The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1893-10-28
A WHITE ONE.

laundry girls were used to these inconven-
iences and thought nothing OF them.
They chattesi continuously over their
work. not because they were happy or be-
cause they hal anything particular to say.
but because they had no conception Of the
dignity OF silence. The conversation was
perhaps not OF the most edifying deScrip-
ton. aud the language employed was
forcible. garnishesl by slang. and not free
from supertiuous expletives. for these girls
werr not OF the highest type.
There WAS curious taw,lrineSs, or rather
gaudiuess. about their. for the most part.
ragged dresses. they had big. heavy fringeS.
which the steam hal taken out Of curl, &C
that in nearly every instance they stray
gleSi into the hold eyes beneath them; their
fAce>, too. were in striking cont r's>t to their
hands In the matter Of cleanliness, for il
wx> not compulsory to put them in the
water to esru livelihood. but they were
better in this respect than they would be
near~r the end Of the week. for today WAS
oniy Tuesday.
The only exception to the universal un-
tidnr,Ss WAS manifested in the person OF
one whom the girls called Liza tthe Ii be
ing pronounceti ~ IL it was the diphthoug
all This Liza. the preliminary "e" o.
whore name WAS invariably dropped by her
acquaintanceS, WAS n bunch back. and her
face. though it possessed the merit Of clean
iine-s.. WAS almost repulsively ugly.
The complexion wtS ~,llow. the mouth
hstlly shaped the eyebrows oi,truSively
dark and heavy: very Ssd were the eyes
beurath them. hal there been ANY one to
note their wi>tful look. but Liza did not
encourage scrutiny. and indeed the brown
eyes were not remarkable in themselves,
and were moreover half hidden by the
dropping lids from which she glanced in "A
sideways, half sinister manner. Liza was
not very popular among her companions
partly because she cho~e TO be exclusive
and partly becau>e she could on occasion
>ay unplea,>antly sharp things. But there
WAS one person whom she loved. and thar
WAS Miss Calender.
BY and by the ringing Of a bell created a
| diversion among the workers. Almost
simultaneously eight pairs Of rel. soapy
arms were drawn out OF the washtu In,
eight pairs OF rel. crinkled hands were
wipe,i on some portion OF convenient sp-
| ptrel. and eight pairs OF i'll shoi feet
trampiet into An adjoining room
AT a table in this room stool 4 Young
lady. very sweet in appearance and pref
| rily dressed. She nodded in friend y way
| to the girls, and shook hands with each
one they passed. She had their interest
| at heart. and made il her duty to come two
| or three times week and provide them
| with dinner. This dinner consisted usually,
| ~ on this occasion. OF plate Of soup and
large alice OF pudding, tor which they
paid a penny. second helping OF either
could ne hail for a fart hing. 80 the payment
| ws> merely nominal: but the girls were
| exempt from the feeling that they were
| the recipients Of charity.
| The copper~ were ''labbc,l" down on the
| table in little pile. and Miss Calender
ladled out the ~oup. which was quickly
and noisily consumed. The young lauly
watched the other women. smiling. Per,
fecrly dainty herself. their roughnesS did
| not seem To repei her.
Girls" she s,id presently. in her quiet.
clear voice. Il Am going to give party in
| the Mission hall Will you Gomez
There WAS chorus OF delighted assent,
accompanied by n general Gathering OF
spoons on the almost empty plates.
"lor'. Miss; what wort Of a party might
4 be, now,''
oh. friendly" said Miss Calender.
| Music and plenty to eat. and-you may
| bring your sweet hearts"
This caused prolonged giggling
| Might we bring more than one'" in
| quire'i Polly BlsineS, who enjoyed the dis
tinctiou Of i@ing the prettiest Of the girls.
| Miss Calender shook her head dis,,p
provingiy.
'iou oughtn't TO have more than one, -
abe said. smiling.
| oh. ~ for that. miss. don't want any.
I'm sure: but there. the more you draw.
| of. the more they comes on. That's how
| II Ia with men. and that's why them H.
don't want EN- always has the most al
mIr-r~"
| And Polly. conscious Of n fascinating re
| trou~-e ncr~e AMI adimped chin. to-e.ed her
heal IN the air
Whereupon all the girls, not to he out
| done. and ny no means reticcnt on the an b
i-ct ~ their love affairs. fell to talking
sbOut them. finhinX the topic eminentIy
coug-niai. and treating II in manner
which displayed no more vulgarity Of
heart than il concealed by certain ladies.
Miss Calender rather encouraged than
checked them, she liked them to be per
fectiy natural before her. and was glad of
anything which gave her an insight into
| their lives and character.
Two there were who kept silence-oue n
little newly marrie,! woman to whom love
was too -rcr.l for common speech and
| Liza.
The pudding she had begun to attack
seemed to stick In 'l.iza's throat, and 4he
BAL great difficulty in gulping it down.
| for the other hunger Of which she ws,-
often conscious, the hunger Of the heart.
| now ~ asserted itself ~ to make her oh
| iivious Of bodily needs. Something there
VIA. too. Of bitterness in her mind IA she
| listened to the talk Of these Others Per
| nap- Poiiy's words did more to cause II
| than anything pl-e. Them n. don't want
EN- always hN- the most admirers" Look
| ing mp she suddenly met the eyes u thi.
girl. To her morbid Imagination they ex
pressed pity. perhaps scorn. She Grim
| sonesi.
There was a momentary Iull, 10 that
| they all heard her when she said q a Dc.
culiarly loud. harsh, defiant voice:
Mine isn't living mine isn't
"Yours' Did you have sweetheart
oncey asked the married woman, not un
gently. though there was the slightest per
| ceptible accent on the pronnin.
And why nor asked I.rza. and her
voice WAS louder than before. 1T Isn't
| only pretty girls a. his people caring Tor
EN-. Theses other things beside. looks"
OF course there are, dear" said Mia
Calender soothinHly, for Liza- eyes
flashed onIinor-ly. "GoodDe,o. /. worth
much more to u good man
WHAT was hi- name. I.iza," asked
Polly BalneS
Polly was concerted. aud Liza hyper
sensitive, scented patronage.
| II amt going to tell yer" she -aid
Then. with swift contradiction. "hi4 fir,
name was Charlie"
| Was be hanfl-Omei" asked Polly. pinch
ing her neighbor under the table. 20 tha,