Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1923-11-14
THE OLD MAID
BY JANE JORDAN
"a. 1g2g. Western Newspaper UnlonD

~ trusively, and rented for next to
nothing, a shabby old house near the
stream. A quiet little woman her
dark hair drawn so plainly back that
the girls coming from school joked
about it.
"The Unmarceled," one would say,
or The Hasty Knot laughed another
which was the more fitting descrp-
ton.
hurry rs she arose each morning to
bother with couture. She had, after
she arrived in Belleville, placed a
fashion picture in the neatly curtained
window denoting her trade as dress
maker.
Colorless was the word which might
have described Belleville's old maid.
For such she came to be named
thoughtlessly perhaps. She was so
demure dfiident, unadorned, patient
always with the most irritating Gus
toner.
Sometimes Miss Dawson left town
for short visits to her old home. If
neighbors thought of Miss Dawson's
girlhood home at all, it was as sort
Of farm house, isolated, with, maybe,
friends of a bygone time. to still make
her welcome. Her return to beauti-
full Belleville was always marked by
renewed activity in her tasks.
A farmer stopped one day to ring
Doctor Compton's bell and told him
bo Of
son he had noted dark object lying
prone on the porch in the sunlight.
The object proved to be the dressmak-
err herself, in an unconscious condi-
ton. Doctor Compton hurriedly an
swering the call, found the worn wom
an where the farmer had carried her.
conscious now, but white and appeal
ing. 81 think" said Miss Dawson
smiling from the couch cushion, chat
it must have been the heat
81 know" the doctor brusquely re
piled, that it is overwork. You must
go some place to rest and be taken
care Of"
The dreSsmaker raised herself upon
a thin elbow. 81 must go away she
agreed, but not to be cared for. You,
doctor, must make me strong for
journey. T-Miss Dawson's blue eyes
grew wistful-'I must go home. JAS
mine will be there.
Suddenly the doctor was aware of
an unaccountable interest in Belle
ville's old maid-the name repeated it
self TO him.
"Home?" he questioned, land Jas
mine?"
Miss Dawson's cheeks were scarlet.
please" she said, Il am going to
confde in you. The place | call home
Is a beautiful estate in a wide park.
We DawsOnS have lived there for gen
eratiOns. Our fortune diminished and
was lost with the years. | promised
our mother when she died to keep the
old place-one way or another-fOr my
sister Lillian When Lillian married
the man of her heart the task was
even more difficult for he, was a young
musician of promiSe-but poor. He was
abroad when Lillian's tiny daughter
was born; later he died there. My sis
ter lived only long enough to crave
from me the promise her mother had
asked-that ! keep for Jasmine the
bahy-the home we loved. Jasmine,
she would have the little one called
she has ever been just n frai white
flower, Some way l have managed TO
keep that promise to my sister.
early Jasmine gave promise of that
wonderful uift-n ppl1pn Nnipn--hnr
fathers heritage | sent her away to
SCHOOL, managed to give to her
proper training-I managed by doing
what ! am now doing stopping in
small places where | might live in
economy, while the big house of my
people was closed. That home which
must be hers, home suitable for
great singer to come back to, and to
keep. Jasmine knew nothing of my
struggle.
"Now, Jasmine is coming home for
the last time before her trip abroad
Her college ended. I must be there to
have the house open, to welcome her
She has believed that the big silent
home bored me-that | have found
0pNidpllllN anu pledSdilt lllelluS III
small towns where I elected to stay.
Sometimes | sent her the papers
Jasmine thought"
81 understand" Doctor Compton
answered slowly what jasmine
thought" He frowned at the morkery
I of comparison.
A neighbOr came tossing a letter to
| Miss Dawson. brought it from the
postofice," the neighbor said.
The doctor watched the lovely color
fade from the cheeks of Jasmine's
sacrificing aunt; watched mist
gather in the gentle blue eyes.
Jasmine is married." she whispered.
"A nice lad, she writes. who graduated
with her from college He has money.
She will not need me-any more. Still,
I must go, to have the house-Jas-
! uines house, ready for their coming"
#" =" said the doctor 'NilI myself