The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1909-06-11

Il was into some .sef, valley OF sha1.
ows that Miss Iisorne had gone down
dnring Tint long afternoon spent ia her
state-room.
The chatter Of the inach hour In the
pantry had eliminated and subsided. the
Afternoon had early darkesed, and the
ssewardesz. after several futile messages
that tea was ready In the .aioVn. bad
brought 1t Ia. and set III on the trunk be-
side her. bur still Miss Thorne sat star
Ing at the white wooden partition where
a selection from her wardrobe Sway ed to
and fro with the ships motion. Ii could
hariiy be called thinking. this vivid reaiI-
zafion tiiat possessed her mind OF all her
own losses and d.sliiusiors the kindly
old father che d~ignihe., ample hone life
OF which sac had been the head the
brothers Older than herself and settled in
their own homes, who. without much
community Of intsre.L. had formed a
friendly background To her life. and the
central ignre. the sppfhpokiD-. cheerful
lover. aisays 80 hHnlbty deyotsu 10 her
self. always holding before her eyes the
prosperous married life ahead of them.
III waS strange 10 remember raw how she
bad grown TO lean ON his seif-coaidens
decision, and 10 accept his eoloring of
the schemes for their future.
1t was not more than q month or two
since sach had been her surroundings,
aud na. they were more scattered than
the laa SEES which bad seen tiaen1 70. Her
father was dead. her hoane broken up.
Brothers ana their wives had shown a
pegfunetoFy interest and kindness which
bad sometimes scemea a shade worse
than open Indifference. Offers OF q home
had NOT been wanting. but there was not
one in which she would not have known
her presence to be more tolerated than
desired. But brothers and their wives
wogsm have mattered little IL the central
figure Of the play could hare kept his
part Of hero.
Al first there had been ardent sympa-
thy and every salf-forgetfal effort to
soofhe her sorrow, until the girl was
filled with refnorse &C NOT having better
appreciated such devotion. Then came
longer intervals besweeu meetings, q de-
pressed dwelling on the difficulties Of the
future, and the p-ostponenaert of the mar
q 50 49,. fsN ttkEtR "tAF 4t8t - : ei AaG
plea Of business. and letters full of the
disadvantages Of long engagements, until
In one bIiuding fash OF comprehension,
Miss Iaorne had seen What il all meant.
She sat down AZ once and wrote a letter
which brought back a perfect composition
In the way OF a sorrowful acquiescence
il her decision. and pathetic remuneration
of aII claims.
She was of the sort in whom con-
tempt Kills all affection, and her sister
in-law considered that. In what followed,
she showed a great deal Of womanly
feeling. isoidly and g~ravely she made
known the breaking off of her engage
u1e9s "by mutual consent" In the same
fashion she announce her intention of
returning TO Paris 10 resume her studies.
No one tried TO prevent her. She was
Of age. and her small income would suf-
sice with extreme care and economy. In
their plentiful Canadian homes her broth
eTs and their wives little guessed the
~@riTaness of that phrase. extreme care
and economy TO n solitary woman in a
biz city. The dreary rooms, the skimped
meals, the shabby clothes, the long street
trudges in storm or Gardening winter
weather. the absence of all variety or
brightness Of life. She knew il all well
enoush-thc girl who was going to face
III. She could see now those dingy rooms
high mp ia a big apartment house or
the Ciichy Heights, which she was tc
share with an erratic American widow
who seemed content TO spend the rest
81 her existence danhing away at hope
leSs studies among the chattering girls
Of the studio katin. She wonderef
vaguely If Mrs. Silas l.. Stark still wore
that sleeveless green knitted WOODEN jack
ct and the little corkscrew curls at either
side of the shrewd. kindly face, and IL
| the rooms had ever been busted or clean
| ed since she herself had left them
Ito be continued.)