The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-14

| an in Brighton did, of children's appe
tites and the cost Of mutton chops!
Thus spoke Aunt Hosie to her sisters
as the three held counsel together oVel
their wood fire on the first night OF hel
return-little Daphne warmly sleeping
in the cot prepared for her upstairs
Il maintain that a child must be q posi-
tive economy in any household. Loos
at the sous I give Jean Marie to'
wedding, although be oftenec plucks
up my seedlings than the groundsell
Look at the clothes we throw away"
said Aunt Hosie, drawing, it must DC
| confessed, wild drafts on her magma
ton-"the clothes we throw away be-
cause we have no small creature to cui
| them down for. AS q matter of econ
omy. q house wants something young
wants it. if 'twere only to make the
dust fly, only as oil to hinder the oio
wheel from rusting."
A sufficiently commonplace gloss t0
put upon a fine action, this Of pence
and shillings. But it accorded with
| Aunt Hosie's habit Of mind to keep to
commonplace in the solemn as in the
trifing things of life; and pence and
shillings were subjects to which the
Miss Vansittarts must perforce give
heed at every step they took.
Their fathers death about five years
before this date had brought the SIS
tiers in a day from af1uence to need-
Colonel vansittart, Generous George,
as he was called in his generation, be.
longing to that open handed class OF
men who hold what they pleasantly
call ~short views Of life, rot mindlnG
the lengths behind. Genial, hospitable,
a header of subscription lists, a giver
Of delicate meats and rare wines. Gen
erous Georges moral near s~ightedness
would never permit him to see that it
might be a duty to make provision
of some kind for his own daughters.
Sufficient unto the day Is the charity
thereof; such was his maxim, wrought
out conscientiously into practice. The
sum Of seven or eight hundred pounds
was secured to each Of the Miss Van.
sittarts under the marriage settlement
of their long-dead mother; this was all.
By the time the colonel's funeral eX-
penses were paid-and so immensely
popular q member Of society must, OF
necessity, have an expensive funeral
the last shilling lying in his bankers
hands was pretty well expended. Then
came the settlement of his bills
tailors', haberdashers', wine merchants
for it is noteworthy that men of the
shortest views invariably require the
very longest credit. and then-the
Miss Vansittarts realized their position
to the full. The lavish, genial old
colonel had been airily trenching on
capital for years, and died exactly in
time to escape the taste Of poverty
himself; made his exit from the
world surrounded by friends, with the
assistance of the first physicians. with
benefit Of clergy, expensive funeral,
notices in the local papers, and a
semi-public pageant.
Now, how should the Miss Vansit-
tarts continue to find bread?
They had reached ages when not the
widest female brain can any more CAL
culate on marriage as a probable
financial resource; they were accom-.
plished up to the standard usefulness
Of their station and period; and their
Joint income might be estimated at
3out one hundred and ten pounds a
year. How should they continue to
find bread?
Colonel VaEsittart, at the time Of his
death, was inhabiting a furnished
house in Cheltenham, and on dinner
exchanging terms with all the "best'
people of the neighborhood: so his
daughters wee not left friendless.
1t had ever been a favorite boast
with Generous George that he had the
knack Of making friends for his chill
dren. Others might surpass him in
the acquisition Of money. 1t was his
Door pride-so he would declare, with
generous tears suffusing his eyeS-his
pride, his ambition, to leave his fam
ily rich in kindly social ties. Now
came the fruitition of his desires. Hot
house grapes and camellias, cards OF
inquiry boarded to this hour by Miss
Theodore. especially such of the poor
bits Of ]pasteboard as are made sacred
by a title; later on, advice in meas
ureless quantities-all these overflow
inrc Of tho milk of human kindness
die the Miss Vansittarts receive.
To be Continued.