The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1893-08-19
A GIRLS RANSOM.

A GIRLS RANSOM.
The Terrible Price Jane Prescott
Paid for 1t.
No renowned star about to dash In
splendor upon the boards of theater
in large metropolis could have been
waited for with more breathless impa-
thence than was Edith Wayne by the
Congregation assembled in the old vii
lage church that bright September
morning. Her black cloth sack fitted
her trim little form to nicely, and the
jaunty hat, curved up behind, with the
tall ribbon loops and feather sprays,
with bits of jet dancing on their tips,
brown hair and a fresh face Of only
twenty summers and winters
1t is true she had made the sack herself
and The hat also, with little help from
her sister, when it was decided thatshe
was to have a church position, and
what does not always follow as neees-
sary Consequences generous salary.
But her dress, as n whole, had such an
indescribable air Of style and finish that
only the keen eye of fashionable
woman would have detected that she
was not straight from the hands of ex-
perts. The young girl had no pre-
vision Of what WIS awaiting her, that
she was walking upon a thin crust,
which might one day crack and make
fssure wide enough for her to slip in
out of sight. Pagetown had received
a shock, and few things short of an
earthquake could have so shaken up the
little community as the sudden deter
mination OF Squire Page, for whose
ancestor the town had been named, to
make a change in the choir of the Con-
gregational church.
Matilda Prescott had been the head
soprano in the church for the past tif-
teen years, with salary of seventy-five
dollars year, which Squire Page paid
out of his own pocket, as he did all the
expenses connected with the singing
Something In the nature of an electric
shock passed through her, therefore,
when he called one morning in the sum-
merA and, asking to speak with her
alonsr tried u explain in tts1few words
as possible is reasons foiAwishing to
make change in the clSil$arrange-
-aaepts. 1t was awkward business and
Ade an fwlSward job of it,
fact, is, Matilda, the world
you Enow, and we've all got to
Aiong with 1t. This young lady
" big voice, cun tell YOU"
"Who is she9" asked Matilda, family.
"She is a Miss Wayne-ber folks live
somewhere out westI she's studying al
the conservatory, Her teacher says
her voice Is phenomenal, and believe
he's right 1t goes along up the scale,
you know, without any perceptible
break, from low A to Z in alt, two
octavos and half, don't you seer
"6hes a delicate, sensitive little
body, as shy as a partridgo, but all full
of music Don't give herself any airs
bat when she stands up to sing she,
all confidence, and isn't afraid of any
body"
"Why don't they give her position
in the city, If she can do so much?"
"Wel, they win by and by, but shei
young yet and hasn't had experience il
church music. I've made up my mint
to engage her for a year, and I suppos,
at the end of that time they'll want he
where they can pay more than we can.
He did not say that he had promised h
give her four hundred dollars, Tha
was q secret between the young singe
and himself
AS the tears began to FIJI the eyes o
Miss Prescott the squire added: "Well
NT,4f1T1 4
make room for the young my, whethe
we want to or not OF course l 9on'
mean that you are old, but you huve
good home and enough to live on be
sides, and this girl is poor and ! wan
to give her start. She and her siste
are boarding In town, asd she tells m
their father has ell he eau do TO pa
their expenses while they are gettin
their musical education
Having delivered his message tn
squire left the house us soon as b
could. His departure was not delayed
as poor Matilda was so taken abac
by the news she had heard that sh
had no words at hand with which I
make any fitting reply. She lost q
time, however In going INTO the htcl
en-, where her sister was at the was
tub giving vigorous rubs to the week
washing
Jane Prescott was twenty years Il
senior Of the two, and they had lor
kept house together, in snug, thrift
way. Jane was the manager aud th
master spirit, and at siNty-three year
Of age retained the vigor of body an
mind she had possessed at thirty.
She had assumed the entire charg
Of her sister after the death of thei
parents, just thirty-one years ago th
summer and Matilda seemed to he
now almost as much a child as whe
she used to harness up the old whit
mare, and take her 10 the little re
brick schoolhouse, two miles from the
home.
''Sister" said Matilda, in a voiC
broken by convulsiye sohs 'I' m turne
out of the singing seats"
WHAT" snapped out Jane, in a tor
that went stinging through the roo
like a rifle shot
Yes that's what Squire Page can
for just now. He says tbe folks wal
young voices In churches, and he's g,
girl about twenty, who's coming in
month OF So"
Two fierce, red spots appeared c
dame Preseotts thin cheeks on hearir
this concise statement, and her pal
gray eyes looked ont with o menacit
glare, as she took of her glasses an
stood staring at her sister
Don't look like that, Jane for goo
ness sake; II ism worth H. OF cour
feel badly and shall for some tim
but ] suppose it's all riPat, after a
You know am getting old oompar
lively speaking
Getting old, Matilda PrescoI
You've young woman yet
'Ao, forty three can't be called youn
MY voice isn't as strong as it was befo
thefeYer 1 fairly tremhie when we ha
tune with highG in IT. can't no
it steadily You know my voice nev
was cultivatedi and they say that mai,
all the difference in The ability TO ma
age itn
swell, you can stand there and "a
yourself down n you want 10, but ] 81
it's wicked shame-the whole thin
That girl won't stay long the cho
let ma tell YOU NJ she comes-l'll hx Il
"WhY, Iane, what doyoa mean?"
"Just let me alone now, aud dor
you lay word % anyboay. I've 3
10 thiuk Il GU over. ] shall have son
thing 90 say aboueth this lhing.n
During tho afternoon Jane PrescC
SAT- alone ID the SNAIL prim parlor, {