Year: 1879

remember the way it began. ltwaS
in April. and some of the house cleaning
was done. The parlor stove had been
taken down and Sewed up in It's usual
canvas bag for the occasion. Aunty SAID
she wouldn't have the dirt and muss of a
tire upon her freshly turned carpet. We
were so sorry, Daisy and Tom and |, be
cause it was the one CHEEKY spot in the
whole room. Outside of the dear old
thin-legged and thinner toned piano there
wasn't now a comfortable feature in the
whole grim circumference of 1t. And
because it was April. and some OF the
house cleaning done, aunty would have II
that the parlor was comfortable, Her
Door dear nose was red, and thin hands
were blue. and We felt So sorry TO see her
freeze there with prayer book in her hand.
She hadn't eaten much meat during Lent,
and looked sadly worn, and SO very blue
with the cold. As for DAISY and me, We
staii out by the kitchen range pretending
70 bc still doing the dishes, and It was q
mercy We did, for Cousin Tom came right
10 Us instead of blurtiug into the Parlor
with his pale face and melancholy news.
somehow the minute he took his hat OF
| knew by the look of his hair that some
thing had happened. ltusually lay kind
of curly and soft about his forehead, but
now it Law lank and stiff and petritied
looking. He came right up to US and
said. in a blood-curdling way, Girls, the
bank has busted


No, aunty's bank" said Daisy, for
couldn't speak.


The one where She kept her tin,
said Tom. Its all gone up the spout
Clean" he added with mournful en-
phasis.


With one accord We took a peep through
at aunty, as people always will gaze upon
a fallen horse, house on fire, or any
other miserable spectacle.


She was sitting by the window as still
as ever: her nose from red had become
blue. and her hands had deepened to
purple. There was a gray look IN hei
face of age, of loneliness, Of heaven
knows what. that set the tears TO flowing
out of Daisy's lovely eyes, and made
queer lump in my throat.


'.Who can tell her. whispered Daisy
while we all shrank at the bare though
of such thing.


After all, why tell her. said Cousin
Tom. Il always draw the money; /
will be an easy thing to keep up the hum
bug of the book"


but the humbug of the money is tn
difficult part, l said.


well, it will be a tight shave" SAT-
Tom; ''there'H be some tall scrooginl
when rent comes around, but | think
can manage it now.


We knew that Tom was in an insur
ance ofice-though the work was light
the pay was correspondingly vaporous
and he had always given what he coul
to the mutual support. was glad t
see him put so brave face upon the ca
lamity: but now that aunty income wa
gone, couldn't see how we were to max
both ends meet. 1t had always served t
pay the rent, which was a big item /
our expenses.


We lived across the tOwn-no matte
where; we had the whole second and pan
of the third floor in one of those oil
fashioned, deep window-silled, wide an
mellow mansions, that was quite gentet
and grand when aunty first went to hous
keeping with her two little orphan niece;
Daisy was but a baby then, and it wa
not until some years later on she gay
shelter to Cousin Tom. By that tim
this spacious domain was sadly altered