The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1904-06-28

se
!: y The Bulletins Daily Story. ~:


with her; nothin at all. She was romp-
In from mornin' till night or lazln'
arounI They couldn't get her to help
In the kitchen or darn the stocklp's or
mind the babies what was thick as
peas in pod, croppin up under your
feet everywhere, one q little higher
than the other, like stair steps. All
they could get her to do was to read
alSl write and add up sums Yes. She
was smart enough at addiu up sums,
and that was queer, too for girl; 50
smart She done all The account keepin'
for jim Lcycrin that Is, all the nc.
gount keCpin' he had for her to do,
which want, to say, nothin' 10 hurt"
Yes" encouraged NIirandy, anxious
~ filling w the pause, which showed
symptoms Of lasting till the boiler boil
cd over.
well" continued Jane, after time
Jim Lcverin, seem the girl want fit
for nothin' on top of earth but. as |
say, this readin', wrltin' and 'rlthmetlc,
he cudSeled his brain, Iayin awake o
nights, thinkin' what to do Finally he
hit on plan. 1t was this. You know
these here country schools where the
teachers teach children for little or
nOthin', boardin' round from place to
place for part OF their pay and waitin'
till Judgment day for the rcStF"
"lmph hum" replied Mirandy, with
a sigh, part impotence and part reslg
milton
",lim Lcyerin, he concluded he'd get
her job Of teachiu one Of them coun-
try schools, ana be did-one of the
toughest, oneriest country schools he
could lind for her TO tcuch, up some
where's In the mountains where the
huts is made of logs with the wind
BLOWN through and the snow stays n
foot thick all the year round, summer
and winter He'd break her, he said,
of her harnm scarum ways. He'd
show her thing or two. He'd let her
see somethiu' of life as II really is; just
how hard it is when you have to get
right down to rock bottom and dig
Shed see then that it want all
play; that it was downright earnest;
that people want put on this old earth
TO run things high handed"
"Some Of 'em are intcrjectcd Mi
randy
"Jim Leverin want addin' them kind
to his calculations Just then, though
I've heard him xpatate on 'cm whcr
he felt in different humor What he
was tclin' Margaret was this that
people was put here TO scratch for
their Twin, aud you must own, Miriam
dy. most of us are About all we do
from mornin' till night, most Of us, Is
TO scratch ana dig aud scratch and dig,
But Margaret, Jim Lcvcrin said, when
she come home from that there noun
tain school she'd realize. he thought,
what soft snap she'd been hayin',
doin' nothin' day In and day out, lay
In round, rcfusin' to help in the ktch-
en- or pantry or wash the dishes or
comb the little childcrn's curls of
mornin's, to sort Of help TO keep things
moviu' ppaccably along. When she'd
had taste Of the scamy side of life
she'd he glad enough when she got
back home ng'in to work her level best
for her mother and the little Children
and him.
$50 hr got her ready. as much ready
as he could get her with fifteen other
mouths 20 feed and bodies to clothe,
and packed her or"
a buhblng sound suddenly issued
FROM the kitchen. Mirandy glanced
Wildly around
"AOu'll have to excuse me seeqndH
cried she. Its the boiler boiIm' over.
I've been waltin' for it knew II
would" And she sped up the steps,
rushed to the stove, proddcd the siz-
cling clothing with the whi,cned end Of
n long. large broomstick and then ran
back again.
Il went keep you a mint longer, "
declared Jane u Just wanted to fin.
ish the story, TO tell you how it all
came ont. Wen, | went over TO see the
Levarns the night after Margaret WAS
gone, and, would you believe il, after
all his big talk about breakin the girl
IN and maxim her worth somethlH' to
other people besides herself in this
world and giyin' her a taste Of rough
I'M ii and tlat. there set Jim Lcvoriu in
chair by the fireplace, all bumped
over as il he'd lost his last friend in
the world, his face every ~hit and
grain rs long as my arm.
What's the mattcr| says /.
"'Nothin',' says he. But his wife,
scttin' in the other corner OF the fire
place, rockin' q twoycar-old baby to
sleep. with another not much more
than three years old swingn' TO her
skirts and cryln'. speaks up. Hes
worryin'. says she, about Margaret
He's afraid. now that he's sent her
way of TO them mountains among
them strange people, now that he's
started her ont in life, 70 say, driven
her from home she couldn't speak fJi
"A spell for somethin what got stuck in
her throat he's sorry for it, And he'd
oughtcr be- she adds when her voice
comes to her better, repeatin', and he'd
| 0ughter be.
Jim Leverin raises his head ut that
4 amt sorry neither he speaks up
sharplike But an the time he sci
there the rest of the evenin. dumb as
m oyster. with never word 10 say {,
nobody. necause. Won sec. MlIanlv