The Press., 1891-12-17

either, and it was 8 very busy fifteen minutes from start to finish. When he finally laid down his weapons of attack, | leaned back in his chair and proceeded to pick his teeth with rye straw, his
 daughter began to wonder if it were ab- solutely necessary under all circum-
 stances for child to venerate its father.
 Might not the duty be fulfilled by be-
 stowal of full measure upon the mother2 She believed she would have no difficulty
 in even going little further and learn
 ing to really love that dear, homelike old
 lady awee bit; that awe inspired mother
 who was so busy waiting on the table l and taking such extreme care that her
 daughter should not miss any of the ! good things the table contained. Another pleasure helped to counteract l the effect produced by Buggs pere's un- | civilized manners. She saw with some 1 astonishment that the hired man handled
 his fork, although 1t had but two tines, r with the. ease and correctness of good l breeding. There was nothing in his con l duct during the repast to which she | could object, unless 1t was his total
 silence and strict attention to the supper.
 That evening her trunks were brought
 home and sent into the great wide hall. As the shadows of night fell, darkness
 seemed to descend upon her heart. Oh.
 what feeling of loneliness came over
 her! Her parents seemed to be afraid to
 speak to her and found something to oc-
 cupy their time until nine o'clock, when
 MT. Buggs pulled off his boots on the
 porch, said q guess I'll go to roost" and
 disappeared up the narrow, creaking stairs.
 And then her mother appeared with 8
 lighted candle and guessed that Rebecca
 must be tired after her long journey and
 would like to go to bed. Rebecca could
 not utter word in reply. But she
 silently arose and followed the old lady l to the spare room. Mrs. Buggs set down
 the candle, kissed the girl on the cheek, and as she was departing said:
 s'Ia have a late breakfast tomorrow
 on purpose, so you can sleep as long as 1 you like. You shall not be called afore I six o'clock"
 I Not before six o'clock! And this to g l girl whose school hour for arising was
 an hour later.
 What desolate looking, miserable I room it was The light of the tallow candle was just enough to disclose it's
 baroness. The paper curtain was not
 long enough by foot to reach the sill,
 and as the room was on the lower floor I Rebecca found it convenient to extin- I guish the feeble flame before she pre- | pared to retire. Her next discovery
 was not cheering; there were no fasten- l ings to the windows. nothing to keep I robbers out of her room. No means of preventing them from coming in and
 stealing her diamond earrings and gold \ watch. Poor child, she did not know
 that there had been nothing in that I township for five years worth turning 8
 key upon, or which would tempt thief 'I to lift sash or open door.
 ,l But of this she was unhappily igno-
 rant, and she hid the jewels under the
 rag carpet over near the six story bureau before she climbed up into the old fash toned bed which her mother brought all
 the way from Pennsylvania, and which had been part of Rebecca's maternal \ grandmother's wedding outfit. We T speak advisedly when we say that she T climbed up into it; for be it remembered
 that Rebecca Buggs was not divinely tall, and the level of the patch quilt,
 which served instead of spread, formed sI plane on 9 level with her fourth rib. If the truth must be told, the last act this girl did before retiring was to indulge Il in slight jump, which landed her on the + edge of the bed, and when she had com N posed herself for the night she lay in 8 depression, after the style of hammock.
 It was .'cord" bed, and the cords had
 .sswagged.1 All this she learned from
 her mother next day.
 I Once in bed she laughed, then she Ncried, after which she said her prayers \ and went to sleep.
 At the breakfast table next morning
 Father Buggs wanted to know if mother
 had any old dresses that would fit Becky,
 because he .sreckoned they didn't wear no
 caliker frocks at that skeule, cos the ] gals didn't do no dishwashin, and of
 course Becky would be just dyin to help
 mother with the homework.
 'sNSw don't trouble yourself about
 such things pap," Mrs. Buggs hastened
 to say, as her quick eyes noticed the
 quiver of her child's lip and the suspi- cious moisture in the eyes. t'You've got your hands full to get that hay in afore
 it rains. Becky and nell get along" ]"
 And the mother placed plate of berries and cream before her desolate souled child.
 Il So the summer days went by. Rebecca
 and her father did not prove congenial
 spirits. But what the father lost the mother gained, and the natural love be- Il tween the two increased and grew day J by day.
 I However, the commonplace, matter of \ fact, limited ideas of Mrs. Buggs made .l poor material with which the schoolgirl . might find herself entertained.
 II It is not strange, therefore, that she turned to a moro congenial source of T companionship upon every possible occa-
 sion. She found it in the ''hired man. ' I Just how they two first became ac. I quainted she was never able to explain
 with precision. She spoke to him and
 he replied dwith the courtesy of a thorough d gentleman. Under other circumstances Il she would most likely have never honor \ ed him with more than 8 passing recog pition. But in her dreary surroundings
 an intelligent dog would have been g welcome companion.
 Ii John Buck surprised her and soon wor
 her extraordinary interest. His was :t the language of well informed man { and his manners were those of gentle
 man. He was kind to her without
 being rude, courteous without becoming < presumptious. In time she began tt # look forward to the evening hours, aftel .j the labors of the day were over, wher , they sat for an hour or two on the broad porch of the farmhouse and chatted long
 after the old couple had retired and !; were asleep And Sundays were ths
 bright fragments of the weeks to her, fol l upon those days he and she would take