The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-03-26

had hosts of friends. and the best of
these she delighted to have at her board
Her pleasure was greatest as the hostess
Of cherry little dinner party in her
coy Stat" Always bright, ever cheer
fill. invariably full of vivacitE. people
delighted to come to her. Sha was al
ways ready to give of herself, and she
ALWAYS gave more than she got But If
the little fiat" hel | merry parties Of
friends. the big cherry l0g-iire of her
Sitting-room was also constantly the
scene Of confidential fttla talks vain
girls and women who were fighting the
battle for bread and fbr recognition.
She never condoled with those t. whom
the skies looked gray ~ whD had come
to Il blank wall. There was sympathy
in the heart. but in what she sail thci
was always Il story OF herself when she
stood exactly in the same spot. Then
she would tell her listener how she had
worked. step by step, until after 4 lttlc
the skies frightened and life grow coed
to her And no one listened TO the cher
ry little woman at her own hr2SIIa With
out Getting strength from her, and. 60
ING ont into the world. feeling better
and stronger because of her words. And
so this brave little woman lived and
worked.
And yet all the time whilr she made
the skies seem brighter over the heads Of
others. sorrows and anXicti"S were thick
about her own life. The father grew
feeble and must be looked after. And
then he passed away. The blow was i
severe one to his widow ana again the
daughter became nurse and writer is
she had been years before. l'Iall her
self. She nevertheless gave all She had
to the life now closest to her. And after
Il while she was rewarded by seeing
health come back to the little mother.
But The strain of years had left its mark
upon her health. No one can have the
heart strings so repeatedly strained
without feeling the tension. Little by
little her duties were lesSened, until only
her Ruth Ashmore" work remained.
TO this she held ON with love and af-
lection before which argument of friends
was powerless. The days were different
to her only as she was stronger one day
than another. But each day had its i'll.
Yet she pluckily worked on. She would
not give up. and when in September last
il was found imperative to stop all origi-
nal writing. she still chung to the letters
of her girls Sick. and in bed, she
wrote and dictated. All plcadings We're
for naught that she should rest. Not
the letters from my girls, please. Let
me have those. Just those" was her
appeal.
Already the brave little soul had with
stood much. But the hardest blow was
still to come. The little mother for
whom She had so increasingly toiled. and
who had become so large Il part of her
life. was destined to fall i'll. And in the
twilight hours of an early October day
she passed away. The daughters grief
was keen She was alone. for her two
brothers were in distant cities. 1t was
not strange that she could not rally. 1t
was Il blow to which strong men would
succumb. And she was IL frail little
woman. But she mustered a patience,
a calm resignation that was wonderful.
Yet. She had fought bravely. She
had proved bigger than every circum-
stance which confronted her. But this
was 50 different. Her mother; her
faithful companion; her chum; her all,