Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-06-21

mo; they scere not mt1e," she replied.
Conway is the last man in the world to
wish to be hard on woman-s young
woman, his uncle's widow. He will
not expect or wish you to leave such
purely personal things as these behind.
II prefer it, said Mary.
"Most ladies in your circumstances
would have stripped the house. % he per-
sisted, land would have left nothing
but the bare chairs and tables.
perhaps. but am not one of those
ladies, and besides wish to take moth
ing away to remind me of-of"-
'sYesf"
s'That l once lived here" she said,
with sudden fash Of feeling, the first
that she had shown.
"Oh, well, Of course II that is the
way the"-he had been on the point Of
saying "the cat Jumps" but broke the
homely simile off short-'tif that is how
you feel, Mrs. Conway. it is no use my
suggesting anything else"
"But it is very kind Of you to feel an
interest in me" said Mary. smile
breaking over her face for the first time.
II shall never forget it. thank you"
A few minutes later she had passed
out Of the house and away from her old
life forever.
She had made her plans carefully
with a view to furthering her resources
to the uttermost- she had taken single
room in respectable house in Blooms
bury. She was not destitute, for she
had still nearly e100 to call her own.
Mrs. Hamilton's life had been insured
for a sum which had almost covered the
cost of her illness and burial, and Mary
had bought her mourning with keen
eye to economy; in fact, she had spent
and meant to spend nothing that she
could possibly avoid. She knew that, II
need be. she could live for a year on her
little store. and she knew, too, that it
was totally different thing to seek a
living free and independent, as she was,
to seeking it while tied and hampered
with an invalid mother.
But she did not find it an easy thing
to drop into a pleasant, comfortable po-
sition. such as she wanted. by no means.
For several weeks she tramped to and
fro. here and there. always seeking
something more or less indefinite. q
something which she found 1t difficult
to describe in words
Then she pulled herself mp short and
began to think the situation out in q
different way. and she came to the con-
clusion that she could not go on in this
vague, indefinite way; that she must
make up her mind to follow certain
course, and she must follow it. The
question was what. She went over all
the openings which she had already
tried to follow up, and she came, after
much anxious cogitation, to the con-
clusion that there were only left to her
now-either Of which che might take as
her meter and train herself to become
proficient in-nursing and typewriting.
She inquired fully into the merits
and dement's Of both. She found that
she could properly qualify for nurse
under a training Of at least three years.
Even then she would not have got to
the top Of the tree, and 1t was more
than likely that long before three years
had gone by she would have broken
down, for she was not physically or
constitutionally an especially strong
person. II all the tales she heard Of
hospital or infirmary training were
| true, she felt that month or six weeks
would about show her how fruitless 1t
was for her to attempt career of which
magnificent health and nerve are the
very first requisites.
So practically the career of nurse
was disposed Of and put on one side as
animpossible one. There only remained
then open 10 her that Of typewriter.
The account, which she gathered Of
this way of nj ing living were more
hopeful. She would pay 10 guineas to
be taught the trade, and six months
would see her in fair way of earning
decent living. She could, until she
was proficient. live very cheaply and
quietly in her modest little room, and
she would have every interest in forcing
herself ahead as quickly as possible.
There was nothing in the manipulation
Of delicate and intelligent machine
(this was the way that q young girl
whose acquaintance she made II q w.
shop, spoke Of her typewritss) which
could be In any way revoltin4 - ~,
or which was in any sense beyond ~
powers
"And Of course. said the "a ~
you 20 in for shorthand a. ~ ~
just double your value fro0 - ~
lis 1t dificultf" Mary sssuA 49,
difldently.
"Yes, il Is difficult. " Tie slppQss4.
"but by no means insurmounla11A ~
the advantages are enormsaA - y \
a grand life for a woman. ~ WoAAA
Of average Intelligence can - . -.
ing ct T., and . woman NJ D 0ejn.
gsncs q above IL aveSle - -