Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1919-07-11
Nellie sSacri6ce
By JEAN HAMILTON
.(c0pyrIght Isls. western Newspaper UnI0n.l

NCopyriBnb As1e, western Newspaper Union.)
"Oh, Nelliel you look simply beau
Itifulp'
In rapt delight aunt Hannah stood
with clasped hands and sparkling eyes,
lost in f~ervent, sincere admiration OF
her niece and favorite-Nellie Whar-
ton. She had kept her promise, made
a year before, that when Nellie grad
uated she should have the handsomest
gown money could buy. She had
come up to Nellie's room to view the
full effect of the final adornment.
you'd ought to have some real
prince for an escortl !" applauded
Aunt Hannah. lust then a tired
anxious expression came into Nellie's
face, as If the remark was remindful.
She passed from before the mirror In
the lighted room to the darkened n
adjoining, drew the curtain aside and
cautiously glanced down into the
moonlit road in front Of the house.
Her fair face clouded as her eyes
rested on a figure pacing up and down.
Morton Hull was to be her escort to a
party at a farmhouse ten miles dis
tant. The old-fashioned democratic
wagon, rickety and wabbling, with an
tiquated Dobbin stood near the horse
block. That was not so bad, for Mel
lie had not expected an automobile.
She was not one bit ashamed of the
ancient rig, honored by usage for a full
decade and well nigh to final retire
ment, but she had hoped that Morton
would have found himself able to ar
range for a new suit of clothes, the
more so because she was proud of
her new attire. A vivid picture of the
contrast of herself arrayed in silk and
satin and Morton in a garb neat ft-
ting but well repaired for the occa-
sion, but oh, 81 dreadfully threadbare.
gloomed her bright spirits.
Morton knows BEST" she murmured
bravely. "He is true, and manly, and
sensible. He is Morton Hull just as
he Is, b~roadcloth or homespun, but !
wouldn't be ashamed If he went to the
party b%arefootedl Only" and her
lips quivered as her gaze swept the en-
ticing sheen of her first party dress
81 can't humiliate him and-I won'tP"
She affected great gayety of manner
a she playfully pushed Aunt Han
nah out of the room with the words
Nov I've got to hurry. Oh dear
think of shutting out all this splendor
with a homely enveloping waterproof"
"And pin up the dress so it won't
get dusty or soiled, dear" directed her
aunt. II know you will have a lovely
time and / am sure every one will fall -,
in love with you" T.
Down below, just beyond the place,
Morton Hull had caught a sight OF )
AefffM ore the mirror. HIS Heart I
sank and he turned from the ~fascinat- ]
ing vision. He realized his OWL III
fitness Of garb. Even when Nellie, all
her finery muffied up, came running
down the gravel path and smiled into
his face, and seemed supremacy happy
to be with him, Morton was grave and
more silent than was his wont. He
was seeking vainly some excuse to be
seen as little as possible with Nellie In
the dances, stunning a conspicuous
ness that hurt his sense of pride.
When he had delivered Nellie into
the charge of her hostess and had
driven the rig to a shed shelter, Morton
went into the house, alive with laugh
ter and lights. He stood for a moment
in the hallway looking around for Mel
lie. AS his glance rested upon her q
great tremor passed over his frame.
Then there flashed into his eyes a new
light, and then, though shaken to the
soul, he drew himself erect and his
lips breathed the fervent words: "She
is an ANGEL"
For this Nellie was not the brill
iliantly arrayed Nellie his eyes had
rested on so painfully an hour previ-
Gus. She wore now a plain simple dress
of some dark ordinary material. Her
eyes met his, and they seemed to ex-
press a longing, beseeching recogni-
ton of the vast sacrifice she had made
for his sake. With heart and soul both
allowed themselves to drift into the
perfect enjoyments of the evening. 1t
seemed to Nellie that 1t was the hap
piest occasion Of her life. The emo
lions of Morton were bubbling over at
fever heat as he helped her into the
|
wagon and they started homeward.
He drove on in silence until they
reached the crest of the hill which
showed ahead of them, whitened and
glorifed by the beautiful moonlight. a
landscape that would have inspired an
Snchorite.
81 want to tell you something, Mel
lie" he said, in low, tender tones.
"Only yesterday, after years Of toll,
and scraping, and saving, l paid the
last dollar of indebtedness on the
home of the old folks"
ooh, Mortoni I knew" began Nellie
im~petuously, her eyes meeting his own
devotedly.
"That circumstances compelled me
to take you to the party in my old
worn clothes? oh. my dear" and his
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