Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-10-20

A Broken Wedding Ring

By Bertha N. Clay.

| S1IC which ne would just DIS Cu0SIIully
have turned to any other purpose,
that, stripped of all the ideal qualities
she had ascribed to him, he was
simply a shrewd man of powerful in
tellect, rather more egotistical and
more selfish than most of his fellows.
Some wives live and die without
either seeing their husbands faults or
discerning their weaknesses. 1t was
not so with Doris. The fact that she
had been once blinded seemed to
make her more clear-sighted after
ward The time came when she stood
appalled, at what she had done-when
the clap-trap sentiments that she had
once thought so heroic and grand ap-
peared to her in their true light.
The knowledge brought on severe
illness, and she died, leaving her two
little daughters, Leah and Hettie.
But, before she died, she wrote a
letter to her far-off brother, who had
never seen her since she was child,
oW ming to him that her marriage had
been a fatal mistake, and praying
| him to take charge of her children
to save them, to rescue them, if he
| could, from a fatal and unwhole-
some atmosphere. and do the best he
could for them.
He was Colonel Hatton when he re-
ceived the letter. He placed it with
his papers, intending to do what she
asked, and in the whir1 of his busy
life forgot all about it.
CHAPTER Ill
No two girls ever had stranger
education and more unequal life
than had Leah and Hettie Ray
Sometimes they found themselves in
the midst of comfort and luxury, with
apartm ents at the West-end and at
the seaside, ponies to ride, servants
to wait upon them, the best of
masters, for accomplishments, and
Of governesses for ordinary teaching,
the prettiest dresses, the daintiest
food. Then would come poverty,
squalor, common lodging-houses, COM
mon clothing, the want of even the
! necessaries of life. There was one
thing that amid all their ups and
downs was never forgotten study.
No matter what happened, they al
ways preserved their books and never
missed their lessons. 1t was a
strange life, most unsuited for young
girls; but it was the only one they
had ever known. During their
mothers lifetime they had been more
settled, they had lived longer in one
place, they had been more uniformly
comfortable; but now they never had
home for more than three months
together.
Martin Ray was very kind, loving,
and indulgent to them. He loved
only three creatures during the whole
course Of his life-his wife and his
children. He shared all he had
with them. When strikes were
plentiful, and the masses full of dis
content: when the "workman's penny
rolled in; when men invited him to
come and make their discontents
greater and their misery more un-
endurabIe by depicting both in their
blacklist of colors-then he lived i'll
luxury, and his daughters shared it
with him. Those were the palmy
! days Of Westend apartments and first
class music-masters Then 'the Voice
of the People lectured in good broad
cloth, wearing a gold watch and
| chain; and the patient, oppressed,
toiling multitude gave their pence
cherfully, and never thought of the
incongruity. When riot and anarchy
reigned, when sullen hate grew into
fierce vengeance, when man pursued
master with logged desire for ruin
then Martin Ray fiourished, and his
/ beautiful little daughters wore fine
clothes and ate good food. But, when
the loyal good sense Of the people pre-
vailed, when submission to lawful
authority reigned, when the fire o.
discomfort was extinguished-the
: doleful days set in for Martin. For,
instead of paying the agitators who
avoided all danger while they led
others into it. the workmen kept their
money.
Martin Ray was often at loss to
know where his dinner or his chill
childrens clothes were to come from
Yet, in spite of all drawbacks, the
girls grew up beautiful and intelligent
Wherever Martin Ray went he took
them with him; and they learned
much that was useful, with much
that was the reverse. They had no
friends; it was impossible to form
even acquaintance living as they did,
alternately in luxury and poverty, in
great cities and remote villages. The
men with whom their father associat-
| ed were almost unknown to them, and
never brought wife or sister to see
them. They were lonely and friend
less. Then came a time of great
trouble of which they fortunately
knew but little. When Leah was
eleven and Hettie ten, Martin Ray
rendered desperate by what seemed to
him long-continued peace and order,
made a speech which brought him
under the iron grip of the law. He