Year: 1878



 Mrs. Gray thought cher dear sister '

 she always calls her sister-in-law that

 when she feels hateful towards her

 "very much exaggerated the moral i'm

 portance of the question. This was a

 practical matter of methods, and the

 legitimate inquiry was, how could we raise the largest sum ill aid of so and SC in the quickest and easiest manner? If

 we had fair at all, and wished it to be successful, we must manage as other great fairs had managed. As for her. self, she had already begged handsome slelgh and set of furniture, and other costly gifts, which could not be disposed of except by raffle. Of course, if our president q always did think Mrs. Gray thought she ought to have been made president, and was sure of it now by the emphasis that she put on president) vetoed railing, she would be under the painful necessity of returning to the doners these valuable gifts. Mrs. Lesley looked over to me and asked what I thought about it. I felt miserably undecided when she appealed to me. really believed just as she did, that we ought to set good example in this business if we were going into it.. Bat, on the other hand, I had set my heart on making money at this fair, and I knew it would cripple us dreadfully if Mrs. Gray should get offended. Besides, she did seem right about the practical part, if not the moral. So I did what always makes me feel like a fool, just stood on the fence, mumbled something about honoring the presidents soruples, and sharing them, to some extent, but still feeling that our cause demanded money and we must sacrifice everything for it.

 Mrs. Lesley looked over at me in Q most piercing way and said: |" So un- derstand Mrs. Busybody to mean that our cause demands of us the sacrifice of principles ?"

 Of course I said no, but still l rather threw my influence on Mrs. Gray's side.

 Well, we decided to have raffies. And we did have them on 0 scale beyond any thing 1 ever heard of

 Our fair lasted whole week. Poor John didn't have one of his favorite lit tie buildings for Q month. But John is the best man in the world. He never said one complaining word till the very last day, as I slipped my coffee at the breakfast tablk-I was too tired to eat morsel-he says: Kitty, is this the last day of the far ?"

 "Yes," said I, "thank heaven I be- lieve another day would kill mo-"

 "Well," he returned, II am not quite clear about Johnny's mother having right to kill herself over fair. And I shall not be sorry to have wife once more, of an evening, myself"

 I was so tired and nervous I burst right out crying at that. And John tried to comfort me, bless hls heart He said he didn't mean to blame me, and was just as good as he always is when have been doing and doing until I'm all worn out.

 was not the only tired woman in Blanktown, 1 can tell you! You never saw such jaded-looking set of table tender as we were, the last evening, in your life; and cross-my patience Even Mrs. Leslie, who is generally too sweet-temperea. and Mrs. Gray, who is generally too lady-like to be outwardly rutfied, spoke to each other in what | should call rather @ snappish manner, us if they were not of the aristocracy.

 Mrs. Lesley looked sick, and I was real anxious about her. You see, we were going to close with little public meeting. The gentlemen who were to receive our money were to make speeches and our president was to make state- ment of our work. Of course she must not give out till that was over, and I in- sisted upon her going home to rest in the afternoon. thought then that the worst of her weariness came from her feeling so badly over what seemed to her to be violation of principle in our fair.

 She came back with her eyes as bright as could be, and the two little red spots in her cheeks, and the curious set look about her mouth she always has when she is going to do something that is hard to do, and going to do it we'll. She looked just exactly as she did that nig.t, so many years ago, when we girls gave the First regiment of Blanktown volun- teers, who left for the war, silk flag, and she made tbe presentation speech. She was Mary Noble then, and, although we younger girls didn't know it, was en- gagged to Col. Lesley.

 Mrs. Gray pretended that she disliked the publicity of this formal presentation. overheard her telling her most intimate friend that ''it tried her beyond descrip- tion to have her dear sister so willing to make an address before a promiscuous womanly."

 But for the life of me I could not see that it was any more public to make speech than to march around our largest hall, dressed in old style, before almost our whole town, as we did at the cen tennial party, and Mrs. Gray, who was president of the Ladies' Centennial Con- mittee, led that herself, dressed mag as Martha Washington. Mrs. Lesley would not take part in that at all. She said it was putting our personal charms on exhibition before all sorts of people, and she was doubtful of its pro- priety. l, you see, am not so particu- lar as either of them. am always glad and proud to have Mrs. Lesley to make a