<©ur■' JsMorg Seller. ■ » —-KATE FRASER.

Bruce Herald, Volume VII, Issue 650, 17 November 1874, Page 3

Our Story Seller. KATE FRASER.

BY A CITIZEN OF DUNEDIIt:* ■ s ; • Chapter VI.

After despatching her letter to her brother,.. Mary at once commenced her ■earch for .employment. . Many were the advertisements . she answered, and many were the long weary walks she had hither and thither for the purpose of waiting upon advertisers for necessary governesses and. servants of all kinds, but no one Would accept the services of a young woman who could not name a single referee. Among: thousands of her fellowcrestuxes, Tshe* was utterly lonely ; the bu«y: thoroughfares of mighty London were wildernesses of desolation to hfr, poor . eoul. The neighborhood of her J lodgings was one where dismal scenes of! misery and of sin were exposed in the! broad glare of day ; where the drunken | curses;of men, and the foul utterances of women,.-..- resounded from morning tilt night, .ami . seemed to make, the very atmosphere heavy wirh the breath o f devils; but where in' London can one find any different associations, except perhaps in those streets where title and wealth vouchsafe to dwell, and where sin is thrust out of sight, as too vulgar an appendage for the gaze of the multitude At first, the evil sights which she could not avoid seeing, sickened and appalled Mary, but gradually she became accustomed to them. A month was spent in her first lodgings fruitlessly, but at length, after repeated failures, she obtained a situation as housemaid in the bouse of a corn dealer of the name oi Carter. The family was Mr and Mrs Carter, one daughter, and two eons — young men —named respective'y" John and William. Mary did not spend two days in her new situation before she discovered that her master and mistress were ignorant, coarseminded people, and that the sons were what the world calls' " fast young men " The work she was required to do was hard, and thatßbecouldbave borne, butshefutned and fretted under the galling iusolence she was being continually subject to by the sons. The precious pair of pups seemed to accept as a settled principle the idea that a servant. girl would be only too happy to be chucked under the chin, and nattered for her good looks. Any liberties of such a nature which it pleased them to make in the hearing of that servant, ought, bo they thought, to prove j excessively agreeable. Mary tried hard to keep down her indignant anger but one day Master William made her such a speech, as sent her flying with flushed cheeks to Mrs Carter. The hardest hearted woman could scarcely have forborne her sympathy with Mary as she complained, with a choking voice and a faced dyed with the signs of shame and mortification, of the insu'ts she so frequently received from "Masters William and John." She begged that "Mrs Carter would speak to the young gentlemen."

" Hoity. toity, young woman, 1 exclaimed Mrs Carter, '* How high and mighty servant gals be petting these time?. In my young days, gals were proud of being teased by young fellows, but now everything's changed. But let me tell ye, my lady, that if ye don't like it ye can lump it. Me speak to my boys 'cause of you, indeed ! Go away." '• But, Mrs Carter, you don't understand. Ido not complain of your sons for merely teasing me; they go much further, and Bay things that are improper." * " Now look ye here. There's plenty of servants to be got in fchia here Lunn'>n, and if ye says one more word to me, I'll send ye off about your business. It's like yer imperence to try and set me agin my boys by putting on j ere airs and making out they be bo bad Ye' re no better than ye should be I'se warrant." Mary thought a minuto. Should she give up her situation 1 The remembrance of the many trials she had endured during the month passed in seeking employment, and of the many cruel rebuffs she had experienced in making her applications, passed through her mind; besides, a painful conviction had been forcing itself on her senses during the part few daysshe was likely to become a mother. The latter consideration decided her, for would Bhe not require to be careful and save up her money for her coming trial ? She turned away from her mistress, and returned to the kitchen, where, bending herself over a table, she gave way to a perfect storm of tears. Her utter friend lessness and lone condition she had felt before, but never so keenly as now, and it caused her such terrible misery that it was wonderful how her system bore it Soon the mood changed, the tears ceased and a hard callous feeling came. A danger©us symptom, for hardness of heart soon J>rings insensibility to that; which is wrong- Resuming her work, she mused over the strange fatality which seemed to pursue her, and anon she began to thiuk that thei'e was no use in endeavoring to turn back the torrent of evil circumstances which seemed to be setting in against her. Pid she not think of appealing to her God? Alas! here was Mary's weakness. She had been brought up m the Church, and had been taught her prayers, and bad never" tailed, when at Churcb/in her girlish days, td lP*n ?n in the reverent responses of the Prayer Book.: ;.But- she had never, experienced the vjtait reality of religion, never fel t her condition as a dinner a Saviour, in 6hbrt, : her religion was more a' belief id certain formulas, thiiti a belief in the love and : a:"'merc|fdt-/Gpdj';confie-quenfly sbei did ' iiot feel that in drawing

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near to Gt>>d she was drawing near to a ♦ Father full of compassion." Pray! yes she had prayed frequently in her trouble, but not in faith. She had prayed as a matter of form, and as no immediate answer had been granted to her listless half heartee petition, »he now had yagua doubts, and began to question within herself as to whether Gnd —if there was a God-r-had not left her to herself.

