The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-11-27

spectacles, an looked cxceedin' wise:
blinked a tear, an wiped his eyes.
ing dat made at tuhk ey kctch his breff-
$ yo' horoscope, an 1t ~reads-sudden def"
the other girl, with a wisdom of poetry
that Jesslca did not grasp.
oh, well, he's q good fellow, and I'm
glad If you're happy" she said.
Don't o ever miss somebody 81
asked Addie, m~eaningly.
Jessica colored angrily. Il don't be-
lieve In missing folks!" she retorted.
Sometimes you do what you don't
believe in doing" said Addie.
J%essica, VINO roomed with her, turned
over and said no more, pretending to
be asleep; but she could not put away
her memories; the full moonlight lay in
the stuffy little room, and the thought
of her honest, simple lover seemed to
be q part of it.
The great summer hotel closed the
list of October. Jcssica had her pre-
cious $4S, and was to go home, but q
girl from Boston, Maud Simmons, in
vited her to spend a week with her.
I'm going to try for a chance in Bos-
ton, and maybe you can get one, too"
she said. Jessica hesitated a little.
There was no harm in the girl, but she
was not of her sort. The simple, re-
served country girls of her own home
were n notch above Maud, and JessiCa
realized the fact, although dimly. But
the longing for freedom and the dis
like to return to her old surroundings
oVerCame her. She wrote home about
the invitation. and obtained consent to
go with her new friend to Boston, al
though 1t was three days before the
letter came.
When the hotel closed and ,Jessica
went to Boston, for the first time she
felt her OWL swimming stroke. The
life into which she plunged was differ
emf. 1t was respectable enough, there
was no doubt of that, but devoid OF
dignity. Maud's mother had been in
the Salvation Army before her mar
riage, and her father was a j%anitor. On
entering their home she entered the
utterly crude. She was Jared without
know why or now. Maud spent her
summers earnings at once in cheap
finery, and Jessica fell a victim to the
force of example. She despised the hat
she bought one day. and despised her
self for her recongition that she looked
well in 1t.
Its awful becomin',' said Maud,
land Jack Bascom thinks SO. too"
Jessica colored hotly. Jack Bascom
had some obscure connection with a
variety theater, a handsome young fell
low who ook like an actor. Pres
emily he came to see Jessica every
night; that was after she had obtained
employment in the restaurant with
Maud. Jessica hesitated about accept
ing, as the local newspaper put it, the
position. Going to work in a city res
taurant was q vastly different thing
from waiting on table in q summer no.
tel. There one was almost sure of
cornpanionship Of ones superiors as
well as ones equals, but this was diff
ferent. But she yielded; every time she
thought Of returning to the old life a
sickness of revolt came upon her, and
she had begun to be fascinated by Jack
Bascom. She thought very little of
David Lapham in those days.
She boarded with Maud Simmons, n
was in the cheapest froth of city life.
Jack Bascom got them frequent passes
for the theater. She bought herself a
gay silk blouse. and arranged her hair
in the extreme of the style. She learned
various things which told her old life
dn the country would never have
taught; and yet the effect of these
things was superficial, the foundations
We're too solid to be shaken. The mo-
notony of simplicity and dignity had
struck too deep roots in a character
which had also the great benefit of
heredity.
All at once, two days before Thanks
giving, she learned something; she had
a sudden glimpse of depths below the
froth of things. She learned that Jack
Bascom was married. TAI laughed
at her for the way she took 1t. Good
gracious, what If he is" she said. His
wife's a bad lot, and he can get di-
vorced and marry you If you want him
to-"
"A married man." gasped Jessica.
What Of it?" demanded the other
girl. 81 knew you could take care of
yourself or I would have told you be-
fore. Jack can get a divorce"
I'm goin' home" said Jessica, sud-
denly.
MAUD stared at her. "on account of
that?"
"on account of everything. I want
to see my father and mother. and it's
Thanksgiving time, and" Jessica's
lip quivered.
Maud continued to stare at her. 81
know who will step into our shoes II
you walk out" said she.
Jessica made no reply.
You don't mean you are goin' tc
leave the restaurgnt?"
Yes, 1 do"
Wei, Nell Jones will be in there
next week, and if you leave Boston
she'll get Jack
"A married man" said Jessica.
"Oh, Lord; didn't l tell you he car
~ OWN oaSNos oiN IN sc' - 4NSi
. will get him if vol don't"
Let her" replied Jessica shortly.
The W. girls We're in their room. She
looked at a theater poster which Bias
com had given her n which was tack
ed On h wall. 1t gavether a feeling OF
nausea, II in contrast to its gaudy
shabbiness and what it stood for came
the thought of her Did home as she
knew it in the autumn, with it's quiet
fields and it's air of peace. She did no
see Bascom again. That night wher
he called she refused to go Town anG
she heard Maud and her mother laugh,
ing loudly down stairs after he haC
gone, He had not zone with tina
cant Of the head with which poor Davit
Lapham had mi away that last nigh
, at home.
!. The day before Thanksgiving Jes.
, aica started for home. Her native VII.
: ,age was about 100 miles from Boston
! She had not written to tell her parent.
, of her coming. In fact, they had no
~ approved of her going to work In thu