Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-24
CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY
CHAPTER XVIII.
A FROSTED FLOWER


Cling as best she could through the
&lAJ trials and temptations, OF her Or ois
I6QESnI berian exile, what had become oi
L4SNSEJ the more delicate flower Aunt rue
had transplanted from granoTnra ma
gar, saE,den' How was it with poor little ie'
1t would be painful to. describe her gsi grieI
when she first realized the sharp T ana s"a.s
punishment that had overtaken Irix, anu anu
understood that her dear sister, nsr fron, 'e her
Indeed, it took all Aunt Prue,. remarkno,e tLae
strength of character to pass through ina. M
first interview with .Tessie unmoyed; ior
the child clung to her knees II I!ra wilo agony @
Trix! Oh, send me away with her, AUNT
Prue I cannot live without Tiki! echoeo
in that strong-minded lady's ears quite un-
pleasantly for many long day afterward.
Get up ThsEtss get aP Auns sOrry e to nse see
you ysaa acting nae SO much ike foolish baby Your
sister has proved herself utterly beyond my
control-rebellious, headstrong and thoroughly
unmanageable. l have sent her to good
school, where she will be trained into submis-
her, it is quite out of the question. Both
the climate and the rules would be too Sc
we're for you. have no wish to make you I'M,
happy; but my word is unalterable. What 1
say I always mean and always do ITix has
gone to school, and must stay there. You are
at home, and must stay here. So you'll have
to bear it as best you can"
And then Aunt Prue had shut her thin bps
together, and turned away, leaving Tessie
with strange, dazed look IN her eyes far
worse than tears.
She tried to bear it as "best she could"
but how hard it was to bear only Tessie her
self could tell. Every hour in the day she
missed Trix-missed her with sharp pam
heart like knife.
There was no bright face beside her when
she walked in the morning, no merry voice to
hurry her up for school, no CHEEKY laugh to
strong hand to help her over the rough places,
no dear head to bow beside hers at night
when she whispered the prayers learned at
grandma's knee.
True, everybody was very kind to her Aunt
Prue never. spoke a cross word; Ella quite
overpowered her with attentions even Dorcas
came in her room every night, as the weather
grew colder, to tuck her in bed and see that
she was comfortable and warm
The girls at school were all brimful of SYM
pathy, and if taffy and carames could have
been cured.
now. Tessie went two squares out of her
way to avoid passing the funny little store,
kept by an old Scotchwoman, where she and
Trix had always stopped to buy cocoannt
of that favorite dainty in the window made
her heart sick now; while the old woman's
question. "Ech, but We be lonesome this morn
ing, grille. Where is tither lass?" was really
more than she could bear.
Worse than all, Miss Alice had been called
away to the bedside of sick friend, and
during her absence a decided GOODNESS had
sprung up between the two families
Trix's exile was more than Mrs. Whyte's
motherly heart could bear in silence, and she
had expressed her opinion rather freely.
Ralph had made some still more unpleasant
remarks about Cutting Tabby's claws for
her." while Biddy in an alteration with the
cook across the fence, had declared that no
wages could pay her to Give wild an ovid
woman that could carry all the harrat she
had on the ind of her sharp nose"
These remarks having reached Aunt Prue's
ears, Tessie was forbidden to visit the Whytes, |
and the one comfort she might have had was
denied her.
So the dreary days went by, and the chilly
gloom of winter settled around poor Tessic's
home and heart. Her eyes seemed to grow
bigger and bluer; but the little cheeks be-
while the dimples that used to play around
her rosy mouth vanished in quivering lines
of pain.
Christmas was drawing near-a white, frosty
Christmas. The streets were merry with the
jingle of sleigh-bells and the shouts of hap
py children; the shop windows gay. with such
never set eyes on before; but she passed them
by without even glance.
eve must do something for that little girl 4"
said Doctor Groot. one evening, to his wife |
after he had passed the listless little figure on
the streets. "Her heart is breaking.'S
And it happened that the doctors sleigh |
stopped at Aunt Prue's door one morning, and
Tessie was carried off in triumph under the |
shelter of the big, black bearskin that had |
been sent to the doctor all the way from Rus.
sa. and that, with its huge head and fierce !