness cleared a corner of tho attic between the sharp gable and the chimney, set up a cot, and allowed him to sleep there. Mir. Wayt had no suspicion of the dis reputable incumbent of the habitation honored by his name and residence, un- til one memorable and terrible March midnight, when doctor must be had without the delay of an instant, revealed the secret, but under circumstances that strengthened the retainer's hold upon his employers. Since then, he had been part and parcel of the establishment, proving himself as proficient in remov- als and settlings-down as in other branches of his business.
 Mir. Wayt liked to allude to him as "Hetty's Freak" At other times he l nicknamed him "Kasper Hauser." Once, and once only, In reference to | Hetty's influence over the being he chose to regard as half-witted, he spoke of him as "a masculine Undine," whereupon his sister-in-law turned upon him a look that surprised him and mortified his wife. and marched out of the room.
 Mrs Wayt followed her presently and found her gazing out of the win dow of the closet to which she had fled, with livid face and dry eyes that were dangerously bright.
 "Percy hopes you were not hurt by his harmless little jest" said the gentle wife. "You know, Hetty, it would kill me if you and he were to quarrel. He has the kindest heart in the world, and respects you too sincerely to offend you knowingly. You must not mind what sounds like extravagant speech. We can not judge men of genius as we would ordinary people. And, dear. for my sake be patient"
 The girl yielded to the weeping em- brace of the woman whose face was hidden upon her shoulder.
 MT. Wayt"-she never gave him a more familiar title-''can not hurt mo except through you, Fanny. You and he must know that by now. l will try to keep my temper better in hand in future"
 Hetty was young and energetic, and used to hard work. She had put tho chil dren to bed early on the evening of l their arrival in Fairhill; sent her sister who had sick headache, to her cham Der before Mir. Wayt returned from the Gilchrist's; given Hesters aching limbs hot bath and Q good rubbing, and only allowed Homer to help her unpack boxes until half-past ten, not retiring herself until midnight. The carload of furniture which had preceded the fam fly and was put in place by the neigh borly parishioners. looked scantily for lorn in the roomy manse. The Ladies Aid Association had asked the privilege of carpeting the parlors, dining-room, stairs and halls, and Judge Gilchrist, instigated by his wife, headed sub scription that fitted up tlie pastors study handsomely The sight of this apartment had more to do with IIetty's short speech last night and her down heartedness this morning than the new ness of quarters and the knowledge of the nearly spent housekeeping purse. "
 "The people will expect us to live up to that study!" she divined, shrewdly, staring into the blackness that began to show two gray lights where windows would shape themselves by and by. And we can not do it-strain and save and turn and twist as we may. We are always cut out on q scant pattern, and not button meets without starting a seam. How sick and tired am of 1t \ all! How tired l am of eDeTy thing! What if were to lie still as other girls-as real young ladies do-and sleep until I'm rested out-rested all throughl l should enjoy nestling down among the pillows and pulling the covers about my head, and listening to the rain as much as the laziest butterfly of them all. Whats tho use of trying to keep things on their feet any longer when they must go down with a crash sooner or later?
 ''I'm GaefuUy sorry for Hetty Allingr' This was the summing up of the gloomy reverie. In saying it inwardly, she raised herself to pinch the pillow savagely, and doubles 1t into a higher prop for her restless head. "She is lonely and homesick and hasn't friend in the world. She never can have an intimate friend for reasons she knows SC well she is sometimes ready to curse God and die
 "There! Hester, dear! I only moved you little to make you lie easier. Nol it is not time to get up. Don't talk, dear, or you'll wake yourself up." She was never cross with the afflicted child, but in her present mood, the moan and gurgle of her obstructed respiration