The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-12
Western Bees In
 A Southern Hive.
BY A. FARNswoRTH DREW.
 CHAPTER I.

Whlzzl went the fast express one glorious October day in Georgia. Two little girls who had come all the way from Colorado by themselves were peering anxiously out of the car window They were sturdy little girls just verging Into womanhood and in tensely interested in the wonderland of deep, luxurlant forests, tall pine trees, and above all. in the low negro cabins, with their mud-packed chimneys extending like buttresses down to the ground, almost as large as the cabins themselves.
 Bumpl went the cars against one another as the train slowed up at Gainesville.
 Here we are, miss. '' said the conductor; II will put you and your bags on the plat form, and there'll sure be someone from the school to meet you.'' The younger girl whistled through the long curls that fell forward from her red Tam O'Shanter as she bent her head
 Bonnie" she exclaimed, Ifs this the place where we are to be polished? II looks to me like an advertisement for stove polish Just see those little colored children
 The conductor smiled in sympathy.
 There's most generally plenty of pickann- nles with nothing to do but walt for the train. Folks down this way don't hustle much. Mind the steps" as they jump with thank you" to the platform.
 Bonnie" continued the curly headed one
 lets throw the little nigs some pennies SeS II tuN9 CdH get d move Ou t0tlu- They are too funny" They threw the pen nies and were in a gale of laughter over the antics of the pickaninnles quite unconscious that they were furnishing amusement for considerable audience, when suddenly they saw an angry woman come toward them.
 Are these the Misses Kent?'' she asked severely.
 'Yes'm. I'm Bonnie, and this Is Betty.
 T must say that l am surprised at such unseemly behavior. I am from Miss Astors school. The carriage is waiting" The girls Followed meekly, though Betty, the ire pressible, whispered as they climbed into the old vehicle that '.it would stand for some polish, too.'
 inc baggage. including two bicycles, was piled up behind and the driver slowly gath. cred up the reins. The drive to the school was silent one; the rigid haughtiness of the lady from. Miss Astor's school was not con duciye to conversation. Bonita and Eliza beth hent-Bonnie and Betty for short or If you were in great hurry, the two R,s. had been brought up among the mining camps of the West They had never been to school, but their fathers partner, who had been a professor of geology before he went west in search of fortune, had taken them under his wing. bonnle had therefore. con siderable Knowledge of mineralogy, having proved an apt pupil. Outside of this her learning did not extend far. Betty's chlee accomplishments were a vivid imagination and an admiration for Bonnie's cleverness. But the old professor was dead and when Mir. Kent bought stock in the gold mines of Dahlonega, Ga, that necessitated his pres ence there for the winter, he decided to place the girls in a school nearby. His sister, in making the arrangements for him. said to Miss Astor: "They are prefect little savages, and only a special financial induce ment had overcome Miss Astors qualms.
 But they were very subdued little sayaRes that the golden autumn sun looked down upon as they journeyed up the eaf-strewn avenue to the immense old mansion that had been transformed into a boarding school. Through the broad halls, where groups of daintlly-dressed girls turned and looked at them; up the great winding stair with its heayily-carved balustrades, to their rooms on the second floor they were conducted. As soon as the door was closed the girls exam ined their surroundings. Then Betty sat on trunk and burst into tears. This was totally unlike the rough mining camps. win the free life or the gorgeous hotels of Den yer, and Betty felt decidedly out of place and homesick.
 q don't believe can stand it," she sobbed.
 "Its dreadfull'
 Why disgustedy, there's lace on the sheets and fluted stun on the washstand. think I'd feel most at home in the fireplace and Betty's tears changed to laughter. "Lace on the sheets and no carpet; this gets me. Say something, Bonnie"
 "I don't need to- said Bonnie, smiling;