Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1904-05-19
sunshine.

HS gun teaching they were the
0X0 subject Of much after church
and sewing circle talk.
IF Alice could only git married
now" observed Mrs. Mears, who was
perhaps the leader among the gossips
in Sandgate, sit 'ud be the most fort
nit thing that could happen, but she
holds her head perty middlin' high for
a poor girl, which p'raps is nat'ral, she
comm from one O. the oldest families
They say there want nothin' left to
either on 'em when the Wilder Page
died, an the wonder is how she man.
aged to git along as well as she did"
The vexations of an effort to pound
the rudiments Of an education into
the heads of two dozen or so barefoot
ed boys and girls that comprised her
charge were far less hard to bear than
the desolation of a home bereft of
mother and brother Occasionally
some one Of the neighbors would drop
In of an evening or one or two Of her
girl friends come and stay all night.
On Sundays STE was, as she always
had been, rega - attendant at the
village church, where 20 formed one
| of the choir.
She was like a flower herself, not
only in looks, but in delicacy of feeling
and sentiment, and her sweet face,
sheltered by a mourning hat on Sum
day at church, was magnet that drew
the eyes of many village swain. The
days and weeks Of her new life as a
| in MI
sion until one by one the leaves had
fallen from the two big elm trees in
front of the desolate home the mead
ows We're but level fields of snow, and
Christmas was only. two weeks away.
Then she received letter from the
/ absent brother that caused her heart
to beat with unusual excitement. 1t
read:
Dear Sis-Three weeks ago received a
most f1attering proposal from Mr.. Mason.
/ Franks father, who offered me a good
salary to take charge OF his law busi-
ness and also the chance to accept any
thing else that came my way I have
4 nice office now in block he owns and
am so busy do not f1nd time to write to
you even. It's an opening of lifetime.
and owe 1t mainly to Frank. Now am
30 homesick am coming up to spend
Christmas with you. and I've invited
Frank to come also. We shall be up the
day before and stay till the Monday aft
or. Frank has done so much for me that
want to entertain him In the best way
possible. He knows absolutely nothing
about country life, and it may be dull for
him. but he seems DESTROYS of coming. and
so I want you to help me to make 1t
cheerful for him. To be candid sis,
think the chance to see you. whom he
has heard me say so much about, is the
real loadstone. inclose bit OF paper,
and want you to use 1t all in any way
you wish.
1t was check for 500.
1t was not strange that at school next
day Alices thoughts were not on the
Rotations, and when one boy spelled
beauty "b-o-o-t-i-e" and raised laugh
she did not understand why 1t was
That night Alice said to Aunt Susan:
do you think auntie, we could man
age between us to make up some sort
of pretty house dress? OF course
muBt wear black when go out, but it
would be no harm to wear something
brighter at home. l could get some
delicate gray cashmere, and Mrs. Slo-
per can cut and tit it, and you and l
can make 1t evenings 1 want sort
of house gown trimmed with satin. |
wish l dared to have Il new hat for
church, with a little color in tiny
mourning bonnet makes me look so old
but am afraid people would talk"
But how the days dragged, and how
many times she counted them to see
how many more We're to pass cre that
dearly beloved brother was to arrive.
And what sort OF Il looking fellow was
this Frank? she wondered. She hoped
he was tall and dark. not too tall, but
coed and stout. And how could she
ever entertain them? She could play
and sing few pretty ballads and any
number of hymns, but as for converse
ton she felt herself wholly deficient
or the world of art literature and the
drama she knew but little. She had
read good many novels, it is true,
and had seen Uncle Toms Cabin"
East Lynne" and one or two other
tear moving dramas played in the town
hall, but that was all. She had never
even journeyed as far as Boston or
New York. "He will think me as green
a. the hills around U.S." she thought
ruefully, "but I can't help 1t. I can