Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1901-03-08
HERHERO
BY Elizabeth NJ. Gllmer.
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Copyright, 1900 the Authors syndicatej

M rs. MORGAN kept working
W mems boarding house, down
near he ra lro d tr C. and per-
! etual odJr Of / st ak and en-;
ions and b lied cabbagA perry dJ d
tn dinoy h n nd sal tel you as
YOU ope tfe fro Loor there
res we'd i,sel' to Ir cession If
tiredmen who stumbled up the steep
steps az night. or heHyed themselves
down at the table and ate ravenously
of the heavy food or smoked short
pipes in their shirt sleeves on the door
step in the evenings. 1t was the last
place on earth where you would have
looked for a romance, yet nevertheless,
it was the home of an idealist whose
soul scared far above her sordid sur
roundngs, into world of fancy where
such things as grimy men with cal
loused palms were unknown, and a
putty pipe would have been an impos-
siblity.
This was Mrs Morgan's daughter
Mamie. Mrs. Morgan, in talking about
her. always dwelt fondly on the fact
that Mamie had had advantages,
which, being interpreted, meant that
she had been ground through few
grades in the public school, where she
had acquired a passion for novel read
ing and a profound contempt for the
station in life to which she had been
born. In her mothers adoring opinion
this passed for culture, and she never
looked at Alamie's soft white hands, so
different from her own work-hardened
ones, or at Mamie's slim young figure
in it's pretty, cheap fnery. so different
from her own toll bent one, without
thrill of pride that she had raised"
the girl above herself
The little tragedy of the mother who
makes willingslave of herself in order
to indulge her daughter is so common
we scarcely notice it. Assuredly
neither Mrs. Morgan nor Mamie saw
anything strange or culpable in the
mother spending her days cooking end
less meals, washing endless dishes,
and making endless beds, while the
girl gossiped with her friends in the
shabby parlor or read the novels in
which her soul delighted
"Mamie don't take to houseworls.
and she ain't got to- long as live" " her
mother would say, and left free to fol-
low her own devices Mamie reveled in
lurid romances where the beautiful but
impecupious and lowly born heroine is
importuned by Sir Reginald de Mont
morenci to share his coronet, or where,
after impossible scenes of carnage and
daring, the hero succeeds in rescuing
the noble Lady Clara De Beauchamp
from her enemies. and is srewarded with
the hand of that august and frigid lady
in marriage.
If she had only been content with
what real life had to offer her, Mamie
would have had no time to find her love
stories in books. She was an extremely
pretty girl with a skin like milk. and
eyes as blue as a summer sky, and there
was no lack Of honest-hearted young
fellows who would gladly have mar
ried her, but she would have none Of
them.
"She's looking out for one of them
hero chaps what wears silk hats. and
smokes cigarettes. and don't get his
hands dirty. like what's in them books
she's always reading" one OF her dis
comfited suitors had declared, resent
fully.
"An' what II am, Sim Reeves" she
had flashed back in sudden wrath.
"what if am looking for a man what's
got more spunk than to sit down cross
] gged and sew an patch all day ike
% woman? Anyway. don't you worry.
When ! start out to look for a hero !
won't come round your way"
Other men had come and gone, and
paid iheir court to the romantic and
seornful maiden. and had taken their
blighted affections elsewhere for con-
ISOLATION. but Tim Neely had been faith
ful through il an.
He was big, good-natured teamster,
with a hand as large as a s.edge ham,
merand as gentle as a ehild's. Forthree
years he had occupied Mrs. MorFan's
i second story back, and during ali that
time he had laid patient siege to Ma
mics heart, with a devotion as faithful
as a dogs. He surrounded her with
boundless love and tenderness. but he
was too humble TO urge his own merits,
least of all 10 dream how much too good
he was for the silly, selfish girl.
"l-I-I-know ! amt much to look
At like them fsllers what's you're al.