The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-26

to teach music. She went every day to her pupils after she had probably been up all night or most of it with her sick mother. They couldn't afford a servant, and Anne did the cooking and the house cleaning, as well as the nursing. She wasn't an accomplished musician by any means. and it was terribly difficult for her to get up a class in competition with trained teachers. but her friends stood by her and she made enough for her and her mother to exist on. Finally, heart broken and crushed, the poor mother died and Anne was left all alone in the world to scuffle and fight it out for herself"
 ''I thought there was a brother" the major said thoughtfully, trying to recall the members of the Simpson family.
 So there was," said Miss Petunia, "a reprobate-not worth the salt that went
 in his bread-that was partly what killed the mother-grief over him. In fact the tried and sent to the penitentiary for some disgraceful crime, was what sent the poor creature to her grave. Anne promised her mother that she'd find the good. for-nothing brother and do all she could for him."
 Now the story shifts to Washington" Miss Petunia went on. Anne. by some hook or crook, through influential friends, got a position with the government. and after paying off her mothers doctors bills, and other things. began to arrange tO tn fba oF fbo ha knew he was a drunlxard and a thief, but she tried so hard to hide it from the world that she turned over all the spare money she could make toward redeeming him and putting him on his feet again. You must know by now that Anne was no longer young-she was nearly 40. Finally. when she got the brother out of the penitentiary and put him on his feet. she began to see the dawn of a tomor- row in her life. but not so; the brother wanted to go west again. and he declared to her that if she would help him to get there once more he would brace up and be man and make lots of money and she could stop work.
 "She angel that she was, took every penny that she had saved and gave it to the wretch and off he started again. That winter Anne was terribly i'll, and had to stop work for while She could not hear a word from the brother. al- though she sent him telegrams and let CTS telling him of her illness and poverty and really needy condition. No reply came from him. She was in debt and that was worrying her. since how she was to nv,6 dv~1fry she did not for the life of her know. To make a long story short, just about the time she was recovering she had tele- gram from her brother saying he had been shot and was desperately in need of money and to please send it at once. By the blessed memory of their sainted mother, he implored her to send it quickly and she, racked with pain yet still faith ful to her promise to her dead mother to stand by the wayward brother decided to try and borrow the money that he might be relieved"
 And the result?' the major inquired gently.
 "As she told me of the terrible days of anxiety that she spent after she got up from the long. tedious illness she had suf- fered," Miss Petunia said, wiping the tears from her kindly eyes. working like a machine trying not to think of how she'd meet her bills and pay back the money she had borrowed to send to her brother, there acrose before my visions a martyr of old who was stoned maybe IS minutes before he died. or burned up in five minutes. His suffering couldn't have been anything in comparison to this poor creatures anguish. While she was worrying over conditions, one day she re- ceived a letter from an old friend of hers in Chicago. saying he was going out west, and having heard that her brother was there, requested his address. She imme- diately answered the letter. giving her friend the brothers address and implor- was necessary if he were i'll and needed attention. as he had wired her.
 "The friend not having heard of all the complications, wired back that he would do exactly as she asked him. When he got to the place out west where the brother was located, he went about finding him at once. and after locating him discovered that all he had told her about being shot and i'll was untrue, just ruse to get her to send him money; and so to relieve her mind he promptly wired her that her brother was perfect ly well but dead drunk, having been on a debauch for weeks-which was abso- lutely true"
 After she learned her lessons" the major interposed. q suppose she went about trying to take better care of herself and let the worthless brother shift for himself"
 Instead" Miss Petunia told him, "she had him brought to Washington and has been trying to reform him and make decent mah of him. putting up