CHAPTER XXII. RUBY BECOMES A TEACHER.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 215, 13 August 1887, Page 8

CHAPTER XXII. RUBY BECOMES A TEACHER.

Rum' was a trifle disappointed that she was not allowed to bo housekeeper in their new home. She knew that her brother could ill afford the expense of an added monitor to his household, not to mention the matters of waste and wages, and she was anxious to lighten his burden in every possible way. But Mr Gordon was inexorable ; he was sure that she would soon break down beneal lithe unaccustomed cares of housekeeping, and he was still as caieful as ever to shield her from every ill. But she helped him in many other ways. It was the greatest comfort to him to see her bright face opposite him e\ery morning nt bieakfast. She was always fresh ami beautiful in her simple wiapper, with a dainty cap peichcd coquettis-hly upon her glo=-s> head, which -she claimed was simply to co\er the aw kward crimping-pins, and to protect it from the dust when she swept their small parlour. At the same time, honker, the little lady knew that it was vastly becoming-, and that she made a plea-ant picture for her brothel's eyes as she sat bohind the urn and poured out his coilee. E^telle never came down to bieakfast, mid it would ha\e been a dreary meal to the heat (-burdened man but for the presence of his si*ter and her cheerful chatter about the new s of the day ; while his face was always brighter and hU scop more elastic as he went away to his business, for her bree/s r "Good-morning, Robert," and the loving kiss she gave him at patting. Still fhe wad not satitiied, and one eveninsr, aIU r he returned, and had hud his tea, and Mis Gordon had retired to her room, she crept to his side, in a half-irresolute way, and said : ,} >/' Robert, 1 am not exactly content with my life ; lam so idle all da> long. I want something to do. ' "Idle 1 I think I saw somo one sweeping and dusting, the other morning, as if hei veiy existence depended upon the oceupition," MrGoulon returned, smiling. "I am very •ni re that wo had a delicious deceit to-day, piepaiod by the same hands that Yielded the broom so vigorously. These are nevr any hole.-? in my •/tockinsrs, nor ;ui) button-, missing fiom my shuts, and I know thit Eatelle does not like to mend. Sonwho'ly mu 4 be busy. What more do you need to occupy you, Ruby .'" "A gieat doal. That only requires a very little time, and Robert, I ha\o something to tell you. Please do not be angry with me"— the young girl's cheeks ■weie\iu-hecl, and she spoke lapidly — " but I ha\e Mcen Mr Sampson to day, and he has given me a position in his school. One of his teachei'3 is sick, and has had to give up her place, and I am to begin teaching next Monday morning. "Ruby!"' Mr Gordon's tone was one of surprise and reproach. "] \\a- afraid you wouldn't like it, Robeit," Ruby continued, .slipping her hands coaxingfy around his arm, and laying her bright head upon his shoulder. '• Bui- ju-t think, after )ou »o away in the morning I only have a very little to do. I dv.st, and put the parlour and chambers in oule. , which usually takes only about an hour, and then time hangs heavily on my hand-, until lunch, unless I do fancy work, which now seems almost a wa-^te of time. I could fisily teach from nine until twelve, come home to lunch with E^lelle, for the school, y«)'i know, i-> not far away, then go bad: al" two and teach until four, after which the remainder of the day would be mine. Ttien Saturday is a holiday, and I pi 01 iiio } on thcie ->hall be no buttons mUsing nor any hole 1 -; unmended, wliile — ju-sb think, Koheit ! — 1 am to have ten dollars a week ! It would be very nice for pininoney, yon know.' 1 " "Dear child !"' the strong man said, in a tremMintc voice, as he gathered her close to him, "'to think of your woi king a whole week lot ten doluu.-i ! How hard it. irf to be so curtai'ed !" " Ko, indeed, in isn't a bit hard for me ; the hauUhip all comes upon you,'' she ansrt ered, fondly. ' ' I believe I wa» never any happier in my life than I have been sinco we came to live in this wee hou.se. Truly, I ha\e begun to fool that I am of some consequence in the world, and that is a very pleasant feeling, you know, while X have learned to do a great many things that 1 should never have known anything about otherwise. But it ii lonely staying here by myself so much, for Estelle is confined to her room a great deal of the time and wants to be quiet, and if I can have some pleasant occupation, I know it Mill be ever so much better for inc. " " But. you npvor used to complain of being lonely, Kuby." " Well, you know I was always going somew hoie, or receiving company at home." " Why not occupy your time in the same way now V You oujjht not to confine yourfcelt too closely to the house." Kuby'^ faeo»grew suddenly crimson. It was not an easy tiling to tell her brothei that nearly all her friends had forsaken her of late— that it was a very different thing to call upon her the impoverished girl living in an insignificant hou.se in a narrow, retired ftreot, from what it had been when die was a star in society, the bollc of a homo of affluence. Bub mad o as light of it as she could, and returned with an assumption of indifference : "Oh, I do not have many calls, you know, ho there are none to lefcurn." " I understand," said her brother, bitterly, "your friends were mostly fairweather fi ictuK and have forsaken you since misfortune ha.s overtaken us." " Not all of them, Robert, and perhaps, after all, it is better to know just who the true ones are. Home of the girls come to feee me occasionally — Florence and Annie are junt as dear and kind as ever. They drove over thi-> moi ning and took me out to Fairmotmt. But I cannot afford to fritter away my time in any such fashion now. I am afraid it was not quite right in those old days., but I was very thoughtless. If I am to be a teacher I shall be moie useful, and then I shall feel so proud, with my money. Jf I teach a year I shall earn four hundred dollars. Really, Robby, I begin to feel quite rich and consequential with so much in prospect," &he concluded, with spaikhng eyes, and assuming a pretty air of importance. Mi' Gordon smiled in sympathy with her mood, in spite of the ache at hi& heart. " What aie to be your duties, Ruby, if you take thi.% position V he asked, a brief pau&e. " 1 am to assist Mr Sampson in his own depattmenb, so I shall escape the responei-

