Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-04-14

~ to 9p91 ,%e'Si' %r., IT, nnsr-
con and Harry, the only son, the yoke
did not weigh heavily, but it sOrely
CALLED Mr.. Emerson; and Margery, the
only daughter, chafed against it with all
the Intellectual impatience Of her seven
teen years.
"Llfe would be so much easier il we
could only give up pretendingW she
cried; but her mother and Hsrry scoded
ct her philosophy. The striving and
pretending, the staving of one debt and
getting into another went on apace.
Lying alone in the hammock in the
fragrant twilight of late May day,
Margery was thinking over things in
general with a noble discomfort, when
suddenly from The room beyond she
heard the voices of her mother and
father. Mrs. Emerson's tones were con-
ciliatory, as they were to be when she
sought some new favor; her husbands
accents were shrill and impatient, as if
his last thread of endurance were
strained.
81 thought, Henry, you'd like the idea
of Margery taking this trip with the
Pages
"Like it3 Yes, immensely, but I
we shall all be called upon to take a trip
to the poOrhouse instead. I came to
tat conclusion this morning when three
of Master HaIry's bills were forwarded
me, each Of them four times larger than
it ought to be-"
"Well, but Henry, you can't expect a
young man to get trough Harvard with.
out bills"
The conciliatory tones was dashed
with defiance now, and The sharpness of
the answering voice was increased.
81 don't expect it, Considering the
sort of young man Harry is, should be
fool if did. And yet don't blame
him half so much as l blame myself. l
started him wronS. He'd be twice the
man he is now if he had been making
his living for the last two years, instead
of wing with mlllionaires' sons, acting
as though my poor little bucket OF re-
sources were an inexhaustible spring.
And though it is different with Margery,
the principle is the same. WIKI all that
her private schools lave done for her,
doubt if she could earn a dollar for her
self, and who knows hoY soon she NAV
need it,"
Ali this was so wildly unlike bcr much
enduring, indulgent father that for a
moment the unwilling listener on the
piazza felt inclined to doubt both his
identity and her own; but her disposi-
tion was so like his that she felt an i'm.
patient pity for the feebleuess of her
mothers reply.
"But Henry Harry will be sure to
repay you some day, and girl as bright
and pretty as MaryeTy cannot fail to
.marry WELL"
Snow, May, be answered, with added
vehemence, "that is just where the rot
tenDCsss of our system comes in. Harry
will never repay me, for he has not been
brought up to any sense Of moral obliga-
tion. Ii he would put his shoulder to
the wheel, I could manage to get through
somehow. But have no hopes OF him.
"Why, to-day my friend Sinclair pro.
posed giving Harry place as clerk for
the summer, in his summer hotel in
Maine. But none OF that sort of thino
for my son and heirl He is going with
party to the Adirondacks. "Margery
bless the childl-would take a cham.
bermaid's place, believe, il she thought
that by dong so che could save me one
pang. But I doubt if she could do even
that. All her chances, it seems. are
staked on wealthy marriage-a pretty
poor ambition, it strikes me, for davs
like these"
Then it was that Margery, like some
modern Joan Of Arc, heard a voice
which whispered Of a conflict beyond
with the hope of victory. Then it was
that, leaning over the piazza rail, she
said excitedly to hersalf:
al will I'll give Harry chance FIRST.
for he could save papa more than half
this worry. II he refuses to help me
I'll give him lesson he will not forget
very soon."
The next evening Harry came home to
spend Sunday. Margery attacked him
with all her might and main. Keeping
her own project completely in the back.
ground, she appealed to his sense Of jus.
tice, his sympathy, his msnliness, and
every other virtue it might be possible
for him to possess; but there was not a
shadow of care upon Harry's handsome
face as he said.
"Now, Margery, you were always an
agitator, but think it's little unfair to
work on my feelings SO near the end OF
the year. You'd be eaten up with re.
morse If you got me so unstrung that I