The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1913-03-22
Copyright 1911. Bobbs-MerrtuC ompS
1.rAPTER I.
Two tadies Bereft.

JQNS, uduuSOLA 0u A~sASA uS IA
euished-thereS always something III
personal In a poman's glove!-thA6
she sat down md we stared at eac1E
other The uops had been knocked
from under u and we had landed
with a good, Ipund bump, surprised
abunded. dumfoundedtl
But not desu1ting as yet. The blow
hadn't had tt to benumb us. cOnse-
quently we mt arrived at the de-
spairing staA
10 has gaxDOus eyes with long
lashes thaf1Weep her cheeks when
she looks I'm, and she has a trick
OF doing tt when she's thinking
But she vnsnot looking down now;
she was ling at me plainly per-
plexed-h11ed, I'd say II l were in
clined to sromantic-staring direct
IL at my -. which I'm rather sensi-
dive abouf Nth slight quicker be-
tween ha!Drseous eyes. The blow
was begis161g to sink in. l could tell
by the d. settling at each corner
Of. her b(1lful mouth.
Two 80 ago when 10 was just
bursting e q Radcliffe with all sorts
OF honor md ! was specializing in
French, 800 expression. art. tennis.
baseball m automobile with no hope
u co,isgs nd no wish to have and
hope. ~ father died suddenly. 1t
had ben coming on a long time-for
flve years. 70 be exact-ever since my
mother lied. 10 was sixteen then; l
vas twsIvA 10 ~msthered him and
myself. Is we'll as the infinite wisdom
II her sixteen years would permit;
read ths books he liked. played the
music 10 Wished to hear, followed ad-
vice for motherless girls SO that we
would never do the wrong thing and
give hin cause to worry. But we new
er could ah that aching heart. and
wo knsH Il.
The copper middle had done some
thing = his income. 1t was necessary
to cut down expenses. so We did away
with ~ hoffman and six maids. sold
the heres. which gave US no use for
the groom, hred the chef. put wilkins.
the hsussieeper. to cooking. and kept
only ene car. 1t also put an end to
any social ambitions 10 might have
had. md didn't; and placed us on a
lower plans in everything except our
4self-rs6psct.
10 ~ herself to studying Prac-
tical Economy, and housekeeping
and bounded 1t into me-did the mar
heting where we paid nothing for
style. and began to cut out those
pages Ii the Sunday newspapers that
Tell how to use the left-overs. Then
cams Z time when something hap
penel that we could fully understand.
\ customer, old. reliable. absolutely
Afe. ordered stock and failed to pay
for II when It elumped, and poor old
Iad went down in the ruins. He saved
Ms reputation. but 1t was the end.
re was too old and heart-broken to
5ecover: even his faith In friendship
vas gone. He came home. went to
us room and died.
81 After We laid him beside our mother
% took an inventory We found We
nd home, elegant and imposing in
Ne most exclusive section Of Boston.
Dacked to the garnet with mahogany,
cost OF which had come down to US
kom the wonderful supply on the
and all of 1t mortgaged up
= the hilt, Everything else was
twept away. 1t had been going grad
baIly for ave years while poor old Dad
imply drifted Also We had some
took in western mine that gave us
tbree thousand year. Our personal
essets consisted Of our name. some
family portraits and jewelry. old
gashioned and elegant enough. but
forth little to any one but ourselves:
10 had good education. | had a
Of everything. and both Of
ps had the advantage OF two years
lbroad, and good. sound. robust.
healthy bodies. ! am not counting
los beauty: or those gorgeous eyes OF
hers, because 10 never would use
hose eyes except to see with.
don't know how she managed. ex-
cept that she was born manager. to
puil out so much from the wreck. She
our equity in the house for
ne mortgages equity in the fur
niture. rent ed q modest apartment In
he best neighborhood We could AFFORD,
,ut In as much OF the mahogany a.
V could crowd into 1t, and sent the
,emainder 10 . storage warehouse
nre-proof, and locked 1t In
rlkh care and affection. She wouldn't