bilifcy of governing, I am to have the beginners in French, a class in English literature, and one in botany and philosophy. You will not oppose me, Robert, let me try it for this year at any rate," the young girl eagerly pleaded. Again her brother was silent for several moments, struggling with his pride and love. Then he gently kissed that beautiful upturned face, more beautiful than ever to him, with that light u^on it and that earnest purpose shining in her eyes : "No, I will not oppose you," he answered, though with a heavy sigh, "for your heart seems set upon the project, unless I see you begin to look worn under it ; J in that case I shall veto it at once. I hope, ! however, by another year, to be so well | started in business again that there will be no excuse for your doing anything of the kind. Darling, you do not know —you can never know what a comfort you have been to me during these last months ; you have been a veritable sunbeam ; Ido not believe I could ever have borne this heavy trial but for you." Ruby began her teaching the following Monday, going to her work with a smiling faco and a brave heart, though she well | knew that she would, meet trials in the way. She possessed a great deal of tact, however ; there was a bright and winning way about her that could not fail to reach the hearts of her pupil.-,, and, after a trial of a couplo of weeks, Mr Sampson, the principal of the school, predicted that she would make a very successful teacher. Meantime Mi Gordon's former elegant residence had been sold. After it had passed into the hands of his creditors, it was advertised for sale, either furnished or unfurnished, and, shortly, some one appeared who made an oiler for the property ju»t as it stood ; it was accepted, and thus the beautiful place, in which so much of hope and pleasure had been centied, passed into other hand;!. Mr Gordon was glad to know that nothing would be changed : that the beautiful furnishings and adornment.-, would not be scattered and facriHced beneath the auctioneer's hammer, and he tried to ascertain who was the pin chafer. But tho gentleman who had transacted the business .stated that he was meiely an agent, and said ho had been authoiised to withhold the name of the owner until he should be ready to take possession. Edmund Carpenter called at the Gordon's one evening soon after Ruby had entered upon her duties as a teacher. When the crash came he had at first hold a little aloof ; but he soon found that he loved Ruby Gordon so well, that the thirty thousand dollars that he once hoped to win with her were " but a-? dust in the balance,"' and lie soon resumed his attentions to her. There nviy have been something of antagonism, too, in his peisistence. He know that "Walter was rapidly rising in his profession ; that he would soon be in a position •nheie he might feel justified in confessing- his lo\ o for Ruby, now fcliafc she was poor, and he could nob endure the thought of his winning what he had aspired to secure. The thought of Puby Gordon as the wife of another, and that other one whom he so heartily hated, was torture to him. Walter had not seen very much of the Gordon's since their reverses, as he had been away on business for Mr Conant ; but he had called once or twioe, and been most cordially received, and he had resolved, as Edmund Carpenter feared, that he would at no distant day put his fate to tho test. The family formed a very inviting circle in that wee house where Ruby lived, on tho evening of Mr Carpenter's call just referred to. Mrs Gordon, who rarely left her room, had been coa\ed to come down to dinner " to give Robert a surprise," and after the meal was over the pretty parlour lamp was lighted, and the coziest nook in the room assigned to the invalid, who, had f-ho but realised it, made a charming addition to the apartment in her rich crimson wrapper, with a soft white shawl thrown over her shoulders. Mr Goulon, looking unusually cheerful, was seated on the opposite side of the glowing grate in a handsome dressinggown and slippers, and near him, with her dainty work-basket, piled high with the week's stockings, upon the table before her, was Ruby/ with the lamp-light streaming over her golden head atid the fair face that was the chief charm of that household. And into this pleasant circle Edmund Carpenter wa.s suddenly ushered by the maid-of -all- work. And he had come with the .settled purpose of asking Ruby Gordon to be his wife before he should leave the house.