On the next occasion when Master John attempted to be funny, his rude jests and vicious witticisms called forth no , angry rejoinder from Mary. Sbe heard him without a word of remonstrance though her cheeks colored with Bhame. And this kind of conduct went on for four more months while Mary was in Cartea'a service. The father and daugh ter seldom interfered with or annoyed her, but the cearse, ill-bred mother had daily done her beat to ruffle her temper by spiteful faul- fin dings and reproache*, and the sons had buen constant in their persecution, and had missed no ot>por f unity of demonstrating to her how dissapated and grovelling were their morals. Attempts to carreas her, but even these attempts added to their leers and broad inuendoes were sufficient by constant repetition to leave a stain upon the mind of any woman in Mary* circumstances. The effect produced in Mary was unhappy; the constant sup pr^ssion of her feelings, and the compulsory acquiescence in conduct which s'le despised, had tended to deaden her once sensitive nature and to increase the dangerous feeling of indifference as to what might be her future !<>t wbich had been growing upon her ever since the day on which she had comp'ained to Mrs Carter of the condubt of her sons.

She had been in Mrs Carter's service five months, when one day a sudden faint ness came upon her, which was soon followed by dizziness, and in a few moments she fell back insensible. At that moment Mrs Caater entered the kitchen, and noticing her servant's con ditiou, went up to her aud shook her roughly. Mary giving no signs of animation, Mrs Carter became alarmed, and at once proceeded to unfasten Mary's dress and stays. Suddenly sbe paused, looked wonderingly on the face and form of the inanimate girl, and then slowly and deliberately ejaculated, " Toe bold iraperent hussy ! Who'd 'aye thought it."

Mrs Carter had made a discovery. Without waiting to think or say more, she rushed to the door and hailed a passing cab. The cab drove up. Telling the cabman to " foller " her, she proceeded to Mary's bedroom, hastily bundled together all she could find of Mary's belongings, and directed the man to carry the bundle to the cab, and then to wait. Then returning to the kitchen she seized hold of a basin of watar and applied a portion of the water, not over gently, to Mary's face, In a short time Mary revived, and then Mrs Carter pro du^ed twenty-five shillings, and said stiffly.

" There, that's the balance of ye're wages, and there's the door."

Miry gazed at her in wonder, then she noticed her loosened dress, and understood all. She rose without a word, and was staggering in the direction of her room, when her kind mistress culled after her,

" Come back, go out of my 'ouse at once. A cab is at the door with ye' re baggage, q' 1 • 7 nu brazon- faced wrerch.'

Sudden art lightning, Ms'-y'a torpor left her, and a fierce burning sense of injury rising in her breast, she turned round in a fir. of fury and shrieked out.

" You hard hearted wretch, you brute, would thnt I could kill you where you stand. Tour mot-kings, your scolding.-", your coarse sayi ig j , your sons' m^an insolence I have borne, and now you drive me forth as if I were a bear.t. What; am I? Yes. I know all you would say, but you would lie if you spoke your thoughts. What are you, worse than me, aye a thousand times worse, for you are a she devil. You know in your heart, that your thoughts are as vile a coarse as those of the lowest of tho low. I hate you, I loathe you, and curse you. I leave your house with relief, knowing that only devils live here."

B afore Mrs Carter could recover her self, Mary bad entered the crb and was driven sff. A few months before, Mary would have blushed with shame at hearing any woman m ike use of such lauguage as she herself had just made use of, or on seeing a woman waving he hands and stamping her feet in the unwomanly fashion with which she had accompanied the delivery of her words. Now, however, she actually experienced a feeling of pleaaureable relief because she had spoken her mind. Her character was changing. Gradually she was permitting her circumstance to exercise a controlling sway over her whole n&ture. She had directed the cabman to takft her to her old lodgings where she found matters, like herself, changed for the worse. The rooms were dirty, the whole appearance of the house was wretched and the proprietor himself bore the aspect of a man who found living an uncomforb able necessity. Rough and broken-down looking as he was, however, Franter (the proprietor) was a man of a kindly nature, and be received Mary with words of welcome.

In the evening: she asked the landlady, Mrg Franter, into her room, remarking, "I want to tell you something, Mrs Frantar." She told the woman a portion of her history, how she bad been deceived by a gentleman: why she had been dismissed by Mrs Carter, and of her present circumstances.

Mrs Franfcer Veard ber ail through without an interruption, and at the end of the narrative she lifted her eyes towards the ceiling and commenced singing in a tragic style. " OK, the men, they we cruel dweif ur»," Ac #»jy looked »t

the woman, aud noticed for the first time that she had been drinking, so she waited the conclusion of the song and then spoke, "Do you understand what I have said?" •■• Yes, quite well mem." " And * hat do you advise me to do ? " •' Stay here, of course, till your time is over" • m \ " But I have only eleven pounds, and it will be four months yet.' 1 " Well, that's enough, with any little you may earn before then." <v But, how can I earn any money if 1 ! don't bako a situation ? " " Look here, now. I'll speak to my old man about you, and we'll charge you as low as we can for your board, providin' you're not above lending a hand at helping now and then. Then you might get in sewin' too." '• But I am a poor sewer." |{ Oh, any fool can sew the coarse work from the slop shops." " ' will try, Mrs Franker. And as to assisting you, I shall be only too pleased to help you with the work whenever you choose to ask me." ' AH right, and now take a drop o' gin. ft is a fine thing for folk like you, and helps them to bear up wonderful." " No, thank you, I never drink spirits." " More's the pity, when I'm feelia' down like, nothin cheers me up like a drop o' somethin' strong. Try a little." " I would rather not. I think I shall go to bed now '' ♦•Weil, well, I'll not press. Good night, and don't be downhearted, for ' what's the good o' rep'nia'. ' " " Good night, Mrs Franter, and thank you" (To be Continued.)