St. Landry democrat., 1892-08-27

to her load of sorrow. She was pointed
out on the street as a "colonist;" and
although she met, through the pastor o:
the church she attended and at the home
of her attorney, many of the nlces
people in the city, she was almost en-
tirely ignored in a social way and il
CALLED her immeasurably, She, a Love
dale-yes, and a Hicks Brown; for ever
if the man who had bestowed the last
name on her did work for living, Il
was a name to be proud of-to be os-
tracized by thase insignificant country
people, half the men among whom at
| tended balls in Prince Albert or cut-away
coats! The idea! AS if she cared! Anc
yet she did care, a great deal.
And Mr.. Hicks BROWNE He was work
ing away as though fighting time. HI
never gave himself moment, if he coulC
help it, for thought Not word had
passed between him and the Lovedalt
family since the day his wife had flung
herself out of the house and returned tt
her parents. He heard she had gone
west for divorce and it made him vince
but he shut his mouth more tightly anc
went at his work still harder. There
were times when he had to think anC
they were not pleasant times. There was
one in particular. A few months before he
had begun to build, unknown to his
wife, a handsome new house in her fav.
| orite suburb-and the time came for him
to occupy it, and she was not there tc
enjoy it. His younger sister, an orphan
who had just finished school and had
come to live with him, was delighted with
every thing. She ran all over the house,
fairly gushing with pleasure, and did not
know that her brother, sitting amid the
| confusion of furniture in the front hall,
was thinking of how much some one else
would have been pleased. And there
were two big tears on his cheeks when
he remembered himself and arose tc
superintend the work of arranging
| furniture.
Everybody who reads the papers re
members the Hicks-Brown divorce trial
how the defendant paid no attention tc
the suit; how the judge, in granting &
| decree without alimony, scored the fail
plaintiff for seeking a divorce on such
trivial grounds, and assured her that he
allowed a decree only becausei it was plair
to be seen that it was case of incompati
bility; and how two days after receiving
her decree, the plaintiff left suddendly
and everybody said, II told you Sol
knew she'd 60 as soon as she got it,
But everybody doesn't know that the
reason she left so suddenly was that she
received a telegram announcing hel
| fathers DEATH or that when she reached
home she found that he had died bank
| rupt.
Hicks Brown knew it, and his heart
ached with longing to go to her aid
and then the Hicks Brown pride came tc
the surface and his heart hardened with
a cold snap and he bent himself to his
work harder than ever.
.One morning, as he rode into town,
Henry Hicks Brown was thinking how
lonely his sister must be, sometimes, out
there in that slow little suburb, and an
idea struck him. ''By Jove!"he thought,
cts the very thing. There are lots OF
fine girls who would jump at the chance
to be companion to SO jollya girl as Lot
tie" And he stopped at the Sol office
anu IelG w ant dItNtltlSelIcAt, w it'll
stated that young lady desired a com
panion who was able to speak French
and possessed sundry other accomplish
ments; must furnish best references
would receive liberal salary, etc. CAP
ply in person at residence, - Grove
street"
Mabel Hicks Brown, discussing ways
and means with her mother at their
SHINY furnished breakfast table next
morning, saw this advertisement.
OTIS the very thing, mamma, and I'm
going to see about it to-day. Something
must be done, and l am the one to do it,
"But, Mabel, it seems so-so-why.
the idea Of"
"There, there's no use saying a word,
mamma. We can't be choosers, any
more"
And SO it was settled.
At 4 o'clock that afternoon Mabel
Hicks-Brown rang the door of the house
in Grove street indicated in the adver-
tisement and was admitted by trim
maid, who seemed to know her errand,
and ushered her into pretty drawing
room on the right.
Somehow the room had familiar look.
At least there were things in it that
seemed familiar That picture in the
dark corner-shc must have seen it be-
fore. She rose to look at it, and as she
did so, some one came huriedly into the
ROOM Tnrning, she stood face to face
with Henry Hicks Brown.
For a full half-minute they stood
staring at each other, stunned. Then
Mabel, weak from the strain of the weeks
and months just passed, gave shudder
ing sob ald sank to the floor.
Ten minutes later she found herself
upon the divan in the corner, with a pair
of strong arms about her and very dear
face close to her own, while deep
tremulous voice whispered: "MabeI,
can't we-can't we make it all up? Tell
me, little girl"
She told him, right then and there;
and half an hour after that they stood in
the study of the parsonage close by
Hicks Brown would have it so--for all
the world like pair of clippers, and what
had taken nearly five months to unite was
rctied in five minutes.
And that was the real end of the celc-
brated Hicks Brown divorce case-the
part that only small minority of-the
newspaperreading public knows about
[Argonaut.