Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1907-05-17

inderella
to Date
By HELEN MAxFiEID.
Copyright. 1908, by Nay NsKeel

81 suppose you have read In the b
pers-if you have time to think aDQN
except .y0arselfF that
Westfleld bank isswrt6ked. They haN
arrested Mr.. Hartley and Mr.. NianneI
but that does not help the rest 0R nj
In short time presume I shall De 4
the county. If you Ind married N11'
Martin, as wanted you to do. Rhoa'
not be facing this terrible sittAkI
but you always were headstrong, N'E
my whole life hase been sacfiAced 20 the
effort to raise you as your dear dead
mother would have had me. Even
now Dan Is willing to forgive your
folly and marry you. He will have
the house all done over, and his sister
will go to Johns to live. and there will
be only Dan and you and me-"
The letter covered Ave closely writ
ten pages, and Annabel read 1t through
twice with firmly set lips and dry
eyes. Then very deliberately she put
on her coat. hat and gloves and went
out for long walk In the snowy park,
where motor cars filled with fur clad
figures flew past and laughing children
pelted her with harmless balls Of feath-
cry Wilderness. 1t was a glorious day,
and when she came back to her dingy
hall room she was smiling. and the
hard lines had faded from her face.
Then she wrote her answer:
My Dear Aunt Molly--I am 30 grieved
to hear OF the bank wreck. had not
road of 1t in the papors. because we have
been enjoying the privilege Of some spe-
cial instruction under Professor OF
New York. and l have been working at
the academy night and day. Perhaps the
bank receivers may save something. and
In the meantime you must not worry. !
will have tho store decided to you. and
the rent will more than keep your house
going, and each week / will send you
some of my earnings. l am inclosing
money order for 025 that I happen to
have in hand. Have Mr.. Gregory ar
range tho transfer OF the store property.
As to Mr., Martin. please do not urge that
upon me again. I still feel that I have
some right to happiness. and l know II
will never come to mo through Dan Mar
tin.
Not one word Of reproach, no re-
minders of a dun colored childhood
and dreary girlhood, spent under
nagglng of the most trying sort; no
reference to the fact that her own
patrimony had gone under with her
aunt's small fortune In the bank
wreck; no lntimation that she had
sent almost her last dollar In the
money order and must now drop her
nrt studies and seek position In the
workaday world. She smiled grimly as
she mailed the letter. Her aunt would
accept the sacrifice and wall to Dan
Martin over Annabel's lack Of appre.
citation.
Dan Martini How she hated every
inch of his understood person, his
small beady eyes, his perpetual smile,
his weak, recedlng chin! She mailed
the letter with strange feeling of
Independence achieved, for now she
had paid to her own satisfaction the
debt Of gratitude imposed by her aunt,
which had hung over her young life
like pail She was free now to work
out her own happiness.
But for the next week happiness
seemed to move farther and farther
away In later years she never
thought OF those days without shud-
derlng.
The holidays were over. Nobody
wanted to hire clerks or buy illuminat-
ed cards or telephone records or any
Of the pretty things she painted. The
room rent was again due. She might
sell her few casts and painting outfit.
She set her lips firmly and climbed tho
stairs to fashionable employment
agency The manager was sitting at
the telephone when Annabel entered.
She hung up the receiver with an I'm
patient frown.
"What do you want-a position as
governess or companion Nothing Ike
that I'm view; hundred applicants
for every position. Oh, walt minutel
You look bright Can you do manicur
ing and dress hair a bit and mend
lnccs? IF you can do 1t even halfway,
wish you'd try this place. I've sent
the customer dozen girls. and they
always part after terrible scene.
The woman's n crank but you look az
II you had tact"
The upshot was that Annabel, with
% cents In her purse and a notice OF
rent due under the door Of her hall
room. went to see Mrs Cartwright
Brown, and that highly strung person.
age said with dissatisfaction and sus
plcion In her voice that sbe would give
the girl trial.
The Cartwright Browns were newly
rich The father had made an enor-
R,,a hIu AfPnFfa
and was proud OF 1t. The mother was
40 bnrdened by 1t that she was on the
verge OF nervous prostitution. Annabel
saw 1t was nerves and not temper and
took heart. Later she learned that
there were son and daughter away
at college who were Just q little
ashamed Of their new riches.
Nobody, Annabel least OF all, knew
how 1t happened, but she became the
virtual head OF the Cartwright Brown
household Mrs. Brown vowed that
she could hire visiting manicurist
and hairdresser, but no one could stand
between her and domestic and social
worries as Annabel could.
1t was Annabel who reorganized the
STAFF Of servants and installed com.
petent housekeeper. 1t was Annabei
who had the conservatives brought up
to date, Annabel who made out con.
genial dinner lists, Annabsl who con.
ferred with Mrs. Browns mOdiste and
Mr. Browns tailor. Annabel who ship
ped smart, suitable clothing and room
furnishings 10 two colleges.
Annabel's position in the household