The Girl from Sunset Ranch; Or, Alone in a Great CityMarlowe, Amy Bell
General
The Girl from Sunset Ranch; Or, Alone in a Great City
Marlowe, Amy Bell
Coming of age -- Juvenile fiction; Montana -- Juvenile fiction
But Helen agreed to let Dud govern her future course in trying to untangle
the web of circumstance that had driven her father out of New York years
before. As Dud said, somebody was guilty, and that somebody was the person
they must find.
It encouraged Helen mightily to have someone talk this way about the
matter. A solution of the problem seemed so imminent after she parted from
the fledgling lawyer and his sister, that Helen determined to hasten to
their conclusion certain plans she had made, before she returned to the
West.
For Helen could not remain here. Her uncle's home was not the refined
household that dear dad had thought, in which she would be sheltered and
aided in improving herself.
"I might as well take board at the Zoo and live in the bear's den,"
declared Helen, perhaps a little harsh in her criticism. "There are no
civilizing influences in _that_ house. I'd never get a particle of
'culture' there. I'd rather associate with Sing, and Jo-Rab, and the boys,
and Hen Billings."
Her experience in the great city had satisfied Helen that its life was not
for her. Some things she had learned, it was true; but most of them were
unpleasant things.
"I'd rather hire some lady to come out to Sunset and live with me and
teach me how to act gracefully in society, and all that. There are a lot
of 'poor, but proud' people who would be glad of the chance, I know."
But on this day--after she had left her riding habit at a tailor's to be
brushed and pressed, and had made arrangements to make her changes there
whenever she wished to ride in the morning--on this day Helen had
something else to do beside thinking of her proper introduction to
society. This was the first day it had been fit for her to go downtown
since she and Sadie Goronsky had had their adventure with the old man whom
Sadie called "Lurcher," but whom Fenwick Grimes had called "Jones."
Helen was deeply interested in the old man's case, and if he could be
helped in any proper way, she wanted to do it. Also, there was Sadie
herself. Helen believed that the Russian girl, with her business ability
and racial sharpness, could help herself and her family much more than she
now was doing, if she had the right kind of a chance.
"And I am going to give her the chance," Helen told herself, delightedly.
"She has been, as unselfish and kind to me--a stranger to her and her
people--as she could be. I am determined that Sadie Goronsky and her
family shall always be glad that Sadie was kind to the 'greenie' who
hunted for Uncle Starkweather's house on Madison Street instead of Madison
Avenue."
After luncheon at the Starkweathers' Helen started downtown with plenty of
money in her purse. She rode to Madison Street and was but a few minutes
in reaching the Finkelstein store. To her surprise the front of the
building was covered with big signs reading "Bankrupt Sale! Prices Cut in
Half!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account