The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1894-02-09
MISS VICTORINE.
By HAIRY KYLE DALLAS.
lCopyright, 1879, by American Press Associa-
toni
CHAPTER


p~eclally in mathematics. | knew, az
we phrased 1t anon ourselves, French.
German and Spanish could paint flow
ers and do embroidery and drawn work.
should he sorry if the Misses Trim,
mel could see my mistakes in simple
multiplication nowadays. and as for my
attempts to make myself understood
abroad the least said the better. Still,
l decorate my door panels and make
as pretty cushions and bureau covers as
any woman in the land. However, this
is DEPRESSION.
This school going had been a proba-
zion Insisted upon by my maternal
grandfather when he made me his heir
0s From ID to IS years OF age | was
to attend this school kept by the three
splnster daughters of General Jehoso-
phat Trimmer, a veteran of the Mex
a war. who had also figured in TIE
late unpleasantness. His heiress
must be imbued with the proper
views, he declared. What he meant
we quite understood. The proper views
We're what yictorine called northern
views
Victorine had been a young lady when
the war broke out, while | was not yet
born. for though we had n father we
had different mothers. Mine had Of
Tended her relatives by iilting a worthy
young Harvard professor and choosing
my father, even then not very young.
but still supremacy handsome. She died
at my birth, and at my first remen
brance my father, Victurine and | lived
on the old plantation, tyrannized over,
cared for and loved by the last relic Of
the scattered band of servants, portly,
ebony skinned Aunt Emily. an amiable
tyrant, who toiled for us and adored
us and managed what little there was
to manage.
One day when | was IA came the
news OF my maternal grandtather's
death. HIS fortune was to be mine on
conditions. | was to be put to school
in New York city and to remain there
for five years. To be weaned from
home and me said my father. My
wife s father always hated me-"
To forget our lost cause, said Vic
torine, Ito become at heart a northern
er.
| will not CO." | said. Il will not
earn my fortune by exile from those |
love, Five years-why, he might as
well have said forever" sat down
to write an indignant refusal. to re-
nounce the fortune offered on such
terms, but the letter was never sent.
That night my father died suddenly of
heart disease.
When our first wild passion Of grief
was over. V~ictorine and | found that
we mad very little left. A mortgage
Oh the property would soon be fore
closed We must either find means to
earn our own bread or be dependent on
charity When l realized this, | went
to my own room, destroyed the letter
/ had written and in another accepted
the terms of my grandfather's will.
The sum apportioned for my private
expenses at school would, if properly hus-
banded. also keep Victorine from want.
Icould save the old home. | could restore
it to its former elegance-in fact. |
could do what | chose. 1t was plainly
my duty to secure the fortune. but /
dispatched the letter before telling Vic
torine anything about it and endured
her ~reproaches, her in-ectives. her &C
cusatlons.
You have sold your birrhright for a
mess of pottage, Persis. she said, and
lwill have non of your i'll gotten gain.
1 prefer singing in the streets for my
bread. Victo1ine was musical.
However, | sent my remittances to
Aunt Emily, who bought provisions and
fuel and even gowns for"her Miss Vic
torine, without consulting her in re-
gard to the matter.
The Misses Trimmer received me
~affectionately. Lwas conducted at once
to their distinguished father. General
Trimmer, of Whom they were no doubt
justly proud, though in these days very
little was left of him but a few tufts of
white lair and a high temper, and l
found that he was to provide me with
the proper political sentiments, and for
five years | had been very busy earning
my fortune. Now | was 10; | was my
oNh % no L hdFO oditt, L
going nome to VictorIne to make her
happy
The adieus had been uttered; my fell
low scholars and | had wept in each
others arms The Misses Trimmer had
each given me a token of their esteem
in the shape of a good book. the gen.
eral had presented me with a badge of
the Grand Army of the Republic, which
1 earnestly hoped that Victorine would
never discover amid my possessions,
and / had been placed in the care OF a
captain of the Old Dominion line,
as though | had been a small piece of
eggshell china and was in danger OF
breaking. Even the trip was over. |
had arrived at Norfolk, l had taken
the ears to. a small station and was now
being conveyed along the road in the
old yellow stage, which l knew of yore.
Everything seemed unchanged. There
was the same dangerous washout, where
so many vehicles had been upset;
there was the broken bridge which had
been temporarily propped up by logs
g long as | could remember. There
were the old residences, with their beau
r. ----1