| Show T TRUE RUE AS STEEL tho story of faithful kitchen anno we called her kitchen anne annc this was because we had bad another anne in the f family and two of the same namo name in a hous hoube makes conin confusion sion she wag a Sven girl towheaded blue eyed and only when she bhe came to work for us she was rather stupid and slow but very willing and so sorry for her blunders that it seemed almost cruel to bo be impatient with her she did try so hard to learn it was really pathetic to see her ber with the open cook book before her ber tracing with a floury finger the words which she could not read it was rather a mystery to me that she managed man aped always to open the book at the right place to find the recipe fhe wished but when I 1 turned tho pages and an found a lump of bread dough where the rules were a gre grease spot to mark the pastry pages s and dundr sundry y egg and sugar traces on the calce cake recipes I 1 understood she had an innate love of dainty things she used to take falte a childish delight in examining the contents content 3 of the ra rag bags which we turned over to her the scraps of bright silk and velvet were her treasures and I 1 often recognized bits of lace which had done former duty on underclothing carefully darned and ornamenting her handkerchiefs from the borders border of some fine linen doilies dailies she painstakingly studied out the patterns of drawn drava work and I 1 could but marvel at her patience when 1 saw that she had reproduced the cobwebby patterns on the edges of some coarse cotton cloth mats for her wash eland but I 1 must tell you yon about patrick ris his name was not the only misleading thing about him as we found to our sorrow but that was delusive enough for lie he was a swede anne told me he took it because lie he disliked his swedish name whether it was a given namo nama or surname it went for both for he faid that one name wms was a clente so 50 patrick lie he was and patrick only ile he was annes lover love r two evenings each week lie ho sat with lier her in the kitchen bashful red faced solemn n and silent I 1 lie he sat at one sido side of the stove batove she bho at the othor other each cach in a x wooden rocking chair cliar chair creaked and his bis groaned as they rocked slowly and rb and the rhythm was accentuated by their four feet striking the floor at tho the same pame instant scarcely a word was said by him from his first greeting until he said good night yet somehow soine how his wooing progressed and prospered pro pored on sundays they wont went together to the little swede church thus uneventfully enough their courtship ran rah i on for more than a year when one day anne told roe rne that she was going goin to leave me because sho she was to be married I 1 remonstrated urging lier her extreme youth but blie was roost most eighteen bhe said and patrick biad alre already auly rented two tivo beautiful rooms and had furnished them for her und he be was making money at his trade so I 1 said na no more but helped her in her plans for bouse housekeeping keeping and so they were married just at halfday tame efm and a 8 phoud pr oud a aad nd hap happy py bride was mrs airs patrick possessed of two cozy little rooms with a stove six chairs an alarm clock a bod bed a bablo bablo und a cupboard lull ull of dishes we naw BOW but little of anne that winter she had some isome boarders some men who took their meals thore there and she was very busy sometimes on a sunday she would come in for a few bev to tell me how she ehe was getting on and I 1 noticed that she was growing crowing thin and white and with wah a worried anxious look quite now new to our rosy kitchen anne once I 1 questioned her a little was she well J oh yes well only tired not aso 0 o ire tory ry t tired arc d just some isome tired was patrick good to her ess but she must be going now one day in the early spring christine annes married sister came to see me about anne patrick she told me had 11 skipped out left his debts and anno and gone g one nord to to ta anne had not said so botole but ole christides Chri stines man had told lier her so BO an my man added she says he wont come back to her no more than he did to his other wife ilis his other wifel echoed I 1 yes the one to chicago what lias has patrick been married before Is lie he divorced asked I 1 in one breath no not divorced ff he e told her that he want her no longer an an ho he was going to marry agen an she say aver vcr well if you likes anhder better than me I 1 am willing so he didat need no divorce 1 I and did anne know this oh no she hear when we tried to tell her on an now she wont talk none about him why I 1 was there to dinner an patrick he come in drauk an when liewert he went out I 1 says patrick lies hes pretty drunk aint lieban he an anne she says awful fierce ile c balant drunk I 1 told christine to say nothing to anne of m my V knowing her trouble but to ask her if she would come and work for me for a few weeks preparatory to our moving to another city anne came and soon went about her