The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-11-30
The New Home.
a Story by Amy Randolph. In Two
Parts.)
PAPTT

L
PART ].
'It is your own fault, Clara" said Wal
| ter May.
"Of course II is" cried out Clara, pas
sionately, stamping her foot on the car
pet. do you suppose / don't know II
perfectly well? And that is what makes
II so hard-O, so cruelty hard to bear"
The fact was that Mr.. and Mrs. Walter
May had begun life at the wrong end.
Clara Calthorp, was pretty young girl
just out Of the hot-bed atmosphere of a
fashionable boarding school. Walter May
was a bank clerk who had not the least
doubt but that he should ultimately make
his fortune out of stocks and bonds.
Clara" he said to his young wife willis
the golden circle OF the honeymoon was
not overshadow;ng their lives, would you
like a country Ife?"
go, dear, no." said Clara. invoiuntarily
recoiling.
Because said Walter, somewhat wist-
fully, my father and mother are alone
on the farm and 1 think they would like
10 have US come and i've with them"
II shouldn't ike it at ALL said Clara,
"and mamma says no young bride should
ever settle down among her husbands rela-
TONS"
Mr.. May frowned little, but Clara had
a pretty positive way of her own, and he
demonstrated no further.
But at the years end Walter May had
lost his situation, the clouds of debt had
gathered darkly around them, and all the
pretty, new furniture, Eastlake cabinets,
china dragons, proof engravings, and hot
house plants were sold under the red nag.
They had made complete failure of the
Housekeeping business, and now, in the
fourth story Of a third-rate hotel, Mr.. and
Mrs. Walter May We're looking their future
in the face.
Clara had been extravagant. There was
no doubt about that. She had given ''re-
cherche" little parties, which she couldn't
afford, to people who didn't care for her.
She had patterned her tiny establishment
after models which were far beyond her
reach, and now they were ruined.
She had sent a tear-besprinkled letter to
her mother, who was in Washington try
ing TO ensnare rich husband for her
younger daughter, but Mrs. Calthorpe had
hastily written back that 1t was quite i'm
possible for her to be in New York at that
time of year, and still more impossible
to receive Mrs. Walter May at the mon
ster hotel where she was boarding. And
that her mother was selfish, was quite
certain of it now.
There is but one thing left for you,
Clara" said Walter, sadly.
"And that"
rs to go back to the old farm. I have
no longer a home to offer you, but you
will be sure of a warm welcome from my
father and mother. 1 shall remain here
and do my best to obtain some new stu
alton which will enable me to earn our
daily bread
Clara burst into tears.
Go 20 my husbands relations?" she
sobbed. 90 Walter, can mott"
You will have to-" he said doggedly,
cor else starvei'
So Mrs. May packed up her trunk and
obeyed. And all the way to Hazelcopes
Farm she cried behind her veil and pictur-
ed to herself a stony-faced old man with
a virago of a wife. who would set her
to doing mental tasks and overwhelm her
with reproaches for having ruined poor,
dear Walter" As for the farmhouse It
self, she was quite sure II was a desolate
place, with corn and potatoes growing I'M
der the very windows, and the road In
front filed with plows and pigs and har-
rows and broken cart wheels. But in the
midst of her tears and desolation the
driver called out:
'.Hazelcopes Farm! Mr.. Noah Mays!
Here's tn 'ouse, ma'am."
A long, low gray mansion, all garlanded
with ivy, its windows bright with gera-
mum blossoms, and the scarlet autumn
leaves running down on the velvet smooth
lawn in front. Clara could just see how
erroneous had been all her preconceived
IDEAS, when she found herself clasped IN
the arms of the sweetest and most motherly
Of old ladies.
MY poor dear." said old Mrs. May, ca
You are as welcome as the sunshine,
laughter said a smiling old gentleman
n spectacles.
And Clara was established in the easy
chair in front of a great fire of pine logs
and tea was brought in, and the two
Did people cossetted and petted her as
( she had been a 3-year-old recovering |
rom the measles.