The Kansas blackman., 1894-06-01
INTERCEPTED LETTER.


well" said Aurora, ''what shall
Rdo now"
me dreary eQuinOctial rain was
Il .,sr. the ODlique Autumn sun glinted
y matted drifts Of wet leaves and
..al, ot water in the road; solitary
arhrysanthemum lifted its tufts Of
maers under the window. They
s,d 0pened the windows wide to let
\ the air and light after Grandaunt
ulriam's funeral There were the
sheeimarks and deep ground-rut;
IF ii the road where the hearse had
lesn driven up to the gate, but the
,slIOW hickory leaves, futtering down
Ike golden rain at every gust Of
md. were fast Obliterating them.
Grandaunt Miriam was dead and
lad to rest in the sunny corner of the
VILLAGE churchyard, and Adeline and
ArrOra were left alone in the world.
4Pm sure" said the Widow Ais
al. who lived ia the next house, II
AMT know what's 10 become o. them
,aIs They amt been brought up to
II nothin'. And they're dreadful
rainary lookin' gals. They wasn't
retty Wnen they was young, and the
mungest Oh 'em is turned forty now. "
y And that was precisely the prob
Rn which was ia Aurora Fields
mind when she sat before the tire,
NTH her elbows on her knees and her
hin In her hands, and looked dream
ii across the hearthstone at her sis
ii, Adeline.
aWhat can we do?" said sAdeline,
vhO was the meeker and less enter
rising of The two.
We've got to live," declared AL
nr2
iOh, of course we've got to live. r
aAnd we've got nothing to live
gpOn but this Old house and thirty
acres OF rocky uphill ground" said
Aurora ''Grandaunt Miriam's pen
dOn cd with her, and she never
saved penny out Of it-though, in
heed, how could she, poor old thing?
And ldon't see that there's anything
lett for us but to keep boarders"
But who will board with us?"
! laid Adeline, in her feeble, inefficient
saB
Aurora shrugged her shoulders i'm
latiently
aYou never had any faculty,
Addie" said she, land / s'pose it's
200 late for you to begin to reform
BOW. But i should think you might
have had the common sense to put
lFo and two together Amt there
hat big red brick factory a-buildil'
b HLemming's Falls, and won't it be
M0 girls in two months time?
Aa won't they be glad to have a
Indy place To board? I've been
81 aanting up-there are four, five, six
n0lns we could spare, as we'll as not.
And I'm pretty decent cook if i
nud get the materials to cook with,
ld | spose you could, at least look
utter the rest Of the house?n
"les, i could do that, / think"
ad meek Adeline, who always had a
RnseiOf inferiority in her sisters
resenee. "At least I would try!"
Then" said Aurora, "let's 60
Hsht to work and get the house thor
laghly cleaned the very first thingn
'Now?" gasped Adeline.
& 4Of course, now! Do you suppose
meant next year," retOrted her sis
Y, irately. 'The house is full Of
y truck and furniture, and we'll
I'VE to nave half a dozen bonfires
least before thlngs'll be decently
eared out. And we've got to do it
aFselVes, Adeline. We can't afford
hireanyone to help US And so the
eoner we begin the better"
Yes, / suppose So" asSented Ade-
ae
so the next morning the Field
lls set themselves diligently to
sRk, Aurora had a certain hard
ated energy of purpose that rather
l0yed toll and bustle, but poor Ade-
aes heart failed within her at the
uspect The tears came into her
ess as she took Grandaunt MlriaM'e
n faded clothes and books and papers
u ef the musty smell ng drawers.
Where am TO put these, I" she
aed.
Burn 'em" was her sisters curt
sE
Adeline looked aghast Grandaunt
aRaam had been a stern old tyrant
nT O N a Ra ~
slstress who exacted everything
pm her, and gave her in return
Qlhing but the merest subsistence
iandaunt Miriam had ruthlesSly
nshed in the bud that one only lit
love affair which she had ever
Town. Not, she thought. that she
IA any right to call it a love affair
all. Doctor Hunt-he was only a
ING medical student then-had
Ralked home from the historical lee
&es with her, one bleak March
ening, and Grandaunt Miriam had
Rer asked him 10 come ia and
fm himself.
II you're goin' to keep company
any one, Adeline," the old Wo-
had sourly uttered, ''Iet it be
one one that can support you
w 1 hain't no ia th in these
TioctOrs"
was the eud OF it. Doctor
lever came again, and POOR
q remained an ungathered
On the family stem. She had
Francis Hunt; she had even
lid enough to fancy that he
per. But Grandaunt Miriam
cided the matter for her as
elded everything else.
~ spite Of this, poor AdeIine
ahen sne put the old wOman's
afed books and crumpled pa
"A the fire, with the yellow
mat Granduncle FOsset has
u per before they were mar
I'LL ~ 80 The lack Of faded fIaxen
v sne bad cut OF from u e