The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-05-24
CHAPTER I,
Two Ladies Bereft.
COPYRIGHT III
bObB5-hfRRul COMPANY

luem on the table Wnere tney lay
long, handsome and rather distin-
guished-there's always something SO
personal in a woman's glove!-then
she sat down and we stared at each
other The props had been knocked
from under US, and We had landed
with good. sound bump. surprised,
Astonished. astounded. dumfouhded!
But not despairing as yet The blow
hadn't had time to benumb US. conse-
auently We hadn't arrived at the de-
spairing stage.
10 has gorgeous eyes with long
lashes that sweep her cheeks when
she looks down. and she has a trick
Of doing that when she's thinking.
But she was not looking down now:
she was looking at me plainly per-
plexed-hunted, I'd say II l were In
clined to be romantic-staring direct
ly at my nose, which I'm rather sens1-
tive about. with a slight pucker b.
tween her gorgeous eyes. The blow
was beginning to sink in. I could tell
BY the droop settling at each corner
Of her beautiful mouth.
Two years ago when 10 was Just
bursting out of Radcliffe with all sorts
of honors, and l was specializing In
French. voice. expression. art, tennis.
baseball and automobile with no hope
Of college and no wish to have and
aope, my father died suddenly. It
aad been coming on long time-for
1ve years. to be exact-ever since my
mother died. 10 was sixteen then; 1
was twelve. Jo mothered him and
myself, as we'll as the infinite wisdom
Of her sixteen years would permit:
lead the books he liked. played the
music he wished to hear, followed ad-
vice for motherless girls SO that we
would never do the wrong thing and
give him cause to worry. But We nev-
er could fill that aching heart, and
we knew 1t.
The copper muddle had done some
thing to his income. 1t was necessary
10 cut down expenses. SO we did away
with the footman and six maids, sold
che horses, which gave US no use for
the groom, fred the chef. put wilkins.
the housekeeper. to cooking. and kept
only one car. It also put an end to
any social ambitions Jo might have
had. and didn't; and placed US on a
lower plane in everything except our
eelf-respect.
10 set herself to studying Prac-
tical Economy, and housekeeping
and pounded 1t into me-did the mar
keting where we paid nothing for
style, and began to cut out those
pages in the Sunday newspapers that
tell how to use the left-overs. Then
came a time when something hap
pened that we could fully understand.
A customer. old. reliable. absolutely
safe, ordered stock and failed to pay
for 1t when 1t slumped. and poor old
Dad went down in the ruins. He saved
his reputation, but 1t was the end.
He was too old and heart-broken to
recover; even his faith in friendship
was gone He came home, went to
his room and died.
After we laid him beside our mother
10 took an inventory. We found we
had home. elegant and imposing in
the most exclusive section of Boston,
packed to the garret with mahogany.
most OF which had come down to US
from the wonderful supply on the
Mayfiower, and all Of it mortgaged up
to the hilt Everything else was
swept away. 1t had been going grad
ually for five years while poor old Dad
simply drifted. Also we had some
stock in a western mine that gave us
three thousand a year. Our personal
assets consisted of our name, some
o. ~A IL
fashioned and elegant enough. but
worth little to any one but ourselves;
10 had a good education, had a
smattering of everything. and both of
us had the advantage of two years
abroad, and good. sound, robust.
healthy bodies. l am not counting
JOS beauty or those gorgeous eyes Of
hers, because Jo never would use
those eyes except to see with.
don't know how she managed, ex-
cept that she was a born manager, to
pull out SO much from the wreck. She
exchanged our equity in the house for
the mortgagee's equity In the fur
niture, rented a modest apartment in
the best neighborhood we could AFFORD,
put in as much of the mahogany as
We could crowd into 1t, and sent the
remainder to q storage warehouse
guaranteed f1re-proof. and locked it in
with care and affection. She wouldn't
mart with a stick Of It. Then she be-
gan to fray the edges Of Practical
Economy, bought a pair Of shears.
some tissue paper patterns. and set
70 work to make her own clothes and
adne. She allowed us one luxury
Ve kept the car.
Now the final blow had fallen. Mr..
Partridge telephoned US to come to
the ONCE. In itself It was not unus-
sal. We always had to go down to
look over the report and sign re-
ceipt when a dividend was declared.