El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-28
HoIbrooke. Va. Sept Is.


~ EAR LAURA:
NY train was late getting in, but
- Phil, bless his heart was waiting
for me with the buggy and the old gray
mare It was nearly O'CLOCK and
through the dusk, as we drove home,
the lights were twinkling in the cot
tages clustered about the Homestead
on the hill I thought of how often my
little girl had danced there ! wondered
whether it was the life she had
glimpsed there that made her long Tor
the wider field" Of New York On,
nv dear my dear, almost wish had
not let YOU 70. Ny instinct was against
it Yet 1 felt that you should have
your chance. Helping your mother run
this poor little hotel was not very
soothing work for such mettlesome
This is the first time you have heard
me complain about your choice. don
intend to do II again But 1t seemed
So forlOrn and so fOrsaken when came
in and the picture Of your little hall
bedroom in that big, cold, rushing city
gave me such a feeling Of utter loss
that the words just spilled from my
pen
BY the time you receive this you will
have had your first lesson from pro-
fessor Starek- I hope his first impress
sion Of your voice viii be verified by
his later experience. Are you sure uhey
are not going 10 mind your practtclng
1t was different here, you know. After
ali. while il is a hotel, It IS also your
home. nat may make difference
Whether you can have plenty OF. time
for Dracticing will mean everything TO
you in your career. Even a professor
Of Starek's admitted reputation and
skill cannot give you the grand opera
voice you crave unless you WORK IN
remlttingly throughout the day
I wonder if YOU have thought. OF the
work this means2 Your father always
says that If he had half chance" he
would become wealthy man he pnll-
osophizes so much about ii over at
Sherley's bar, however, that ne has
little time to ascertain whether he has
had such chance and overlooked It
II you want to be Nary Garden or
q Media. you will have to work for It
You won't have time to question wheth-
er you are q success or not That IS
one OF the disadvantages of success
you never have time to sit down quietly
and reVeI in it. You've got TO work
10 get it and work to keep it-Work
morning, noon and night.
You must try TO love your work
not the tinsel of it that you expect to
gain later on, but the drudgery OF 1t
now. Don't ever speculate on what
might have been If you had had half
a chance" We all have our chance.
We have not one chance, but a hun
dred chances. The danger is that our
attention may be distracted from them
by our dreams Of fanciful things which
we think will come to US without ef-
fort, but which never do come that
way.
Your father came in just here and
said he missed you very much; that
home would not be the same without
you; that he had always been a good
father to you { these are his own
words) and that he knew you would
be a credit to the name Of Crawley. /
replied that the name Of Crawley was
attractive on our letter heads, but pos
sibly might not be an appropriate stage
name for our future prima donna But
don't forget TO be credit TO your
fathers name The name hasn't drawn
much credit from the bank and we
must get credit for it somewhere.
The Hurleys seem TO be a nice couple.
It was nice Of them to say, they would
take you under their wing I hope they
are not too much given to gayety-
must hurry away now to attend to
some household things. Phil said COM
ing over in the buggy that he knew
he was to be very proud of his sister.
He remarked that Jim Burke was all
cut-uP, as he put II, over your going
away. Poor JIM I feel sorry for him.
But suppose you never could have
been satisfied with his simple nature.
Our modern young women are so COM
pick. or perhaps it is merely that they
like to think they are2 Phil said to be
sure TO tell You that the gray mare
made the five miles from the station
IN an hour, which he insists is a record
for her
with love, dear. from
YOUR MOTHER