The Starkville news. (Starkville, Miss.) 1902-1960, 1904-03-25
the reply. as the girl entered the house,
followed by her aunt

you had gone to the pOOrnOuSe, lnStlu OF
bein' here for my children to wait on"
The girl smiled bitterly at the thought
of her cousins waiting on her, the house
hold drudge. She made no rejoinders,
however, and her meekness seemed TO
infuriate her aunt.
Il wish that harum- -scarum brother OF
yours would come back and take you
off my hands, or that good-for-nothin'
father"
'Stop, auntie," cried the girl, and there
was something new in her voice that
made her aunt pause. You shall not
say one word against my father and as
for Jack, he will come back some day, as
soon as he has struck it rich out there in
the Klondike."
Yes. he's comm" retorted Mrs. Mar
tin. SOS Christmas comm, an
purity one it'll be, won't it?"
She cast a look full of bitter sarcasm
about the scantily furnished room. Her
husband, helpless invalid from
rheumatism, sat in chair by the stove,
looking disconsolately out of the win
dow
do you know what I'm goin' to do
with your suddenly exclaimed Mrs.
Martin. In the midst of her dinner prep
arations, casting vindictive look at the
girl. I'm goin' to bundle you off to the
poorhouse, where you Belong. There's
too many mouths to feed here. You can
stay here till after Sunday, but you go
bright and early Monday mornin'."
Bella grew pale for an instant, then
she said, calmly:
"You may turn me out. if you wish,
auntie. but I'll not go to the poorhouse.
I can go to the city and make my own
living. | will not wait until Tomorrow
I will go to-day"
She left the room without further
words.
BE careful, Tidy" warned Mr.. Mar
tin. Don't be too hard on the girl. She
is a help to you. Besides. suppose she
sh auld find out something about the
mortgage and the deed. This farm isn't
ours. you must remember"
That's just why she's got to co. in
terrupted his wife. "She don't know
nothin' yit. but there amt no tellin'
when she will. an we'd better be clear
of her before she does find out The deed
amt never been recorded. We've got to
sell this place to the railroad while we've
got a chance. The girls kin do the work
themselves 1t won't hurt EN-"
well" assented her husband, weak
ly. maybe you are right. But | hate
to see the girl turned out of her own"
"You put your sympathy where it'll
do some good" snapped Mrs. Martin.
Think of me an the girls. What will
become of us il she ever finds out?"
Upstairs, in her own shabby little
room, Bella was making preparations
for her departure. She had never had
any great cause to love the old farm,
but somehow she felt a pang at parting,
after ALL She had no conception of life
In a great city But she felt a new sense
Of dignity. She was a woman now, no
longer child She would talk it over
with Joe; perhaps he could help her.
He had relatives in the city.
81 believe I'll wear the breastpin,' she
said to herself, as she searched through
her little belongings for the only relic
of her mother she possessed, excepting
the rickety old writing desk that stood
in the corner among the rubbish.
But hunt as she would, she could not
find the precious reminder, which she
had not worn for long time.
Maybe it's in the desk" she muir
INJURED, her heart sinking at the thought
that possibly it was lost. She hunted
wildly through the dusty pigeon holes
and drawers, when suddenly compart-
ment flew open which she did not re-
member ever to have seen before. She
must have touched secret spring
which opened it.
With eager fingers she examined the
contents of the drawer. A portrait or
her mother was the first thing she saw,
and she caught it to her lips with pas
sionate tenderness. That should go TO
the city with her, too-next to her
heart. A paper lay beneath the picture
"a legal-looking paper. The figures
'$1 900" caught her eye, and she glanced
curiously over the document.
1t was the lost Quit-claim deed to the
farm, and recited that in consideration
of the sum of 81 900 advanced to Richard
Martin and his wife. all interest, right
and title in the homestead, SO far as Mrs
Martin was concerned as the sister OF
Elizabeth Pepperel], 'Bella's mother, was
transferred to the said Elizabeth Pep
perell, her heirs and assigns forever
Bella was not learned in the law, but
she grasped enough of the situation to
know that she had been made house
hold drudge for years on the farm which
belonged to her brother, her father, II
he lived, and herself, as the heirs and as