The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-10-08
TO BE A LADY, =
And Alice Was One, If She Did
DO Housework.

Z
what all. ! never wanted no girl of |
mine to work rs hard rs l have done.
And this 'crc'S the end on itn'
Mrs. Savillc wrung her hands in de-
spalr.
81 s'posc," said Uncle Brom thc
local abbreviation for "Abraham'0, |
"shc amt none too good to work. |
We've all Of us good Bible authority |
for earning our bread in the sweat Of |
our brows. There's Lo-i-sy Hall, she's |
made nice livin' scllin' eggs and
spring chickens to the boarders in
jacksonville, and"
"Lo-i-sy never had no boardn'-school
education," whimpcrcd Mrs. Savillc.
"P'r'aps she amt none the wuss for
it." said Uncle Brom, closing his snuff
box with n significant click. "And Eb-
cnezcr Laight's dartcrs earn twelve
dollars a month doin' houscwork at the
Beckwith hotel"
alice amt no hired gal"
"Humph! Where is she now?"
'Upstairs a-writin'. She's read in
the papers how them New York editors
pays big prices for poems and stories,
and she's a-mind to try her luck at tho
business"
"Oh!" Uncle Brom said. "Postagc is
cheap, lucky for YOU But l guess
Alice won't make her fortune outcn no
such work as that. Call her down. !
want to speak to her"
So Alice Saville was called, and came
downstairs--a pale, pretty girl with
WlStful brown eyes, sunny hair and
rcd, sensitive lips. The bright hair
was rumplcd over her forehead; there
was troubled expression in the brown
eyes, and the pretty middle finger OF
her right hand was stepped to the bone
i'll ink. Evidently, literature did not
agree with her.
"Prctty hard work?" said Unc,e
Brom, with Il chucl1lc.
Alice laughed and nodded
jest like me-" said Uncle Rroaa
"pd ruthcr cut 4 whole crop O. tobacco
than write letter, any time o day.
But look here, my gal: Your ma says
times is hard and you can't get no place
to govcrncss out or do ladies' compan-
ioning.'
NO" sighed Alice. every position
Of that sort seems to be filled already"
"Wal, look here" said Uncle Brom.
''Our hired gal has gone homo with tho
y
chuck plum full o boardcrs, an nv ole
woman she's in a peck Of half bushels
what to do. S'pose you come over and
help wait on table and straightcn up
the bedrooms. My ole woman she
wants things to bc pretty nice since the
member Of congress has took rooms
thar with his two gals. An she lowed
you was always n pow'ful smart gal
round the house, Alice. Bless my soul,
what's your ma a-cryin' about?"
~ c-c-can't help it, blubbcrcd Mrs.
Savillc. II brung my Alice up to be a
lady, and here she's agoin' out to days
work."
"Don't fret, mother" soothed Alice.
ITS only to help Aunt Thalia. you
know"
Cit OUT" Uncle Brom said. ."Don't
your ma know that we've all of us got
to work in this world?"
So Alice Savillc ran upstairs to put
on her hood and shawl and make I'D
her little packet of belongings. And
when she got there she discovered that
q sudden furry Of wind had carried
every sheet of her painfully copied and
rccopicd manuscript out of the wide
open window into the field that slopcd
down to the river.
For an instant she could have burst
ont into tempest of passionate tears.
Then she thought better OF it.
1T is just as WE'LL" she murmurcd,
setting her small, white teeth together
firmly. "Therc shall be an end Of my
scribblimg! l will accept tho fiat of
fate without a murmm!
Papa, am SO glad we came to TINS
place." said Gladys Ayrault. ITS
deal plcasantcr than the hotels. And
the orchard is so beautiful, and the air
from the river comes up like q breath
Of healing"
eyes," little Fan cried, "and old Mrs
uadgitt IS SO plump and comfortable,
ana that new waitress is SO pretty"
And only think, papa" cried Gladys,
cher name is Alice Suville. Just like
the heroine OF u romance, isn't it? And
she can repeat the whole of 'Marmion'
from beginning to end. and she trans
lated that French label on my bonnet
box without the least difficulty, yestcr-
day"
"A rdra dris, che" laughed Col AYR
ault, the member of congress elect from
the - district, who had brought his
daughters to jacksonville in order to
accelerate the slow convalcsccnce of
Fanny, the youngest, who was Just up
from scarlet fever. "But GLADYS is al
ways discovering hidden treasures. I
wouldn't like to count the number of
times that her swans have been trans
formed back into geese before her very
eyes; ch, FAM"
"But Alice is rcailya gem, papa" de-
clarcd Fanny, siding audaciously with
her sister.
(Which is Alice? The little girl with
the curly hair?' asked Col. Ayrault.
"ics, papa. DO be kind to her; won't
you? She is some relation OF Mrs Had
gifts and she's certainly Il lady by man
ncr and education"
II try to bc kind to every body; don't
l, FAM" archly asked the colonel.
YES, papa; but Alice is SO sensitive
I'm sorry for her, then," said Col.
Ayrault. ''lf she has her own way to
make in the world, sensitive nature
is sorry endowment. And now,
Gladys, get your pen and ink want
you to write some business letters for
mo