The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-02-13
,%++
An lnsurgent Strategem1
+ Copyright 1902. by W.. F. Hearst) 800 By Carrie Elizabeth LOGAN

Miss Lovejoy had been at her broth
er's house III little more han a week,
yet already she had to confess to a
vague feeling of disappointment.
She had.not seen her brother n his
wife for more than seven years, during
all of which she had longed for them
with the homesick intensity of the
exile. The anticipation of this home
coming had cheered her through many
a dreary term Of teaching; yet now hat
reality a taken the place of anticipa-
ton, she found something lacking
The old home was still the same, n
her brother and his wife were as /
as ever; but during this time of sep
alton their only child had grown from
girlhood almost to womanhood, II
with the growth had come a change in
father and mother which made poor
Aunt Ruth feel like an alien and a
stranger.
The merry, open-hearted brother had
become quiet and care-worn. The
bright, pretty, cultivated sister-in-law,
as dear to Ruth as If united to her by
ties of blood instead of marriage, had
faded into an almost shabbily-dressed
drudge whose only purpose in life
seemed to be to keep HazeT's bed Of
roses free from thorns.
Both had been as glad as possible to
see their self-reliant, independent
western sister; but it seemed to Ruth
as If their principal interest was in
noting the effect upon her of Hazel's
grace and HazePs beauty and Hazel's
accomplishments. That had been the
constant theme of conversation when
Mr.. Lovejoy was not too preoccupied to
talk at all or his wife had no %infrequent
moment Of leisure.
Now Aunt Ruth was quite ready to
admit that the grace inc beauty and
accomplishments were there, but the
greater a of h~elpfulness and filial
gratitude seemed to her both lacking
n unlocked for. Nor was the girl
wholly or ven principally to blame. No
return had ever been demanded of her
for all h a been given, and the
d of giving unasked was yet I'M
born.
Ruth's own few gentle attempts at
remonstrance a been met with such
an air of mild surprise, such earnest
disclaimers on the part of the parents,
that she had seen the futility of words
and resolved to say no more. She did
not wish to be regarded as meddlesome
n disagreeable.
Just now she was feeling particularly
gu Of sympathy with the conditions.
AS she went steadily on with the dishes
she was washing, she could hear her
niece chatting in animated fashion with
a caller in the parlor. She knew thai
4 = was IL. DeliIltlt, Lie young Ildll VINO
had called in the afternoon to see if
Hazel would sing at a parlor concert to
be given at the Young Mems Christian
association rooms the next week.
Mrs. Lovejoy had swered the bell
and Informed him that Hazel was out;
but Hazel herself, when she came home
from her drive with a girl friend, had
spoken of meeting him, n told as a
great joke about his remark that h
would call again in the evening, as the
servant had assured she would be in
then"
IF the child had only seen what it
meant" sighed Aunt Ruth to herself.
But even Hazel's mother had laughed
the matter off, although rather con-
sciously and with a flush; and when
Hazel had smiled and said:
Never mind, mamma, dear. When I
get to be a prima donna you shall have
all the servants you want" the smile
and the foolish promise had salved the
| wound effectually.
AS he young people talked and
laughed together in the parlor, Ruth
softly about up stairs, putting to rights
in her prompt, methodical way the
things which Hazel had left scattered
about when she made her toilet and
hurried down to meet her caller.
Then by and by a door opened, and
suddenly there was the sound Of a fall
and a suppressed cry OF pain; and Miss
Lovejoy, rushing out, ound her sister
1n-law lying near the foot Of the back
stairs, white to the lips and with her
patient face drawn in agony.
I've fallen, Ruth, and I'm afraid
I'm badly hurt. I think my ankle is
broken"
Ruth looked and saw the poor foot
hanging limp and twisted in its we'll
worn slipper.
1T is broken, Helen" she said. 81