Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-01-14

Two-thirlS OF the warm summer day
Anita had spent i'll the hot kitchen, do
ing mp" Wild pluns, and now. Arr wear-
ness sustained by IL comforting sense of
duty dome, she was prepared to enjoy
we'll earned rest in the large hammock
that WAS swung across the shaded sitting
room
The innovation OF this hammock IN
the house with its suggestion of tropical
Incidence would be IA thing to stir up
Aunt Martha's most OutSpoken diSap-
prevail the niece reflected as she slowly
swayed herself back and forth with the
toe of one slippered foot All we'll, she
was now Mrs. Bartels, and this was her
own home, thank heaven! with thrill
of exultation at the thought 1t was for
her to say how her house should be ar
ranged-luxury unspeakabe after the
repression of her girlhood
Notwithstanding her brave face to
Donald. Anita was by no means we'll
pleased at the prospect of entertaining
this kinswoman whose goodness, not at
all uncommon in its type, carried IA lash
for all whose ideas or methods differed
from her own She would have her nose
in every crack, seeking an outlet for her
restless business. and finger in every
pie with frankest and most pungent
criticism upon the composition of the
pasty.
The Van Zandt family, OF whom Miss
Martha complacently counted herself
chief had never quite outgrown the
habit of regarding Anita as brand
snatched from the burning Her father
had been the black sheep of the flock, who
had hecapped the climax of his erratic
career by marrying and settling in Mex
| leo There he had lived happily enough
| on the great hacienda of his fathcr-in-l law
until Anita was ten years old, when he
| had been thrown from his horse and
died in an hour, while his adoring wife,
who since her beautiful eyes had first
rested upon him had never been content
with him out of her sight. soon found in
a fever path to follow him 1t was
at this point that her New York rela,
tives came forward and rescued the un,
willing little Anita from the ignorant
bliss of supposing that life was simply
given to live and love and be happy
Each Van Zandt woman-and there
were five sisters, married and single
heroically resolved to be a mother tc
the unhappy child. who narrowly es,
capped the proverbial fate of the broth
concocted by too many cooks 1t was
tacitly accepted that all the sins of the
father had descended upon the child, to
gether with awful possiD.lties of others
more to be dreaded because but half i'm
agined, from that dark mixture of Span
ish blood that glowed i'll her tawny face
and five moral straitjackets of differ
ent cut were determinedly devised to Fl
the case. The sweet, dreamy religion O
her mother, half superstition, but wholly
: devout, was field over which all tn,
Van Zandt missionary zeal felt bound t.
ride roughshod, and the bewilderet
child was converted to orthodoxy as re
, lentlessly as one race of her forefather
had been driven to accept the religion o
the cross and yield up their golden idol
. at the Jealous swordpoint of the other.
Five busy brains were continually a
work continuing schemes to combat tn
old Adam of Incidence which was as
sumed to have special dominion over tn
Mexican temperament, and the old say
as to the provision of Satan for idl
hands was tirelessly dinned in her ear
as reason for the wearying treadmill O
= duties in which she was always driven
And, altogether, they labored for he
good so increasingly, and to such pun
pose, that when Anita was eighteen year
old, when she graduated from schoc
! with many honors, and her educatio
was assumed to be finished, even tn
Van Zandt ladies began to regard the
= work with gratulatory complacency
Anita was a most accomplished youn
woman, and conceded to be credit t
her fathers tribe despite her despise
r foreign blood. She had grown faire
n too, her warm, creamy skin just touche
with pink, like the flush ON half opene
tea rose, glowing warmer and bright,
, when her face kindled into beauty
the fire of interest or excitement. b
it never entered the head of the matte
of-fact five, who Quarreled among then
selves as to her well being, and WI
h were proud of her in their way, to thiT
of loving the dark faced girl with h
stormy, tropical temper
And Anita, looking back to the sur
merland of her childhood where IL
slow moving folk always had time Fl
sweet courtesy and tender words, al
women seemed to live but to be love
felt her life dry and starved, trouble
colorless dream, until Donald had com
like the prince of the fairy tale, to b
her wake to love and life That h;
been two years ago, and now for yeI
. and a half they had been married, uni
this time never separated for more ths
day. But it was best now, by ia
Anita repeated to herself, with a lit
sigh; Donald, with all his sunny got
nature, would be driven mad by Au
Martha. If only she would come
once and get the visit, in part at leas
WEN over before Donald came homel
j A xiuR ak the dQoTbell brought b