The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1897-01-29
LOVE IN A minor key.

.LOYE In A MINK kEY.
The Inhabitants of Harplestowe had
ceased to discuss Hannah Flctcler's
questionable position toward her ledger,
and any interest attached to her uncon-
ventional attitude had quietly tizzled out
along with her mcager claims to beauty.
When the world had gone we'll with
Hannah, and she had possessed the ir-
ritable devotion Of an invalid mother and
the undivided love Of selfish futhcr,
she had worn modrstly the good looks
which belong to nlidtlle=clAss yoling
woman who enjoys excellent health anu
Il wholesome temperament. Now the
light i'll her abundant hair and her bright
color had died for want of vital sus>
lcnance, and her rather prominent fca>
lures had blrakeneu with the unrcsting
struggle for existence. \ stranger would
not trouble to question if her Nlsyspa.
of an unsatis6cd existence.
Hannah Fletcher had spent the best
years of her youth subduing the passions
and emotions which make beautiful
woman Irresistible, but she had not stud
led her own uglncss and mastered it as
some women do. \ plain woman's bat
tic i'll life is lcfying her own uglincss
ing like plain woman, and the world ac-
ccpted her us such, for the assurance of
a beautiful woman enters into her walk
as it does into her dressing.
Hannah's LOGGER was. it is true, an
'eldcrly party.| so the Observation-Disclosures
described him, always messing about
with them chemistry fzzicks: 'e's wonder
full clever. but it don't bring in no money.
and if it wasn't that Miss Hannah was
bit sweet on him she'd ave cleared i'm
out along with his publishing smells long
AGO. az" ..i Hannah was .'hit sweet on
and father had died her ledger had not
given a thought to the fact that, for
the girls reputation in the village, it
would be advisable for him to leave his
comfortable quarters Hannah had
grown necessary to him in his work, and
he had learned to depend on hcr,>,as a
man Of powerful intellect grows to de-
pend on practical woman with an in
teligcnt brain who is his daily and hour
y companion. Habit is stronger in men
than i'll women. Five or six years had
passed since her parents death, bringing
little or no change into Hannah's life.
She shaved, and toilcd, and pinche1 for
the ''cldcrly party" who was too self
centred to guess at the true extent Of
her poverty. He was casual Adult his
payments, and she would never remind
him. To brighten up her rooms and
bring Il little pleasure into her day he
would now and then go out and bring
her home an eXtrayagantly beautiful
bunch Of flowers. or Il pair of palms, and
present them to her with touching
enthusiasm for his own generosity and
th"ugltfulncSs. Her practical mind
would fly with a woman's quickncss of
hn tn fl,S3 so1>
was still unpaid: but only a feeling of
tenderness for his ecccntricities would
come over her, and she Rugged to her
heart the thought that she could help
him in his work by waiting for the over
due rent.
He was poor. and his income would
have barely covered the modest nccessi-
tics of his simple life if he had devoted
it to them. but "hc spends all his money
on them mcsScs and inventing things us
aren't no use to no one as Arabc!la re-
marked when he overlooked her tip ono
Christmas day; II amt got no use for
the like Of his sort Clothes he never
bought, and Hannah, with beautiful
ltgard for the feelings of the man she
and bit by bit replaced his worn and
shabby wardrobe. She was careful nev-
or to put into his room any new gar
ment she had made until the ruthless
launlrcss had robbed it of it's newness.
Then she would substitute it for ono
which was beyond even her clever nee
dlccraft to mend, and the ''cldcrly party"
would put on the ,ncw shirt or wear the
new socks, without the slightest suspi-
were missing. lie acted as intellectual
food and nourish,neht to. her starved
brain. and she became thu practical part
of his Observation-Disclosures character,
which nature had left wanting. She Of
ten argued with herself that their OK
lstcncc together in that house was a
proof that purely platonic friendship can
exist between a man and woman if they
are intellectual people. It was Il false
argument, and she knew it. for her love
for him (of which he never for Il mo-
mcnt suspectctD was eating her strength
away day by day, and undermining her
constitution. She had his undivided at
tention, and he was fond of her, but
the fact that she was woman, and
not much over 30. had never really
forced itself on her mind, and certainly
hot on ms feelings; A man, if he could
have made himself as useful and as.
companionable, could have taken her
place.
One day the peace Of Hunnah's life
was broken by the coming of n cousin.
an orphan like herself. who had WITT
yen ana asked Hannah to give her a
home while she looked for work. Han
nah wrote and welcomed her with bitter
misgivings at heart. She had to toll
night and day to make money to Day for
TODD enough for herself and her lodgrr.
Madeline came, and, like d hot Wind
passing over a sensitive plant, she with
cred up Hannah's courage. She was
young, and her beauty and her animal
health was startling She stood in Han
nahs humble parlor in the MONDAY sun
light, straight as a young palm tree and
beautiful in symmetry, a pulsing, tingina
piece of flesh and blood, colored like Il
pale pink peony HaDnah felt herself
grow Older as she looked at her. Madeline's
eyes were so blue that if you came into
the garden and she was there it was her
two gernanders fringed with black that
caught your. notice. and her childishly
perfect, teeth closed tight when she
laughed. and her passionate lips uuivcred
into smiles. Blue eyes such as Made
lines and white young teeth alone can
make q face provoking to the dullest
sensfi5ilities; when she introduced herself
(bushing for her own prettincss) to the
elderly party he cursed thc white teeth in
his heart and blamed the beauty of her
eyes for he knew not what And Door
Hannah, whose eyes had color in them
once; with growing numbness at her