The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-05-06
LOVE IN A MINOR KEY

hC ihhtbottAhto VI DltSlONc
ceased to discuss Hannah Fletcher
questionable position toward hei
lodger, and any interest attached L
her unconventional attitude had qui
city tizzled out along with her meagr,
Claims to beauty. When the worlt
had gone well with Hannah, and sh,
had possessed the irritable devotion OF
an invalid mother and the undivided
love of selfish father, she had worI
modestly the good looks which belong
to middle class young woman who
enjoys excellent health and a whole
some temperament. Now the light In
her abundant hair and her bright color
had died for want of vital sustenance
and her rather prominent features had
bleakened with the unresting struggle
for existence. A stranger would not
trouble to question If her unsympa.
thetic manner was the result or the
cause of an unsatisfied existence.
Hannah Fletcher had spent the best
years Of her youth subduing the pas.
sions and emotions which make a
beautiful woman irresistible. but she
had not studied her own ugliness and
mastered it. as some women do. A
plain woman's battle in life Is defy
ing her own ugliness.
Hannah's lodger was, it is true, an
elderly party" so the maid-of-all.
work described him. always messing
about with them chemistry fzzicks;
'es wonderful clever, but It don't
bring in no money, and If 1t wasn't
that Miss Hannah. was n bit sweet on
him sh'd ave cleared i'm out along
weNh his publishing smell long ago."
dannah was a ''bit sweet on the "el-
4erly party" When her mother and
Aether had died. her lodger had not
given thought to the fact that, for
the girls reputation in the village, it
Mpuld 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
her as a man Of powerful intellect
grows to depend on practical wo-
man with an intelligent brain, who is
his daily and hourly companion. Habit
is stronger in men than In women.
Five or six years had passed since her
Rarents' death, bringing little or no
change into Hannah's life. She
Alaved and tOiled and pinched for the
'eaderly party" who was too self-cen-
tired to guess at the true extent Of her
poverty. He was casual about his
nd hn 4
him. To brighten up her room and
bring little pleasure into her day, he
would now and then go out and bring
her home an eXtravagantly beautiful
bunch of flowers. or a pair of palms.
and present them to her with a touch
ing enthusiasm for his own generosity
and thOughtfulness. Her practical
mind would fly with a woman's quick
ness of thought to the four months
rent which was still unpaid; but only
feeling Of tenderness for his eccen-
trlcities would come over her. and she
rugged to her heart the thought that
she could help him in his work by
waiting for the overdue rent.
He was poor, and his income would
have barely covered the modest ne
cessities of his simple life If he had
C. 'oted 1t to them, but "he spends all
his money on them messes and invent
ing things as aren't no use to no one,"
as Arabella remarked when he over
looked her tip one Christmas day: II
amt got no use for the like of his
sort" Clothes he never bought. and
Hannah, with a beautiful regard for
the feeling of the man she loved,
stitched and mended and patched, and
Dit by bit replaced his worn and shah
by wardrobe. She was careful never
to put into his room any new garment
she had made until the ruthless laun-
dress had robbed it of its newness.
Then she would substitute it for one
which was beyond even her clever
needlecraft to mend, and the "elderly
party" would put on new shirt or
wear the new socks without the slight
est suspicion that the familiar patches
and darns We're missing He acted as
food and nourishment to
her starved brain, and she became the
practical part of his unevenly balanced
which nature had left want
ing.
One day the peace Of Hannah's life
was broken by the coming Of a cousin,
an orphan like herself, who had writ
ten and asked Hannah to give her a
home while she looked for work. Han
nah wrote and welcomed her with bit
ter misgivings at heart. She had to
toll night and day to make money to
pay for food enough for herself and
her lodger
Madeline came, and like a hot wind
passing over sensitive plant she with
cred up IIannah's courage. She was
young, and the beauty of her animal
health was startling She stood in
Hannah's humble parlor in the noon
day sunlight, straight as young
palm tree, and beautiful in symmetry.
a pulsing, tingling piece Of flesh and
blood, colored like pale pink peony.
Weeks passed into months, and Mad
cline had planted herself firmly In the
$500 -.