The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-03-08

IN gone away and Alice had be-
EesSsSSN IL teaching they were the
&SSizSSsJ subject OF much after church
and sewing circle talk.
"1f Alice could only git married
now" observed Mrs. Iears, who was
perhaps the leader among the gossips
in SYNDICATE, lit 'ud be the most fort
nit thing that could happen, but she
holds her head perty middlin' high for
Il 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 en- when the Widder Page
died, an the wonder is how she man
aged to git along as well as she did" =
The Ncxations Of an effort 10 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 10 bear than
the desolation OF Il home bereft Of
mother and brother. Occasionally
some one of the ncighbore would drop
In Of an evening or n or two of her
girl friends come and stay all night.
On Sundays she was, as she always
had been, Il regular attendant Mt the
village CnuIch, NuSIe BIC loilacu ohe
of the choir.
She was like a flower herself, not
only in looks, but IN dolicacy of feeling
and sentiment, and her sweet face,
sheltered by q mourning hat on Sun
day at church, was n magnet that drew
the eyes Of many n village swain. The
days and weeks OF her new life rs a
teacher passed in uneventful process
sion until one by one the leaves had
fallen from the two big elm trees In
front OF the desolate home, the mead
ows were but level fields of snow, and
Christmas vas only two weeks away.
Then she received n letter from the
absent brother that caused her heart
20 beat with unusual excitement. 1t
read:
Dear sls-Three weeks I received q
most nat1ering proposal from Sir. Mason,
FranlSs father, who offered me n good
salary to take charge of his law bust-
ness and also the chance TO accept any
thing else that came my way. j have
q nice office how in n block tie owns and
am 50 busy / do not find time to Write to
you oven. IT'S an opening OF e lifetime,
aitd I " II mainly TO Frank. Now / am
50 homesick I am coming up to spend
Eirlstn1ae III yoa, Pnd INve invited
SSsa bst % sG sns s ssss t ~ sa EN- Mo ne p a e.
81 Frank has done so mnch for fne that
/ want TO entertain him In The best way
POSSIBLE, He knows absolutely nothing
about country life, md It may be dutl for
him. but he seems DESTROYS OF coming, and
so i want you to help me TO make 1t
| cheerful for him. To be onndid. sis, 1
think the chance to sec you, whom he
has heard me say so much about, Is the
Zeal loadstonc. I incloso a bft of paper,
| mud \ N,sppt Nnp fo 'i,cs N a n In nf1y Scn ~
you wish.
1t was a check for 500.
1t was not strange that at school next
day Alicc's thoughts were not on the
Rotations, and when one boy spelled
beauty ~"b-o.o-t-i-e" ana raised n laugh
she did not understand why 1t was.
That night Alice said to Aunt Susan:
"Do you think, auutic, we could man
age between us to make up some sort
OF a pretty house dress? Or course /
must wear black when ] 60 out, but IT
would be no harm to wear something
brighter at home. | could get some
! delicate gray cashmere, and SlrS. Slo.
per can cut ana fit it, and YOU and I
can make 1t evenings. | want n sort
of house gown trimmed with satin. I
7 iC Il NbilN W NV I INV hsl "
church, with n little color i'm Tiny
mourning bonnet makes me LOOK so old
but | am afraid people would talk"
But how the days dragged, amG how
many times she counted them 20 see
how many moro were TO pass ere that
dearly beloved brother was TO arrive!
And what sort of a looking follow was
this Frank? she wondered. She hoped
he was tall ana dark, not zoo tail, but
good and stout. And how could she
ever entertain them? She could play
and sing n few pretty ballads and any
number of hymns, but as for convcrsa-
tiom she felt herself wholly deficient.
OF the world of art, literature ard the
drama she knew but little. She had
read n good many novels, it Is true,
and had seen "Uncle Toms Cabin"
East Lynne" and one OF two other
tear moving dramas played i'm the town
hall, but that was all. She had never
even joulncycd as far as Boston or
New York, He will think me us green
rs The hills around us" she thought
rucfully, but / can't Aclp it. / can
cook some nice things for him to eat
anyhow, and Bert must do the talking.
| wonder If he plays the piano: I
hope not, for if he does I'll not touch
It."
Christmas came OH Thursday that
year, and her school was to close for n
week ON the Friday before. She had a
little plan in her mind, and the last
day of school she called on two of the
big boys to help her.
"AIy brother is coming home to spend
Christmas" she said to them, "and 1
want n lot Of ground pine to trim up
the house. VIII you bring me somcf"
If there Is anything that will touch a
country boys heal, il is to have teach
Grand especially n young and pretty
teachcr-ask him TO go for ground pine,
so it is needless to say That Alice was
supplied with an ample outfit of that
| graceful vine. More than that, they
begged for the privilege of helping her
festoon ii, and when long ropes Of 1T
were drapcd over thc windows and
above the fireplace in the big parlor,
ana the hall and dining room received
the same decoration, the house present
ed n cheerful appearance. Tho cult
nary department was not neglected
either, and q great store of pies, frost
ed cake and %doughnuts was prepared.
~ do not know what / should do
without YOU, Aunt Susan" the fair
young hostess said the day before the
guests were TO arrive. 81 couldn't do