The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-05-09
Sarah Browns Effort. i
BY ELIZABETH I. SAMUEL. /,

g Present" said Sarah Brown. Then
under her breath she whispered,
six" Only. six more days to hear
that name called first. How she hated
It'll Every time that the roll had been
read since the spring vacation she
had counted off one. Six days more,
and then? She could not get beyond
the Interrogation point and the
then" e. a
The other girls-there were five
girls and Dick Thurston in the class
knew what they could do. Helen
Burton was to teach school; Marga-
ret Harvey was. going to college;
Mary Davidson planned to study kim
gdergarten, and pretty Gertrude Hall
was to be milliner.
Dick Thurston had refused to go
to college, so he knew what he would
not do. 80
For Sarah Brown there seemed to
be neither could nor would. The sit
nation was as hopeless as her name.
She had time to think this over be-
fore the roll was finished. Then she
shook herself free from her reflec-
tons and banished her name to the
background of consciousness, while
she plunged into. the last grafton of
Cicero. To-day was the day for spe-
cial examinations by Mr.. Thatcher.
The minister was always the exam
liner; that was a tradition of the
school,
1t was over at last. Sarah held
ap her head with pride as she went
gut into the yard. Never had she
lone so well in Latin as she had done
hat afternoon.
Suddenly she remembered that she
had left her algebra in the dressing
loom and went back to get it. She
had put it on top of the wardrobe for
lafe keeping, and as she stepped up
IN chair to get it she heard Mr..
Thatcher say. What do you think of
Sarah Brown"
She heard, too, Mr.. Raymond s an
twer: "I'm afraid she tries to get a
little more out of life than she is will
Ing to put in
The color mounted to her forehead
her blue eyes flashed and she almost
Jumped from the chair. The she
stepped down, rushed out of the
door, and did not stop until she
reached the top of the hill behind her
fathers house.
I'm discouraged, she said TAB
solutely. completely, entirely ~ Then
her vocabulary and her breath both
failed, and she threw herself down
ander the old pine, that always stood
ready to give her the consolation of
It's shelter.
Willing to put I'M" Was that not
the very thing that she was so un-
Happy about?
Just give her a chance!
After little she Strengthened her
self and reviewed. the situation. It
did not improve on review. Never
had the sum total of her discourage
ments seemed SO great. There was
only the old housekeeper at home
Of course her father would not under
stand.
s'I'll go to see Aunt Prue," she said.
Having reached this conclusion she
went in to supper.
Prudence Hathaway was conf
dante-in-general to the village. She
said there were two reasons why
everybody came to her house; one
was because Of the position OF he1
house. and the other was because she
was almost always at home.
Her cottage stood between the
church and the academy, and she was
always at home because she could
move about only in her wheel chair.
That she, was not passive receiver
OF condolences might have been in.
TERED from look at her strong
beautiful face. and evidence OF this
was not wanting. for Dick Thurstor
-motherless Dick said, Sometimes
she's q regular bar of justice; some.
times she breaches you a sermon
You never know which is coming"
Sarah's face was so rueful wher
she entered the little sitting room
that no preliminaries were needed
All the rest OF the girls are going tt
do something after they leave school
and I've nothing to do but settle dow1
and stay ct home. And I wish b,
name wasn't Sarah Brown!
DO you think that you would b,
different girl II you had differen1
name?"
Yes. / do. !"
ssVuhv 80 X, 49, $500, -.