Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-07-23
SYNOPSIS.

SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I.-Mr. and Mrs. Ward. Of
the little town of Crawford, have been
sreSy worried yot WITH the g
over few months. The constant recur-
renee Of the task Of searching for help ha:
b.a n9' good eh1stan people and
members Of the Marble Square church, the
course of their domestic lyes has been
The last girl has just left and Mr.. Ward
has advertised for another. Barbara Clark
applies for the position; Barbara Is an
and e ssses sdhoo has
been unable to obtain employment Of any
kind. She. with her widowed mother. has
coaxlng she persuades her mother to per-
nit her to apply for the position Of servant
rirl. which she obtains.
Still, as she faced MIS-. ward with \
troubled heart, she hesitated, going
over again the trials of the four weeks,
the hot, insufficient little room, the
long and irregular hours, the separa-
ton from people, even from the very
people in the house where she was
serving; the daily drudgery, the hope
lessness Of any future-it all came up
again to dash an enthusiasm that had
apparently been killed out of her at
the first attempt to turn practical
things into heroic things. And let us
say for Barbara what was very true
part of her true self; she had SO great
horror of doing anything from inn
pulse alone that part of her hesita-
ton now arose not from her doubts
concerning Mrs. Wards sincerity, but
from her own fear Of changing her
mind, of seeming to act from pity tor
Mrs. Ward rather than from genuine
conviction that she had not been heroic
enough to test her service long enough
to prove something besides few griev-
anoes. She was smitten even while
Mrs. Ward was speaking, to think that
she had not endured all the hardships
of service to the limit Of service.
"of course. I don't know how we are
going to arrange all the things that
are wrong, but have gone over all the
ground you have emphasized this
morning more times than perhaps you
imagine" Mrs. Ward continued, and
Barbara, perhaps for the Arst time,
gave Mrs. Ward credit for many things
she had hitherto denied her. "My
wretched health, and cares and trou-
BILE with servants who have had no am
billions and no abilities such as you
have, think have all helped to make
me seem Indifferent and thoughtless.
But I need you, Barbara. Really,
cannot bear the thought of being with
out help. You cannot realize what
these last four weeks have meant to
me In the burden lifted. You do not
understand how capable you are in
| management. ought to have let you
know 1t. am sure have felt it deeper
every day"
"You are fattering me now," said
Barbara, smiling little.
mo, only the truth as it ought to
have been told you. My sickness, the
children. my cares, Mr.. Wards bust
moss complications, some of which have
been serious the last ten days, have all
oonspired to make me careless of YOU;
but even my carelessness has been a
sign of my confidence in you. Don't
leave us now, Barbara. We need you
moro than you can realize"
What! Barbara Clark Here has
been trouble in this home, and trouble
of serious nature, and you have lived
In your own troubles, absorbing all
thought about yourself. She began to
be ashamed. She turned towards Mrs.
Ward.
II don't want to seem to act on Just
my feelings alone. Let me go home to-
night and think it out"
\
and again tears came into the older
woman's eyes.
" am asking great deal of you.
Maybe am promising good deal for
myself, too, If you decide to go on
with u.s."
"You mean?" Barbara began, and
then stopped.
II mean that, if you will keep on as
you have begun, am willing to help
make your place different in many
ways from what it has been. don't
know all that this may mean to you.
1t is not an ordinary case, as you are
not an ordinary servant girl. There is
another thing I ought to say. If you
remain with us, it ought to be great
source of satisfaction to you that the
children think 50 much of you. Do you
realize how much it may mean to a
mother to know they are being helped
in every way while with her. servant
That is another great reason don't
want you to go, Barbara"
| THANK you, Mrs. Ward" Barbara
answered, and the tears came into her
eyes for the first time. Praise is
sweet. Why don't we all give more of
it where we know it will help, not
hurt?
1--WE cannot spare you out of the
home. We have not treated you right,
but"
| Don't say anything about that, Mrs.
Ward" Barbara interrupted, feeling
of remorse growing in her at the
thought of her grievances" Some of
them were beginning to seem small in
comparison with her privileges. She
was real influence in it if what Mrs
Ward had just said about the children
was true. Surely there was more in
the position than physical drudgery
Could even a school-teacher expect to
be more useful? A host OF new ques-
lions rose in her mind.
LET me go home tonight, Mrs Ward
and will return in the morning and
give you my answer. In any case, ]
will not leave, of course, until you
have secured some one else"
Very well, we will leave the mat.