work just as she used only that she was very quiet and looked hollow eyed aud and sad patrick had gone nord to where ho could make lots of money but lie he would come back oh yes lie he would come back soon she said with a little catch of her breath that went to my heart christine came often and from her I 1 learned that patrick had taken with him several sums of borrowed money and that lie he had bad said that he did not mean to return anne with a 0 quiet dignity strange in one of her class kept her troubles and her sorrow to hersell herself the day befaro we left lef t for our new home she came and begged me to take her with me until patrick cornea comes asked I 1 then she broke down and told me all patrick had gone for good lie ile had told her that he was tind tin d of other her she had supported support cd him all winter and now bhe N w anted to earn money to pay his d debts ca b t I 1 asked a how bow she would dispose of her furni furniture tire it was not hers she said it had never been paid for patrick had bought it on credit and she had sent rent it back ack 1 and now she had nothing no nothing of her own except her beautiful dishes hili cs and she would never have any use for them again then slie she broke down completely and sobbed bitterly she packed away her ono one possession and stored the box at christides Chri stines and then alic carne came a ay with u us all of her wages dacres she sent to pay patricks debts ave we told her that she was not responsible rapo sible for his debts and urged tier her to save her money for herself but she would not she said that patrick had borrowed from those who could not afford Ufford to lose their money and she I 1 wid told us of one old roan man who unknown to his shrewd lait shrewish wife had loaned patrick all of his little hoard board of savings ings his wife scolded him and sometimes struck him anne said because lie he was vas poor and anno anne must pay pa hini him back before the old woman found that it was war all gone at firt fir t aune was diverted by her new surroundings but soon boon sho she began to lose interest in her ber work and having once bokun her silence concerning her troubles sho she poured them forth freely asbe he said that it hud hod all come upon liar her had bad loved patrick too much bettor better than her father or mother sho said that ahat now her life was ull all over and she was jung so bo jung jims only eighteen jears I 1 As both interest and health flapped flagged I 1 sent her back to her people where they said ahe wandered about in a shabby gown rarely rousing from her melancholy and seeming half crazed by her grief then gradually I 1 lost all trace of her three years ago a friend sent me a slip blip cut from a country paper it stated that patrick had been arrested in minnesota for bigamy and was now lodged 0 in jail lie ile had bad three wives but two the chicago woman and the girl whom wh am he married in minnesota made the trouble lie ile was sent to the penitentiary for two years his of offense Lense having two living wives anne would not appear a P against a him again I 1 lost trace of anne until ono day the postman pos brought an awkwardly directed parcel not quite sure of tho the address I 1 recognized n annes writing and claimed the package c it contained sever sevenia 1 yards of beautia beautifully ully made linen lac but not a word except annes annea name and address fine and exquisite I 1 knew what hours of patient and loving labor the lace meant for poor annos annes slow clumsy fingers and I 1 was touched by the gift A letter of thanks to her ber brought a long reply anne was living in a penitentiary town work working lug and waiting for patrick to servo serve his term which was nearing completion his troubles had made a good man of him she wrote and he be wanted to marry her when he was free she had forgiven him and she well she loved him bim that was all and so they were married once more and she wrote me to quote her words that life was sweet agen afren 11 she sent me a photograph of be herself and husband brave in bridal finery they stand hand in hand and look as stiff and awkward as only bridal couples can look in a picture wit with li n bit of sentiment that has a touch of pathos in it anne wears her old wedding gown it is short in the skirt and cruelly tight in the waist and sleeves for the anne of today to day dails is no seventeen cearold ye acar arold old girl both her face and patricks show lines that were not there when I 1 saw thern them last the corn colored mustache which was patricks glory had disappeared and his head bead is too closely cropped for beauty but there is an earnest expression on his face f abc which I 1 like and which promises better batter things thing for poor faithful anne and I 1 believe that she will be happy for such constancy must touch patricks heart there is nothing that heals a broken heart like time unless it be a lost lover over come back penitent and tender and true and now annes grief has hai had both marie more marsh karsli in ic chicago graphic |
