The Opelousas courier., 1896-10-10

complain after that?
She told me her history; her Grim
soned cheeks grew brighter as she
continued an her hands moved ner.
vously as if she were i'll.
Her mother, it seems, had been q
widow of considerable wealth and
moved in the best society in Berlin.
When she, my visitor, was fifteen years
old, her mother married again. The
stepfather, having the usual old coun-
try view of woman's inequalities in
business affairs, promptly relieved bis
wife of the care Of her money and
thereafter positively refused even to
consult her as to either its use or its
disposal. He entered into several en-
terprises which failed disnally then
he began to speculate, with the usual
results. In four years the widows little
fortune had drlfted away and her hus'
band plunged into designations thai
soon brought his earthly career to an
end. Mother and daughter struggled
along as best they could, giving French
and music lessons and doing what sew
ing they could beg from their ric1
friends.
During this time Of poverty and dis
tress a manly young German had fallen
in love with the hard working
daughter anl they became betrothed.
He, too, was battling with hardships
and one day he came to his little sweet
heart and tod her that he was going
to America, thst place Of freedom
where opportunities for work end I'D
vancement are to be had for the ask
ing. He would sent FOR her soon, be
said. She and her mother were to
come to him, to o little home that he
would have ready and waiting on the
other side of the great ocean
She smile bravely when he left her,
but as she watched his broad iigur.
disappear in the soft evening twilight
despair seized her heart and strange
forebodings made her tremble with
fear and distress.
What an age it was until his first let
ter arrived! The waiting for it so
filled her thoughts that she failed to
notice that the dear, frail mother was
growing weaker and paler each day.
Before the second letter reached Bcr-
lin the mother was dead.
For six months the young girl
breasted the storm OF poverty. Then,
to her great JOY, her lover in far away
America wrote that she was to come to
him at once. She gathered up the
small belongings aud heirlooms that,
although worthless in q money sense,
were Of such priceless value to her and
With these she sailed away to her
new home.
When the great boat landed her in
the noisy city of New York she found
her way to an address that her Ger
man sweetheart had sent her, expect.
ing to find there a friend of his who
would put her on a train that would
take her to the small town in Pennsyl-
vania where he hal secured work.
There he would meet here the station
and, after saying over the holy words
that were to make them husband and
wife, take her to the little home he
had prepared. The plan was q good
one but something vas wrong some
where. At the address in New York
there lived no person by the name
which he had written in her letter and
the poor girl was in despair. She
found lodgings, and the next day
journeyed on to the little Pennsylvania
town, where she was unable to discov-
er the whereabouts of her betrothed.
With but a few dollarslef she returned
to New York and by some miracle i'm
mediately secured employment as a
governess. In another week she WAS
on her way to Mexico, having in her
charge two small children of a wealthy
Gothamite.
Then came two years of hard work,
during which she went from n stu
alton to another and finally became
our neighbor in "The Runs"
81 have but two pupils now" she
explained. zone I am teaching
French, the other German. But two
pupils-they bring me hardly enough
to pay my rent and to buy fuel and
provisions. [ cannot hold out much
~longer-and I thought perhaps you
could tell me where l could get work.
I have tried everything-everything!"
I promised to help her e while
doubling %myability to secure employ
ment for her, for I knew that hope
never fails to warm the heart and that
encouragement is pleasant even to the
doomed. She said goodby and went
up the dark, creaking stairs. AS she
took my fingers I noticed that her
hand was hot and fevered and that her
eyes looked strange and restless.
After hearing that poor girls story
I almost fancied myself a millionaire,
SO much better and happier was my
lot than hers. The old furniture ap-
peared less awkward and scratched,
the faded curtains seemed to brighten,
even the old cook stove did not look
50 bad after all, and when Tom came
home I fusssasO s-sf him in e way that
made him say SYero.
when you act hTs ); it's sure to
orerun a guarrel.n ssSsnd then we
laughed. The idea -Tom in a
quarrel was really too unny.
AS we sat down to he little supper
I had prepared I told Tom about my
visitor, and We Immediately began to
lay plans as to how we could best offer
her assistance. AS Tom remarked:
eve never hear Of any one who wants
lessons in painting; they're always on
a mad tear after languages" And so
W. bethought ourselves Of several per-
sons TO whom we would recommend
and advertise The talents of our down.