The west shore., March 07, 1891, Page 155, Image 5

THE WEST SHORE.
155
QUEER MRS. EWING.
" I do wish," said Lou, with impetuous earnestness, " that that Mrs. Ew
ing wouldn't look so queer. She wears her hair shingled and her dresses
short and plain as plain can be, and it just seems as though she was trying to
look mannish."
" Yes," said Florence, " I don't see why a woman can't try to make her
self look pretty and ladylike j and if she is real womanly she will."
" I'm not a bit surprised at you girls," said Maggie, " I've been through
all that, in regard to Mrs. Ewing. When she first come here I used to go
by her desk, with my head in the air, invariably despising her, but now I de
spise myself a thousand times more for not appreciating her. I don't believe
there is a more womanly woman in town."
" Maggie, what do you mean? For my part I'm mortified that she's in
our office. Well, if you're not surprised at us, we are at you. What has
whirled you around that way? Mrs. Ewing is certainly very ordinary if ap
pearances are not deceiving."
" That's so," agreed Maggie, ' ordinary and ' common ' are the words I
bestowed upon her. Perhaps it is too strong a word to say I despised her.
But I just thought she was a nobody."
" I'm sure we are none of us so silly as to snub a person just because
she does not belong to our set, but I think if a lady is poor she can make
herself pretty, and I can't like her, if she don't."
" Nor I," echoed Florence, " and I don't believe Mrs. Ewing cares.
She looks perfectly contented in her old duds and her shingled hair."
" Girls, I won't scold you, but I'll tell you what I know and then if you
want to scold yourselves I'll sit by and let you. One day as 1 was passing
her desk with my usual air of superb indifference, she reached out her hand
and said, 1 Do you like little girls?' ' Indeed I do,' I cried, for you both
know that the biggest part of my heart is back at home with my wee sister.
1 Then,' she said, 1 perhaps you would like to see mine.' She handed me a
photograph of two lovely children. ' Your little girls ! ' I exclaimed, and
stared at her in great astonishment. The tears were in her eyes. ' Yes,' she
said simply, and I saw that it was all she could say just then. It was the
' short cut 1 to my heart, girls, that little cry of hers over her children. ' And
where are they?' I asked, after 1 had talked of the beauty of the picture till
we were both a little steadied. 1 A thousand miles away, back in my old
home in Virginia.' ' Oh,' I cried, thoughtless as before, 1 how can you bear
to be separated from them?' ' I can't bear it,' she answered, ' I just have to
do it.1 Then I sat down by her s;de and we had a long talk and she told me
all about it, and 1 went home a different girl, I can tell you. I had all the
conceit taken out of me. I'm the nobody, instead of Mrs. Ewing. She and
her husband had both been sufferers for years, and in some way she heard
of our doctor, out here in our hospital, and of the great cures she was doing,
in cases just like hers, and some friends helped her to come out here and got
her into the hospital. She had terrible times with her head and had to have
her hair shaved i and even now whenever she is very tired those headaches
come on again, and so she has never dared to let her hair grow out. Well,
our good doctor did help her, and after months of the hospital she was able
to come out, and the doctor spoke for this place for her here. For she could
not afford to be idle, she said."
"Where is her husband?"
" Oh, I forgot to tell you that part. Me is a confirmed invalid, and is'
living with her mother and those two dear little girls at the old home, and she
is working so hard and pinching and saving every cent she can to send back
to them."
" Can't her mother support them?"
" No, she has a home and a little garden, but not much money, ami
they have to live on what she ran send them."
" Think of that woman," cried Lou, with tears in her voice, " scraping
along like that on the wages she gets, and doing without a great many tilings
for the sake of those dear people at home; and then look at us silly girls pre
suming to think ourselves her superiors, and calling her unwomanly. Do you
think she has ever noticed how we girls have felt toward her?"
" I don't know, I'm sure. She is to sensible and so good Out t know
she does not have any hard feeling i and she it so happy to think that she
can support her dear ones, it nukes me ashamed of myself."
" I should think so," answered Florence, emphatically, " and that is
what I called ' being contented with her old duds.' And only think how hun
gry she must be to see those babies ! "
" Yes, she says that sometimes she lies awake in the night and thinks of
them, and it seems as though her heart would starve to death for lack of see
ing their faces and hearing their voices. She has read me some parts of her
husband's letters, and I tell you girls they are a beautiful family, if they are
broken up like this."
" Can we do anything for her?"
" I tell you what 1 would like to do ; to raise some money to seid her
home to spend the holidays with her family."
" That is beautiful ! Count me in Maggie."
" And me, and I will help you collect for it too. 1 am sure that she
has done us more good than we can ever do her, for we have learned that be
ing short-haired and plainly dressed does not prevent one from having the
heart and the will and the courage and the tenderness of a most womanly
woman."
The little queen of Holland is only ten years old, and is a bright and
sensible child. Her mourning is to be pure white. Although she is a queen,
she enjoys most the pastimn that all children love, and probably has a deeper
affection for last year's battered doll than for the fine new one that says
" mamma."
See advertising columns fur irtk'uluri of prises fur pilules anil nmwen.
No. 23.
TT TT TT" TT IT TT TT "IT IT" fr
EilPCFf Tlt
T TrF irr n ir -ir tr '
A KING'S MOVE PUZZLE.
The accompanying one hundred squares
contain the names of a number of actors and
actresses, which may be spelled out by what
it known as the "king's move" in chess.
This, as all chess players know, is one square
at a time in any direction, either straight or
diagonally. The same square is not to be
used twice in any one name.
In sending answers, indicnte the squares
by the numbers, thus : Ilooth, l-l 1-11-33-34.
The answer containing the greatest num
ber of names spelled out correctly will be considered the best.
Portland, Oregon.
R. A.
No. 24.
BRYANT'S POEMS ENIGMA.
I am composed of 1 14 letters :
My 109, 2, 56, 51, 93, 21, 40, 114, 70,67, 6, 16,64, 3 j, 110, 101 is the title
of a beautiful little poem by Bryant.
My 74, 80, 103, 61, 19, 98, 58, 105, 49, 13, 20 it the title of his most cele
brated short poem.
My 92, 28, 1 1 2, 4, 99, 108, 1 1, (10, 1 j or 79), 72, 33, 81, 90, 60, 83, 53, 37,
32, 85 is the title of still another poem.
My 7. 75. '9 I J. 9". "4. 3'. '. 94. 5. 9. "7. 77. 8 it the title of yet
another poem.
My 30, 3, 65, 82, 104, 87, 50, 71, 84, 106, 57,99, 17, 95, 59, 58. 97. 3. S4.
78, 73, 66, 27, 21, 8, 48, 55, 1 is a line from the third verse of my first.
My 63, 36, 111, 102, 72, 88, 3, 98, 50, 28, 44, 105, 104, 39, 90, 106, 34, 5,
50, 42, 76, 105, 41, 45, 85 it another line (nm my first.
.ly23, 100, 113,6, 68,94,37, 113,81, 106, 104,96,70,38,4,44, 14, 101,
63, 54, 33, 103, 46, 31 are the last words of my second.
My 103, 109,93, 48, 40, 83, 35, 47, 60, 108, 74, 13, 83, 84, 75, 19, 22, 64,
53. 69. 7. 73. 9. 3. $5. I ". 7. 43. ') ' line from my third.
My 40, 86, 51, 91, 61, 1 13, 58, 92, 36, 52, 37, 33. 4. 4. 9. 47. 14. 99.
109, 104, 41, 8, $7 it a line from my fourth.
My whole it the last verse of my first.
Rochester, New York. G. M. J.