Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-04-11
CHAPTER II. MY SISTER ANn L

One thing that used to cause me a great amount of worry was my name My mother had selected the name for me and it was very pretty, and if peo- pie had only used it complete should have been satisfied. But no one did that except Aunt Mary, and instead of being called Agnes I was simply Az Somehow the short, grabbed abbrevia- tion always impressed me with the thought of the little space occupied in the affections of others; and it was also suggestive of the fact that in whatever people had to do with me they wished to be as brief as possible. My sister whose name was Mary, was often called Maggie, but no one ever thought of calling her Mag, and yet that wouldn't have been near so unpleasant as Az, because it is not so scrimped and plnchcd, and so void of sentiment.
 Perhaps it was the contrast between my sisters name and my own that u4ade mine so dist4steful. I rememb Der that used to think Maggie very pretty, and l always associated it with a beau tiful, accomplished young lady loved and pettcd by everybody, while Az al- ways seemed adapted to great, coarse. awkward gawS, ignorant and unloved The idea was a mere fancy, of course, but it was born out of my surround ings, and it took strong hold on my mind and could not rid myself of it.
 was cnvious of my sister. It was no doubt ungenerous of me to feel so, but l could not help it. She was loved and made over' by everyone, and I felt that it was unfair that such a dis tinpfipn Sbo11l1 hn pna1a hat ttr,C sisters when there was no reason why it should be. l envied her the kind words, caresses and other attentions she received continually, and sometimes l felt bitter toward her because of it. While knew she was not to be blamed for being loved, yet thought it cruel of her to complacently accept atten. between us. It seemed to me that if were in her place I should refuse to be petted and flattered while she was neglected.
 From the first my stepmother made all the distinction possible between her daughter and myself; and my father, I am sorry to say, was quick to follow her example. Any little action on 4hdty part WHICH was cunning or AI- fectionate commanded great attention and was talked about and commended as though it was the most wonderful thing imaginable, while the same ac- tion on my part would have met with heartless rebuff and I would have either been roundly upbraided or re- | ferred to as "smarty," a term, by the way, which was invariably applied to me whenever l ventured to say or do anything cunning.
 In the matter of personal appearance I don't think there was marked diff ference between my sister and myself think we were both fairly good look ing, and if any difference existed I think it was in my favor. Yet father and stepmother, and, in fact, everyone else, pretended that there was the greatest difference and that 1t was all to my disadvantage. Even traits of character that we possessed in common were given a different def milton, being considered laudable in her and pernicious in me. So with per sonal appearances. What in her were considered as charms were in me looked upon as defects.
 Mary and were both quite positive in our views. In her case that trait was commended, because, as they said. it showed frmness of character; while with me it was condemnnd haaaJase #