Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-10-05
A HEROINE.

luS goes over 10 Doll at 1Our OCl0ch
and keep an eye to the roast meat
for the Deacon don't like it tbnrned.'
Yes, ma'am, III be sure and re-
MEMBER" SAID Kitty Cliff rd,
curlsey ing prettlly.
"And Kate" said Deacon Os
spey, "dOn't let strangers in,
whateyer you do, for there that
Eve hundred dollars in gold il the
hack bedroom chest, and all the
silver spoons
81 will be very careful, sir
said Kitty.
"Klttl! Kitty! Come here and
tie my cravat,' said Silas Osprey
who was fdgetting bCtJre the
mirror.
So Kitty stood upon a fOOtStOOl,
Olushlng and smiling, to tie Mr.
SiIas'S cravat for meeting.
81 wi h you were gong with us,
Kitty said the young man, with
his chit elevated stltfJ In the air.
Next Sunday I'll take you"
"Oh, that Will be Dlce.' SAID
Kitty, growing piuker and pinker.
as her slender fingers pulled out
the bow and adjusted the ends,
"Wlll that do, Mr.. SiIas?"
And Mrs. Osprey, who had fol-
lowed her husband out to the solid
looking old lumber wagon gave a
meaning, backward glance.
81 think Silas is getting tond OF
our Kitty" said the mother, sagely,
lis be-" said the Deacon, with a
disturbed face. "Bat, wife, how
little we know about her, except
since the day she came here with
her little bundle under her arm,
asking for service
eyes, that's very true said
Mrs. Osprey; "but she't pretty and
smart, and l know she's gOCi and
-
"Slla>! Sllas! Are you going tC
stand there all day'' called out
the father, and 80 they drove
away, with Kitty standing at th'
lonely farmhouse door, her sllken
brown curls blown about in the
dismal November wind. and hel
blue eyes sparkling beneath their
PRETTY arched brOws.
She went back into the house
singing softly under her breath, to
prepare things tor the tea.dinner
which the hungry church-go ers
would expect when they returned
a brisk, neat. Inded little Phyllis,
whose step was scarce heavier on
the pine floor than falling leaf
would have been.
She had pat the pudding on t.
boil as the kitchen clock chlmeC
four, and ran down into the celia
to get tue vegetables from theil
bins. She was gone but minute
or two, but when she returned
the door leading up stairs, wbicl
she had left closed, stood wide
open, and on the lower stair step a
footprint was distinctly imprinted
KItty's heart stood sllll will
underlined terror, as she remember
ed the bag of twenty dollar gOlC
pieces in the big back chanbe
chest.
And while she stood there, hOl
ding by the table for support, sb'
cOnId hear confused fOOtstPD
upstairs, and the murmur of deer
voices.
Then there was more than OnC
Kirty's first instinct that of deten
ding her m sster's treasures 20 the
last, even were it with her life
grave way to some practical con
siderations' She thought OF fy in
out into the road and crying aloud
tor help, but then she remembers
with a pang of despair, how lonely
was the desOlate hillside, with tn
nearest dwelling tull a mile dis
slant.
"What can / do? Oh, what can
doi' thought Kitty. cIasping bot
her hands over her throbbiug fJr'
head.
But while her thou ght ran III
whirI and her heart beat tempe'
tuously, the footsteps neared th
stairway--the unwelcoma guess
were once more coming dow
rox;oot;uolu Kiffu shronk hohin