Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1908-09-18
ROCKVILLE MARYLAND FRIDAY MORNING. SEPTEMBER 49, l9os
Mrs. Scarritt'S
Crusade.

By W. F. BRYAN.

1t Is a dreadful thing to have mis-
sion. Mabel Maitland found 1t re-
Bponsibility, and Roy Barnes declared
1t bore, a fad and some other things
to which he did not give vocal utter.
ance In Mabel's presence.
To Roy 1t was matter of supreme
Indifference whether women voted or
not, but 1t seemed to Mabel that 1t was
the vital question Of the hour.ss
She attended all the suffragette meet
ings advertised and even formed suf-
frage club among the girls of Cowdrey
House, an establishment for self sup
porting girls In which she had made
her home since the death of her par
ents.
The Cowdrey Suffrage club was at
best lukewarm organization. The
girls had Joined "for the fun of the
thing" and Mabel had to work hard to
hold her converts in line.
This prevented her from giving much
Of her time to Roy, and his opinion of
the suffragettes was the natural result.
For five years he had begged Mabel to
marry him, but even before theSc of
"votes for women" became q fashion
able slogan Mabel had had pronounced
ideas as to the independence of her
sex, and Roy waited patiently while
Mabel demonstrated her ability to earn
her own living.
Then she had fallen under the infiu-
ence of Mrs. Grace Brown Hazard and
had been welcomed by the leader as an
addition to the cause The approval of
this famous woman had the effect of
making Mabel the more enthusiastic,
and presently she was devotlng every
evening to the Cowdrey branch of the
society. and Roy was left out in the
cold.
1t was the rule that all lights were
TO DO out at II In Cowdrey House, hit
with the aid of candles Mabel wrote
far into the night on the speeches that
Mrs. Brown Hazard delivered and
dragged herself unwllllngly to her
work the following morning. sadly
feeling the lack of sleep.
Mrs. Brown Hazard found In her
new disciple a valued assistant, and
her demand for speeches that offered
a departure from her own stereotyped
thoughts was insistent.
The more she praised the harder Ma
bel worked until at last the inevitable
breakdown occurred, and Mabel was
forced to resign her position and go
into the country, where her scanty saw
ings rapidly diminished. The pile of
manuscripts for her idol, however, in
creased greatly.
Mrs. Scarritt, her new landlady, was
much interested In the girl, and her
protests against the manner in which
Mabel was overworking were loud and
emphatic.
Better stop that fOolishness," she
argued, land put some flesh on your
bones"
But the cause needs my workp
cried the tired girl. ms Brown
Hazard writes me that these speeches
are doing world of good; that | am
making thousands Of converts. or
course she hatters me there, for 1t IL
her magnetic personality that counts
merely save her the worry Of mar
shalng her arguments"
Mrs. Brown Hazzardr' unused Mrs.
Scarritt. "Grace Brown married Ben
Hazard. You don't happen to know
what your friends husbands name Is.
do your
at IL Il. Henderson Hazard" re-
sponded Mabel.
NAMED after his ma" explained
Mrs. Scarrltt. His ma was Luella
Henderson. We always did say that
change OF name and not Of letter
meant change for worse and not for
better 1t was Gene Hazard that got
the worst of 1t. My, but he was hen
pecked! Lived over In the hollow.
Grace Brown lived right down the road
u piece-that first red house on your
right as you go to the postofiice."
"She never said anything about hay
Ing been born here" cried Mabel In
surprise. "She did say in one of her
letters that she knew that Cadyville
was beautiful place"
"Grace Brown amt Dragging about
US, and we amt Dragging about Grace
Brown" declared the old lady. "Grace
always was fraud" she went on.
"She used to get me to write her com
positions for her, and Ben Burrows
used to do her sums She never did
anything that she could coax some one
else to do for her / must say that
she had nice ways about her. She
could coax even the teacher into CIV
ing her good marks when she'd been
kept In after school the whole week"
"She Is the leader in a great cause"
said Mabel reverently. "She has de-
voted her gifts to great battle, and
she will win for US. We shall get the
vote before long, and the name Of Mrs.
Brown-Hazzard will go down through
the ages as the woman who worked
this great revolution In favor Of wo-
mans rights"
Mrs. Scarritt shifted scornfully; then
she looked down into the deep blue
eyes glowing with the fires Of enthusi-
asm. MabeIs cheeks were thin and
white, and there was little CULVER Of
the chin that bespoke nervousness.
Only the eyes betrayed animation.
Mrs. Scarritt laid her hand gently upon
the girls arm.
"There's just one real right that a
woman has," she insisted softly.
That's the right to marry a good man
and have him love and protect her. If
she can get that she doesn't need to vote
or do any OF those fool things. She is
aapfanN t.tItf, har hnma md har ba Hlaa
ma nuRn unn CAV