Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1903-08-26

asserted the girl, sweep1ngly and
defantly, everything and every
body except, Of course, you, Aunt
Hester"
Kitty, dear, don't talk so wickedly,"
replied a voice so feeble and tired,
though sweet, that there was no need
20 be told Aunt Hester was ILL.,
tits quite true" repeated Kitty; Il
DO hate everything. l hate never hav-
tng any money and living in these two
poky little rooms, and not being able
TO take you abroad, which the doctor
saTs would very likely make you we'll
again, and having to slave day after
day teaching those horrid children
who never seem to learn anything. |
loathe it all! 1 can't help not being
patient like you, Auntie, and If 1t is
wicked to hate things, why then l
must be wickedw
The girl stopped, completely out Of
breath, and the elder woman sighed
but said nothing She knew how hard
the poverty Of their lives was to the
pretty girl Of eighteen, who had
youths natural desire for pleasure and
pretty things. She understood how irk-
some it was to Kitty to teach three
Gun children for five hours daily for
tina munificent sum Of Ella a year,
which money, with the addition Of
very small annuity Of hers, was all
they had to live on. She knew, too,
better than her niece, better even than
the doctor, that so far as she was con-
earned, 1t would soon be over; that
mot even the visit to Switzerland, so
easily advised, so impossible to OBJ
lain, would make very much differ
ence or very materially lengthen the
days before Kitty would be left to
Agha the battle Of life alone.
'Only ESQ.," she went on bitterly. Il
have worked it all out. For ESQ we
could both go to Lausanne for ten
weeks. You know that pension where
x.izbie stayed; they would take the
&wo OF us for Ed a week; that would
leave plenty for the journey. Fifty
Doundsl less than heaps Of women
spend on one dress l call it hateful
AorTlble Why should we have
nothing and others so much?"
She made for the park, and as she
was walking along one Of it's most de-
serted paths her foot knocked against
a stone, which she kicked impatiently
away. The softness Of the stone
struck her, and she looked down to
And she was kicking a purse. She
picked it up and examined it carefully.
1t Was nearly new, Of green leather,
GuriOusly worked with black, and the
monogram, "A. x" stamped in gold
An one corner.
ut Is so light there can be nothing
an IT," she said to herself, and opened
It, A shilling and four pennies fell
into her hand, and then some pieces Of
folded paper, five Bank Of England
notes for E1O each. There was no one
near. Kitty's head swan, her eyes
grew misty, she felt sick and faint as
ghe temptation unfolded itself to her.
Here was the exact sum needed to re-
store Aunt Hester to health; there was
40 name in the purse, no clew to the
owner; surely, since it had come to her
needed ESQ, it must have been sent by
Providence. Surely it would be only
right FOR her to keep 1t. Thus she rea-
SoNe0, knowing the weakness Of her
arguments, realizing, but refusing to
consider, that she contemplated COM
uniting q theft. And after the theft,
Hes would be necessary, for if Aunt
Hester had the faintest idea of how
she money was obtained, she would
certainly refuse to even touch 1t, and
would insist ON making every effort to
and it's owner.
liz Miss Ormond had not been the
xnost simple-minded and unsuSpecting
OF women she would never have be-
Moved that Mrs. Harper, the by no
Kneans rich mother Of her niece's pu-
Pills, would give her present of ESQ,
Tor this was the very feeble lie by
which Kitty accounted for her posses
sion OF the money. Miss Ormond was
anxious to write and thank the lady,
but Kitty averred that Mrs. Harper
had made a condition she should re-
ceaye no thanks for her gift, and Miss
Ormond, into whose guileless mind no
shadow Of suspicion entered, obeyed,
though a little unwillingly. "Such a
magnificent, such a princely gift"
abe kept ON murmuring gently, sit
seems rude and ungrateful for me not
90 thank her, but Of course we must
40 as she wishes. l hope, kitty, you
said how deeply grateful we both
are"
A week later and the dingy lodgings
were left and aunt and niece started
Cor Switzerland. Aunt Hester bore the
3eurney very well, and they were soon
Installed in q comfortable pension
@yerlc Gking the azure waters of Lake
Xenan, on the other side of which in
xnow-clad majesty the peaked Alps
Keep guard.
Then suddenly one day when they
Aas7 been in Lausanne for six weeks,
and Kitty congratulated herself that
H.