The Opelousas courier., 1893-01-14

IaLuGu tUWEI vi Isd, Tue feSluuG Oh Ais
belongings consisted of his two daugh.
tiers, Regina and Mary Alice, not exactly
juvenile, but much better preserved than
any of his other possessions.
"Oh, Reeiy!" said Mary Alice, after
the funeral was over, the neighbors were
all gone, and their lonely estate for the
first time fairly confronted them. ''Ob,
Rely What shall we dos
Mary Alice was the older of the two
sisters, but from the days of her multi.
| plicatlon table she had leaned on Regina.
Perhaps that partly accounted for her
bent shoulders and falterlng gait, SO diff
ferent from Regina's trim, erect figure,
and brisk, reliant walk.
CHOW, sister, replied Regina, "don't
| worry about that. We've a comfortable
home, the years wood Is up, and there's
half a barrel of corned beef in the eel.
lar"
"But, Rely, that beef won't last for.
ever"
"Wsll, there's the horse"
"Eon't, Rely! 1t makes me faint to
think"
eve can get seventy-fve dollars for
him, and that will last a long time"
cob, dear, yes. thought you were
going to propose something awful-but
what can we do when the horse is gomez"
"What are we going to do when the
world ONE to an end! Don't borrow
trouble, We must economic on every
thing; we mustn't exhaust our whole
stock of money at once. Wen get along
IN some way, but Of course | don't know
how" and then the sisters had what sis
tiers usually call "a good cry"
Thenceforth Regina took the manage.
ment of their affairs into her own hands.
Mary Alice was the undisputed mistress
of the kitchen, and wrought magic with
needle and shears, but Regina was the
provider. Everybody in MiddledaIe and
for miles up and down the river knew
'the Martyr girls" and everybody knew
whe was their business manager.
Don't you suppose you could sell the
Ice house for something's" asked Mary
Alice, after Regina had disposed of old
DohbipJ at a shrewd bargain and rented
the stable to one of the ice men for two
dollars a month.
II don't want to sell it," said Regina,
quickly.
"But of what good is it to us2"
81 am going to fill it this winter"
"Fll! it, Why" but Mary Alice
could go no further; she sank back in
her chair, staring at her sister as if she
suddenly unfolded a pair ct wings in
stead of SO simple a plan.
Eyes, Of course, I'm going to fill it.
heard father say the old ice house paid
him better than his practice last year,
and cleared up all his debts. What dc
| know about the ice business Well, /
can hire men who know how to put up
ice there are enough of them on the river.
and somebody in Middledaie will advance
the capital with the ice as security. |
know | can do it, and why shouldn't II"
And after the river had fairly frozen,
which happened te be every late that sea-
son, Regina lost no time in sending an
emissary down on the ice to stake out
her field. The big operators, above and
below, saw the move with surprise; but
they all respected Regina's claim, and
Mr., Hiram Lawry, the superintendent of
the Knickerbocker Company, whose
great houses were only half a mile uE
the river, came down a little later and
gave her some good hints about buying
her tools.
Now please don't think of Regina as
a mannish sort of person, striding about
in the doctors old fur coat and rubber
boots, brandishing an ice ,ehisel and
scolding the men. She was very much a
woman, with a disposition to avoid snow
drifts and kicking horses AMI holes in
the ice and all such disagreeable things.
She actively oversaw her enterprise, and
even ventured down on the ice once or
twice, but trusted almost everything to
her foreman, who fortunately was ex-
perienced and honest.
The other ice packers made neighborly
calls and offered kindly services. Mr..
Lawry was nearest, and almost every day
he asked if he could help her or gave her
a good suggestion. When her elevator
suddenly broke and Mr.. Lawry sent one
Of his spare chains and had the break
mended in an hour, Regina thanked him
with. bushes; he had saved her a round
sum.
s'Oh, Reejy, just think OF the expense,
with all those men to pay while they
were loafnglp exclaimed Mary Alice.
Don't you think it was very good of
Ar. Lawryaa
aim not much acquainted with him,
but he's been very kind" said Regina,
becoming absorbed in her pay roll.
That was a memorable year on the
kennebec, marked By an unprece-
iented mania for speculation in
&c. It came on late in the winter,
fter Reginas harvest was con-
leted. When, in the last days of Feb.
nary, it was certain that there would
be no crop on the Hudson. OF anywhere
il the Middle States, and that the whole
country would have to depend tor its
&c on the rivers and ponds Of Maine,
The craze spread like d plague.
1t was too late to build additional
houses the Ice was piled up on the