The Red Cloud chief., 1901-05-17
By Elsie Snowe.

DRY goeth not back to the con
y trary. we had been so poor In
worldly wealth that l hope 1t
may be considered excusablc In me III
felt almost l~ight-headed when | sud.
denly Inherited a little fortune of 3d.
600. but the dizzy sensation was pro
duced by pure Joy, and In no sense by
c%onceit. or any form OF the evil de-
scribed by the apostle as being pulled
up" or wanting ones self"
was already an old maid, that Is to
say. I was nearing thirty. and the one
romance Of my life had been my en-.
gagement to Oscar Eckstrom. He was
a clever young Swede. Of good station
In his W country. and OF marked
ability as an engineer, by which trade
he had hoped to make a sufficient In
come to permit him to take on himself
the expense OF n wife. and u mother
in.iaw: for my dear mother. who was
a helpless invalid. had 30 long been Il
part of me that the man who married
the daughter would he obliged to con
slider the mother as a part OF her while
she lived. This often troubled my
dear mother, but I would not allow her
to speak Of II, or indeed to think Of It,,
either, so far as | could prevent It..
Oscar and I had now been engaged
for about five years, but, although he
was steady and Industrious. the time
when we could appoint our wedding.
day had not yet come, and | still re-
tanned my position in the school where
I had been first appointed to the pri-
mary department. when ] was no yet
fifteen years of age. My salary made
a comfortable support for my mother
and myself, and Oscar was each week
laying a small sum In bank. and we
confidently looked forward to better
and brighter days to come.
And behold they came-ln n way we
had hardly anticipated. My Uncle
Samuel, after whom. as he had been
my mothers only brother. l had been
named. died In some far away place In
Australia, leaving me what at first
seemed the almost fabulous sum of
$4,000!
Perhaps a girl who had been dow.
cred with the name of Samuella really
deserved n compensation OF that sort,
but don't know II thought that way
about It, being just so happy and CRATE.
full that l was simply light-headed,
and my JOY was not even tempered by
sorrow at the loss Of my uncle. for l
had never seen him In my life.
In every way l was glad and CRATE.
full over my inheritance.
In the first place Oscar and | could
now be married; In the second place
long years In the schOol.rOOm, and a
series Of vacations spent In the hot
city, had taxed my strength more than
l dared confess to myself although
the doctor had commanded a rest, and
mother and MYSELF, and lastly, | could
indulge In the extravaganza Of having
my n girl friend come and pay me a
visit.
had long known of n cosy little
house In the country. which I could get
In the position to bid for it: my first
act now was to take advantage of this
lucky chance.
! then sent In my resignation of my
position in school, and procured a sub
stitute for the balance of the term, for
| was not going to sacrifice the early
sp ng beauty Of the country - the
months Of April and May, which had
always seemed to me the true holiday
or h year-and then Oscar and | had
a little talk about our long.delayed
wedding'day. At last we decided or
the first Of september, and | gave my
self up to the luxury of n few days OF
shopping, not mere looking in show
windows and pricing of goods. bu'
genuine shopping, for | had my mod
est little trousseau to prepare, and OK
cept my wedding dress and bonnet,
had determined to make everything
required with my own hands.
By the end of n week | was settle
In my dear little cottage home: an,
though Oscar had complained of tn
long time to wait. | soon realized how
wise l had been To put Off my wed
ding'day for several months to com,
for what with the gardening to do an,
my sewing, 1t was well II | would b
quite ready by September.
Three evenings in the week Osca
came to see me. The railroad journe
was about half an hours duration. an
II allowed him TO remain from 6.3O ii
$50, and though the three bright hour
flew by almost like minutes, the men
DRY OF them fingered with ~ both du,
ing every moment of the time between
and each time when we met again W
resumed our conversation almost Z
the word where we had dropped 1t o
the evening before.
or course | had long since write
to Glare. and she had promised
come to me as Don rs | was settled
my new home, and though she had n,
yet named the day on which | migl
expect her. | was not in the least su
prised when she appeared one evenin
in the middle of May, in company wit
Oscar. | knew her in a moment, al
far off, though l had not seen her f
years. and l thrilled with delight